Read Online Killer Dreams by Iris Johansen - Free Book Online Page A

this neighborhood is as sleepy as it looks before I take him to the car.”
    “Do you have to—” Sophie started again. “Isn’t there some way we can get him out of my house without throwing him into a swamp to rot?”
    “Yes,” Royd said. “Would you like me to just toss him on Sanborne’s front lawn? It would be my pleasure.”
    He’d do it, Sophie realized, and with every bit of the savage enjoyment she saw in his expression. “I can see that.”
    “But it wouldn’t be smart,” Royd said. “A slap in the face is a warning and I don’t want to give Sanborne and Boch any warning. I’m the one who killed Caprio and I don’t need anything in my way. So we’ll get rid of Caprio because not to do it might give Sanborne an edge. He might find a way to twist the attempt and incriminate you. With his money and influence it’s possible.” He started to turn away. “And before you start feeling sorry about getting rid of that scum I believe I should show you something I found on the floor of your bedroom.” He was gone for only a minute and when he returned he threw two objects on the coffee table. “He came prepared.”
    She stared down at the rope. “Nooses?”
    “The knife was an afterthought. Caprio obviously wasn’t nearly as well trained as Jock and me. He lost his temper and his focus. He was sent to hang you and make it look like an accident. But there were two nooses. What does that tell you?”
    “Michael?” she whispered.
    “An unstable woman who kills her only child and then herself. You’d think it would be more likely for you to poison your son but Sanborne isn’t very clever about emotional reactions. I suppose considering your background the nooses aren’t entirely unreasonable.” He said over his shoulder to Jock, “I’ll finish the cleanup and be ready in ten minutes. Make sure it’s safe for me.” He gave Sophie a glance. “We’ll talk when I get back.”
    She watched him go down the hall before she turned to Jock. “I should help if it has to be done.”
    “And leave Michael alone?” Jock looked down at the nooses. “Royd could have spared you those ugly little objects.” He picked up the nooses and threw them in the wastebasket in the corner.
    “He doesn’t want to spare me anything,” Sophie said wearily. “I can’t blame him. What can I do to help, Jock?”
    “Stay here and take care of your son.” Jock shook his head as he headed for the front door. “We know what we’re doing. You’d get in our way.”
    She watched in helpless frustration as the door shut behind him.
    No, she couldn’t leave Michael, but she was letting Jock incriminate himself by helping her, and she’d never wanted that to happen.
    And Royd. She should feel just as bad about letting Matt Royd run a risk. After all, he had saved her life when he’d killed Caprio. Yet it was difficult to feel either guilt or gratitude where Royd was concerned. He was too hard, too sharp, and his attitude toward her was antagonistic in the extreme.
    And who could blame him? she thought. She was lucky Jock didn’t feel the same way. From the moment she had heard about Garwood she had been in an agony of self-recrimination. She had hurt those men, all of them, in ways too terrible to imagine.
    But she did think and imagine and wonder. She couldn’t stop. She didn’t think she could ever stop.
    Until she stopped Robert Sanborne.
     
    Jock came back into the house almost immediately after they’d carried Caprio to Royd’s car.
    “I thought you were going with him,” Sophie said.
    “So did I. Royd said there was no use both of us being at risk when he could take care of it by himself. He didn’t like leaving you alone.”
    “It’s hard to believe that would bother him. He’s not like you.”
    “Yes and no. We have a good deal in common. When he came to see me a year ago, I felt a kind of bonding. We belong to a very exclusive club.”
    She had sensed that tie when she had sat at the table with