Roses Are Red

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three

I called Sampson first and asked him to come out and be with Nana and the kids. Then I raced out to Woodbridge, Virginia, and Betsey's house. I drove the HOV lane all the way at speeds up to a hundred.

I had never been there before, but I didn't have any trouble finding her house. There were cars double-parked everywhere on the street. Several were Crown Victorias and Grand Marquises. I figured most of them were FBI. EMS was there too. I could hear the burping screams of more sirens racing to the murder scene.

I took a deep breath before I walked inside. Suddenly I felt dizzy. Kyle was still there, directing the Bureau's Violent Crime Unit as it began to collect evidence. I shook my head: I doubted they would find much here. They hadn't at crime scenes where the Mastermind had been involved before this.

A few FBI agents were crying. I had cried during the car ride here, but right now I needed to be as clear and focused as possible. This was the only chance I would get to see Betsey's house close to the way the killer had seen it, the way he had left it for us.

It looked as if there had been a break-in. A window in the kitchen had been tampered with. FBI techs were videotaping it now. I couldn't help noticing Betsey's things, her style, her home. On the refrigerator was the Newsweek cover of the American Women's Soccer World Cup champion Brandi Chastain and the headline' Girls Rule!"

The house looked to be close to a hundred years old and was filled with country clutter. Andrew Wyeth paintings, photos of loons in autumn on a gorgeous lake. On a hallway table I noticed a reminder for Betsey's next mandatory shooting qualifier at the FBI range.

Finally, I did the really hard thing, the impossible thing. I walked down a long hallway that led back from the living room. The master bedroom was at the end of the hall. It was easy to tell that she had been murdered there. The FBI's activity centered around the rear bedroom. The murder scene. It had happened right here.

I still hadn't spoken to Kyle, hadn't bothered him, hadn't pulled him away from the VCU team and their search of the place. Maybe we would get lucky this time. And maybe not.

Then I saw Betsey and I lost it. My left hand flew to my face as if it had a mind and will of its own. My legs buckled badly. My entire body shook.

I could hear his goddamn voice ringing inside my head: Oh, and have a nice time ewer at Betsey Cavalierre's. I certainly did.

He had stripped off her night clothes. I didn't see them anywhere in the bedroom. Her body was covered with blood. He'd used a knife this time he'd punished her. There was blood everywhere I looked, but especially between her legs. Her beautiful brown eyes were staring right up at me, but she saw nothing, and never would again.

The medical examiner turned around and saw me standing there. I knew the man, Merrill Snyder. We had successfully worked together before but nothing like this.

"She might have been raped," he whispered "At any rate, he used the knife on her. Maybe he was cutting away evidence. Who the hell knows, Alex. This is sick. You have any ideas?"

"Yes," I said in a low voice. "I want to kill him for this, and I will."