Double Blind (31 page)

“I went to the jewelry store where he got it. They told me.”

“What? I don't—”

“Just believe me, okay? It's true.”

“Whether I believe you or not, you have no business being there.”

“The cops for sure won't believe me. If I drive away from here and Patti disappears, I'll never forgive myself.
I
was almost strangled to death, remember? I know what it's like. I can't let some other woman go through that!”

Sherry made a sound of disbelief in her throat. “Even if you're right—what could you do to stop it?”

“I don't know.”

“You can't have much strength right now.”

“I don't.” Tears fell on my cheeks.

“Lisa. Go home. If Hilderbrand catches you stalking him, he'll have you arrested. Is that what you want?”

A blue Corvette turned left onto the bottom of Amethyst.
Patti's car.

Air stilled in my lungs. She would cut between the median sections not far from where I sat.

I flicked off my car's engine and flung myself over the console, head almost on the passenger seat.

“Sherry.” My voice muffled. “She's here. Patti. Driving up the street.”

“Oh, no. Lisa, don't—”

“She's come. I
told
you!”

What should I do, what should I
do
?

I heard the Corvette rev up the street, closer . . . closer. I squeezed my eyes shut.

The sound shifted. For a second it seemed to stop. Was Patti staring at my car? Did she somehow know it was mine? Surely she couldn't see me.

I gripped the phone and prayed.

The Corvette's engine receded. Cautiously I raised my head. Patti was headed down toward Hilderbrand's house.

“Lisa, what's happening?”

“She's stopping outside his house.” The far left garage door began to open. Patti must have her own remote for it. “She's driving inside the garage!”

“Fine. This is your chance to get out of there without being seen.”

I sat up. Turned on the engine and checked the clock. It was 5:11.

Panic swelled in my chest. “He's going to kill her
now
! By 5:35 he's cleaning off the knife.”

“Lisa, get hold of yourself. You know this isn't true.”

I should know that. I really should. “But they're his plans!”

“Fine. Whatever. Plans can change. Why should he time the murder so exactly?
Think
what you're saying. None of this makes sense.”

She was right. It made no sense at all. But here they were at Hilderbrand's house. On this date. At the right time.

“Lisa, do you hear me! Get out of there right now. If Hilderbrand catches you on his property, he'll call the police. You'll end up in jail. Is
that
what you want?”

Why wouldn't Sherry believe me? Why wouldn't
anyone
believe me? If my own mother was here right now, even she'd think I'd gone off a cliff.

“Lisa!”

“Gotta go, Sherry.” I punched off the line and threw the cell on the passenger seat.

I watched the door Patti had driven into. It wasn't closing. Was she still sitting in her car?

Maybe she'd left the door open because she planned to leave again soon. But she wouldn't walk out of there, would she. She'd leave in a suitcase.

God, show me what to do!

In my mind I heard the
zzziiip
. Saw Patti's bloody body disappear under the suitcase's cover. Terror flamed through me. I had to stop this.

I drove down the street past Hilderbrand's house. Stopped one door down and cut the engine.

My cell phone went off.

I opened the door and got out of the car on rubbery legs. My pulse whooshed in my ears. Part of me couldn't believe I was doing this.

My phone kept ringing. Sherry, no doubt. I shoved the car door closed.

Up the street I tottered. Turned left into Hilderbrand's driveway. I could see Patti's Corvette parked straight ahead of me. No sign of her.

I crossed the threshold into the garage.

The space next to Patti's car was empty. And to the far right—Hilderbrand's SUV.

Halfway through the garage I stopped, staring at the door that I knew led into Hilderbrand's kitchen. With the stainless steel appliances and hardwood floor. The butcher block of knives to the right of the sink. Patti, stabbed and strangled, would soon lie on the floor. I saw her glazed eyes, the blood from her mouth—and nearly toppled over.

I reached the wall by the door. Leaned against it.

Now what? I couldn't go in there. But I had to. If I didn't, Patti would die. If I did, how could I stop Hilderbrand? I had no strength at all.

Sherry was right. I shouldn't be here.

No, she was even more right than that. I'd gone flat-out insane.

My feet shuffled to turn me around—and I heard it through the door. Patti's voice, yelling the very words I'd heard so many times in my head.

“Why can't you stop cheating on me? You're nothing but a liar! I'll tell them all what you really are. I'll make you pay!”

“Shut up!”

“I'll leave you, how will you like that? You can't kick me around like some dog!”

My brain reeled. I knew what followed. Could see it happening, even now. Hilderbrand's hands closing around her neck—

I grasped the knob of the kitchen door and flung it open.

Chapter 37

I barreled into the kitchen I knew so well and slid
to a halt.

The very sight of it flushed me with cold. Like stepping into a nightmare. In a split second I took in the sink, the floor. The sliding glass door out to a lush backyard.

Choking sounds emanated from beyond the room. So loud. Louder than in my visions.

My hand jerked to let the door slam. I stopped, then eased it half closed without sound. My mind shrieked at me to sprint toward Hilderbrand, scream for him to stop. But that would do little good. I had to think.

