Fatal Desire, Teen Edition (5 page)

He laughed as he watched her crumble the note
he left for her. Such temper. Such spirit. One day he would break
that spirit. The last kill had been the easiest. Spilt gasoline on
the ground and a lit cigarette took care of the gas station
attendant easily. Of course locking the store room door ensured the
man would be unable to escape the inferno he had created. He was
still smiling an hour later when she pulled out of the apartment
building. He could tell by the way she was driving that she was
running again. She was making it easy for him to follow this time.
Well, he would see where she led him.

Amber cried as she watched her best friend
walk down the aisle to the man waiting at the altar. Strange, she
did not remember Patrick Green. He was a small man standing only
five foot eight inches tall. He had mousy brown hair and light
brown eyes. He wasn’t the type of man to stand out in a crowd with
his shy personality and his less than attractive features. But she
could see why Olivia was in love with him. Patrick doted on Olivia.
He was the perfect gentleman. He opened the door for her, pulled
out her chair, and even ordered for her. He made her feel like a
queen. Amber wasn’t crazy about the man Olivia had fallen for but
she was happy for her friend.

When Amber got to Atlanta, she called Olivia
to let her know she was in town. They made plans to meet for dinner
a few days later and Olivia hoped Patrick would be home in time to
meet Amber before the wedding.

As it turned out, Patrick made it home the
next day and Olivia was ecstatic. She was excited for Amber and
Patrick to meet. Because Olivia was so in love and happy, Amber
kept her true feelings about Patrick to herself. He made Olivia
happy and that was all that mattered.

Now Olivia was glowing as she married the man
standing next to her. In a few hours they would leave for their
honeymoon and Amber would be alone and on the run once more. Amber
closed her eyes and listened as her best friend promised to love
and obey the man of her dreams.

♥
Chapter
4
♥

Amber pulled over to take a look at the
beach. She had been driving for several hours and had only stopped
for gas. She was hungry and tired but the smell of the ocean and
the sound of the crashing waves lifted her spirits. Myrtle Beach
was pretty much deserted this time of year but it would be perfect
for her.

She watched as the waves crashed against the
sand and rolled back into the ocean as if playing a game. Catch me
if you can; she could almost hear them taunting. She felt the wind
blowing through her hair and could taste the salt in the air. She
sighed in relief as she felt some of the pent up stress leave her
body. She needed this.

She got back in her car and looked for a
beachfront hotel. She wanted a room with a balcony that overlooked
the ocean. She would splurge a little this time since it had been
some time since she had gone anywhere or done anything fun.

After settling into her room, Amber left to
find a place to eat. She had not eaten since she left Denny’s that
morning. Pulling into a steak place, Amber climbed out of her car
and went inside. Early October was not the best time for tourism,
so the restaurant, usually packed and overflowing during the
season, was almost deserted. Amber was seated in a corner booth
where she ordered a glass of wine. As she sipped her wine Amber
looked over the menu and decided to have a steak and lobster
tail.

Settling himself into another booth, Derek
silently complimented Amber’s choice. He could go for a large steak
and a baked potato. Placing his own order for a beer and a steak,
Derek sat back and watched. She sure was a pretty thing. Derek
shook his head. What was he thinking? He had never thought that way
about any other fugitive he had hunted. But then he had never
chased a pretty, little blond female before either. He would have
to quit noticing.

Unaware she was being watched, Amber
continued eating. The steak was done just right and the lobster
tail was perfection. It had been so long since she’d had a dinner
like this. Finishing her wine, Amber smiled. Olivia would love this
place. Too bad she couldn’t call and let her know she was here.
Olivia was due any day now anyway so it would not matter if Amber
were able to call her. Olivia couldn’t meet her.

Amber asked the waitress for another glass of
wine and thought back to Olivia’s wedding. After congratulating her
friend and sending her off on her honeymoon, Amber drove back to
her Atlanta hotel and readied herself to move again. Once more, she
would need to decide where she would go and what type of job to
take. She simply could not take another person being killed because
of her.

She popped a sleeping pill and laid down to
get some rest before the long drive the next morning. Amber had
found using an over the counter sleep aid helped to keep the
memories and her thoughts at bay. In the morning she would eat a
good breakfast and hit the road.

After driving for seven hours the next
morning, Amber found herself near New Orleans. She decided to try
her luck there and took the exit leading into the city. Marveling
at the beautiful architecture of the old buildings, Amber almost
ran a few red lights. Laughing at herself, she got out and began
walking down the streets. She had read books and heard stories
about this glorious city and now she would be living here.

For the first time since she left her
hometown, Amber was looking forward to living in a brand new place.
She hoped she could find an apartment in one of these older
buildings with the French architecture.

After walking down the streets for a couple
of hours, Amber made her way back to her car and found a hotel
right in the heart of the city she had been admiring. She decided
to go to bed early and take another tour in the morning. Surely she
would be able to find work here.

The next morning Amber ate a good breakfast,
grabbed a newspaper, and started walking once more. It wasn’t long
before she came to the medical district. Walking into the hospital
she quickly found the listings for needed personnel. Luckily there
was a posting for a third shift nurse in the emergency room. She
knew she was less likely to make friends if she took that position,
so once again, Amber found herself filling out an application. She
was very thankful for her nursing skills that allowed her to be
able to work just about anywhere.

Amber walked back to her room at the hotel
and settled down with the newspaper. She decided she would start
the apartment search immediately this time. She wouldn’t sign a
lease until she knew she had the job, but she was fairly
confident.

Amber came back to herself. She had been
staring into her wine and reliving her time in New Orleans. The
maniac had left her alone for two years. She was feeling confident
and back in control of her life. She was no longer looking over her
shoulder. And when Jesse Chunn asked her for a date, she said
yes.

