37

Logan kept staring at the phone. What was taking so long? The seconds were ticking away. Bayne probably wouldn’t keep Alex and Kaely alive for long. He had to leave the area before the weather made it impossible.

When the phone finally rang, he jumped. CIRG. He listened and took notes. When he ended the call he said, “We’ve got it.”

“Please tell me she’s close,” Monty said.

“We don’t know exactly where it is, of course, but her phone is somewhere in Woodbridge, just twenty-five miles from here in Prince William County. We can be pretty sure they won’t be in a populated part of town. That would be too many people for Bayne. But several large warehouses are in one area, three of them owned by an industrial company that’s left town. They’re all empty. CIRG thinks our agents could be inside one of them. They contacted the Prince William County police chief, Chief Barfield, and his officers are going to check them out. They have the number for the HRT chief, and HRT will stay in touch with me.”

“This has to be done so carefully,” Nathan said. “If Bayne sees them or hears them, he’ll kill our agents.”

“We have to let the officers do their job,” Bethany said. “If they’re working with HRT, they’ll know exactly what to do. We have to trust them.”

“I know you’re right,” Logan said. “But I’m going to Woodbridge. We can get to them before HRT. It will take them some time to prepare. We have four-wheel drive, and it’s only twenty-five miles.”

Todd stared at him. “You do remember that Washington can’t get here because the highway is blocked with multiple accidents, right? That means the roads are dangerous out there.”

“Yes, and I realize the police may find them before we can. But I want to be there anyway. No matter what happens.” He stood and looked around the table. “No one needs to come with me. This is my own decision.”

“We know,” Monty said.

Just then, Noah Hunter walked into the building. Logan had completely forgotten about him. His mind had been so focused on finding the women that he hadn’t thought about Kaely’s fiancé.

“I just heard,” Noah said. “I want to help. I know what to do in a kidnapping.” It was impossible not to see the fear on his face. “You need me.”

Logan nodded. “All right.” He looked at the agents sitting at the table. Without saying a word, they stood, one by one. “Are you sure?” he asked. Each one nodded. “The SUV holds six people. It will be tight with seven, but it makes no sense to take two vehicles in this weather.”

“Good thing we all like each other,” Monty said. “We’ll make it work.”

Logan nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

He ran toward the exit, six agents behind him. He was sure time was running out. Alex and Kaely’s lives depended on what happened next.

Bayne returned from the office, carrying a large wooden box and a small laptop. He placed the box a few yards in front of Alex and Kaely and set the laptop on top of it. He fetched a long pole with a hook on the end that had been lying on the floor. Then he moved next to Alex and reached up to grab something. She thought about trying to stand and knock him over, but she was bound to the chair with very little chance of success. Bayne was strong. Waiting for help was their best bet, so she stayed still. Surely Logan would be here soon.

A rope fell from the ceiling. She looked up to see it had been looped over a large metal pipe. As it swung in front of her, she realized it had a noose tied to it. Bayne moved over to Kaely and used the pole to pull down another rope.

Alex tried to control the terror that surged through her. Was he going to hang them? But surely his intention for them wasn’t that mundane. That wasn’t Bayne. He prided himself on making his killings unique. What was he planning?

“You’re probably wondering what I have designed for you.” He laughed. “Oh, it will be special, trust me.” He looped the nooses over both their necks. “It takes ten to twelve minutes for a human being to die from hanging, but you’ll have a little longer.” He walked a few feet away and pulled an old desk chair toward them. “You’ll be able to stand on this for a while. It will take more time, but you will eventually die. You see, when one of you gets a respite from your situation, the other one will be slowly choking to death. You must pass the chair back and forth between you.”

He patted the back of the chair. “Although this is well made and not prone to tipping over, if you should panic and exert enough pressure to the back of it, it could fall, and then you’ll no longer be able to delay your demise.” He looked at each of them again. “Do you understand?”

“You won’t get away with this, Bayne,” Alex said. But she couldn’t stop her voice from shaking.

The look he gave her was one of amazement. As if the idea that he would fail were as real as unicorns. “I know you think you’re smarter than me,” he said. “But you’re not. I created you. Don’t you understand that?” His eyes were wide and mirrored the insanity that drove him. He was caught up in his own delusion and truly believed no one could stop him. People like Bayne could control their mental illness for years, but when they were finally triggered, like Bayne had been when Davis humiliated him publicly with the lawsuit, his psychopathic tendencies erupted into unreasonable hatred and a desire for revenge.

But he certainly wasn’t hiding his insanity now. Not in front of agents he thought could do nothing to stop him.

Bayne got so close that Alex could smell his breath. He’d been drinking. She was surprised he’d risk being out of control, but then he had supreme confidence in himself. He believed he’d won. He’d defeated Davis and everyone else who was a threat to him.

“You exist because of me,” he hissed. “Both of you.” He moved to Kaely. “Without me you two would probably be working in some two-bit job that robs you of your soul. You should actually be thanking me.”

He stepped back and smiled at them. Then he pointed at the laptop he’d set up. “This will record your deaths. I wish it could be live, but then your friends might be able to track the laptop or see something pointing to this location. So instead, I’ll leave them a couple of presents. First, this wonderful recording. A souvenir to remember. A gift that will keep on giving, shown to law enforcement personnel down through the years. Profilers will talk about it. Have nightmares about it.”

He grinned widely, his face a mask of madness. “The feed is being sent to another computer for safekeeping should anything happen to this laptop. Which leads me to my other surprise.” He picked up a bag a few feet away. “When they do get here—too late—they’ll also find this.” He opened the bag and took out a box with wires.

His smile turned lopsided. Crazed.

“The last thing our friend Derrick did for me. So now we begin our last act. The deaths of Alex Donovan and Kaely Quinn.”