CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
He watched her through the glass, pretending he was looking at the printouts advertising all the local homes for sale in the window. There were some nice ones, at least, that he might have lingered on if he really was in the market for a new home.
Not that he’d had to cultivate the impression that he was. She, Cherry, was admin assistant here in the real estate office, so he always knew that he could see her if he wanted to. He just had to drop by and look in the window. He could even go inside if he wanted to be nearer to her. But there was no need.
After all, he didn’t know her from the work that she did. He hadn’t had any reason to visit this office before, and so if it had been from that, they never would have met. No, Cherry was someone he knew from his own line of work, unlike the other girls. Their connection had started in a completely different way. She’d been the one to come to him.
That made her special, it really did. They were all special in their own different ways, but he loved the fact that Cherry was someone he knew from work. He wasn’t just a customer to her like he was to the others. Actually, if anything, it was the other way around.
Not that Cherry could ever be described as ‘just’ anything. That would have been an understatement of her value to the highest degree.
Of course, it wasn’t like he ever really thought she’d noticed him. He wasn’t stupid enough to have those kinds of fantasies. He knew what he was, and he knew what she was. So far out of his league. She would never normally have given him the time of day, and if she glanced up now and saw him looking in, he reckoned she might not even recognize him.
She stood to move across the office with some files, and he admired the smart way she walked, the way she swayed from side to side in her heels. They did have a connection, even if she wasn’t as aware of it as he was. It was there. And soon, he was going to make sure that that connection was complete.
He moved on from the window, judging that he had probably spent enough time standing there. Any longer, and people might start to get suspicious. He couldn’t risk that, not now.
People were looking at each other these days. Wondering. They knew that there was a killer among their ranks, and they all wanted to be the one to figure out who. Either for protection, or for glory. He wasn’t going to let that happen by doing something stupid and suspicious that would get fingers pointed in his direction – not when it was so easy to slip under the radar and just go on as he always had.
And it wasn’t just the civilians. He moved down Main Street and noticed the police officer walking along in uniform, hands at his sides, surveying everyone with a casual yet alert manner. There were more and more of them out on the streets the last few days, it seemed. Patrols had become more regular. He’d seen the same cop car drive by at least three times since he started his afternoon stroll. They were just going around and around, desperate to catch any hint of a clue.
He was going to have to be extra careful tonight. Taking a day out of his schedule would confuse them at least a little, he hoped. If he waited until tomorrow, everyone would be so on edge and nervous that he would have very little chance of doing what he needed to do. At least, without getting caught.
And if he got caught halfway through? Well, that was even worse. To start without finishing would make a mockery of the whole thing.
He mentally rehearsed his plans, trying to test them for any points of weakness. It was imperative that he finish. Cherry didn’t know him yet, but she would soon – so soon. And given how special he was, he wasn’t going to let anything interrupt him before that happened.
He walked onwards down the street, feeling the budding excitement of another connection ready to be made. Tonight was going to be special.
Tonight, Cherry was going to connect with him in ways she couldn’t even possibly imagine right now.