He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not

out to be a Good Samaritan, Logan. I’m not.” Far from it . “I had already graduated and had a job. It was the logical decision. But it was still early in my career and I didn’t have much money. Mom and Dad had still been helping me here and there. With them gone I needed a little extra cash, so I looked in the paper for a roommate.”
    “Dana put an ad in the paper.”
    “Yes. She was going to the local technical college and needed someone to help with expenses, so I rented a room from her.”
    “Apartment, right?”
    She nodded. “Her last roommate skipped on the rent. Dana was getting desperate.”
    “Didn’t she have family?”
    “Her mom and dad. But Dana made a lot of poor choices, burned her bridges. Her parents were trying tough love, trying to wake her up and get her to stand on her own feet. They were devastated when she was killed, blamed themselves for not helping her more.”
    He asked about her routine with Dana. After answering several questions, she said, “I don’t know why he targeted us, why he chose us.”
    “Figuring that out is my job. You’re doing fine.” He leaned forward with his forearms resting on his knees. “I want to talk about the abduction now.”
    She took a deep breath. “Let’s get it over with.”
    “Tell me about the morning you were abducted.”
    “It was Wednesday. I know that because that’s the only day Dana didn’t have classes. I worked from home, even back then, so my schedule was flexible. Dana wanted to go shopping, so I said I’d go along.”
    “How did you get to the mall?”
    “Dana’s car. She drove.”
    “I know it’s been a long time, but can you remember if anyone followed you?”
    “There wasn’t much traffic. I don’t remember any other cars.”
    “Had anyone called you that morning? Or in the weeks before that? Threatening calls? Hang up calls?”
    “Not that I know of.” She shrugged. “If they called Dana, she never said anything.”
    “Go on.”
    “We parked.” Her hands shook and she swallowed hard. “We parked near the end of the mall parking lot, near the trees and dumpsters. She had vinyl seats that got really hot, so she liked to park in the shade and crack the windows. Anyway, we went into the mall.”
    “Can you remember anyone watching you, following you? Maybe you saw the same person in more than one store.”
    She frowned and mentally traced their trip through the mall, surprised at how easily the details came back, easier than at the station the other day. “No, nothing like that. Everything seemed fine, a perfectly normal day. We bought a few things, stupid stuff—body lotion, a bracelet. Dana bought a pair of yellow polka-dot socks. I bought a pink tank top. We walked out of the mall and I was going to call my sister. That’s when I realized my cell phone wasn’t in my purse. I remembered using it at the last store we were in, so Dana told me she’d get the car and pick me up. I walked back inside to look for my phone.”
    Logan’s fingers tightened around hers, helping ground her, chasing away the shadows.
    “When I came out, her car was still parked at the end of the lot. The trunk lid was up so I thought she was standing behind the car, rearranging all the junk.” She smiled, remembering how much of a slob Dana was.
    “You didn’t see anyone else near the car?”
    “No, not even when I got to the car and went around to the back of it. I expected to see Dana standing there. I called out her name, but no one answered. When I rounded the bumper I saw her lying in the trunk. Before I could react, he zapped me.”
    “Taser.”
    She nodded. “That’s what they told me later anyway. At the time, I didn’t know what had happened. I dropped to the ground. For a few seconds I couldn’t think beyond the pain. Everything was fuzzy. Then he tossed me into the trunk beside Dana, slammed the trunk lid shut.”
    Logan flinched but quickly schooled his features. “Did you see him when he picked you up? Maybe you saw his face for an instant?”
    She chewed her bottom lip as she tried to recall, but it was no use. She’d tried hundreds of times and never could form a clear image in her mind. “I got the impression of a tall, white male. Nothing else.”
    “When he opened the trunk you were at the cabin? This cabin?”
    Her eyes darted around and she shivered. “Yes.”
    “He didn’t stop anywhere on the way?”
    “No.”
    Logan stroked her hand with the pad of his thumb. “Do you want to