Page 134 of The Woman Who Couldn't Scream
YOUR VACATION DESTINATION ON THE WASHINGTON COAST
HOME OF THE WORLD FAMOUS VIRTUE FALLS CANYON
POPULATION 2487
The July 4th weekend had begun. The day was warm, the sky was clear and Virtue Falls’s sidewalks thronged with happy, sunburned tourists and smug, prosperous locals.
Kateri walked along Main Street, headed downtown toward Town Square Park. She wore a black sheath designer dress topped by a short-sleeved black jacket. Her black flats shoutedexpensive. Her hair had been cut and styled within an inch of its life. She wafted Chanel No. 5 Parfum Grand Extrait in fragrant waves behind her.
Dressed in his signature tailored black jeans and starched white shirt, Stag Denali swung into place beside her. “Been back long?”
“Came here right from SeaTac Airport. Got in town about five minutes ago.” And he’d found her right away. That pleased her more than it should.
“I see your sister took you shopping in Baltimore.”
“Draggedme.”
“That afternoon in your house… I thought you were going to murder her.”
“I wanted to. So badly.” Kateri lifted her hand and waved fondly at Moen, who stood across the street, staring at her with his mouth open. “She did save my life, and in retrospect I enjoyed seeing her swing that precious antique raven at Terrance’s skull.”
Stag grinned. “I wish I’d seen that. Every time you tell the story, I think it’s more awesome.”
With innate practicality, Kateri added, “Also, I wasn’t sure we weren’t going to get killed, and I didn’t want to go into the afterlife tangled up with her.”
“Very sensible. You look good.” He leaned close and took a deep breath. “Smell good.”
She wanted to begrudge Lilith the effort and embarrassment of shopping, but he was right. Shedidlook good. “I clean up well.”
“You look better naked.”
He was a sweet talker. “You would know.”
“Why don’t you take your hair down?” He poked at the stiff creation with his index finger. “You resemble your sister when it’s fixed like that.”
“Don’t be mean.” Kateri gingerly touched the upsweep fashioned of her own long, dark hair. “It’s going to take an hour to pull out the pins and wash out the hair spray.”
“So it’s a major operation?”
“Painful, too. I’ll pull out half my hair with the pins.” She’d been gone, but Bergen had kept her up to date with what was happening in town. “I hear that the ballistics on one of the bullets pulled out of John Terrance’s chest matched the bullet that killed his son.”
“I heard that, too.”
She looked him right in the eyes. “You really ought to get that weapon registered.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll have to detain you.”
With a touch too much eagerness, he asked, “Will you tie me up?”
She stopped. She glared.
He took her arm and tugged her along the sidewalk. “I already got it registered.”
“And already got another one that’s not registered.”
With a display of false innocence, he widened his eyes. “Hmm?”
