“Yeah, I plan to but if this is who we think it is I wouldn’t have gotten all the blood.” Wolfe frowned at her. “She would have sent it away for a second test and right now I can’t find out where she sent it. From now on, Jenna, no blood tests unless I do them, okay?”
“Sure. I didn’t think. I’ve slipped into this life so well, I forgot about my past.” The front door opened and she could hear voices. “Does Kane know the details of my mission?”
“No, and he won’t hear them from me, although he has clearance.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “He’s a good man and you know by now you can trust him with your life. It wouldn’t hurt to explain the potential threat without going into details. Maybe beef up the security around here. Leave it with me; I’ll get someone from HQ to come out.” He withdrew his hand. “I’ll keep you advised.”
“Hi, Jenna.” Emily strolled into the room, cheeks rosy from the cold. “How are you feeling? You still look pale.”
Jenna forced a smile. “I’m fine. I’m going back to work on Wednesday.”
She noticed Kane’s concerned expression and sighed. There is no way I can keep all this from him. He knows, just by looking at me, that something is wrong.
Fourteen
Shocked, Sky gaped at the gurney, unable to move. Her chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe. A faint whistling some distance away snapped her back into action. She turned and moved the flashlight along the wall, searching for a place to hide. An exit close to the gurney had a card scanner fixed to the wall to one side of it. Her legs shook with fear. The whistling was coming from behind that door. The beam slid over a huge aluminum refrigerator, then a g
lass-topped entrance came into view. She crept across the floor and pushed into the room. A strong smell of antiseptic hit her and, terrified at what she might find inside, she sucked in a trembling breath then scanned the area with the flashlight.
The room contained a sink and, on one side, a floor-to-ceiling cupboard with a sliding door took up the entire wall. It opened silently and she peered inside. Blankets and sheets filled the shelves alongside containers of different sizes. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself, then wedged herself into a small space beside a broom. After turning off the flashlight, she shut herself inside.
The whistling had gotten louder by the second. Panic gripped her, twisting her belly into knots. If her kidnapper had come to kill her, he would find her bed empty and start searching. Her knees trembled so hard, she had to squeeze them together to stop them rattling against the door. The whistling was closer now. She peeked through a crack in the cupboard and stopped breathing. From her position, she could see the red light on the front of the refrigerator in the other room.
A beam of light burst through the exit and the next moment the lights came on. She recognized the big man at once as the man who had kidnapped her. He wore the same black hoodie covering his face. The whistling stopped for a few seconds as he pinned the door back and went to collect the gurney. He pushed the woman’s body through the exit and into the hallway. As he moved away, the whistling started again and Sky could hear his footsteps and the squeak of the gurney’s wheels echoing in the distance.
The open door was a way out and her one chance to escape. Moving as quietly as possible, she left her hiding place and crept across the room and out into the hallway. Ahead, the passageway went straight for a few yards then made a sharp turn to the left. Icy coldness seeped through the blanket and her short panting breaths sent clouds of steam into the air. Panic-stricken that the man would be back soon, she slid the flashlight into the pocket of the scrubs and pulled the blanket over her head. The way out had to be close by but she figured if she could hear him, the moment he stopped whistling, he would be able to hear her as well. She clenched her jaw and followed him.
Reaching the corner, she edged her way along the wall and took a quick peek. The man was nowhere in sight but she could see an open door to the outside and snow piled up on each side. Rather than the crisp clean air she expected, a heavy odor hung in the air.
A loud whirring sound followed by the unmistakable noise of heavy machinery blasted her ears. Not caring if she made a noise, she sprinted for the open door, then flattened her body against the wall and looked outside. Snow had lightly dusted a cleared walkway lit by a row of lights. She could make out footprints and the imprint from the wheels of the gurney. On one side was a high brick wall that ended some yards ahead. She had no choice but to see where the pathway came out. With her heartbeat thrashing in her ears, she ran slipping and sliding along the path, using one hand on the wall for support.
The grinding noise had gotten louder and a stench like death wafted toward her. She reached the end of the wall and froze on the spot. Not ten yards away the man was hoisting the naked body of a young woman onto a conveyer belt. The wide belt carried the woman to an opening in a huge machine with whirring blades like a wood chipper.
Horrified, Sky pushed her knuckles against her mouth to stop a scream of protest. Black spots danced before her eyes and she blinked, not believing what she was seeing. As the body moved slowly into the gaping maw of the machine, she gagged at the terrible noise and vomited bile.
Trembling with fear and disgust, she backed into the cover of shadows and took in her surroundings. She had to get away. On the left, walls rose out of the shadows, dark like a prison. Ahead, a frosty path led to a parking lot not twenty yards away. A white pickup with the windshield thick with ice sat all alone, and beyond it the safety of darkness. Could she make it there before the man had finished his ghoulish task?
After taking one, quick look at him, she took off at a run. Great clouds of steam escaped her lips as she gasped in freezing air. Unable to get traction on the ice, she made it a few yards before the sound of heavy footsteps thundered behind her.
He had seen her.
She screamed and, lungs bursting, ran for her life. The parking lot had a low fence, snow piled on poles connected with loops of ice-covered chain. The footsteps crunched behind her and she screamed again, the frigid air burning her throat. He grabbed at her, tearing the blanket from her shoulders.
“Give up. You can’t get away from me.” She recognized the voice of the man who’d kidnapped her. “Come easy or I’ll finish you right now.”
Sky glanced over one shoulder and glared at him. “Get away from me. I saw what you did.” She ran at the fence, leaping over the chain.
She landed hard on her knees, sliding across the ice, but scrambled up again and tried to run. He was on her in seconds. Pain slammed into her head and the metallic taste of blood spilled over her tongue. The ground came up fast and her face landed in a pile of fresh snow. Cold seeped through her thin clothes and she tried to speak but her mouth refused to work. A snowflake landed on her outstretched arm, lacy and perfect. The frozen landscape slipped into oblivion and the light around her faded. I’m going to die.
Fifteen
Tuesday
A cold crisp morning greeted Jenna and she woke feeling surprisingly well. Since she had fallen ill, Kane would tend the horses, work out and shower before knocking on her door to deliver a steaming cup of coffee. She sat up in bed, pushed the hair from her eyes and smiled at him. “You’re spoiling me. I used to wake up at five every morning and now I lounge around until it’s almost seven. It’s going to be a struggle to get up in time for work tomorrow.”
“You’ll soon drop back into your old routine.” He placed the cup on her bedside table. “Right now, you can’t work out and I have Rowley helping me tend the horses, so you don’t need to come outside in the cold and dark.” He turned to head for the door. “I’ll have breakfast ready in ten.”
“Dave.” Jenna reached for her coffee. “I didn’t get a chance to speak with you last night, with Rowley here, but a problem has come up. Wolfe gave me some info you need to know. Can you hang back after he leaves this morning so I can bring you up to date?”
“About the Sky Paul case?” Kane paused in the doorway.