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No, there was no time to startagain. Either Amber was right about this, or Loretta Kane was going to die. Shelooked out further into the lands around the house. There seemed to be a fewacres attached to it, and somewhere further on, away from the house, Amberthought that she could see a glimmer of light.
Amber started towards it, carefulto move both quickly and quietly. She couldn’t give the killer any warning thatshe was on her way, couldn’t even risk a flashlight to light her way. She hadto pick her way forward by starlight, heading for the light ahead and hopingthat she would be in time.
There were a few trees ahead,shielding a portion of the grounds from the main house. The light came frombeyond it. Amber picked her way through the trees until she came out onto theedge of an area bathed in the glow of a single lamp.
There was a fountain there, setwith astrological symbols and figures. Near it, on a plinth, was a huge statueof a bull.
Loretta lay on the ground near it,insensible and obviously drugged. Amber could see a figure moving around therear of the statue. She realized, to her horror, that Peter Russel was about toact on the threat in his note. He was going to kill Loretta.
Amber charged forward on instinct,moving into the circle of light cast by lamp. She pulled her gun.
“Peter Russel! I’m with the FBI.Step away from the statue with your hands up!”
She could see him there, hisfeatures familiar now after spending time staring at them online. Amber couldsee surprise there, and anger, all blended into one.
“You don’t understand,” Russelsaid. “This has to happen. The stars rewarded me before. They will again.”
“The only reward you’re getting isto spend the rest of your life in prison,” Amber said. “We know who you arenow. Even if you run, you’ll be hunted. Now, step away from the statue!”
Russel looked for a moment as if hemight comply. Then, almost without warning, a look of fury filled his features.
“No! She has to die!”
He threw himself forward, pushingthe statue, straight towards Amber and Loretta.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
The only thing that saved Amber’slife was the sheer weight of the statue. It meant that Peter Russel couldn’tpush it over easily. Instead, it wobbled there on its plinth as he threw hisweight against it.
Amber threw herself forward,grabbing Loretta, trying to drag the sculptor clear of the path of the bullbefore it could fall. Amber gasped with the effort of moving the unconsciouswoman’s weight.
For a moment, Loretta didn't move.Amber felt fear then, fear that she wasn't big enough or strong enough to saveRussel's next victim. Fear that they would both be crushed to death in justmoments.
The bull started to topple, and inthat instant, Amber found strength that she hadn’t known she possessed. Shedragged Loretta aside just in time, the Taurus statue crashing to the groundwith a thud that Amber felt through the soles of her feet.
Amber checked on Loretta. She wasbreathing, her chest rising and falling smoothly. It seemed that she hadn’tbeen harmed by the falling statue, and right then, that was all Amber couldhope for.
Amber looked up, aware that eventhen, Russel might be getting ready to attack them, now that he’d seen that hisattempt to murder Loretta had failed. Instead, she saw Russel running back intothe stand of trees. Amber cursed and then set off in pursuit of the murderousastrologer. Her arms pumped as she ran, heading into the trees. They closed inaround her, the darkness almost complete.
Amber slowed for a moment then,realizing that she couldn’t hear Peter Russel running ahead of her. He wasn’tjust making a straight sprint for the house, then. Amber realized what he wasdoing.
"You think that if you hide,I'll run on and you can go back to kill Loretta," Amber called out. Sheheld her gun one-handed now, taking out a flashlight, determined to take awaythe darkness that hid the astrologer.
“You can’t stop something that’sfated in the stars.”
The voice came from somewhere awayto Amber’s left. She moved towards it, trying to use the sound to identifyPeter Russel’s location. She had to keep him talking. The longer Amber didthat, the more precisely she would be able to get a fix on his hiding place.
“Is that why you did all this?”Amber demanded. “Because it was in the stars?”
“I had to do something,” Russelsaid. “I had to do something to change things.”
“To change what?” Amber asked. Shemoved forward, scanning left and right with her flashlight and her gun. “Youlosing a TV show?”
“Don’t mock my work!” Russelsnarled. “What I did… it gave people certainty in an uncertain world.”
“And all of your victims went onyour show?” Amber said. Russel had shifted position. His voice was away to herright now. “Katrina was the first, right? Talking about what it was like beinga twin, a Gemini, how much it meant to her? You gave her a pendant.”
"She was the first, but thenafterward, she was so ungrateful. I did so much for her. I thought there mightbe something between us. I told her that I'd seen it in the stars, that it wasmeant to be. She laughed at me."
