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AFTER STABBING THE first deputy, Paul watched the second make his way down to where his dying friend lay. He would have killed this one, too, but the second deputy was much bigger and looked like he could fight. The brush-cut hair and the thick ropy muscles of his forearms was enough to belay him from attacking. He didn’t think he’d have enough advantage unless he could really have surprised him.
When the second deputy disappeared down the stairwell, he went to the room and without delay burst in with his knife drawn ready to fall upon the woman and kill her before he had time to think about what he was doing. But the room was empty. They’d moved her again.
“Shit,” he muttered. For the second time today, indecision crippled him. He pondered the situation and decided that he would not leave the hotel. They had moved her for now, but they might bring her back.
He left the room and went the same way the second deputy had gone moments ago, but instead of turning off at the first-floor landing, as the deputy had, he continued down two more flights to the basement. He hoped they would not conduct a thorough search of the building. They would figure he’d split after stabbing the deputy.
The small wooden door marked ENGINEER in white paint was unlocked and he walked in. The engineer’s office was small and dank with a greasy floor and dirty desk covered with paper, blueprints, and drawings of electrical circuits. The engineer wasn’t around. He was on his rounds.