Taken! Alphabet Series - 26 Original Taken! Tales (Donald Wells' Taken! Series Book 14) Read Online Free Page B

thoroughly from the kill kit he always brought with him, before discarding his stolen vehicle and setting it aflame.
    There had been four male victims to go along with the women he’d killed, but Haines never counted them. They had all been dispatched as quickly as possible so that Haines could concentrate on the women.
    It was the women he loved to kill, the look of terror in their eyes, their screams, the pleading, and the blood, the warm, sensuous blood,
    His kill kit, which was actually a duffel bag, also contained several pairs of women’s shoes. He always took the shoes of his victims, while leaving others behind to take their place. Along with the shoes, he would also cut off a piece of whatever clothing the shoes matched. Tonight’s kill wore shoes that matched not only her dress, but also the ribbon in her hair.
    Haines smiled. He would take the ribbon as well, but only after he used it to choke the bitch into submission, and what a pleasure that would be, to make her beg, to see the fear in her eyes, to own her, to take her.
    He roused himself from his reverie and watched as the woman spurned a young man’s advances.
    When she walked over to her car alone, he smiled. This one would be easy without a man to kill, and would give him that much more time to play his bloody games.
    He followed the woman out of the parking lot, knowing that he would soon have her alone, to do with as he pleased.
    ***
    T he woman’s car died in the perfect spot, although sooner than he would have guessed.
    They were on a dirt road with only the full moon overhead to view what was about to take place.
    He slipped out of the car while brandishing his knife and, to his surprise, the girl stepped out of her vehicle and smiled at him.
    He checked her hands, certain that she must be holding a firearm to be so bold, but no, her hands were empty. The smile unnerved him. He was six-foot-four and well over two-hundred pounds, an imposing figure even without the knife, especially to a woman alone on a midnight road, and yet, this one was smiling at him.
    “They call me The Roadside Slasher,” Haines said, hoping to evoke a look of terror upon her face.
    The woman’s smile widened as she gestured at herself.
    “It’s the color coordination that attracts you, isn’t it?”
    “What?”
    “All of your victims wore clothes that were color coordinated, particularly the shoes, which is why you take them as souvenirs.”
    Haines cocked his head.
    “Are you a cop?”
    “No, I’m a psychiatrist. My name is Dr. Jessica White.”
    Haines began to laugh.
    “Oh, let me guess, you think that you can psychoanalyze your way out of this, no?”
    “No, I can see that you’re beyond help and that you won’t stop killing until someone stops you, and that’s why we’re here.”
    “What we ? I watched you come and go from the bar all alone, you’re all alone and now you’re going to die.”
    Haines marched towards her, but stopped cold, as a voice spoke from directly behind him.
    “Drop the knife.”
    Haines whirled around just as the tall man swung the bat and fractured his left kneecap. The knife fell to the ground an instant before he followed it and cried out in agony as the next blow broke his right arm.
    As the man kicked away the knife, the woman walked over with a phone in her hands.
    “Where the hell did you come from, mister? I know there was nobody else in that car.”
    The man stared down at him and Haines looked away, unable to bear his intense gaze.
    “I was in the car with you, on the floor behind the seats.”
    “What?”
    “I climbed in there while you were damaging the linkage on the other car.”
    “You... you were in my car? All that time?”
    “Yes.”
    Jessica spoke into the phone.
    “Agent Garrett, this is Jessica White... Yes sir, but it’s more than a theory. We caught him, we caught the Slasher.”
    Jessica listened for a moment.
    “Yes sir, I’m certain it’s the right man. He tampered with my vehicle and came