Rosary girls

69

… is bright and warm and inviting, a solitary ember in the dying coals of dusk.

He sits outside in a vehicle, sheltered from the rain. In his hands is a rosary. He thinks about Lauren Semanski, and how she got away. She was the fifth girl, the fifth mystery, the final piece in his masterwork.

But Jessica is here. He has business with her, too.

Jessica and her little girl.

He checks the items he has prepared: the hypodermic needles, the carpenter's chalk, the sail maker's needle and thread.

He prepares to step into the wicked night…

The imagery came and went, teasing with clarity, like the vision of a drowning man looking up from the bottom of a chlorinated pool.

The pain in Byrne's head was fierce. He walked out of ICU and into the parking lot, got into his car. He checked his weapon. Rain pelted his windshield.

He started his car and headed to the expressway.