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"You’re too late."
Nicky kneed him in the gut, and he let out a wheeze as he dropped her wrists. Nicky quickly regained her balance and moved her gun with lightning speed. She pointed it right at Frank’s chest. He froze, but a smirk tugged at his lips that made Nicky’s blood burn.
"You're not gonna shoot me,” he said. “You’re some sort of cop. You can’t just kill me. Go ahead and put me in jail, but you won’t shoot.”
Wanna bet?Nicky wanted to say. But she kept it in. He was right—she couldn’t go around murdering suspects if they didn’t pose a direct threat to her life or others. But there were some things she could do: "I'll shoot you through the leg if you come any closer,” she threatened.
His eyes flicked to the right, where his own gun had landed. Nicky ground her teeth.
“Don’t,” she warned.
But he didn’t listen. He dove right for the gun.
Nicky didn't hesitate.
POP!
Her bullet flew through the air with deadly velocity, hitting the man dead-center in his chest.No!She hadn’t been going for the kill shot—but she realized, by the way he grabbed at his chest and collapsed to the ground, that she had gone too far.
He went limp on the floor, his eyes glossed over, unseeing.
Nicky swallowed the sick feeling down her throat and crouched next to the body. Her eyes fell onto the man's hands as she turned him over to click on the Maglite. His body was still warm when she touched his neck, but there was no pulse. No breath. She'd killed him.
Nicky's breath came in short bursts. She knew about the people who did all kinds of things to victims--kidnapping, rape, murder--and she'd be lying if she said she felt bad about this one. This guy had been keeping Masie for over a year. Who knows what he had done to her in that time?
But still. Nicky hadn’t been planning on taking a life today, and it made her head spin. This was the job. She'd known what she signed up for, and she could never let fear get the best of her.
Now, she had to find Masie.
Going back into the hall, she checked the next room with the Maglite. To her surprise, there was nothing in the room except for a dirty old mattress. But there was a smell in the house. Now that her adrenaline was high, Nicky could feel it.
Something wasn't right.
She hurried down the hall and pushed open the door to the bathroom--her heart sank. The smell was coming from inside the room. She stepped inside and shone the light around the dark room—and her gaze landed on a small, pale body lying on the floor. Nicky took a step closer.
For a moment, her brain didn't register what she was seeing. Her body shook as she reached out to touch the girl--her eyes were open and empty, her face drained of color.
Nicky shook her head. No, this wasn’t right. It wasn’t happening. She'd come all this way. She'd found the guy, and she was not going to let Masie die.
She dropped to her knees and laid a hand on the dead girl's chest. What she didn't notice was the dark, slick substance on her hand until her fingers began to tingle.
Nicky pulled her hand away and saw the blood.
It was still warm to the touch.
The kill had been fresh. He must’ve done it moments before she’d arrived.
Maybe he even saw her coming up to the building and decided to finish Masie off, right then and there.
Her world crumbled around her.
Masie was dead.
Nicky was too late.
CHAPTER ONE
Nicky entered her dark, quiet apartment, and threw her keys on the console table, not wanting to face what was waiting for her there.
