Count to Ten

"This letter is dated six years ago," Spi

"Either he didn't see the news or he made us," Mia said.

"I figured that out for myself," Spi

"Follow him to Santa Fe?" Mia shrugged, frustrated. "Set up Tim Young as bait?"

Spi

Mia shook her head. "Wait, I was just… We can't use a civilian as bait, Marc."

Spi

As Mia's mouth fell open. Jack came in carrying a box. "Kates was there. He left a mess in your bedroom, Mia. Blankets, pillows on the floor, clothes everywhere."

Mia felt her cheeks heat even through the shock of her super's death. "That doesn't mean he was in my place. I'm not much of a housekeeper. The bedroom was like that."

"Did you leave your photo album out?"

Her heart started to pound. "No. Hell." Jack put the box on the table and Mia lifted the album to the table, sorted quickly. "I'm not organized, but I know what was here. Bobby's obituary is gone." Then her pounding heart stopped. She held Dana's wedding invitation in her hand. "And so is Dana's reply card. He has her address."

Spi

"Marc, there's a Dana Buchanan on line one for either you or Mia. She's upset."

Spi

"Kates has Jeremy," Dana said, her voice frantic. "Mia."

Mia's blood went cold. She slowly rose, trembling. "How? How did he get Jeremy?"

"Let me talk to her." The phone changed hands. "Mia, it's Ethan. We're at Jeremy's school. We came in early this morning to get him enrolled. Jeremy went to his new class while we were still signing forms. The fire alarm went off right before school started and it wasn't a drill. Fire blocked one of the exits. It was chaos. We immediately started searching for Jeremy, but he was gone. How did he know Jeiemy was here?"

"He had your address from my apartment. Marc, when was my super murdered?"

"Sometime Saturday afternoon."

"I shook a tail when I left your place Saturday night, Ethan. I thought it was Carmichael. It must have been Kates. He must have come back yesterday and found Jeremy." Her knees buckled and she sank into her chair. "He was looking for me. He killed my super and now he's using Jeremy to get to me." She drew a shuddering breath. "Get Dana calm. This isn't good for the baby. We'll find Kates. And Jeremy."

"Was anyone hurt in the fire at the school?" Reed asked.

"Just bumps and bruises. The teachers got control quickly. We weren't sure if we should push Jeremy back to school so soon, but we couldn't let him sit in front of the TV any longer. We wanted to get him back into a routine. Please find him."

Mia rubbed her forehead. He'd taken Bobby's obituary. "I think I know where he is."

Chapter Twenty-four

Monday, December 4, 9:25 a.m.

Reed's hands fisted at his sides. "You can't do this." They had a SWAT team and every uniform and detective Spi

Mia twisted at the waist. She wore a bulky sweater that hid the bulletproof vest and the weapon in her back waistband. "Damn Kevlar itches," she said, ignoring him.

"Mia, if he's in your mother's house, you're walking into a trap."

"If he's still setting the trap, I'll get him first." She met his eyes. "He's got Jeremy."

That a killer might also have her mother was absurdly absent. She was solely focused on the boy. And on Kates. After her initial shock, Reed had watched her training and skill take over. She was calm, while his heart was beating out of his chest.

"Reed." Her voice was quiet. Sober. "Let me do my job."

You're not a cop. She'd said it that night he'd wanted to chase Getts. She was right. At the moment he didn't feel like a fire investigator, either. He was a man, watching the woman he cared for wrapping herself in Kevlar and arming herself like Rambo.

He turned to Spi

"Not my first choice. But he didn't take the bait last night, so catching him before he's prepared is the best plan we've got. Mia's wearing a wire. She'll have backup."

"Let me go in with her."

Spi

"She's SWAT trained. Reed," Murphy murmured beside him. "Let her do her job."

Reed drew a deep breath. "Ben called. There were two points of origin at the school, so Kates used two more eggs, Mia. He may have one more."

"I'm counting on it. No pun intended." She flashed him a distracted smile. "Don't take this wrong, Reed, but go away. I have to focus and I can't with you here."

He cast his eyes up and down the street, looking at the utility markers. This neighborhood had gas lines. Mia could be walking into a fireball. No, she won 7.

He couldn't go in at her side. So he'd shore her up from below. Spi

"Going somewhere, Lieutenant?" The female murmur came from behind him.

He blew out a breath. "Carmichael. Haven't you done enough?"

"I haven't done anything today. And I won't. I never even saw you."

He turned, eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"You're going in." She lifted a shoulder. "Don't need to be a rocket scientist. I would appreciate a few words when you come out. Just watch Mitchell. Regardless of what you might think, I hold her in high personal regard. She thinks she's indestructible."

"I know." He started walking again. Bulletproof, Jack had said. Lucky, Mia believed. All too human. Reed knew. He slipped through backyards until he came to A

Kates is here. Reed cautiously opened the door, slipped inside. Now so am I.

Monday, December 4, 9:35 a.m.

Mia let herself in A

He was here already. She could feel it from the moment she walked through the door. There was an eerie stillness to the place. She crept to the kitchen doorway and drew a silent breath. A

Kates had used six times now. The stove was already pulled away from the wall, his intent clear.

Her mother's eyes met hers, terrified and… full of the furious contempt Mia knew so well. Her mother had always blamed them for Bobby's violence. Mia supposed this time her mother finally had it right. Kates was here, she was in danger, because of me.