Chapter 114

It was a hollow feeling to stand over Kyle and realize that I had no idea who he really was. He was an obsessively¹ cruel psychopath; he had been stalking me for years; he had killed so many times, including friends of mine. ‘You fucking bastard,’ I whispered through my teeth.
The first case we had worked on together was a double kidnapping in Washington. Later, he cleared the way for me to help in the investigation² of a kidnapper/killer who called himself Casanova, and who worked in the Research Triangle around the University of North Carolina and Duke. That was when we had first met Kate McTiernan. Kyle kept me close to him after that. He was the one responsible for my getting named as the VICAP liaison³ between the FBI and the Washington Police Department. I didn’t know why at the time. Now I did.
He was conscious now. A mocking, falsely sympathetic look crossed his face. His eyes leveled on me as he spoke⁴. ‘I know, I know how it hurts. You thought we were close, you thought we were friends.’
I didn’t say anything, just looked into cold blue eyes edged with gray. What did I see there? Nothing except for his hatred⁵ and disdain⁶. He was incapable⁷ of feeling guilt⁸, or compassion⁹.  Then Kyle smirked¹¹, and I wanted to hit him again. He began to laugh. What was the joke? What did he know? What else had he done?
He started to clap his hands together. ‘Very good, Alex. You’re still studying me, aren’t you? You should bear in mind, I did beat you every time.’
‘Except this time,’ I reminded him. ‘This time you lost.’ ‘Oh, are you so sure?’he asked.’Are you positive that you have the upper hand, partner? How can you be certain? You can’t be.’ ‘I’m sure. Partner. I do have a few questions, though. Clear some things up for me. You know what I want to hear about.’ He continued to smirk¹⁰. Of course he knew. ‘North Carolina. You didn’t know I had attended Duke with the Gentleman Caller. I knew both killers¹². God, did I know them. I killed with them, hunted with them. But you let me off the hook. Detective Cross. Then there were the perfect bank robberies. The Mastermind at work. And, of course, I did kill the lovely Betsey Cavalierre. Great fun. That one’s on you, Alex.’
I stared into those pitiless eyes. My voice came out in a rasp. ‘Why did you have to hurt her?’
Kyle shrugged¹³ indifferently. “That’s how I win the game, by inflicting¹⁴ the most pain imaginable, then watching the torment¹⁵ and suffering. You should see the look in your eyes right now. It’s priceless, a thing of beauty.
‘Not that I want any pity. Doctor Cross, but did you ever see me with my shirt off? I’ll answer that question. You haven’t. That’s because of the scars and welts there. My father, the great and respected general, the corporate¹⁶ chief executive officer, he beat me for years. He thought I was a very bad boy. And you know what, he was right. Father did know best. His son was a monster. Now what does that say about him?’
Kyle smiled again. Or was it a grimace¹⁷? He shut his eyes.  ‘Getting back to Agent Cavalierre, she was investigating my whereabouts during all the robberies and kidnappings committed by the Mastermind. Smart little chippie. Pretty, too. And she really liked you, Alex. Thought you were so fine, her sweet brown sugar. I couldn’t have that. She was a danger to me and a rival for your attention.
‘Are you following this. Cross? Am I going too fast for you? Everything is very logical, no? I put a knife deep inside her.
I was going to do the same to your friend Jamilla. Maybe I still will.’
I raised my Glock and pointed¹⁸ it into his face. My hand was shaking. ‘No, Kyle, you won’t!’

1 obsessively   

ad.着迷般地，过分地

参考例句：

• Peter was obsessively jealous and his behaviour was driving his wife away. 彼得过分嫉妒的举止令他的妻子想离他而去。
• He's rude to his friends and obsessively jealous. 他对他的朋友很无礼而且嫉妒心重。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

6 disdain   

n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑

参考例句：

• Some people disdain labour.有些人轻视劳动。
• A great man should disdain flatterers.伟大的人物应鄙视献媚者。

7 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

8 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

9 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

10 smirk   

n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说

参考例句：

• He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
• She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。

11 smirked   

v.傻笑( smirk的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smirked at Tu Wei-yueh. 他对屠维岳狞笑。 来自子夜部分
• He smirked in acknowledgement of their uncouth greetings, and sat down. 他皮笑肉不笑地接受了他的粗鲁的招呼，坐了下来。 来自辞典例句

12 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

13 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 inflicting   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。
• It's impossible to do research without inflicting some pain on animals. 搞研究不让动物遭点罪是不可能的。

15 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

16 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

17 grimace   

v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭

参考例句：

• The boy stole a look at his father with grimace.那男孩扮着鬼脸偷看了他父亲一眼。
• Thomas made a grimace after he had tasted the wine.托马斯尝了那葡萄酒后做了个鬼脸。

18 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。