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God only knew what they’d done to her.
Casey was already in motion, on her feet and dressed in less than two minutes. Hutch wouldn’t be a problem; he’d be in the shower another ten or so minutes. The problem was getting out of the building without cluing in a security guard, tripping the alarm system or—most difficult of all—alerting Yoda.
Clandestine wouldn’t cut it. She’d have to go for a direct strike.
Glancing over at Hero, who was watching her intently, Casey formulated a quick-and-doable plan.
“Time for a walk, boy,” she told him.
His head came up, his soulful eyes brightening with enthusiasm.
“Right answer,” she said. “You’re going to be my decoy.”
With a sideways look at the closed bathroom door, Casey slid her hand behind her nightstand and into the narrow space between the base and the floor. She pulled out her pistol, made sure it was loaded and tucked it in her purse. Then she grabbed Hero’s leash and called him over.
He scrambled to her side.
“Good boy,” Casey murmured, leashing him up. She paused only long enough to use her iPhone to forward the text message to Hutch. After that, she dropped her phone in her purse, wrapped Hero’s leash around her hand and left the bedroom.
By the time Hutch found the text, it would be too late for him to catch up with her. But if the unthinkable were to happen—if she failed in her plan to swap places with Claire, and Fisher decided to kill them both—then Hutch would know what was going on so he could do what needed to be done.
She couldn’t let herself think that way. There’d been enough bloodshed because of her. Claire was not going to be another notch on Glen Fisher’s belt.
Taking a deep breath, Casey forced away thoughts of the painful acts Fisher might already have inflicted on Claire. She walked down the three flights of stairs to the main level, Hero padding beside her. The two security guards looked up as she reached the door.
“Hero needs to go out,” she explained. “And I need some air. I thought one of you could keep us company.”
Both guards shook their heads. “No air for you, Ms. Woods,” one of them said. “You stay inside. I’ll walk your dog.”
“He’s kind of fussy,” Casey tried. “I’m not sure he’ll do his business with an unfamiliar hand holding his leash.”
The guard wasn’t budging. “I’m good with dogs. I’m sure I can get him to cooperate. You wait here.”
He transferred Hero’s leash from Casey’s hand to his. Casey wasn’t surprised by the refusal. Nor did she argue. She just tensed up, ready and waiting.
She moved the instant the door was open.
Shoving past the startled guards, she dashed down the front steps and took off at warp speed. She could hear Hero’s agitated barking and the yelling of the guards behind her. But she didn’t turn around and she didn’t slow down.
She had to get to Claire.
It was a good two miles away. It was also nine-thirty at night. The streets were quiet. A taxi could make it there faster than her feet.
She stopped a short distance from the office, waited until she spotted a familiar yellow car and then stepped off the curb, holding up her arm. “Taxi!”
The cab pulled over. Casey leaped inside, blurted out the address and begged the driver to hurry.
He took off, heading for Chinatown.
Casey perched at the edge of her seat, her heart racing a mile a minute.
And throughout the ride, she prayed.
* *
*
Hutch knew something was wrong the moment he stepped out of the bathroom.
