Slowly, Rachel lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, trying her best to sort everything out in her head. Even lying down on her back, she felt dizzy and out of control. She lay there for a very long time, barely moving, as she felt her life slowly slipping out of her control in all directions.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

He knew what he had to do next, but it was going to be hard. Not the act of murder itselfno, he felt that with two under his belt, he was getting quite good at it. He was quite sure that hed be able to completely control himself with the third victim. A quick and brutal act, in and out, and that would be it. There one second and gone the next.

That was the plan, anyway. But looking at the house, he wasnt sure it was going to exactly work out that way.

The hard part was going to be getting to the victim. He had no appointment to use to his advantage this time, but he did know where they lived. Hed staked the house out for about ten days or so. He knew the schedules of the family, knew when they left the house and when they arrived back home. He also knew the layout of the yard fairly well. They had one of those Ring doorbells on the front porch, so he was going to have to stick to the side of the yard and hope no nosy neighbors saw him. The yard was separated by the neighbors on both sides by a black iron fence and several trees, so he didnt think that would be an issue.

Oddly enough, the act of breaking and entering seemed to bother him more than murder. Murder, from what hed learned so far, was quick and to the point. But it seemed to him that breaking and entering took more forethought and ambition.

He knew how he was going to do it, though. Hed been around to the back of the house once before, just a few days ago. Doing so had made him forty minutes late for work and hed been chewed out for that, but he really didnt care. He knew the call center was having trouble keeping help so unless he went into the managers office and pissed in his face, he doubted he was going to get fired for showing up late a few days.

Though, he supposed if it was ever found out that hed been stalking people and then murdering them, that might cross a line, too.