Hearts in Darkness (Nikki & Michael 2)

She slowed, not wanting to get too close and attract his attention. “He's heading for the back gate."

"Anyone else in sight?"

"Not unless you want to count the teenagers getting passionate under the trees." Jake snorted softly. “I'll bring my car around. Keep me posted."

"Will do."

Matthew reached the gate and stopped to unlock it. She stepped behind a tree. The kid threw the gate open, then glanced over his shoulder. His look was petulant, like a child who sees candy he knows he can't have.

It wasn't his family making him run, she thought with a grin. It was his hormones. He headed out and turned right. She pressed the two-way, telling Jake, then followed the teenager out the gate.

Matthew's long strides had taken him a good way down the street. She crossed to the other side then broke into a run, closing the distance between them. The slow beat of the music began to fade, and silence closed in, broken only by the occasional roar of a car engine or the blast of a horn. The teenager strode on, looking neither right nor left. She swiped at the sweat dripping from her chin and studied the street ahead. They were in the Heights—a ritzy and very expensive section of Lyndhurst nestled into the western edge of the mountains that ringed the town. Below them, lights blazed, a neon sea of brightness that outshone the stars. Matthew could have been heading toward any one of those lights, but her gaze stopped at the docks. Ocean Road led down to there. And that's where he's going, she thought.

The two-way buzzed softly. “Nik, I'm in the car. Where are you?" She pressed the receiver. “Ocean Road, just past Second."

"I'm parallel on West. Let me know if he changes direction or meets a car."

"Will do."

They continued on—Matthew striding out, her half running to keep up with him. Boxlike shapes began to loom up around them as houses gave way to factories and warehouses. The faint wash of traffic noise seemed to die completely, and in the silence, her breathing seemed sharp and harsh. Ahead, Matthew stopped in the puddle of an overhead light and glanced at his watch. He looked briefly to his right, then turned left, heading into a small side street. She pressed the two-way. “He's just turned into an alley. He's heading your way."

"Last cross street?"

She frowned, thinking back. “Sixth."

"Just passed it. I'll park and wait."

She stopped near the street entrance and peered around the corner. Matthew was nowhere in sight. Swearing softly, she hurried down the street, keeping an eye on the fences lining either side of the road, looking for gaps or gateways the teenager could have gone through. Nothing. But halfway down on the right she came across a small street. The teenager was a dark shadow moving quickly away. She sighed in relief. “He's turned off again,” she told Jake. She glanced up, studying the unlit street sign.

“Heading down Baker's Lane toward the docks."

"That street comes to a dead end."

She hoped it was just a figure of speech and not a reality. “It's a rather odd place to meet an Internet friend, don't you think?"

"If it is a friend he's meeting, then yes. But all sorts of perverts go trawling the chat rooms looking for innocents like Matthew."

She kept close to the fence on the off chance that Matthew turned around. At least in the darker shadows lining the fence she'd be harder to spot. “Problem is, I've got a feeling it's not your average pervert we're looking at here."

Jake groaned. “That's all we need. I'm heading in—and bringing a gun."

"Be careful, Jake. I really don't like the feel of this."

"Oh, great. Maybe I'll call the cops, just to be safe."

"And tell them what? I've a got feeling?” When it came to her psychic abilities, skepticism ran high within the police department. It was doubtful if a statement like that would get anything other than laughter. Jake grunted. “Don't do anything stupid until I get there." Meaning she could do something stupid after he got there? She grinned, though it didn't ease the tension knotting her stomach.

The street narrowed, and the warehouses on either side seemed to loom in on her. She skirted several Dumpsters and screwed up her nose. From the amount of rubbish overflowing onto the street, they hadn't been emptied for several weeks. Combine that with the heat of the last few days, and the result was stomach turning.

Matthew stopped. She ducked behind a stinking Dumpster and held her nose as she peered around the side. He was studying the buildings on either side, but after a few seconds he turned and ran at the fence on the left. She waited until he'd disappeared over the top and moved after him.

"He's just climbed a fence. Third warehouse from the end."

"Wait for me."

"I might lose him if I do."

Jake swore. “Damn it, be careful."