“No. You’ve done enough. You’ve done what you needed to; you’ve succeeded in your goals. You’ve done well. You’ve achieved what you set out to do. This can be over now.” Perhaps if she spoke on his wavelength, he’d listen.
She thought she was getting through to him. There was a moment of hesitation.
But then, from outside the house, came the faraway sound of sirens. Her heart skipped a beat. Owen, and backup, were on their way.
But the sound didn’t work in her favor, as she’d thought it might. Instead, she saw the tension flood back into him. His arms wrapped around his victim tighter and he dragged her sideways.
“There’s no time left! No time!”
May felt adrenaline surge as she picked up her gun again, because the worst was going to happen. He was going to kill her before the backup arrived. May would be unable to prevent this woman from losing her life, literally in front of her eyes.
She had to stop him! How could she shoot him now? There had to be a moment when she could do so, when she could take the shot, nullify the threat, and save Sharon.
Then, May knew she had her chance. Burgess twisted his body slightly, moving to the side, and May saw she could doit. She knew she could take the shot, now she had a clear and uninterrupted line of sight to his head.
She moved forward, her gun held at the ready, her eyes narrowed, her heart pounding unevenly.
Taking a deep breath, she raised her gun, knowing this had to be quick, accurate, and bold.
But, as her finger tightened on the trigger, she realized what Burgess had been aiming for and why he'd been moving in that direction.
His hand lashed out. He grabbed the standard lamp and shoved it sideways. It hit the floor with a crash and the bulb broke in a burst of glass.
The room was plunged into complete darkness.
The only sound was Sharon's gagging cry, and then a slithering, dragging noise that was followed by a terrible silence.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
"No!" May yelled. This couldn't be happening! He'd broken the light at this critical time, and now, with its blackout blinds, the entire top floor had become a darkened cavern. She couldn’t even see where the wall switches were. She leaped forward, shoving her gun back in the holster, storming in the direction of the sound. Her knee banged painfully against a chair, and she winced, staggering. There was the doorway, a darker shape in the gloom. Down here was where he'd dragged her.
She felt her way forward, her hands stretched out, her body tensed, and her mind alert.
She crashed into something — a wall, a banister, a table? — she didn't know, but it didn't matter. She lunged through the gap. Where was he taking her? She was in a corridor that must lead to the master bedroom. She bumped against the wall, sending a picture crashing down. But she could hear a noise ahead, over her own frantic breathing.
The noise of sobbing. The noise of harsh breaths, coming from a place she couldn't see, on the floor a couple of yards ahead, in this pitch-black corridor.
He must have dumped her here, looking to escape. With any luck, she was okay. She hadn't seen a knife on him.
"You okay?" May murmured, surging forward toward the noise. She reached out her hand, needing to touch this woman, to hold her, to get her to safety before Burgess could come back.
Her fingers touched soft fabric. A sleeve.
"You okay?" May asked again. She crouched down.
All she could hear were the sobbing breaths. What had happened? Was Sharon hurt in some way?
And then, with a gasp, May realized the truth. The body on the floor erupted with a snarl, and May yelled in horror asstrong, wiry hands wrapped around her shoulders, yanking her to the ground so that her body crashed against the floorboards. She heard a metallic skittering noise and knew it was her gun, dislodged from the holster and now fallen out of sight.
This was not Sharon lying here. It was the killer, Burgess himself. He'd lured her in. She'd taken the bait and walked straight into his clutches.
Now, he was going for the kill.
May twisted her body, trying to free herself, but he was on top of her, moving with a sudden and ferocious speed that stunned her. His hands grabbed her wrists and held them, hard and unrelenting.
She bucked and heaved, trying to throw him off, but he held on, and she could hear his panting breaths, feel his warm breath on her face, sense the grim determination in his lean, bony body.
"You think you can stop me?" he asked, his voice a hiss of triumph that sent a chill through May's heart.