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Cassie gulped, but answered despite the panic rising in her chest. “I’m with you.”
The two women made their way across the floor with measured steps. When they made it to the door, Harris guided a full three-sixty turn to make sure no one was behind them. Despite the chill still running down Cassie’s spine, the room was empty.
When they turned back to the door, Harris held up her fingers and counted down from five. When she got to one, she reached for the knob and twisted.
The door swung out with more force than Harris pulled with, and Baker barreled his way through the opening and collided with the two of them. Light flooded the space from a dangling, swinging bulb surrounded by a metal cage hanging from the ceiling. Had he been waiting there the entire time? All three hit the ground. The phone slid across the floor in one direction and Harris’s gun in the other.
Someone kneed Cassie in the stomach and she grunted against the impact. A flurry of arms and legs, the three of them tried to untangle themselves and get the upper hand. Baker was the first to make it to his feet and he must’ve known Harris was the bigger threat beca
use he reached down with both hands and lifted her clear off the ground.
Cassie had a few seconds to register him and was surprised by how much his son didn’t look like him. The older Baker was tall and broad like Bradley, but his features were light. His hair was almost white and his eyes a piercing blue. He wore jeans and a plain shirt and if she hadn’t known any better, she would not have thought he was as wealthy as he was.
Or that he was a serial killer.
The biggest difference between William Baker and his son, however, was the mask of rage that the older man wore on his face. It was beet red and encased a violence that scared Cassie down to her bones. A sharpness to his eyes made her more afraid.
This man had orchestrated the brutal murder of four women and had been smart enough not to do the dirty work himself.
Harris’s instincts to protect herself kicked in faster than Cassie’s. The detective kicked out with one foot and collided with the big man’s knee cap. He grunted but didn’t release the grip around her throat. He tossed her against the wall and watched as she hit it with a thud and slid down in what seemed like slow motion. The second she tried to scramble to her feet, he struck out with a blow to her temple.
The detective crumpled to the floor.
Forty-Two
When Baker turned on Cassie, all she could do was curl up in a ball and cover her head with her arms. She decided right there that she was going to start investing in self-defense classes again. She was tired of being in these situations without the proper tools.
But she did have one tool.
Cassie became aware that she was still death-gripping the knife in her right hand. When Baker leaned down to wrap a hand around her throat, Cassie swung up and drove the blade in between his ribs in hopes he would back away.
Baker howled in pain. Instead of backing away, he released his grip on Cassie’s neck and pulled the knife from his side. Warm blood squirted on Cassie’s arm. The knife clanked against the concrete floor. His hands returned to Cassie’s neck, squeezing so tight she was certain that her head would pop clean off.
She looked around to see if there was anything within reach that she could use to defend herself, but her fingers scratched against the cold and empty stone floor.
Elizabeth appeared next to Cassie looking more alive and vibrant than ever as she looked down on Cassie's struggles. The slash across her throat and the hole in her chest were still present and gruesome, but her eyes were focused, and her expression was one of determination.
As Cassie’s world began to darken, the spirit launched herself at Baker with a scream so loud he heard it. He let go of Cassie and stumbled backwards. Cassie felt the explosion that followed. It was as though the walls had collapsed in on her.
And then two shots rang out.
Cassie scrambled backward and noticed Harris on her feet, holding her pistol at chest level, aimed at Baker. The man turned to the detective, shocked at the outcome of events, and grasped at his chest as two plumes of red spread across the front of his shirt.
He sank to his knees and fell onto his side. His arms, hands, fingers all twitched. His right foot kicked out at nothing.
Keeping her weapon at the ready, Harris leaned down to check Baker’s pulse. Satisfied that he wouldn’t be moving any time soon, she rushed over to Cassie. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” Cassie propped herself up on her right elbow and scanned her body. “Are you sure he's dead?”
“Not yet. But will be soon. We’re safe.” Harris looked from Baker to Cassie with a confused expression on her face. “What happened?”
“What do you mean?”
Harris shook her head. “I don’t know. One minute he was on top of you, and the next, there was this god-awful scream and he let go. Hell, he opened himself up for a clear shot.”
Cassie sighed at the memory. “That was Elizabeth.”
Harris’s face twisted up. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
