“He’s outside her house. We have to go.”
Wyatt stared into Nina’s earnest eyes and knew she was right. But Mr. Thomas was fixated on her, and Nina was disregarding that because she had to check on Emily. Wyatt figured that “mission ready” attitude was part of her—and probably also a coping mechanism.
Karl paced his living room and barked orders into his phone the way he did when he was trying to downplay his fear.
He touched Nina’s shoulder. “Karl and I will go. Stay here with Tashi.”
Karl hung up. “The unit outside isn’t responding, so they’re sending another. They’ll arrive on scene before us, but we can meet them there.”
“Nina—” She had to be mad he didn’t want her there. But when Wyatt glanced at her, she bit her lip.
“Go. Make sure Emily is fine.”
He looked at Tashi, but pointed at Nina. “She stays here.”
Tashi grinned, but nodded. The woman was ex-military, and now a nurse. But that more distant part of her past hadn’t come up in conversation. Nina likely figured if she was going to try something she had to get past a nurse. Not a soldier.
Wyatt returned Tashi’s nod.
Outside Karl clicked the locks on his car and they got in. Karl pulled out of the driveway, a grin on his face. “Just like old times.”
“Just drive.” Wyatt looked out the window at familiar streets that flickered past as Karl tore across town. “Dinner was probably a mistake.”
“You don’t have to worry. Tashi will take care of her, you know that.”
Wyatt flipped his phone over and over on his knee. “This girl is twelve, and the guy is a suspect in a series of murders.”
Karl shot him a look. “Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up, about your dad. You probably haven’t told your friend Nina about any of that. But—if you don’t mind me saying—”
“Like it’d stop you if I did mind.”
“Anyway, I’m just saying if this is what your reaction is, maybe there’s something still there. I’m guessing you haven’t been back home.” Karl paused long enough to assess Wyatt’s face. “We were partners for years. I know you, Wyatt. You couldn’t deal with that last case. You couldn’t deal with what happened to your dad. And you ran.”
Wyatt lifted his phone. So what if he’d found a job that suited him way better, even if his new partner was almost an exact copy of his old partner. It had to be some kind of comeuppance, payback for something he’d done.
“I have to make a call.”
Karl snorted. “Sure you do. Running.”
Wyatt ignored and dialed. Two rings and Parker picked up.
“Sienna saw the message. I ran a trace, and the phone it originated from is on. We pinged the closest cell tower. It’s in Juneau, Alaska.”
Wyatt blinked at the bright lights of an oncoming car. “What?”
“That’s what it says. Are you at Theresa and Emily’s house yet?”
“Two streets away. How is he in Alaska and also taking pictures of Emily in Portland?”
“Good question,” Parker said. “But that’s what the techs tell me.” He paused. “So how was dinner?”
Wyatt’s stomach churned. He really shouldn’t have checked in earlier and told Parker what they’d be doing that night, but he’d figured Sienna would worry about her friend if he didn’t.
“You need to tell him.”
Wyatt clenched his back teeth together. It had taken two years, but Parker had worn him down. The end of a long weekend, work that had tired them both out so far beyond exhaustion they couldn’t fall asleep they’d been so wired. Parker had poked and prodded, and Wyatt had broken down. He’d explained the real reason why he’d made the transfer.
“I’m serious, Wyatt. You should tell him.”
“I know that.”
“But are you actually going to do it?”
Wyatt was silent. Probably Karl had figured it out, and then they’d be talking about it for no reason whatsoever.
“That’s what I thought.”
Karl pulled up outside Theresa’s house, still eyeing Wyatt as though he’d very much like to know what he was talking about.
“Gotta go.” Wyatt hung up and got out.
* * *
Tashi covered Nina’s hand with hers. “I’m sure everything will be fine. It was probably nothing but a scare tactic.”
Nina shot her a sardonic smile. “I’m officially scared.”
Click. The living room blanked into darkness. Not one single light remained.
