Read Online Out of Reach: A Novel by Patricia Lewin - Free Book Online

to count. Not that he wanted to get caught. That was another absurd notion of the pop psychologists. He just expected there to be more of a thrill, more of a challenge, and it had been a long time since he’d experienced either.
    Maybe it was time to quit.
    It wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed his mind. A couple of years ago, he’d bought some property in the western North Carolina mountains. He planned to have a cabin built, maybe build it himself. He’d always been good with his hands, and he expected he could learn the rest. It would keep him busy, keep the tedium at bay. For a while at least.
    First, though, he had a job to finish.
    As he worked his way through the crowd, toward the police barrier, he caught snatches of conversations.
    “I heard the mother left the little girl alone, sleeping in a stroller,” said one middle-aged woman to another. “I just don’t know what’s wrong with young people these days.”
    “It’s no wonder this type of thing happens,” said the second woman. “Not that I would ever want anything to happen to the child, but this should be a lesson to the mother.”
    “The poor thing,” said the first woman. “Do you think their marriage will survive it? I heard he’s seeing someone on the side.”
    The second shook her head in mock horror. “Oh, no.”
    Isaac smiled to himself. He’d provided these people with their evening’s entertainment. A child was missing, and they’d come out to watch the show. And they would have the nerve to label
him
the monster?
    He moved away from the women. As much as he enjoyed the scene unfolding around him, he had another objective in mind. The girl’s parents. Every now and then, he’d get close to the families of his victims, a sweet taste he didn’t often indulge. However, he needed to shatter the boredom, the tedium that was threatening to overwhelm him lately. The chances were slim that anyone would connect the man he was tonight with the one who’d taken Chelsea Madden, but it was a possibility that made his contact with the family worthwhile and very, very sweet.
    Scanning the scene on the other side of the yellow tape, he made note of its occupants. Besides the parents, off to the side, huddling together on a park bench away from their overly compassionate neighbors, and the half-dozen or so uniforms, a suit leaned against one of the patrol cars, a cell phone to his ear. A fed? He looked familiar, and Isaac experienced a thread of interest as he recognized the man. It was the agent heading up the Cody Sanders investigation. Donovan.
    Isaac hadn’t remained untouched for all these years without knowing his opponents. He’d checked Donovan out, and the man had a good closure rate on child abduction cases. Isaac figured it was just luck that they hadn’t crossed paths before. Perhaps this final job, if it was his final job, would turn out to be more interesting than most.
    As he approached the barricade closest to the cops, he caught the eye of a rookie who stood slightly apart from the gaggle of coffee-drinking veterans.
    The boy came right over. “Can I help you, Father?”
    It was one of Gage’s favorite personas. Put on a collar, and people willingly dropped to their knees. “Actually, Officer, I’m here for the parents of that poor child.”
    “Are you their priest?”
    The kid was sharp. Most cops would have ushered Isaac over without a second question. “No. I don’t even know if they’re Catholic.” Though, of course, he did know. He figured he knew more about the family than they knew about themselves. “But I was close by when I heard the news. I thought they might welcome a man of God.”
    The cop glanced at the couple. “Okay, Father, I’ll ask them.”
    “Thank you.”
    The kid approached the distressed parents, looking awkward and uncomfortable. He spoke with them briefly, then nodded in Isaac’s direction. The woman turned tear-streaked eyes his way and beckoned him over with one beseeching