Page 73 of One Night Years Ago

Mayor Hutchins sighed and leaned back in his seat. The old leather chair creaked. “Not that again, Natalie. You know we can’t do that. Should I get Charles Doll here? He’ll tell you, like he did last time, this goes against everybody’s constitutional rights. Listen, you’re the youngest sheriff we’ve ever had …”

Not that again.

“I spoke to an FBI profiler, Mayor. She agrees with me.”

“I thought they didn’t call them profilers anymore,” he stated drily.

“You seem to know more about that than I do. But whatever her title, she helped me profile the killer. If it’s the same man who attacked me thirteen years ago, we’re looking at a male between thirty and fifty years old. Somebody who’s already killed one woman and hurt three others. Surely the men in town will do anything they can to get him off the streets. I can set up a town meeting and announce it tomorrow, say that you’re leading by example.”

“Even if I agreed with this crazy plan of yours, how are you proposing we pay for it?” The mayor’s eyes twinkled. “It’ll be expensive.”

“How are we going to pay when no tourists come this fall and half the businesses in town end up closing?”

“But that’s ridiculous,” he sputtered. “If anything, people will flock to visit us.”

“It will make people feel safe, Mayor.” She paused for a second then said what she knew would be the magic words. “People will know the situation is being managed correctly.”

Manage was his favorite word. For a moment, she thought she’d overdone it. Then the man’s large chest puffed up, and she knew she’d won.

“I guess we do want people to know we’re managing the situation proactively.”

“We’ll make sure the town knows this was your idea, Mayor.”

He chuckled. “You’re piling it on too thick now, kid. Remember I’ve been around longer than you.”

Chapter 28

Hunter

For the second time in just over a week, Hunter stood at the back of the school gym, waiting for Natalie to start speaking. Once again the room was packed to capacity.

The Mayor had spoken for a few minutes, using as many words as possible to say very little, but it was clear to Hunter that people were waiting for Natalie to take the stage.

He leaned back against the far wall of the gym. His foot, stuck in a removable short leg cast, was throbbing after the time spent with Dr. Boyle resetting a broken heel bone, but he was grateful at least that it wouldn’t require surgery.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled his attention back to the front of the room where Natalie was waving the Mayor away.

“Thank you for those words, Mayor. Now, I want to answer all questions any of you might have,” Natalie said, her voice ringing clear around the packed gym. Her blue eyes seemed to address each and every individual in turn, pausing longer when he reached Felicia’s aunt and Lanie’s parents.

Hunter looked around from his position at the back of the gym, trying to figure out how many of the men here were as tall as the man he’d seen on the cliff.

Is he here? Did he come to gloat?

“He’s going to strike again, isn’t he, Sheriff?” a woman asked.

“How are you planning to protect us?”

“They say you had him at the cliffs and let him go. Is that true? Does that mean you know who it is?” That last question came from James Brody and was asked in an aggressive journalist’s tone.

Natalie didn’t seem intimidated by any of the questions. She took a quick sip of water before replying.

“I’m glad you asked those questions. It’s up to us to protect ourselves, and Mayor Hutchins and I have come up with something you all can do to help us.” She paused for a moment. “Some of you might have heard we’ve been working with the FBI on this. We have reason to believe the perpetrator of the last three attacks is the same person who attacked and raped me thirteen years ago.”

The silence in the gym could have been cut with a knife.

“We think that was his first crime, and that he made a mistake: he left a DNA sample that we can use to identify him.”

“How is a DNA sample from thirteen years ago going to help us?”