Kate kicked it under the SUV. ‘Very good. Now, on your knees. Mer, you okay?’ she asked when the man had dropped to his knees.
‘Yeah,’ Meredith said, but it came out a hoarse grunt. She tried to moisten her mouth but every last drop of spit had dried up. ‘I’m all right.’
‘Good. I want you to get Mallory out of the SUV, and the two of you to start walking.’
Meredith obeyed, giving Mallory a little shake when she didn’t immediately respond. ‘Come on, honey. We’re getting out of here.’
Mallory stirred, but didn’t get out of the car. Meredith shoved her shoulder under the girl’s arm and wound the arm around her own neck. Half lifting, half dragging, she pulled Mallory from the SUV and started walking toward a cluster of parked cars. Cover.
Meredith glanced around, fearing the man was not alone. Quickly she pulled her gun from her pocket. ‘Mallory, baby, you have to walk. I can’t carry you the whole way. You have to help me.’
Mallory’s back straightened a few degrees and her feet began to shuffle. It wasn’t a full walk, but it was enough to allow Meredith to pick up their pace.
‘Are you hurt? Did he shoot you?’ Meredith tried to see if there was any blood on Mallory’s clothes, but it was too dark. Finally reaching the parked cars, she dragged her behind a minivan and gently guided her to the ground.
Just in time to hear a shot followed by a nauseating crunching sound.
Kate. Meredith inched toward the rear of the minivan until she could see around it. Oh no. God no. Kate lay in a heap on the asphalt near the SUV.
And the man was charging Meredith like a bull. Not letting herself think, Meredith racked her gun, bringing it into position as she’d practiced hundreds of times. And she pulled the trigger.
The man staggered back a few steps, staring down at his chest in disbelief, but he didn’t bleed. A vest, she realized. He’s wearing a vest. Dammit.
He raised his gaze, eyes narrowing in fury. He took a few more determined steps toward her, so she pulled the trigger again, hitting his thigh. He stumbled, his mouth opening on a cry she couldn’t hear because her ears were ringing from the gunfire. But she’d hit him! She felt keen satisfaction until he disappeared between two of the vehicles.
Shit. Mallory. Meredith hurried back to her, crouching over her seconds before the man reappeared from behind the boxy Scion parked just beyond the minivan.
‘You can’t have her!’ Meredith snarled and fired at his head, but her hand was shaking so badly that the shot went wild. Instantly she dropped her aim, firing again at his chest. Then his legs. One bullet had to hit. Just one. Please God.
But nothing did because he kept coming and she kept firing until— Click click. Meredith pulled the trigger and . . . nothing.
She’d emptied the magazine and he was still approaching. Except now he’d straightened – and was coming faster.
‘You’re gonna be sorry you fucked with me,’ he said, his words barely audible because all the shots had dulled her hearing. ‘I’ll play with you a while before I kill you. But first, you’ll watch me play with her.’
Meredith wanted to run. Wanted to flee. But she didn’t because Mallory was lying on the ground, so very still.
‘Then you’ll have to kill me,’ she shouted, ‘because I’m not letting you take her.’
Meredith hunched down over Mallory, making herself dead weight when she felt his hand clench in the back of her coat, so that when he tossed her, she rolled instead of flying through the air.
‘No!’ she yelled, crawling back toward Mallory, because he was reaching for her.
Meredith halted when Mallory suddenly moved, her hand rising to his face, silver glinting in the light of the parking lot lamps. A knife. Mallory had a knife.
The knife sliced through the man’s mask and even through the dull roar in her ears, Meredith could hear his scream. He reared up, staggering backward.
Another shot rang out and the man jerked to the side, his right hand instantly reaching to clamp his left upper arm.
Two more shots fired in rapid succession. ‘Step away from the women! Now!’
Meredith knew that voice, even muffled and muted. Kate. She’s not dead. Oh God, she’s not dead. On her hands and knees, Meredith collapsed, her arms no longer supporting her weight. Her cheek scraped against the asphalt, but she didn’t care. The voice sounded far away, but it was Kate.
He ran, the man. He backed up and fled, dragging his injured leg behind him.
Sirens filtered through the roaring in her ears and Meredith burst into tears. Help. Help was coming.
Shaking arms gathered her close. When she looked up, it was Mallory’s dark eyes that looked down at her. Mallory’s arms that held her.
But Meredith couldn’t stop crying. She tried, she really tried. Two more arms encircled her and Meredith could smell Kate’s perfume and it made her cry even harder.
The three of them huddled together until another thought penetrated the haze of her mind. ‘Papa.’ Meredith lurched away, looking around wildly. ‘Where’s Papa?’
‘He’s okay. He got hit on the head, but he’s okay. I’m not lying to you.’ Kate held out a hand, like she was calming a feral animal. Which was probably fair. With her heart slamming against her ribs and a bad case of the shakes, Meredith felt like a skittish deer.
Then Meredith noticed the slice in Kate’s sleeve and that the fabric was dark and shiny. ‘You’re hurt,’ she said numbly.
‘I’ve had worse.’ Kate leaned back against the minivan and closed her eyes as people began to rush to their sides. ‘The cavalry is here.’
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Sunday 20 December, 9.25 P.M.
The Gruber Academy. Linnea looked up at the sign with grim determination. It had taken her almost three hours to walk the two miles from downtown to the proper-looking school in the tony neighborhood, because she’d had to stop to hide and rest. And wash Butch’s blood and brains from her face and hair with water from a garden hose she’d found hooked up next to a loading dock behind a bar. The water had been icy, but being clean had been worth the discomfort. Plus she no longer was as noticeable. People covered in blood tended to draw stares.
Now she needed shelter. The school was surrounded by a chain-link fence that was taller than she was, but secured with a chain that was a foot too long, so there was a gap between the gates. Her sucky appetite was going to work in her favor for once. She slipped through, determined to find somewhere to hide while she waited to see if she saw him arrive to pick up or drop off his daughter, Ariel. It didn’t have to be warm. Just not exposed.
She found what she’d been searching for in the minibus parked behind the school. It was a converted van. Older, but freshly painted. Older was good, in this case. Less likely to have an alarm. Getting the door open wouldn’t be a problem. She’d lived on the street for a few years before being sucked into the system and had stolen her share of stuff to survive. She wasn’t proud of that fact, but hoped she hadn’t lost her touch.
She gripped the bus’s antenna and twisted, relieved when it unscrewed. She didn’t want to actually break it. If her years with Andy had taught her anything, it was that she was as respectable as the respect she gave others.
Andy. The wave of unexpected grief nearly cut her at the knees. I miss you, Andy. So much. She’d avenge the man who’d loved her unconditionally if it was the last thing she did. The vow gave her the strength to continue. She removed the antenna and surveyed the door locks through the bus’s windows.
Then laughed out loud. The bus was unlocked. Only in a rich neighborhood, she thought. People thought fences and gates made them safer. They were lucky that all she wanted was a place to sleep. She started to replace the antenna, then reconsidered. It would make a decent weapon if she were attacked up close.
At least Butch wouldn’t be coming for her again. She climbed in, closing the door behind her and hoping like hell there were no cameras announcing her presence. She moved to the back of the van and wanted to cry.