Moving his gaze b
ack on the enemy, he slowly lowered his weapon. The other man had no visible weapon. But the serial killer had poisoned or shot each of the other two victims, so his comment about crushing her throat didn’t match. But it might be part of his thrill—using different MOs.
“You’ll never get out of here alive. Turn yourself in now and you live.” Holden had to be careful to not betray his real identity to this lowlife. The less the killer knew, the better. It wouldn’t matter if he could apprehend him right here, right now, but Holden had been in this situation before. Bella’s safety came first. He watched the man’s hands for any sign of movement toward Bella’s throat. Right now his arm held her neck up against him.
“You don’t own me, you pathetic excuse for security.” The killer’s voice sounded like a space alien and that added an extra creepiness to his words. Holden itched to cuff him, to get him to confess to what he’d done.
“What do you have against this woman? Drop her.”
“Everyone is not what they seem.” He was backing toward the exit, dragging the still unresponsive Bella with him. “If you were doing your job, I wouldn’t have been able to get to her. She’s mine.”
Not on Holden’s life.
Holden took one step toward the assailant and allowed himself to fall forward, as if he’d tripped. The man jerked, saw the clear line Holden had to shoot him and let go of Bella, then ran out the exit. Holden took off after the man, but when he entered the large corridor he was gone. Holden pulled out his cell and called 9-1-1, identifying himself as pageant security to keep his cover. He requested police backup, informed them of Bella’s unconscious state and asked for EMT support ASAP. He continued to run through the school in all directions the man could have gone but it was fruitless. And he had to turn back to protect Bella until the other LEA arrived on scene.
The man behind the stage, who’d rendered Bella Colton unconscious, had disappeared as if a stage trapdoor had opened and swallowed him whole.
Sirens sounded and he rounded back to the staff room, to check on Bella. As he neared, he saw EMTs rush in and decided to stay back until they’d treated her. If she regained consciousness here, he didn’t want to be the first person she saw. Better to stay in the background of all that had happened. His cover was vital to keeping the pageant contestants safe, especially the single redhead with green eyes, Bella Colton.
He slipped into an empty classroom and called Bud Langston, the Arizona State pageant director, one of the few people who knew about Holden’s undercover role besides Holden’s handler at the FBI office in Phoenix. Bud had contacted Holden, who got permission from his supervisor to work the case that the FBI began investigating after the second pageant murder. Bud’s son had been Holden’s college roommate and Bud had jumped at the chance to have Holden work undercover during the Ms. Mustang Valley Pageant. Anything to keep the participants safe.
“Bud.”
“Talk to me, Holden.”
“It’s a rough start to Ms. Mustang Valley, Bud.” Holden recapped what had happened.
“Thank God that Bella Colton wasn’t harmed—or was she, besides being knocked out?”
“I don’t know for certain, but I’ll find out and get back to you. She was out the entire time I was there, so there’s slim to no chance she knows of my involvement.”
“That’s something, at least.” Bud swore and Holden bit back a grin—Bud was a navy veteran and salty came to mind. “I wish you’d caught him.”
“I do, too. But, Bud, we can’t be certain this is the same man we’re looking for. Beauty pageants attract all kinds, and are the perfect target for anyone who’s off-balance and looking for a sick thrill.” Criminals had all kinds of motives.
“I get that, and I’m glad you’re on the case. What will it take to call in more federal agents?”
“That’s above my pay grade, but to be honest, we’re stretched thin at the moment. Plus, the risk of anyone figuring out we’re here will prevent us from operating with the freedom we need to apprehend the suspect.” Holden was fairly certain the criminal only saw him as a bumbling security guard, which was how he wanted it. It might make Holden the man’s first target, if and when he came back. Holden would be ready for him.
“Thanks for what you did today, and please keep me informed.” Bud’s sincerity was tangible in his voice.
“Will do.” When Holden disconnected, he put in a call to his FBI supervisor, who expressed the same disappointment that Holden hadn’t apprehended the criminal, and added an additional task that Holden had already figured into his work in Mustang Valley. He’d call Spencer later, after he got out of here. Spencer and he had agreed to not communicate unless absolutely necessary while Holden was on this case, undercover. And now his buddy’s sister was smack dab in the middle of the case. She’d been hurt on his watch, not something he relished telling Spencer.
He had to keep tabs on Bella Colton at all costs, without her figuring out he was FBI. Holden had trailed suspects and victims alike, all in the line of duty as an agent.
So why did the prospect of keeping her safe fill him both with anticipation and dread?
Chapter 3
Bella squinted against the bright light the ER doctor shone to measure her pupils’ responses. “I’m fine, really. I think he knocked me out with one of those pinches, you know, to my jugular.” She felt silly, especially after she’d realized the ER doc was none other than Shawn Trembly, a boy she’d briefly dated in high school. They parted ways after school and ended up being friends. “It’s great that you were able to fulfill your dream, Shawn. You know, to be a doctor.”
“You mean a sleeper hold, a choke hold.” Shawn nodded as he kept to business, evidently not as ready to dismiss Bella’s attack and loss of consciousness as anything near normal. “That could be true, and the bruises at the base of your neck support it, but I want an MRI to confirm. You hit your head when he dropped you, and there isn’t a lot of swelling at the contact spot. We need to rule out a concussion. And yes, I got to follow my dream. But I’m not a doctor, I’m a physician’s assistant with a specialty in trauma.”
“That’s still great.” Could he talk about anything other than how she’d been knocked out? Bella didn’t want to dwell on her attack. She had a case to investigate.
“Let’s keep the focus on your treatment, Bella. You’ve been through a traumatic event.” He tapped into a laptop, his expression grave. Shawn was classically handsome, with deep blue eyes and dark hair she remembered being curly, but was now in a tight crew cut. But she felt zero chemistry between them now. And for reasons unknown to her, the mental image of the security guard at MVHS popped into her brain. The man had been so intense. She stiffened. Could he have been the person who attacked her?
In truth, it could be anybody. It gave powerlessness a whole new dimension, and she’d thought she’d already been through it after watching her best friend die.