She should have known better. Why was this
creep still following her? She just didn’t understand. But she knew
when they pulled Jesse’s car up from the cliff that he had found
her again. She didn’t wait this time. She left in the middle of the
night with just her overnight bag and the evidence she had been
collecting over the past four years. She didn’t take time to
pack.

She left a note and money for her landlord to
finish the month’s rent. She didn’t go to the hospital, give
notice, or collect her check. She just ran.

Amber collected herself, took another sip of
wine, and decided to put the past behind her. This time she would
go so far, hopefully he wouldn’t find her. She thought about
changing her name and just getting lost completely. That would mean
cutting Olivia out of her life as well. Could she do that? She
wasn’t sure but she might have to. Somehow this guy always knew how
to find her.

Amber finished her wine, paid the check, and
drove back to the hotel. She had booked the room for three nights.
She would rest a little before disappearing completely. She would
be careful not to talk to or smile at anyone, but she would enjoy a
mini vacation before starting her journey again.

Alone in her room, Amber sat on her balcony
and listened to the waves crash on the sand. Tears streaming down
her eyes, she lifted the locket her parents had given her, and
thought about where she would be now if not for that fatal crash so
long ago.

“Oh, mom,” she whispered. “I miss you both so
much. I wish you were here with me now. You would know just what to
say to make everything all better.”

Amber curled up on the chair and silently
cried herself to sleep.

Alone in the next room, Derek listened to
Amber move around the room until he heard the sliding glass and
knew she was sitting on the balcony. He thought about how he had
become involved with this case.

“Hey Derek. I've got a new case for you,” Tom
Franks, Derek’s boss said as he laid a file on his desk. “Seems
Mississippi is asking for some help solving an arson
investigation.”

“That right,” replied Derek. “Since when do
we get involved with arson?”

“Since the attendant on duty at the time was
locked in the store room before the explosion,” explained Tom.

Derek whistled low. “That’s cold. Someone
locked the guy in then set the fire?”

“Looks that way,” Tom replied as he walked
out of Derek’s office. He knew he was handing this case over to one
of his best agents and no further explanations or instructions
would be necessary. He would leave it in Derek’s capable hands
now.

Derek thumbed through the file, made a few
phone calls, and then left his office. Running home to grab his
overnight bag he always had ready, Derek left his home in
Washington, D.C., and drove down to Cleveland, Mississippi, to
speak to the authorities involved in the case. What he found led
him further than he would have believed.

The local police had found video surveillance
of customers coming and going from the convenience store for the
past year. After looking at the footage, one woman continued to
stand out. She showed up for the first time about six months before
the explosion. She seemed stand offish and quiet each time she came
in. After about a month the store clerk was able to get a smile out
of her. The routine was the same for the next few months. She would
come into the store, make eye contact with no one, but leave
smiling when the store clerk said something to her.

They knew about the jokes the clerk liked to
tell from other customers. Many said he just enjoyed making people
laugh. The police had interviewed all of the regulars except this
one woman. She seemed to have disappeared. After showing her
picture on the local news, several employees from the local
hospital identified her as Amber Curtis.

After talking with the hospital
administration, Derek discovered Amber had walked out on her shift
at the hospital about the same time the gas station attendant was
brought in with severe burns. She was never seen in Cleveland again
after that night.

Derek had human resources make a copy of
Amber’s application for him to look over. After reading her
references, he made inquiries at the other hospitals she had
worked. It seemed she had left a notice at the first hospital she
worked at and the one in Middleburg, Florida, but had left just as
suddenly from the Birmingham hospital as she had left Cleveland.
Finding that odd, Derek decided to look into Amber Curtis
further.

Making the decision to work backward, Derek
drove to Middleburg to see if any other accidents had happened
there like the one in Cleveland. He discovered that a male nurse by
the name of Josh Stinson had died six months earlier after flipping
his car over in a ditch. The car accident coincided with Amber
Curtis’ notice to leave the hospital.

Coworkers described her as fun and friendly
part of the time she worked with them and cautious and guarded the
rest of the time. Whitney Levi, one of the nurses Amber had worked
with told him of the day she left and that she had asked about
Josh.

Video surveillance showed a pale faced Amber
leaving the hospital shortly after hearing the news without
stopping to check on Josh. Derek noted this and continued his
investigation. He found Josh’s car in an old junk yard and had it
towed to Jacksonville to be checked out thoroughly by the crime
lab. Josh’s death looked like an accident but he had his
suspicions.

Derek continued on to Birmingham to
investigate while he waited for the lab to get back to him with
their conclusion of the accident that took Josh Stinson’s life.
Finding a hotel and settling in for the evening, Derek reviewed the
information he had obtained so far. It seemed, everywhere this chic
landed, someone had an accident. And there was no doubt it was
supposed to look like an accident.

What Derek didn’t understand was Amber
continued to use her real name as she traveled from town to town.
Did she think she was that clever that she would never get caught
or was she just that stupid? Well, he was on to her now, so if she
didn’t change tactics, he would be able to track her easily.

The next morning Derek met with several of
Amber’s coworkers from the hospital in Birmingham. All were
surprised to find her gone after the day she had run off. One of
her coworkers, Michelle Hampton, told Derek about the young man at
the club who had danced with Amber then turned up dead the next
day. She told him how weird the whole situation seemed to be since
Ben did not drink yet he had been found drunk at the scene of the
accident.

Derek noted everything Michelle said and then
checked in with the police who had investigated the accident. They
confirmed Michelle’s story that Ben had been drunk.