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“That one has lighter hair! And she doesn’t truss it up to try to look like a nun. You’re an idiot. Anyone can see that—”
“We are sisters,” Megan put in.
“And we do look similar,” Colleen said.
Talking. Keeping them talking was good. It was at least a chance for her and Megan to get out alive.
“And, Carver, get serious! Ayers wouldn’t have gotten the ‘right’ damned girl and you know it,” Colleen informed him sweetly.
“You think you’re that good?”
“I think I’m an agent. Trained.”
Megan seemed to know they were playing for time.
“But you would have tried to save a puppy too, Colleen. I know you’re a trained agent and all, but you would have gone after a puppy—”
“Well, we’ve got you both now!” Ayers shouted.
“No, you don’t,” Colleen said. “If you want me, you let Megan go.”
“You really are such a superior bitch! But guess what? I know how to play any stupid woman. And I will have you now!” Carver promised.
Colleen trained her gun on him. “Will you?”
Ragnar parked his car on the side of the crooked dirt road a distance behind where Colleen had left Mark’s car.
Red had been given the command for secrecy. He’d been on detail before where they sought to take criminals by surprise, and he knew the command well.
Mark hoped it wasn’t going to be the one day the dog disobeyed and went against his training.
But he didn’t want to leave the dog behind. Neither did Ragnar. There had been too many times when Red had proven himself to be an invaluable member of the team.
Mark knew he shouldn’t have been on the detail himself—not according to the books. He was personally involved. Far more involved than he had ever thought he would be.
As they moved along the road toward the cabin, Ragnar shook his head and said quietly, “Her father! Dierdre’s father. Or should I say, the man who raised her. How he must have relished calling in the Bureau—certain he’d get away with it. And she was the only one who wasn’t held and violated—maybe something of a fatherly instinct kicked in!”
“We should have known,” Mark said.
Ragnar looked at him. “You knew all along it was someone connected to one of the girls.”
“And we focused on Gary Boynton. And Brant Pickering.”
Mark and Ragnar paused. They were approaching the cabin.
He could see Colleen was just inside the doorway, which remained open.
Jim Carver was just a few steps in front of her, staring at her. Her gun was trained on him.
But Carver was also armed.
Luckily, the cabin had been all but reclaimed by the forest. There was rich growth all around it.
He motioned to Ragnar; his partner would move around to the left. He’d go right with Red. They’d stay back, hugging the trees and the foliage right by the empty window frames.
It didn’t take long for them to move the distance as they had planned. And when he found his position, Mark could see Rory Ayers was there and armed as well. The nose of what looked like a Smith & Wesson was pressed to the side of Megan’s temple.
Megan sat still, ignoring the gun.
“I know you don’t want to die,” Colleen was telling Carver. “I mean, if you die, what will you have? Nothing. Let my sister go.”
“I can’t figure out how,” Carver said. “You don’t trust me enough to put down your gun.”
“Damned right,” Colleen assured him. “So, let’s work on that. You have to let Megan go, and I have to give you the gun. So, how do we do it?”
“We don’t let Megan go!” Rory Ayers snapped. “She’s a witness against me.”
“Mr. Ayers,” Megan said, “didn’t you hear Colleen? They’ve already figured out you’re the copycat.”
“I’m no copycat!” he raged.
Mark saw Megan wince—the nose of the gun had been thrust harder against her skull.
“They’ve figured out you’re a killer, Mr. Ayers,” Colleen told him.
“They’ll never prove it in court,” Rory Ayers said.
“You’d be amazed at what kind of forensic proof they can pull—even after years and years,” Colleen said. “We do have some of the best techs and scientists in the world working at the Bureau.” She looked at Carver, smiling. “And when they get you—which they will—you won’t be walking out of court either. Especially not now that you’re part of an escape in which men were injured.”
“Not killed—though I’d have loved to have killed that one fat bastard!” Carver said. “Drop the gun. Or I’ll shoot you, and Rory will shoot Megan.”
“What fun would that be? If you kill me, you can’t do what you really want to do to me, right? I mean, you do enjoy the torture and thinking about your victim slowly suffocating to death. Then again, I’ll shoot one of you too,” Colleen said.
Mark was amazed by the calm she was showing.
And he suspected she knew they were there. She’d probably heard every little rustle of the leaves as they had moved through the brush and the trees.
She’d come here desperately. She’d had to save her sister. But she knew now she wasn’t alone. And still...
With the nose of the gun against Megan’s head, they all had to play it out as far as they could—until they found a way to take out Carver and Ayers.
He couldn’t motion or speak to Ragnar from where he was, but Mark knew his partner would follow whatever he started. And it seemed he had only one choice.
He gave Red a silent command to sit, stay, and watch. And he moved around to the front, making an entrance as if he had no idea of what was going on inside. This time, he let himself be heard.
“Colleen!” he said, forcing anger into his voice. “What the hell are you doing? Why in God’s name would you just take off with my car like that? I’ve reported it to—oh!”
He pretended to be shocked, seeing the occupants of the cabin.
