The Sleeping Doll

Except once…

Daniel slashed at her with the knife but she was too fast for him. He grabbed for the gun, which had fallen to the trail. But the rough branch co

Daniel dove for the gun, grabbed it. He scrabbled back, rose to his feet once more and swung the pistol muzzle her way. But Samantha rolled to her feet and struck with the branch again, two-handed. It co

Two words from the past came back to Linda, seeing Sam fight. What Daniel used to say when he was proud of someone in the Family: "You held fast, lovely."

Hold fast…

Samantha lunged again, swinging the branch.

But now Daniel had a solid stance. He managed to catch the branch with his left hand. For a moment they stared at each other, three feet apart, the wooden stick co

"No," Linda croaked.

Samantha gave a smile too. And she pushed toward him, hard, and let go of the branch. Daniel stepped backward-into the air. He'd been standing on the edge of a cliff, twenty feet above another nature trail.

He cried out, fell backward and tumbled down the rough rock face.

Whether he survived or not, Linda didn't know. Not at first. But then she supposed he must have. Samantha glanced down with a grimace, helped Linda to her feet. "We've got to go. Now." And led her into the dense woods.

Exhausted, in agony, Samantha McCoy struggled to keep Linda upright.

The woman was pale, but the bleeding wasn't bad. The wound would be excruciating but she could at least walk.

A whisper.

"What?"

"Thought you left me."

"No way. But he had the gun-I had to trick him."

"He's going to kill us." Linda still sounded amazed.

"No, he's not. Don't talk. We have to hide."

"I can't go on."

"Down by the water, the beach, there're caves. We can hide in one. Until the police get here. Kathryn's on her way. They'll come after us."

"No, I can't. It's miles."

"It's not that far. We can make it."

They continued for another fifty feet, then Sam felt Linda start to falter.

"No, no…I can't. I'm sorry."

Sam found some reserve of strength and managed to get Linda another twenty feet. But then she collapsed-at the worst possible place, a clearing visible for a hundred yards from all around. She expected Pell to appear at any moment. He could easily pick them off.

A shallow trough in the rocks was nearby; it would hide them well enough.

Whispers floating from Linda's mouth.

"What?" Sam asked.

She leaned closer. Linda was speaking to Jesus, not her.

"Come on, we've got to go."

"No, no, you go on. Please. I mean it… You don't need to make up for what happened. You just saved my life a minute ago. We're even. I forgive you for what happened back in Seaside. I-"

"Not now, Linda!" Sam snapped.

The wounded woman tried to rise but then collapsed. "I can't."

"You have to."

"Jesus'll take care of me. You go on."

"Come on!"

Linda closed her eyes and began to whisper a prayer.

"You are not going to die here! Stand up!"

She took a deep breath, nodded and, with Sam's help, climbed to her feet. Together they staggered off the path, stumbling through brush and over roots as they made their way to the shallow ravine.

They were on a promontory about fifty feet above the ocean. The crashing of the surf was nearly constant, a jet engine, not a pulse. Deafening too.

The low sunlight hit them full on in a blinding, orange wash. Sam squinted and made out the ravine, very close now. They'd lie down in it, pull brush and leaves over themselves.

"You're doing fine. A few more feet."

Well, twenty.

But then they closed the distance to ten.

And finally they reached their sanctuary. It was deeper than Sam had thought and would be perfect cover.

She began to ease Linda into it.

Suddenly, with the sound of crackling underbrush, a figure pushed out of the woods, coming right at them.

"No," Sam cried. Letting Linda slump toward the ground, she grabbed a small rock, a pathetic weapon.

Then, gasping, she barked a hysterical laugh.

Kathryn Dance, crouching, whispered, "Where is he?"

Her heart slamming, Sam mouthed, "I don't know." Then repeated the words louder. "We saw him about fifty yards back that way. He's hurt. But I saw him walking."

"He's armed?"

A nod. "A gun. And a knife."

Dance sca

Together they eased the woman into the depression.

"Please, stay with us," Sam whispered.

"Don't worry," Dance said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Chapter 55

Winston Kellogg was somewhere to the south of them.

After they'd left the Point Lobos I

She'd moved silently through the brush-staying off the trail-until she saw motion by the edge of a cliff. She'd identified the women and approached them quickly.

Now, she called the FBI agent from her mobile phone.

"Win, I've got Sam and Linda."

"Where are you?"

"We're about a hundred yards from where we split up. I went due west. We're almost to the cliff. There's a round rock near us, about twenty feet high."

"Do they know where Pell is?"

"He was near here. Below us and to our left about fifty yards. And he's still armed. Pistol and knife."

Then she tensed, looking down, saw a man's form on the sand. "Win, where are you? Are you on the beach?"

"No. I'm on a path. The beach is below me, maybe two, three hundred feet away."

"Okay, he's there! You see that small island? Seals all over it. And gulls."

"Got it."

"The beach in front of that."

"I can't see it from here. But I'm moving that way."

"No, Win. There's no cover for your approach. We need tactical. Wait."

"We don't have time. He's gotten away too many times already. I'm not letting it happen again."

The gunslinger attitude…

It bothered her a lot. Suddenly she really didn't want anything to happen to Winston Kellogg.

…afterward. How does that sound?…

"Just…be careful. I lost sight of him. He was on the beach, but he's in the rocks now. There'd be perfect firing positions from there. He can cover all the approaches."

Dance stood up, shielding her eyes as she sca

She found out a second later.

A bullet slammed into the rocks not far from her, and then she heard the crack of Pell's pistol.

Samantha screamed and Dance dropped to cover in the recess, nicking her skin, furious that she'd presented a target.

"Kathryn," Kellogg called on the radio, "are you firing?"

"No, that was Pell."

"You okay?"

"We're fine."

"Where did it come from?"

"I couldn't see. Had to be the rocks near the beach."

"You stay down. He's got your position now."

She asked Samantha, "Does he know the park?"

"The Family spent a lot of time here. He knows it pretty good, I'd guess."

"Win, Pell knows Point Lobos. You could walk right into a trap. Really, why don't you wait?

"Hold on." Kellogg's voice was a quiet rasp. "I think I see something. I'll call you back."

"Wait… Win. Are you there?"

She changed position, moving some distance away so Pell wouldn't be looking for her. She glanced out fast between two rocks. Couldn't see a thing. Then she noticed Winston Kellogg making his way toward the beach. Against the massive rocks, gnarled trees, the expanse of ocean, he seemed so fragile.