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Upstairs lights? She had to delay him.
Cami snapped off the light, throwing the upper level abruptly into darkness.
And he hesitated – for long enough that the window lowered further. It lowered onto him.
Cami wished it would crush him in two, but knew that the automated safety sensors would prevent that happening. However, now, the climb out was more difficult. He was thrashing around, trying to get through the smaller gap, trying to squeeze his body through it. Now, he was the one who was panicking, and he was the one who was realizing that the home was being operated in ways beyond his control.
Nice feeling, Cami thought, narrowing her eyes grimly as she watched his struggles. She had an idea that might just work.
As Miles Ferguson fought the window, heaving against it with all his strength, Cami raised it abruptly. It was all she could do, her only remaining chance to jolt him.
If she’d timed it right, then it might just work.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The window jerked upward, more suddenly and awkwardly than Cami had expected it to. Maybe that was because he’d damaged it, she thought. At any rate, with surprising speed, the sash window rose.
With nothing to push against, committed to the path he’d taken, the killer overbalanced. He’d been struggling too hard to save himself from the sudden lurch of the window, and now, she saw his weight tip too far out. He scrabbled with his hands, grabbing for the top of that window, trying desperately to grasp at something to get himself back inside, but it was too late.
His weight toppled him out and she watched him give one last, desperate grasp, crying out hoarsely, but his fingers closed on nothing but thin air. His limbs windmilled as he fell, tumbling down the sheer wall to land on the bricks below with an audible thump.
He lay still. Twitching, but still.
“Help!” Now, Cami saw that police were in the upstairs room. She yelled out, pointing, needing them to come and handcuff this man before he woke up enough to get going.
“On our way!” the voice from above called back.
Cami wasn’t going to risk it. She ran over to the man, who was lying face down and groaning. She grabbed hold of his arm, holding him tight, clamping her fingers around the wrist of this evil man, who’d done so much harm.
He tried to pull away, but feebly, as if he was still stunned. Gritting her teeth, she held on. She held on until she heard footsteps racing around the corner, and two police officers arrived.
Only when the police were by the killer’s side, did Cami dare to let go. She stepped away, breathing hard.
“You’re going straight to a guarded hospital bed,” the cop told the killer, who was groaning violently. He must have broken something in the fall. As they radioed for an ambulance to take him in, Cami felt a huge sense of relief. He was finally in the hands of the police – but what about his victim?
Taking a deep breath, she ran back to the front door. Now that the killer was in police custody, Cami couldn’t see why she had to stay out any longer. She needed to know if this woman was alright, even though she didn’t want to know, based on the killer’s deadly speed.
But an amazing sight awaited her.
The woman – still dressed in her work clothes, looking pale and stressed, but unhurt, was being led by Connor across the soaked carpet of her living room, toward the equally flooded kitchen.
“Here’s your phone, Ms. Edgecombe,” he said. “Flashlight’s still on, so it’s in working order.”
At that moment, he turned around and saw Cami.
“I sent the police upstairs, and just heard they arrested him outside. That was up to you, wasn’t it? You delayed him?”
“Between the window and I, we conspired to help him fall out,” Cami admitted, and saw a satisfied look replace the shock in the woman’s eyes.
“Good work,” he said. And then, to the woman, “This is Cami Lark. She’s the one who interfered with your home’s electronics and delayed him.”
“It saved my life,” she said, grabbing her phone and then turning to Cami with an expression of deepest gratitude. “He was about to break the door down. When the lights went off and the sprinklers went on, he panicked. He ran back to the control panel to try and reset everything, but he couldn’t do it, and then, I heard the sirens outside.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay, and I’m sorry about the house,” Cami said, realizing that she’d moved from squelchy carpet to drenched tiles.
“It’ll be easy to fix,” the woman said. Though shocked, Cami could see she had a core of steel and was regrouping fast. She would be okay. She was safe, and a dangerous killer was in custody.
“We’re going to get you to a hotel for the night,” Connor said. “We’ll be here another couple of hours, and then we’ll station a police guard here until you can get the insurance company in to inspect it tomorrow.”
