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Cassie decided to take another chance and peer around the tree again. One quick glance was enough to get a picture of what was going on a few feet in front of her. The woman was kneeling on the ground, clutching her purse to her chest. Cassie could see that she was wearing shorts and a tank top. Her arm was bleeding from rubbing up against a low-hanging branch, but she didn’t appear to notice.

The man was standing behind the woman. He was holding the flashlight under his arm and he had a bucket in one hand and a toolbox in the other. Cassie shivered, knowing for a fact that the bucket was for the woman’s blood and the toolbox contained the bone saw that would soon open her chest if Cassie didn’t do something first. What other torture devices might be found in there?

Cassie leaned to the side, trying to get a better view of what was in front of her, but as she did, a branch snapped underfoot. She had a split second to duck back behind the tree when the man whirled around and put the spotlight on her hiding spot.

Every muscle in her body tensed as she waited and waited for the beam to move away. She didn’t dare breathe lest she give away her position. But instead of thinking it was nothing but a squirrel, the man started walking forward, closer to Cassie.

As the light beam bounced with every step he took, Cassie’s brain was a whirlwind of thought. Should she jump out and surprise him? Should she wait until he was next to the tree and attack? What side would he walk up to? Would he stop and turn around? If he did that, she would have a better chance of getting the upper hand.

But what would she do after she attacked him? If she landed the perfect blow, she would only have a few seconds to get to the girl and drag her away. But since the woman was drugged, she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Cassie. Or she would be afraid of Cassie and try to get away. Even try to go back to the man.

And if Cassie didn’t land the perfect blow, she would have to struggle with the killer, a losing proposition. He was bigger and stronger than she was. She had taken self-defense classes after being attacked by Novak, but she was no expert. And those classes were always about how to get the upper hand and run away, not how to take out a serial killer and free his victim.

The beam from the flashlight stopped bouncing. Cassie heard the man turn around and allowed herself to breathe again. It was now or never.

Cassie lunged forward from her hiding spot and swung the branch back at the same time. The man in front of her twisted around at the noise and Cassie didn’t hesitate to bring her arm down toward his face. When the branch connected with the man’s skull, it vibrated in Cassie’s hands, sending a violent ripple throughout her arm from wrist to shoulder, and sending the man sprawling.

But it didn’t knock him out.

The man scrambled to his feet and put himself between Cassie and the woman on the ground.

“Who are you?” Spit flew from his mouth.

Cassie saw his face in good lighting for the first time. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the man who stood in front of her. He was in his late thirties or early forties and had thick brown hair that was coiffed to perfection on top of his head. He was handsome with brown eyes and a strong jawline. He was dressed in a button-down shirt and slacks and his shoes were neat and polished.

He looked normal. If she had met him at a bar, she would’ve been flattered if he had flirted with her. But his confusion soon gave way to an animalistic fury that lay under the surface of his well-kept normalcy.

She wondered how someone capable of that much hate and anger could ever go to work with the intent to bring comfort and solace to his patients and their loved o

nes.

“Who are you?” he repeated, rage building.

The current situation wasn’t looking great for Cassie. She was convinced she wouldn’t be able to go toe-to-toe with him in a fight. Her best chance of survival was either getting the upper hand with her makeshift weapon or stalling him long enough for the police to get there.

“My name’s Cassie.” She spoke in as calm a voice as she could muster. She took a step to her right, hoping she could turn him around and get closer to the woman. “What’s your name?”

“Stop moving.” He pointed the bright light into Cassie’s eyes, and she had to look at his feet to keep her sense of where he was. “What are you doing here?”

“I followed you,” she said. “Didn’t you notice me?”

He took a step toward her. “Does anyone know you’re here?”

“No,” Cassie lied. “No, they don’t. Please, let us go and I promise I won’t say anything.”

“No, no, you’ve seen too much.”

“I haven’t seen anything,” Cassie said. She took an imperceptible step to her right. “Please, I want to get my friend and leave.”

“She said she was out by herself tonight.”

“She was.” Cassie hoped her lie would hold for another minute or two. “She didn’t know I came out tonight. I spotted her, but I didn’t want to interrupt you two. But I saw her leave with you, and I got worried.”

The man’s face turned a darker shade of red. “You’re lying.”

Cassie didn’t have any warning when he lunged at her. She threw herself to the side and swung at him again. This time, the branch hit his shoulder and snapped in half. What was left behind was short but sharp on one end. The man stumbled but lunged again and tackled her to the ground. She landed with a grunt. Despite the air being knocked out of her, she managed to stab him with the sharp end of the stick. He hollered in pain and backhanded her across the face hard enough to make her world go dark for a split second.

“You bitch.”

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