“Let go, Kate.Give in, God, thy will be done.Comeon,Kate, please let go.Please God, let go Kate.Release.”
Her arms hung in the air, then fell slowly to the ground.Cox moaned again and leaned into her.“Yes!Yes, God, yes, Kate, go.Release, please, Kate.”
Twin bursts of light flickered from the top of Kate’s vision.Cox rolled off of her, floating away like smoke on a breeze.For a moment, Kate lay there, teetering on the edge of consciousness.
Then awareness flooded back.She coughed, gasped, coughed again, then rolled over onto her side.She gasped once more, then cried out, a wordless croak that barely surpassed a whisper.
Marcus dropped in front of her and turned her head to face his.Panic widened his eyes and pulled his lips over his teeth.“Kate?Kate!”
She swallowed.“Get him.I’m fine.”
He hesitated, but when a gunshot splintered the wood of the pew behind him, he spun toward it and fired back.Cox released a cry, and though Kate couldn’t see him, she heard the clatter of the weapon he was carrying as it fell to the floor, followed by the patter of his feet as he retreated.
“I’ll be fine,” she repeated, her voice returning slightly.“Stop him.”
Marcus looked toward the church entrance.His lips thinned, and he nodded.“Stay here.”
He got to his feet and rushed after Cox.
“Don’t think I have a choice, Marcus,” Kate croaked.
For some reason, she found that hilarious.She laughed, but pain shot through her injured ribs and cut her laughter short.She winced and lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling.She could still hear Cox’s voice in her ears, pleading for her to go, torelease.
“Fuck you,” she growled.“Go to hell.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Emotions roiled like a storm at sea within Marcus.Fear for Kate, who was definitelynotfine no matter what she was saying.Rage at himself for agreeing to come with her ahead of the tactical team and for rushing alone into the vestry where Cox could trap him.
Mostly, though, Marcus was filled with hate.Hate for Elijah Cox, the goddamned pathetic little bastard who thought he could straddle Kate and throttle her to death while moaning like a fucking dog in heat.
He was going to kill Cox.Fuck policy, fuck procedure, and fuck right and wrong.He was going to put that asshole in the ground, and damned be the consequences.If he went to Hell for that, he’d meet Cox there and kill him again.
He passed Kate’s gun on his way out of the church.His flashlight revealed a splash of blood on the handle, and he didn’t know if it was Kate’s blood or Cox’s.
The breeze enveloped him when he stepped outside, its cool clean scent banishing the odor of rot in the church behind him.He looked around, searching for sign of his quarry and found it in the trail of blood leading toward the parking lot.
A lot of blood.He’d done more than just wing Cox.Maybe he’d get lucky and find he’d already done the job.
He jogged onto the lot and lifted his flashlight toward the rental car.The beam fell on Cox’s silhouette, and Marcus raised his gun and fired without warning.
The distance was too great.The bullet pinged off of the roof, missing Cox by inches.The killer whirled toward Marcus, then, with an animalistic shriek, Cox sprinted toward the trees surrounding the property.
“No you don’t, fucker,” Marcus growled, breaking into a sprint himself.
He scanned ahead, noting the darkness behind the tree line on that side.Here, the church backed into a park rather than the neighborhood surrounding the other three sides.Cox was trying to lose himself in the darkness.
But Marcus had a gun, and Cox had dropped his.Cox was badly injured, and Marcus was healthy.Cox was an old priest turned murderer.Marcus was a federal agent and a former Navy SEAL.This was no contest.This was a hunt, and Marcus had already drawn the blood of his prey.
He reached the trees and scanned through them, looking for any sign of Cox hiding among them.He saw a clump of muddied dirt at the base of a tree near the middle, then a puddle of red staining the grass beyond the edge.
So Cox had chosen to run.It didn’t matter.He was going to die tonight.
Marcus stepped through the trees and found himself on the side of a winding dirt path.The grass extended a few yards in front of him, then a few yards beyond the path where more trees obscured Marcus’s vision.
Marcus cursed and moved forward, scanning with his light.A rustling noise to his right caused him to spin that direction just in time to see a chipmunk dash up a tree and hide itself among the branches.
He cursed again and continued.
