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Cassie couldn’t move. The man positioned himself on top of her and pinned her arms with his legs. The pain was excruciating, and no matter how much she bucked and kicked, she couldn’t knock him off.
When he threw the branch to the side, Cassie was grateful he hadn’t decided to end her life then and there. But the relief was short-lived. He wrapped his large hands around her neck and squeezed until she couldn’t breathe. His grip was so tight, she couldn’t scream for help.
The last thing she saw before she passed out was his wicked grin and the pure malice in his eyes.
Twenty-Seven
The pressure released from Cassie’s neck, and she coughed and gagged as air was restored to her lungs. Cassie looked up in time to see the young woman swinging the doctor’s toolbox at his head. It connected with a sickening thud, and the man toppled off her with a grunt. His limp body collapsed on the ground and folded onto itself.
Her neck was throbbing—it would bruise—and her throat was sore. She swallowed past a lump and winced again, fearing the mark that would be left. How would she explain this one at the museum?
The woman stumbled past Cassie and dropped the toolbox. It burst open and sent tools flying. Cassie lurched forward and grabbed a knife at the same time the man regained consciousness and his own balance and scooped up a small device with a round blade on one end.
A bone saw.
The flashlight was on the ground now, half covered by detritus from the forest floor, but still illuminating all three of them in a warm cone like stage lighting, enough that it was easy to keep track of the killer. Cassie put herself between him and the woman who sank back down to her knees and was crying again.
“Please,” Cassie said. The word scraped along her throat, she had to swallow to ease the pain. “Don’t do this.”
“I don’t like complications.”
“I don’t have to be a complication,” Cassie said. The pain in her throat was subsiding, but it still felt raw and tender. “Let us go.”
Cassie wasn’t sure what she would do if he took off into the woods. He might escape, but she and the victim would both be safe. And Cassie had seen enough of him that she would be able to identify him from a photograph. Unless he could disappear from the face of the earth, his life was over.
“I can’t let you go.” The glow of the flashlight made his smile look more menacing. “But I promise I’ll make it quick.”
“Will you drain my blood too?” Cassie had to keep him talking. “It’s not O Negative, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“How do you know about that?”
“The police know.” Cassie was playing with fire. “What I’m interested in is, why? What do you need the blood for?”
The man scoffed. “It’s not for me.”
“Then for who? Who are you sacrificing these women for? Why?”
He looked at her like she was an ant beneath his boot. “That’s not a question I’m going to answer.”
Cassie decided to change tactics. “How could you do this? You’re a doctor. You’re supposed to keep people alive.”
He laughed, and for the first time, it seemed like there was actual emotion on his face. “Do you know one of the first lessons I learned as a doctor? Humans are fragile. We think we’re the apex predator, but all we can rely on is our brain, and most of our species can’t even do that.”
“So, you choose to kill people instead?”
“I didn’t choose this.” He took a step forward. His voice quieted. “I didn’t choose this. I’m doing what I have to do. That’s what we’re taught as doctors. Save who you can. Choose. Play God. If you lose someone, move on. There are more to save.”
“But you’re not choosing to save one person over another. You’re choosing to kill one person over another. Doesn’t the Hippocratic Oath mean anything to you?”
“Am I?” He smiled again and it looked wrong. He didn’t look deranged. He was in complete control. Measured. It shook Cassie to her core. “Who knows you’re here?”
“No one.”
“See, you’ve already lied to me once, so I’m not inclined to believe you. Let’s find out, shall we?”
Keeping eye contact, he knelt and picked up something off the ground. It was her phone. It must’ve fallen out of her pocket when they’d struggled. A pit formed in her stomach. Even if she could get away, she wouldn’t be able to call someone. She would be on her own in the middle of the woods.
She hoped David received her last text and had already sent the police.
