t’VT’ou know, I never liked him, Alex/Jamilla said as we waited in I the semidarkness of her apartment/He seemed so cold, almost mechanical to me. And I’m telling you, he doesn’t like women. I felt it instantly.’
‘Well, unfortunately, I did like Kyle. He’s clever as hell. He even rigged calls from the Mastermind when he and I were together. Now I need to figure out who he really is. There’s no psychosis involved, at least I don’t think so. He’s organized. He can obviously work out elaborate plans. For once, I wish he would call.’ ‘Be careful what you wish for,’Jamilla said.
She and I were sitting beside a shelving unit on the hardwood floor in her living room. There was also a workout bench; nothing too fancy, an older model. Five- and ten-pound free weights were scattered on the floor. So were magazines and sections of the Chronicle.
I hoped that Kyle couldn’t see into the apartment, that he didn’t have binoculars. Or possibly a nightscope attached to a rifle. I knew he could shoot from the way he’d taken down Michael Alexander. He was good at a lot of things.
Just in case, Jamilla and I tried to keep away from the windows.  ‘It makes me dizzy to think about what he’s done so far. I wonder if we’ll ever know the extent of it?’ she asked.  ‘If we catch him, he’ll want to talk. Kyle will want to show off what he’s done. If he comes after us tonight, maybe we’ll find everything out.’
‘You think he knows you’re here?’
I sighed, shrugged. ‘Probably. Maybe tonight is his coming out party. I know one thing, he won’t do what we expect. The Mastermind never does. That’s the only real pattern he has.’ We talked about calling in reinforcements, but Jamilla thought it would probably scare Kyle off. He wanted the two of us, right? That’s what he would get. Do you want to taunt me any more, you bastard? Go for it. Bring it on, Kyle.
So the two of us sat there in the dark, and it was almost cozy.  Jamilla finally reached out and touched my hand. Then we moved together, leaned aga............