Nina gasped. “He cut the power.” She grabbed her cell from her back pocket and illuminated the screen. No signal. She turned it around to shine through the room.
Tashi grabbed her hand. “Get under the dining table. Now.”
Before she could ask why Tashi had made that declaration, Nina was shoved toward the archway that led to the dining room. Tashi raced from the room so quietly it rang like bells in Nina’s head. Who was this woman? Nina put her hands out, using the dim light from the phone so she could see where she was going.
It had to have been Mr. Thomas who’d cut the power. And done something to her phone.
Her fingers hit the chair back and bent. Nina winced and started to shift the chair aside. Tashi touched her arm, and Nina jumped. She pressed the cold metal of what felt like a revolver into Nina’s hand.
“He cut the landline, too. Now hide. And dim that light. I’ll cover you.”
* * *
Theresa was on the porch, her arm around Emily. They were crowded by uniformed police officers, most of whom he thankfully didn’t recognize. He strode straight to the two women. “How are you both?”
Theresa nodded, looking understandably confused about the fuss. “We’re okay. Thank you.” She shifted Emily from under her arm. “Why don’t you go inside and put on some coffee for these nice officers, honey?”
“Sure.” Emily rolled her eyes, but did as her grandmother asked. “I’m not done looking through my pictures anyway.”
When Emily was out of earshot, Theresa said, “How worried should I be that this murdering freak is going to come around my granddaughter again?”
Wyatt thought about Nina, back at Karl’s house with Tashi. “A healthy worry is never a bad thing.”
With Tashi. At Karl’s house.
Mr. Thomas wasn’t here now, and they’d left Nina there. He couldn’t have known Wyatt and Karl would do that. He couldn’t even know they’d planned to stay the night in Portland.
Right?
* * *
The retort of gunfire flashed like lightning through the dark house. Tashi cried out.
Nina prayed Tashi had fired, or if she hadn’t that she wasn’t hurt. Or not hurt too badly. Lord, what’s happening? Help us.
The time for hiding was over. Nina lifted the revolver Tashi had given her and aimed the phone’s flashlight in her other hand along with it. The injuries Mr. Thomas had given her last time ached, but at least he hadn’t broken her ribs. Just bruised. Still, she didn’t want to be in another fight anytime soon.
Had Mr. Thomas drawn the men away for this reason? Pretending to target Emily to get Nina on her own, or exposed? So he thought. Tashi could hold her own, that was for sure. Please, Lord.
Nina crept down the empty hall to where Tashi had been positioned. Where the shots had come from. She gripped the butt of the gun and the phone, scanning as she went. Nina couldn’t risk not seeing where the threat was coming from until it was too late.
Where was Wyatt? Was he heading back? Had he sent officers ahead to help them? Hopefully Emily and Theresa were fine, because Nina thought maybe Tashi might not be. Her phone started to ring.
Baltimore Public Library.
She should end the call and dial Wyatt’s number, but would it go through when the phone still registered no signal? Mr. Thomas was trying to throw her off.
“I’m not going to answer that. Why don’t you come out so we can talk?” She stepped closer to Tashi’s position. Nina was supposed to be hiding under the dining table. Like that was going to happen when Tashi could be injured.
“Why talk?” His voice made her shudder. “All you need to do is die...like your friend here.” He spoke slowly, a smooth tone that held no happiness, no sadness. It just was. And it made her want to rage. “All that warm blood seeping onto the carpet. Whatever will she do? Gasping for breath. Will help come before she expires?” His chuckle was high-pitched, insane.
Nina’s phone quit ringing. She swiped at the screen and emergency-dialed 91—
Two arms banded around her waist and lifted her feet off the ground. The gun dropped to the floor, along with her phone. He dragged her backward, and the pain from her ribs stopped her from taking even a partial breath. She gasped, tried to scream.
White spots blinked in the corner of her eyes like lightning bugs.
He hauled her back with him. Where were they going? This wasn’t how things were supposed to end. Nina pried at his fingers, his hot breath on her hair. She kicked at his legs, but couldn’t hit anything. Strength bled from her the way he said Tashi’s blood was doing right now.
