Murder List

She waved to him and asked if he knew of a shortcut to get back to the starting line.

“Didn’t you see the signs? There’s a path that cuts through the park. Just around the curve behind me,” he said. He smiled then. “Lots of the walkers have quit already.”

She didn’t much like his smug, condescending attitude. He’d certainly put her on the defensive. He rode on before she could explain that she wasn’t a quitter. She had pla

She shook her head then, for it finally dawned on her that she didn’t need to defend her actions to anyone, and what did she care what the volunteer thought about her? She saw that the biker had stopped again, and she guessed someone else was asking him if there was a shortcut through this maze.

She walked around the corner and spotted a trail angling to the south, but there was another one that branched off it twenty yards ahead. If it didn’t meander, it would take her directly to the parking lot beyond the starting line. She took it, but it didn’t really go anywhere, and she ended up circling halfway back to where she’d started. She tripped over something, looked down, and saw that her shoelace was untied. The stone wall was on her right. A huge oak tree, at least seventy-five years old, butted up against it. Its gigantic branches, covered with leaves, draped down over the wall, and she noticed someone had carved initials in the trunk. She leaned against it, swung her foot up on the edge of the wall, and tied her shoelace, and then straightened and leaned forward to see what was on the other side.

A steep, narrow ravine sloped down a good forty feet to a wooded area with a stream ru

It was drizzling again, and a fine mist was hanging like a puff of smoke between the trees. There wasn’t any breeze, and the air was stifling. It was suddenly so quiet, so still, she felt almost disco

Her gaze moved upward. That’s when she saw him. There, standing between the trees was the man in the black ru

Surely no more than three or four seconds passed as they stared at each other. His face was completely devoid of any expression. She kept her eyes locked on him as she slowly backed away from the wall. He suddenly tilted his head ever so slightly and shouted something to her. Just one word, she thought, but she couldn’t make it out.

His face changed then, and, oh, God, she suddenly knew who he was and where she had seen him before. Terror crushed down on her. He mouthed the word again, much slower this time, clearly enunciating, and then he motioned with his hand, and she finally understood.

Run. He was telling her to run.

Chapter Forty-seven

Eric cage only needed a minute alone with her. That was more than enough time to do what he intended. He almost wished she would get away, and yet he knew he couldn’t let her escape. He had to kill her.

Walker Madison had put his sweet, i

The demon would burn with rage, but it would end today. Eric was determined. It would end with Regan’s death.

Still, he wanted to give her a fighting chance. That was the fair thing to do. Wasn’t that why he hadn’t killed her when she’d been standing at the wall looking at the trees? He’d let a perfect opportunity slip by. She was sweet and i

Run, Regan. Try to save yourself.

Regan didn’t move. Like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, she froze with terror as she stared in shocked disbelief across the ravine at the crazed man. She didn’t see the gun in his hand until he was lifting it up. He fired twice in rapid succession before she even had time to turn. The first bullet scraped the top of the stone wall and sent bits of rock flying up in her face. One fragment nicked her right cheek. The second bullet ripped a piece of bark off the oak just inches away from her. The noise from the gun blast was horrific and felt like a fist slamming against her eardrums.

She flew into the trees. She dared a quick look back and saw him circling the ravine. He was ru

She didn’t dare take time to look back again. Faster, faster, she had to run faster.

Her mind couldn’t make sense out of what was happening. She desperately tried to concentrate. She remembered the broken path wound back around to the ravine. She didn’t want to go back that way; she wanted to get to the street, but her sense of direction was all screwed up, and she wasn’t sure which way to turn.

She was ru

He fired again. The bullet grazed her thigh. It burned, but the pain didn’t slow her down. It shocked her, though, that he was that close. She’d thought she’d put some distance between them, yet she could feel him closing in.

She had to run faster. He fired again. The bullet tu

Where in God’s name were all the ru

She thought she heard someone shouting her name, but she couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from. Had she just imagined it, or had someone really called out to her? Maybe Sophie and Cordie were looking for her. Dear God, she hoped not.

She kept ru

No. Wait. The sound wasn’t coming from behind now. She strained to listen. It was difficult to pinpoint exactly where it was because her own heartbeat was roaring in her ears.

Run, run. She had to keep ru

And then he would stop and wait, and she would turn right into his arms. It was a game to him. All this time she’d thought she was staying ahead of him, outru

She barely slowed as she changed directions. Even in her panic and near hysteria, she was careful not to twist her knee or pivot. She’d drop then, and he’d have her. She leapt over a thorny, dried-up bush and kept going. Then she changed directions again… and again.

Where was everyone? Should she scream in hopes that someone would hear her? No, she shouldn’t do that. Even though she was pretty sure the maniac knew exactly where she was, she couldn’t be positive, and she wasn’t about to give him any help.