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Back Lost Hills Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. Contents
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  48. Author’s Note and Acknowledgments
  49. About the Author

“He had OCD.” “Yeah, well, she’s like him. Can’t stand dirt. So the moment he was gone she didn’t just shower and douche, she did it five or six times, completely disinfected herself, washed her clothes and her sheets before throwing them out, cleaned her entire house, and then called the police. I understand why she did it, of course, but she went to such an extreme that she virtually guaranteed we’d never be able to convict anyone for the rape. Vickie was victimized twice—first by the rapist and then by her own phobias. I felt terrible for her.”

“She still might be able to help put him away,” Eve said.

“You think your guy is her rapist?”

“There’s a connection. He was a plumber who did a service call in her house a few weeks prior to the rape.”

“That could be a coincidence.”

“There’s also a lot about the two cases that’s similar. In both cases, he was waiting in the house for the victims, he had a knife, and there were no signs of a break-in. We also found an ape suit in his closet.”

“An ape suit,” Macahan repeated.

“Full body. Have you ever come across that before?”

“Rapists who wear animal costumes? Yeah, I’ve seen that before. I arrested a guy who dressed up like a bear and raped little boys. The rapist admitted to me, to prove that he was just a normal guy with normal urges, that he was part of a group of software designers that held furry parties.”

“What are furry parties?”

“Gatherings where everybody dresses up as animals and jerk off. One of the other guys at this furry party dressed up like a dog and had three Labradors at home that he sexually abused. We arrested him for bestiality. Here’s a fun fact: I read a study about furries—people who get off wearing animal costumes—and the researcher says that twenty-five percent of ’em believe they aren’t entirely human and wish they could become completely inhuman.”

She was glad she didn’t have Macahan’s job. “Sounds like the guy you caught, and the one I have in a cell, succeeded in that goal.”

“If you clear the Denhoff case with yours,” he said, “I’ll owe you one, Deathfist.”

“You can start by calling me Eve.”

“Let’s wait and see if you pull off the doubleheader.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Esther Sondel was a widow in her mideighties with some kind of bone disease that had nearly bent her in half. But she still spent two or three months a year traveling around the world.

“I may not have the body I once had,” Esther had told the LASD detective who’d taken her initial burglary report, “but I still have my head.”