The Child's Plan by Audrey Walker (books to read this summer .TXT) 📗

die. There was a thirst in him – a thirst for love, affection, and warmth. He was just an innocent child who wanted to be loved. And yet, Robin knew he had something dark in him. He had been traumatized, cursed, and molded by his past.

“Can you tell me more stories of you and your sister?” he asked softly.

“You really like them, huh?” Robin asked.

“They are just like the ones my mama told me,” he said. “About herself and her sister, E–.”

Robin’s eyes shot open, her heart thundering and her ears ringing.

“What happened?” she shouted. “I was remembering! I was finally–.”

“We have to get out of here!” Kyle said. “She had an alarm bell somewhere. She called the police! We have to go now!”

He dragged Robin back to the window, and the two of them jumped out. As they started to run, the sound of the police sirens got closer. They ran into the darkness of night, just managing to escape being caught. As she ran, Robin felt despair erode her heart. With the interrupted hypnosis, she hadn’t found anything. In the end, it had proven to be a needless risk, and she still had no clues or leads.

She had no hope.

Chapter Ten

“I am giving up,” Robin said after a while.

They had found a new motel room to stay in, one that was far out of the city. After all, the police would be on the hunt for her, and the city was too dangerous now.

“Giving up?” Kyle asked.

“I have no clues,” Robin said. “No leads. I don’t know what to do anymore. Even if I find out the child’s identity, he could be someone else by now. He would have taken another name. How will I find him? How will I track him? It would be better for me if I got another identity and managed to get out of the country and start a new life.”

“What about clearing your name?” Kyle asked.

“There is no hope,” Robin said. “Tell me, Kyle. Tell me what I can do next. Tell me you have some idea, some lead. Anything at all.”

“We have the mother’s picture,” Kyle said. “We can get some information, perhaps–.”

“And how does that help us?” Robin asked. “As I said, he would have taken another name by now, I am sure.”

“Let’s see what we know about him,” Kyle said. “We know he is emotional and sentimental. Look at all the places the killer picked. He clearly is doing all of this just for you. He must have become obsessed with you in that basement. You were his savior. The only one to love and care for him. In his own twisted mind, he must be thanking you.”

“No,” Robin whispered. “This is about revenge. Some promise I didn’t keep. He blames me for something, but I don’t know what. I am telling you this is useless. We will never manage to track him down. And on top of it all, we will never get the proof we need. If we still had the police resources, maybe we could have done something. Maybe we could have reconstructed his face, guessed what he looked like now, and alerted the people to look out for him. But we don’t have that anymore. I don’t even remember much. His green eyes could be covered with contacts, and he could disguise the rest of the features. No, I give up.”

Kyle’s phone rang, and he frowned at the caller ID before picking it up.

“What is it?” he said.

He listened for a minute, and then he sat up, shocked.

“What did you say?” he said. “Another one?”

Robin looked at him anxiously as he listened and then said, “Thank you.”

“That was one of my old friends at the station,” Kyle said. “They just got the news. There has been another murder.”

__

“It seems Detective Matthews,” the reporter said. “a.k.a, the Executioner, has struck again. The dead body of a young woman named Nancy was found at Grimoire Street's corner; her severed head was left hanging from the lamp. The police are on a nationwide hunt for the killer, but they seem to be making little progress. Just last night, the detective broke into the renowned psychiatrist's house, Doctor Emily Stewart, accompanied by one other man. The police suspect this may be Detective Kyle Grange, but they seem reluctant to comment on it. This is just another confirmation of the fact that the detective is the serial killer. The murders stopped after she was arrested and have started again with her escape. The CCTV footage shows no results, and there are no witnesses who have spotted her. Which begs the question, how can she escape the net the police have laid around her? Is she truly a genius, or are the police that incompetent?”

“He is trying to fish me out,” Robin whispered. “He wants me to come out of hiding. He is hoping that if he starts murdering again, I will be forced to take some action.”

“You can’t give up,” Kyle said. “You know you can’t. Not if he is killing again. If you go away, he will just continue his spree. Innocent lives will be lost, Robin.”

“I know,” Robin said.

“What are you doing?” Robin cried, watching helplessly as the child clutched a poor bird in his fist.

“If you can save him,” he whispered. “Then do it.”

Robin wrestled against the chains that held her, trying to reach that poor bird as it chirped loudly. The innocent creature was struggling, its shrill voice begging for mercy.

Robin felt the shackles cut into her skin as she struggled against her constraints. She felt blood trickling down her arms as she tried just to reach the bird, even though she knew there was no hope.

A sickening crunch echoed in the air, and the bird stopped struggling, its voice silenced forever.

“Why did you do that?” Robin asked the child.

“I wanted to see how far one would go,” he whispered, his eyes fixed on the blood flowing from Robin’s injured wrist, “to save the life