"He isn't telling me where she is," Karen begged. "I don't think she told him."
He threw his knife at the wall. "You need to do better, Karen."
"He isn't ready to sleep with me yet. He isn't over her."
He smiled at that. "Maxine will never return to him. She belongs to me. If you want to keep Kenny, you will find out where she went."
Kenny stared at the message carved in the latest victim's stomach. "Return her to me, or one will die every day." She would go off with this maniac to save them. My Max, she's safe, no one will touch her there.
Max rubbed her stomach, as she watched Ella run around after her grandparents dogs. This is for her. Ella, Kenny, this baby, this has to work. Oh, I want his arms around me, driving me crazy by being overprotective, his hands all over me, our life together.
"She's getting so grown up," Sarah said, joining her daughter in law. "Why haven't you called Kenny?"
Max shook her head. "I can't if it's going to work."
"She would have called if she cared about you," Karen said, rubbing her hand on this thigh. "You don't even know where she is."
At my parents estate, he thought, she and Ella are safe. Our baby is growing in her in peace. "We both need some time. She said she's settled and we'll talk next week."
"Does she know about us?"
"Not yet."
"If you don't want to tell her, I can. I can make it easier on both of you," she smiled. "I can give you anything you want."
I had everything I wanted, he thought, just do it. "We need to go slow if we're going to get custody of Ella."
"And the baby?"
He nodded. "Did Max tell you about the baby? We weren't telling anyone until she was past her first trimester."
"She needed to tell someone," Karen lied. "She said so much…She talked about getting rid of it and how she never wanted to be a wife and mother."
She never did, he thought, would we have even gotten married if we weren't tricked into it? I dragged her kicking and screaming into our relationship. If she hadn't gotten pregnant? Yes, of course we would have. "She is one."
"Not for much longer."
"We need to let it slip where Max is," Jimmy said. "To see if she passes it on."
"So this guy can go after her?" Kenny asked. "The only good part of this is that she is safe. He's going to keep killing until she comes back. Max wouldn't want that. She'll run right to him."
"She's pregnant. She won't."
"Have you met her?" Kenny asked. "She really didn't look after herself when she was pregnant with Ella. I thought she was going to divorce me then. A fake location with a decoy?"
Jimmy nodded. "Lets get him."
"Max is in Greenbay," Karen said. "Her baby's father bought her a loft. I have the address."
He snatched it from her hand and smiled at her. "Good work, Karen."
"What are you going to do to her?"
"She won't be your concern any longer."