Sarah Hartman switched the radio station in her car to something a little more upbeat.She was affected by her surroundings, and she found that when she was among positive people, she was far happier.Surrounded by people with negative outlooks or who picked others apart, she began to feel the same way.
She needed a pick-me-up that late afternoon as she drove home.She had surrounded herself with too much negativity of late, and she needed a change.So, she switched from the heavy rock station to the pop music station.
As soon as she did, her spirit was uplifted.
Is that K-Pop?
She wasn’t able to keep up with the new genres of music that were popping up.The only thing she knew for sure was that she liked it.She bopped her head from side to side as she drove home.
When she turned onto her street, she almost didn't notice the police car parked outside her house.She was five houses away when she spotted it, and she froze.Her mind froze.Her body worked of its own accord, and she almost swerved into a parked car to her right.
Sarah gasped for breath and turned into the space in front of the car she had almost hit.She watched as two police officers exited the car and walked toward her front door.She didn't wait to see if they would go in.If they were there, it was for a reason, and she had no time to waste.Sarah looked at the rear-view mirror, adjusting it to see herself.
They want to stop me, but they can’t.Not now.
Sarah took a deep breath to calm herself, then turned the wheel and pulled a U-turn.She adjusted the mirror again, looking behind to see them knocking on her door.She calmly drove from her home, knowing she could never return there.
She didn't need to.She would need to find somewhere else to stage her base of operation, but for now, she had to go to him.As she drove, Sarah looked down at the passenger seat and saw the photograph of Dr.Connor.She lifted the printout carefully to view the knife underneath.She had cleaned it well, and the metal looked new, but she knew it still held the taste of blood from her four previous victims.
Soon, you will hold a fifth.
She had memorized the address, and she drove straight there.There was no plan now.She only had to reach him, and if she had to kill him in the middle of the street, then it would be justice served.
As she drove, she tuned back into the music on the radio, which helped calm her.It was a race against time now, and she was glad she had taken the picture of Connor.If they went into her home, they would find all of her past and future victims laid out on the wall, but they wouldn’t know she was going after Dr.Connor.
Sarah bobbed her head to the side again as she listened to the music, not understanding any of the words but feeling happy.
It didn't take long to reach Dr.Connor’s home, and she was delighted to see the light on in the front window and his car in the drive.She had something special planned for him.After all, he was the one who had made the ultimate mistake.It was bad enough that they had admitted him to that stinking facility after he had killed two people, one of them a child, no less, but to let him go after only five years.It was unthinkable that they would do such a thing.She loved her brother more than anyone in the world, and she hated him in equal measure.
Sarah parked on the street outside his home, and when she got out of her car, she spotted him in his living room through the front window, talking on the phone.Sarah waited until he had his back to the window before she crept into his front yard and got close enough to hear him through the small upper window that was open on the front of the house.
"No, I’m fine," Dr.Connor said."I just got home, but I appreciate the concern.No, I never treated her, so I can't comment on how dangerous she might be.I will stay at home and wait for you to get here and pick me up.Thank you for your call, Special Agent Sullivan."
Sarah grimaced and ducked under the window, circling around the house to the back.She couldn’t knock on the door now that he’d been warned.
It would seem that some people in law enforcement are smarter than others.Either I find a way in and take him to deliver what he deserves, or I come back for him later.I’ll leave that up to the hands of fate.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
"What do you mean he’s gone?"Alison asked.
"I don’t know how else to put it," Moore said with clear annoyance."I just got the call.The patrol car just returned to Dr.Connor’s house, and he wasn’t there.The lights are on, and his car is in the drive, but no one’s home.Maybe he’s involved somehow, and we just tipped him off."
"No," Alison said."His picture should have been on the wall in there, but it wasn’t.And we’ve had cop cars going back and forth to this house and his house today.She got to him first."
"Why didn't she kill him in his home?"Moore asked.
"She didn't come back and take his photograph from the wall," Alison thought out loud, "which means she took that with her previously, so Connor was always the next target.She must have come back at one point, seen the cops, and known she had to make a move.She must have got lucky.Somewhere between when Derek spoke to him and the patrol car got back there, Sarah got to his house.There’s no sign of a break in?"
"No forced entry.The cops broke down the door there, just like they broke it down here, but he wasn’t inside, and there was no sign of a struggle."
"She got to the house," Alison mused, "and she gained entry, maybe an open window, or the door was unlocked.She had her knife with her and got him out of the house and into her car.Then she drove off with him."
"Where to?"Moore asked."She’s only killed them where she found them before."
"This has to be an important one to her," Alison said."Perhaps she even knew Dr.Connor from her time at the facility.He was the one who got her brother killed.He was the one who let her brother go after five years when she testified at his trial.If she’s not killing him at home, then where would she go?"
"Anywhere," Moore said."If she knows we’re onto her, she’ll want to do it as quickly as possible."