I had no time to think.

My eyes fastened on the butcher block across the room. I hurried to it and slid out a large knife. It looked like the one Hilderbrand had used.

The horrible choking sounds grew even louder. They filled the house, my head.

I made for the door on the left—the one I'd seen him drag Patti through. Then stopped.

The sounds weren't coming from that direction. They were supposed to come from the living room at the other end of the house. These seemed to come from this side.

A heavy thump. Patti's body hitting the floor?

I gripped the knife handle and ran on cat feet through the door straight ahead.

I hit an expansive hallway. On the far left was a staircase. The sounds were coming from ahead of me and to the right, beyond a large arched entrance. I looked through it and saw carpet. The back edge of a couch.

My heart skidded sideways, and my body shook. I couldn't do this. Hilderbrand would kill me, too.

I
had
to save Patti.

I forced myself forward until I stood even with the door. My gaze swiveled into the room. I knew the scene I would see, was already bracing against it.

Across from me, mounted on the wall sat a huge TV. On its screen—the familiar and horrible sights and sounds from my own brain, the volume turned up high. Patti, lying on the living room floor in her jeans and blue top. Not moving. Hilderbrand's heavy breathing as he bent over her.

But the real Hilderbrand sat on the sofa watching the TV, his back to me. Patti, in a black top, sat beside him, eyes also glued to the scene.

Air backed up in my throat. The knife loosened in my hand.

On the TV screen I saw the next sequence, as if through Hilderbrand's eyes. Up came his arm as he wiped it across his mouth. His breathing steadied.

On the floor, Patti moved.

Hilderbrand cursed and grabbed her feet. Roughly dragged her out of the room—

The real Hilderbrand's arm moved. On the TV the scene froze, as if someone had punched the pause button.

“See.” Hilderbrand pointed at the screen. “All these sequences I looped over and over, and that's just how she saw them. But the last one didn't work as well.”

What?
What . . . ?

Numbness spread through my limbs. I don't know how I kept standing. My mind couldn't process what I was seeing. The truth—but not the truth. The scenes were from my brain chip. How could these two people be watching them on TV?

Hilderbrand's arm moved again. The TV scene jumped to life—his hands pulling Patti into the kitchen. Grabbing the knife—the one I now held. Kneeling over her, arching the weapon down toward her chest. He closed his eyes before the blade split her open.

My jaw slacked. He closed his eyes . . .

I'd never seen the knife stab her.

Then a close-up of Patti filled the screen. Blood on her blouse, coming from her mouth . . .

“Ooh, it's so real.” The Patti on the couch shuddered and looked away.

My body went limp. Darkness swirled through my vision. Before I could stop it, the knife slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor.

Hilderbrand and Patti whipped around.

For one eternal second, my eyes met Hilderbrand's.
Don't faint, don't faint,
my brain screamed. I had to run. Had to get out of there. Had to . . .

In the same instant I fell, Hilderbrand jumped to his feet.

Chapter 38

“how
did she get in here?” A man's voice raged above me.

“I don't know.” A female, frightened. “I guess I left the garage door open.”

What . . . ?

My eyes opened.

I lay on a hardwood floor. Hilderbrand's house. It all rushed back.

Hilderbrand towered over my feet, Patti cringing away from him. I tried to move but fear weighed me down.

He punched her hard on the shoulder. She stumbled against the wall. “Why did you leave it open?”

Patti's face creased in pain. She held her arm where she'd been hit. “I wasn't going to stay, remember? You're the one who told me to watch that thing with you.”

Hilderbrand's face flamed red. He raised his fist. “You've done it now. You have really done it.”

Patti's hands flew to her face. Hilderbrand's arm cocked back to punch her.

My limbs unlocked. I kicked him hard in the shin.

“Ahh!” Hilderbrand's arms flew out. He grabbed his shin, then surged toward me, still bent over. His pulse beat a purple vein in his forehead. His lips pulled back. “I'll
kill
you.”

“No!” Patti reached for his arm. He shoved her away.

Hilderbrand grabbed my shoulders. Lifted me off the floor. “Get up.”

The stitches in my head pounded. I flailed at him, terror spilling from my mouth.
Jesus, help me!

“Get
up
!” Hilderbrand lifted me higher. If he dropped me now my skull would crack open.

“Leave her alone!” Patti thrust her hands beneath my head.

“Help me get her up.” Hilderbrand's teeth clenched.

“What are you going to do to her?”

“What do you
think
I'm going to do?” Spittle flew from his mouth.

“You
can't
.”

“You got a better idea?
You
killed her, Patti. You let her get in the house. She
saw
the tape.”

Hilderbrand yanked me all the way up. My legs scrambled for footing. I nearly went back down. Hilderbrand hung on to my arms and pushed me against the wall. He stuck his face in mine. I could smell his breath.

“Why did you come here?”

Words clogged in my throat. In my mind I saw his hands around Patti's neck. Around
my
neck.

“Why?”

“I th-thought you were going to kill her.”

“Who?”

“Patti.”

Hilderbrand smirked. “And why would you think that?”