Her anger was back. Good. It was actually easier for him to deal with than the fear and hurt. But unfortunately, he was going to have to tell her something that would bring the fear back with a vengeance.
“Yesterday, I got this.” Weston took the paper from his pocket and turned on the light so she could better see it. “It’s the eighth letter he’s sent me. It’s a copy, not the original, so it’s okay for you to handle it.”
She didn’t take it at first. Addie just volleyed glances between him and the paper before she finally eased it out of his hand, taking it only by the corner as if she didn’t want to touch too much of it.
Since Weston knew every word that was written there, he watched Addie’s reaction. The shock.
And yes, the fear.
“‘Tell Addie that it’s time for me to end what I started thirty years ago,’” she read aloud. She paused. “‘I can’t have a little girl’s memories coming back to haunt me.’”
Her gaze skirted over the words again. She cleared her throat before her gaze came back to his.
“This is why you asked if I remembered anything,” Addie said. “I don’t,” she quickly added.
“And you don’t remember that?” He tipped his head to the scar on her cheek.
“No.” She handed him back the letter. “Did he cut the other women he killed like this?”
Weston settled for a nod. “That was kept out of the reports to the press, too. Only a handful of people know that he cut them first. Then strangled them.”
“I see.” Her mouth tightened a moment. “I’d always hoped I got the scar from a tree branch or something.”
Yes, since that was far better than the alternative. Because that scar on her face meant the Moonlight Strangler had already gone after her once. When she was just three years old.
Now he was coming for her again.
“The killer could be worried that you remembered something in that hypnosis session,” Weston said. “Or that you might remember something in the future. The FBI wants to do more sessions with you, right?”
She nodded, confirming what he already knew. Nearly every law enforcement agency in the state as well as the FBI wanted to keep pressing her to remember.
“We don’t have much time,” Weston continued. “He usually strikes on the night of a full or half moon. Like tonight.”
Her attention drifted to the window where she could see that the sun was only minutes away from setting. Something else flashed through her eyes. Not fear this time. But major concern.
“My mother’s in the house. And the ranch hands—”
Weston stepped in front of her to keep her from leaving. “They’re okay. For now. It’s you he wants, and, other than me, he hasn’t attacked or hurt anyone else when he murdered his victims.”
Of course, since Addie was his daughter, the killer might make a really big exception. That was what Weston had to guard against.
She frantically shook her head. “Has he ever named victims before he killed them?”
“Never.”
“Then you have no way of knowing that he won’t go after my mother. Heck, my entire family.” A clipped sob tore from her throat. “I can’t let him get to them.”
“I’ve already arranged for someone to watch the road leading to the ranch. I won’t let him hurt them.” Weston hoped that was a promise he could keep. He didn’t have a good track record when it came to stopping this vicious killer.
“Who?” she pressed.
“Friends I can trust. I didn’t want to involve the Rangers in this because I’m trying to set a trap for the killer, and I didn’t want him hearing about it. But these friends are armed, and they’ll let me know if he tries to get to you.”
That was part of the plan anyway.
But not all of it.
“I don’t just want to scare off the Moonlight Strangler,” Weston explained. “I want to catch him. Tonight.”
Addie froze. Then her breath shivered. “You want to use me to draw him out.”
“Yes.” Hard for Weston to admit that, but it was the truth. “We know he’ll probably come here, and since he doesn’t know that I’ve contacted you—”
“What if the letter is a hoax?” she interrupted. “I mean, why tell you what he’s going to do? He must know that as a Texas Ranger you’d try to warn me.”
“That’s not the only reason I would have warned you.” Judging from the hard look she gave him, she didn’t believe it.
He took out the copy of the second letter. “It came the same time as the other one, but it was a different envelope.” Weston unfolded it, held it up for Addie to see. “If you try to save Addie, I’ll kill Isabel and you,” he read.
“Isabel?” she asked.
“My kid sister. She’s in medical school. I’ve already had her put in protective custody. Now the next step is doing the same for you, but that’s why I snuck onto the ranch. I didn’t want the killer to know I’d come here. It might have provoked him or sent him into a rage.”
Not that a serial killer didn’t already have enough rage. Still, Weston had wanted to try to control the situation as much as he could.
The silence came. Addie, staring at him. Obviously trying to make sense of this. He wanted to tell her there was nothing about this that made sense because they were dealing with a very dangerous, very crazy man.
“Oh, God,” she finally said.
Now her fear was sky-high, and Weston held his breath. He didn’t expect Addie to go blindly along with a plan to stop her father. But she did want to stop the Moonlight Strangler from claiming another victim.
Weston was counting heavily on that.
However, Addie shook her head. “I can’t help you.”
That sure wasn’t the reaction Weston had expected. He’d figured Addie was as desperate to end this as he was.
She squeezed her eyes shut a moment. “I’ll get my mother, and we can go to the sheriff’s office. Two of my brothers are there, and they can make sure this monster stays far away from us.”
“You’ll be safe at the sheriff’s office,” Weston agreed, “but you can’t stay there forever. Neither can your family. Eventually, you’ll have to leave, and the killer will come after you.”
“That can’t happen!” Addie groaned and looked up at the ceiling as if she expected some kind of divine help. “I can’t be in that kind of danger.”
Weston tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. Hard to do, though, with the emotions swirling like a tornado inside him. “I’m sorry. If there was another way to stop him, then I wouldn’t have come here. I know I don’t have a right to ask, but I need your help.”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t? Convince me why,” Weston snapped. “Because I’m not getting this. You must want this killer off the street. It’s the only way you’ll ever be truly safe.”
Addie opened her mouth. Closed it. And she stared at him. “I’d planned on telling you. Not like this. But if I ever saw you again, I intended to tell you.”
There was a new emotion in her voice and on her face. One