Wyatt and Karl had left her with Karl’s wife, and now both of them would die, and it would be all Nina’s fault.
The animosity between the two men would snap and break like a rubber band stretched too tight. They would never speak to each other again. That was, as long as they didn’t kill each other instead.
Sometimes there was only one way to get rid of the pain, and that was to expunge it out of your system. Nina had seen it happen many times—people stuck where they didn’t want to be. The world was a messed-up if not downright evil place to live. She’d met men, women and children imprisoned in a life no one should have to live.
Sometimes there was only one way out, and it wasn’t cutting yourself off the way Wyatt had done.
Her hip clipped a counter, and his arms loosened. Nina sucked in a breath and screamed. He hit her head with a solid object and she went down on her hands and knees. A rush of cold air hit her.
He dragged her outside.
“No, I’m not!” Tashi yelled. Why was Tashi yelling? “He shot me! I don’t know, but Nina needs help, and you better not be late!”
She sounded angry more than in pain. But that didn’t mean this might not very well be almost the end for Nina. They hadn’t won yet, and neither had Mr. Thomas.
He pulled her by the arm, but Nina stumbled. Mr. Thomas dropped his shoulder and it hit her stomach. She folded over his back, and he hiked her up and strode away like it was no big deal to walk with a person on his shoulder.
Nina batted her fists on his back and screamed. She kicked her legs and pummeled his stomach with her knees, but it wasn’t enough. He was going to carry her off to her death.
She fought harder. There was no way.
She liked her life. She wanted to teach. She wanted more coffees with Wyatt, but without the awkwardness of today. If she gave up there would be none of that. Give me strength, Lord. I have none.
With a roar, Nina renewed her fight. She heard him grunt. “I’m not going to let you kill me. Enough is enough.” She’d woken up now, and like a mama bear she was mad. “You won’t kill me like you killed all those other women. If you hurt Tashi, I’m going to shoot you for it.”
He chuckled. “You dropped your gun.”
The wail of sirens approached the house.
The outside air was cool, but she didn’t care. The low temperature invigorated her to keep trying. There was nothing that would stop her now. Nina wasn’t ever going to give up.
He shifted her on his shoulder and gripped the back of her legs as his other arm came across the back of her knees. She was going to fall off. And now she couldn’t even kick him!
“Let. Me. Go!”
More sirens.
They were almost at the back of Karl and Tashi’s mammoth yard now, walking through a raised bed with corn stalks brushing across her face. Mr. Thomas had probably parked on a street that backed up to theirs. He would carry her off to his white van, and she’d be nothing but evidence. A lengthy report, the sad tale of a woman who wouldn’t let her mother’s murder go and the killer who came back to finish the job.
Well, he’d picked the wrong woman when he had shown up at her house all those years ago.
Nina struggled, slammed her fists on his back and roared.
A door slammed.
She lifted her head. “Wyatt!” She screamed his name at the top of her lungs.
Mr. Thomas’s steps faltered. He tossed her, and she landed on the grass on her behind with a grunt. Where was her weapon? She had nothing.
He was going to kill her now, and there was no way she could fight him off when he was bigger and stronger.
But someone did have a gun. “WYATT!”
The glint of a knife flashed in the moonlight. She couldn’t see his face, but did that matter? In a minute she would take her last breath, a statistic. A memory.
His hand gripped her hair and pulled her face back to his. “What did you just say?”
“Wyatt,” Nina breathed.
“Well. This just got a lot more interesting. I suppose that was the man in your condo? Did you tell him all about me?”
“So what if I did?” she gasped.
“Then he must die, too.”
“No—”
Mr. Thomas lifted the knife above her chest.
Nina squeezed her eyes shut. But she never felt it slice into her. Instead a gunshot echoed across the yard.
She opened her eyes in time to see Mr. Thomas running away, holding his arm.
Wyatt.
Everything went black.