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BLAM!
She turned back just in time to see Lynch’s body fall in a heap onto the cement floor. His eyes were closed, and blood trickled from his head.
No!
She stifled the impulse to cry out. She needed to go to him, to hold him, to help him…
But she couldn’t.
Not with that maniac still out there.
“Hello, Kendra.” A voice with a deep-throated rasp came out of the darkness ahead. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
She froze, shocked.
Don’t speak.He wanted her to respond and give away her location.
“Oh, I know exactly where you are,” he said as if reading her mind. “You’re directly catacorner from me. Let’s have a civilized conversation, shall we?”
She finally spoke. “There’s nothing civilized about you.”
“Come now. We both know better than that. I’m sure your profilers have told you you’re dealing with someone of significant intellect.”
When he spoke, she slowly moved into the shadows. Maybe, just maybe, his voice would mask the sound of her movements.
Significant intellect? Significant ego, she wanted to tell him. But she didn’t want to give away her new location.
“Talk to me, Kendra. If you talk to me, maybe I’ll let you take care of your friend. He might still be alive. I’m usually very accurate, but you didn’t give me the opportunity to check.”
Mustn’t let him get under her skin. His words had brought a picture of Lynch lying there helpless. But that had been exactly his intention.
Use this opportunity to figure out who the hell this was.
Close your eyes. Concentrate.
He was probably a man in his thirties or forties, likely from the Upper Midwest. He’d seemed to have a slight shuffle in his walk. An injury? But that wasn’t enough.
Surely there was something else…
“I’m impressed by you, Kendra. Do I impress you?”
Don’t answer.Resist the urge to tell him how totally repulsed she was by him.
“If you won’t talk to me, perhaps I should go see if your friend has any words on the matter.”
She’d been continuing to move whenever he spoke, but this stopped her in her tracks. Even if she could get away, how in the hell could she leave Lynch alone with that monster?
She couldn’t.
But without a weapon, how was she supposed to—
Wait.
Coiled on the floor in front of her was a long red hose. But not for water, she realized; it was attached to a four-foot tank of compressed air.
The other end was attached to a large device she knew would take both hands to lift and operate. She’d seen one before at Habitat for Humanity building projects where she’d volunteered.
She listened. The killer was now moving toward Lynch.
