Kane ran as he hit Jenna’s number. “Did you get Julie’s message?”
“Yeah, I’m heading for the stairs now.” Jenna’s footsteps thundered through the earpiece. “Tell Rio to get the lights back on. Someone must have turned them off.”
“Copy.” Kane pushed people out of his way and saw Rio heading toward the stairs. “I see Rio. Jenna, I’ll come in silent from below and we’ll trap him between us.”
“Copy. I’m at the fire door. Dammit, it’s locked.”
Kane rushed to Rio’s side. “Jenna, I’m at the stairs now.”
“I got the call from Julie as well.” Rio rushed toward the fire door and yanked on it. “It’s locked.”
Recalling what the maintenance staff had told him about the doors, Kane pulled out his passkey and swiped it through the reader beside the door. It clicked open and Rio yanked the door wide. “Jenna, use your passkey in the reader beside the door.”
“Copy.” Jenna disconnected.
Pushing his phone into his pocket and pulling out his weapon, Kane peered into the darkness and lowered his voice to just above a whisper. He thrust the passkey into Rio’s hands. “There’s a panel here somewhere. You’ll need the passkey to open it. Try and get the lights back on. Jenna is heading down from above. Follow me in silence, I want to get the jump on him.”
Moving in the dark was second nature to Kane and he headed up the stairs in absolute silence, taking them three at a time. He heard scuffling from above and increased his speed, biting back the need to call out and tell Julie help was on the way. He dropped into combat mode, pushing away the anger he had for someone daring to hurt one of his family. Overreacting never helped in a situation. He needed stealth and cunning. His only objective was to save Julie, take down this killer alive, and dissect his twisted mind.
Fifty-Three
Gasping for breath, Julie rounded the top of the next flight of stairs. One hand gripped the stun gun, but in the dark she had no idea if she could safely turn it on. Her fingers moved frantically along the grip. A switch on one side of the handle turned it on and the other side had a safety switch that also worked the flashlight. But if she turned on the flashlight, she’d give away her position. She kept on moving, her heavy breathing almost blocking the sound of the relentless footsteps behind her. It was as if he had all day. She let out a little sob. How had he locked all the doors? She’d seen people heading for the stairs and yet there was nobody trapped in the dark like her. What was happening?
She paused to catch her breath and listen. The footsteps echoed in the stairwell and now the man was humming. Trembling with terror, Julie pushed on, feeling her way in the pitch black. Uncle Dave would be coming soon, she just had to keep moving.
“Why don’t you take a rest, Julie?” It was a man’s voice and he was close by. “No one can get in here. It’s just you and me. No one knows where you are. I was right behind you when you told the sheriff or maybe her deputy that you’d be taking the elevator. Won’t they be surprised when you go missing and they find you in here?”
Chest tightening with fear, Julie struggled to the next landing. As she moved across the smooth floor, she tried the door. Locked. She followed the handrail and continued upward but behind her the footsteps quickened. The next moment, a door opened high above her and a beam of light flooded the stairwell. Julie stared at the stun gun in her hand and hit the switch. The flashlight lit up the face of a man, dressed in black and wearing a hoodie. She screamed as he lunged at her, her fingers desperately trying to find the correct switch on the stun gun. She gasped as his gloved hands slid around her neck and squeezed.
“Sheriff’s department, step away from the girl now.” It was Jenna’s voice coming from above her.
As Julie went for the man’s eyes, fighting for her life, she made out a bobbing flashlight. Jenna was coming down the stairs. The man’s hands slackened a little. Frantic to get away, Julie smashed the man in the face with the stun gun and scratched at his eyes, but it was useless. His hands closed around her throat again and squeezed. As red spots danced across her vision, over his shoulder Julie could see Jenna rounding the top of the landing and, without breaking stride, she flung herself from the top of the stairs. Her scream echoing through the stairwell like a war cry.
“Let her go.”
The impact as Jenna collided with the man hit Julie like a ton of bricks. The stun gun slipped from her fingers as they all tumbled like ninepins across the landing. All the air had left Julie’s lungs, but the man was staggering to his knees.
“Run, Julie, run.” Jenna pointed her flashlight toward the stairs.
Julie rolled onto her back and kicked out at the man, aiming for his face. The man grabbed her foot and twisted. She kicked with the other foot and then jumped to her feet and sprinted up the stairs. She heard Jenna grunt and the flashlight beam faltered. Darkness closed in around her. She stumbled but kept on going, as heavy footsteps and raspy breathing closed in behind her. Gasping for air, she hit the landing and burst through the door, looking for a place to hide or someone to help her, but the hallway was empty. The door opened behind her and the man’s hands reached out to grab her, but she ducked and weaved out of his grasp. Lungs bursting, she hurtled along the passageway. She had to get away. The lights at the end
of the hallway shone red over the other fire door with an invitation of escape. With no time to wait for an elevator, Julie ran for the exit. She pulled open the heavy door and headed down the stairs, jumping the last six or so, rounding the corner and barreling down the stairs again.
Behind her, the relentless pursuer’s rasping breath and heavy steps rung out in the confined space. Terror pushed her on and she burst through the door at the bottom of the next flight of stairs. The freezing chill hit her like a wall of ice as she ran up to her knees in snow. She looked frantically around. The locked pull-down doors to the delivery area were the only break in the back wall of the building. She turned and, leaping over bushes to hide her tracks, headed into the forest. Using the dark shadows to conceal her, she crouched down behind a snow-laden bush as the door to the stairs slowly opened.
Fifty-Four
The lights came on as Kane rounded the top of the steps. His attention snapped to Jenna. He’d seen her leap down the stairs, giving a warrior’s cry so fierce she’d startled Julie’s attacker into dropping her, and they’d all crashed into the wall. Jenna had rolled on impact and the fall had stunned her, but she’d managed to send Julie running for her life.
“Up there, he’s still after her. It’s Bexley Grayson.” Jenna was sitting against the wall, holding her wrist. “I’ve busted my wrist. Go!”
Kane headed up the stairs and burst into the hallway. It was as silent as a church. He grabbed his phone, hoping to hear Julie’s voice, and peered at the pulsating dot on the map. It wasn’t moving. The GPS signal gave no indication of Julie’s position inside the building but somehow, she’d gotten outside. Mind spinning, he bolted for the opposite fire exit. He called Rio as he ran and gave him the location. “If he’s planning on strangling her, we have two maybe three minutes.”
Stuffing the phone inside his pocket, he jumped over the railing to the next floor, landing and rolling before crashing through the exit and out into the snow. Grayson hadn’t bothered to disguise his trail into the forest and, drawing his Glock, Kane charged into the frozen tundra after him. The silence was deafening, which could mean Julie was hiding or dead. As he pushed his way through the snow-laden branches, ice flicked into his cheeks. The cold bit into his unprotected skull, freezing the metal plate he’d received courtesy of a car bombing and sending crippling agony across his eyes. He shook his head, scanning the forest for any movement.
A scream cut through the silence like a knife. Digging deep, he blocked out the pain and ran. He burst through the trees as Julie’s scream sent birds flying into the air. Julie was fighting for her life, clawing at Grayson’s face as he choked her. Kane grabbed him by the arm and tossed him against a tree. As the man staggered to gain his feet, Kane aimed his weapon at him. “Sheriff’s department. Facedown on the ground, hands on your head.” He flicked a glance at Julie. “You okay?”
Julie nodded and rubbed her sore neck, backing away from Grayson. “Shoot him. He tried to kill me.”