When Shadows Fall (Dr. Samantha Owens #3)

She couldn’t help it, her fists clenched and she took a step forward.

Kaylie danced backward. “Ooh, someone’s testy today. It wasn’t stealing, Doc. Borrowing. The first time my daughter sees me, I can’t look like a beggar who’s been camping in the woods. You understand.”

“I want my watch back.”

Kaylie brushed her left hand past her hair, smoothing the edges, and Sam saw the weapon in her right hand. She thought it was a Glock .40, but she didn’t have Xander’s talent for recognizing every gun on sight. It was definitely a semiautomatic. Not good.

She stopped her advance, went for casual. “Where’d you get the gun?”

“Oh, there’s always someone willing to make a trade in this world. Only cost me a hundred bucks for the gun and two magazines of ammo. I’m telling you, these D.C. boys know how to make it worth your while. I didn’t even have to throw in your precious watch.”

Kaylie unclasped the TAG Heuer watch from her wrist and tossed it to Sam, laughing.

A chill went down Sam’s spine. She caught the watch and put it on. Just having the stainless-steel and gold links around her wrist made her feel safer. She knew she needed to distract the girl, make her put the weapon down. Sam might be able to wrestle it away from her, but she was hesitant to get into hand-to-hand combat. Kaylie seemed different today. Much less fragile.

“What’s your plan, Kaylie? There are fifty FBI agents roaming these woods, all well armed and better trained than you.”

She smiled. “Oh, I know. I need them. They’re a perfect diversion.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Dr. Owens. You have to admit, you’re a bit predictable. I give you one crumb about my daughter, and look at what you can do. Bravo, madam. You’ve laid it all out on a platter for me. The FBI gets everyone all riled up and looking forward, and I go in the back. Doug explained to me how their incursions work. I know where everyone is right now.”

“You’re crazy if you think this is going to work, Kaylie.”

The girl’s face darkened, and she leaped forward so quickly Sam barely had time to put an arm up in defense. Kaylie grabbed her hair and yanked her head back, setting the barrel of the gun against Sam’s throat. Sam froze.

Kaylie spoke through gritted teeth. “Don’t ever call me crazy. Now. It would be very nice if you’d come with me, Dr. Owens.”

Sam shook her head, felt the hard metal biting into her skin. “Not going to happen, Kaylie. Let’s go back to the clearing, let them know you’re here and safe. Let the professionals do their job.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” She pressed the gun harder, pushing against the knife wound, making Sam suck in her breath in pain. Shit. Sam needed to manage the situation, keep Kaylie from doing something stupid. Like killing her.

“Curtis will kill Rachel before she lets her be taken by the FBI,” Kaylie said. “She hasn’t ever hesitated to sacrifice the sacrosancts before. She won’t start now.”

Sam was reminded of Thurber’s description of the barn, and the people of Eden hanging from its rafters.

“You think she’s going to let you have her instead?”

“Yes, I do.” She lessened the pressure of the gun slightly, but her hand was still caught up in Sam’s hair. Her voice was calm, assured. “Curtis took Rachel to get me to come back. An eye for an eye. That’s what Curtis believes in. The only way this goes down is if I sacrifice myself for Rachel. So I need you to come along with me and help with the exchange.”

She pushed Sam away, but kept the weapon pointed at her. “I know you’re going to help me. You’re a good person, Dr. Owens. You’ll do the right thing.”

Sam wasn’t having any of this. Kaylie was as twisted as Curtis Lott. She needed to keep her talking, keep her from trying to storm the compound, with Sam in tow. That was an assured death for them both.

“If you think I’m going to let you threaten me into helping you, you’re out of your mind. They’ll kill us.”

“It has to be this way! The minute Adrian figures out what’s happening, he’ll slit the throats of everyone in Eden with that nasty garrote of his. Rachel won’t be given any mercy.”

Kaylie gestured toward the woods with the gun. “Now, start walking, Dr. Owens. And don’t you dare scream for help. Or I swear to all that’s holy I will shoot you dead and leave your body in these woods for the wolves to find.”

Sam began to walk.





Chapter

56

AS THEY WENT deeper and deeper into the forest, Kaylie was silent. Sam focused on scrambling through the brambles and over the fallen logs, chiding herself for being so stupid.