“The boy, Taake? I hear he was not Casanova.”
Daniel Taake was a stalker who pulled some Casanova copycat moves. For a time, everyone hoped Casanova’s run was done.
“A would-be rapist and murderer but definitely not Casanova. The FBI has confirmed it and so did the body that washed ashore.”
“The daughter doesn’t want to leave school. She’s preparing her dance team for a championship run.”
I freeze. Javier is a Hispanic name. Like Peralta.
“Her name is…?”
“Arya. According to Javier, she’s the best one on the team. GU recruited her away from other schools that wanted her. Avery says the team has a coach and another captain. Maybe they could do without her, and the coach could be convinced to suggest Arya leave school now?”
“Could get messy. We’d probably have to lean hard on the coach because her father’s right. She’s the best one.”
“Hmm. Shane says Casanova likes pretty brunettes. The girl ought to get the hell out of there, whether the coach suggests it or not.”
“None of the other girls were Latin American. He targets Caucasian girls with blue eyes.” My words spill out like they should be taken as fact, which is too strong. My fingers stretch outward to usher in the caveat. “At least so far.”
From what I’ve read, serial killers often have a preferred type and stay within racial and ethnic boundaries. But I’m not sure Casanova would consider Arya out of bounds. She has dark hair and eyes, but she’s relatively fair-skinned. And the hair is dyed to get it as dark as she has it right now. When we were freshman, her hair was more of a medium brown. Based on looks alone, Arya could be a lot of things. Latina, Eastern European, Black Irish.
“I know one thing,” Uncle Joe says. “Javier sent me a picture. She’s got a beautiful face.”
Agreed, I think, rubbing the back of my neck.
Arya’s ethnicity wasn’t the only reason I ruled her out as a target. By GU standards, the missing girls were from low-income families. All were getting significant financial assistance. Arya doesn’t fit that, either. She has an athletic scholarship, but her car and jewelry clearly indicate her family is wealthy.
Maybe that doesn’t matter to Casanova. He could see her as a scholarship student, period. Or maybe I’m seeing a pattern where one doesn’t actually exist. There have only been three abductions so far. It could be a coincidence that they were all white and financially disadvantaged.
“Be honest,” Uncle Joe says softly with a conspiratorial tone. “If you were him, would you want to take her?”
That’s not a question I care to answer. The truth is, if I were Casanova, I’d have taken Arya first. And stopped there.
I grimace at the thought.
From what I can tell Casanova keeps them until he’s done with them. And breaking Arya’s spirit would be a full-time job. Sucking on my bottom lip, I shrug. “That’s not a nice scenario to contemplate, because if he did take her, she wouldn’t last.” My hand closes into a fist, and I rap my knuckles on the table. “The best way for me to protect her or any girl on that campus is to find Casanova and kill him.”
“If you can do that, get on with it.” He flashes me a quicksilver smile.
I’m working on it.But I don’t admit that out loud. Instead, I flip my palm over in a gesture of defeated acknowledgement. “No one knows his name.Yet.”
“Hmm. You say Javier’s girl wouldn’t last if he took her. Why not?”
“Casanova feeds off fear and power. Even when she’s scared, Arya can’t keep her smart mouth shut. She would challenge him. And when he couldn’t break her easily, he’d kill her.”
“She’s a spitfire? Javier said she’s a sweet girl.”
“When was the last time he talked to her? When she was ten years old?”
The old man laughs. “Yes, well, sometimes girls are sweeter to their papas than to other men. And so it should be.” He taps a blunt, scarred index finger on the table in front of me. “Regardless, it’s settled. We need you to watch her for us. The pay will be very good.”
I’m finally out of the financial hole my mother caused. It took plenty of blood and sweat… and things that could get me a long haul in prison. I don’t want to backslide into Mafia business again.
That doesn’t mean I want to dismiss the idea of doing my uncle a favor.
Arya and I are a volatile combination, though. For me to protect her, she’d have to stay with me. Not a workable plan.
Two issues loom large. First, I live alone for a reason. I don’t want a woman in my place, underfoot when I’m working on cracking Casanova’s identity. Also, if I did have a woman live in, it definitely wouldn’t be a beautiful little brat like Arya Peralta. That’s a recipe for a perpetual case of blue balls. And a battle that ends with her ass as red as an apple and me probably arrested.
