“No, I need to be alert.” Kane frowned then searched her face again. “We have to move. Now! If the killer saw me fall, he knows my position and could be on his way.” He shrugged on the backpack then dragged himself up using a tree. “Hand me that branch, I’ll use it as a cane.”
They moved a few yards into the canyon in deep shadows before Kane needed to halt. Jenna could almost feel his agony but he had not made one complaint. He hung, panting, to a pine and she walked a few yards away and looked up to get her bearings. The branches shattered beside her as a shot whizzed past her head and struck the trunk of a sapling. She dropped and rolled behind a huge boulder. Fear clutched at her, speeding her heart rate; the killer had given a warning he was on his way. He wanted her terrified to increase his pleasure. He is hunting me.
She crawled to the other side of the boulder and found Kane dragging himself toward her. After helping him into a sitting position, she removed his backpack. “There is water and energy bars in there and a thermal blanket.”
“Okay.” Kane gave her a quizzical stare; the bruises on his face had turned a nasty purple and blood trickled from under the dressing on his head. “You planning on leaving me here for the bears?”
“You can look after yourself for a while. You have plenty of ammo and I’ve seen you shoot.” She crouched down in front of him. “Listen to me, Dave. I’m going to lure the killer away from you. If he enters the canyon, we’ll be more vulnerable; no one knows we’re here. We’ve missed the check-in time and our team will know something is wrong by now and be moving in up there on the trail. I’ll just have to avoid being caught by him before they arrive.”
“No way.” Kane’s brow wrinkled. “If this is a serial killer, a psychopath, no one really knows what’s in his mind; he could get mad and kill you just for the heck of it. I won’t let you do this, Sheriff. Stay here and we’ll fight him together.”
The cold way he looked at her, it was like a stranger had taken over his body. “We don’t have a choice. With your injuries, like it or not, Dave, he’ll have the advantage. If I leave you here, I will be able to draw him away. He is not interested in you, and I figure he already believes you’re dead. I sure did.” She looked into his bloodshot eyes. “You profiled this killer and I’m the type of woman he murders. The men he kills are superfluous to his needs.”
“It’s too dangerous.” Kane gripped her arm. “If we stay here, the moment he walks into range, I’ll take him down. The shots will alert your deputies and they’ll come running.”
She wondered if he had all his faculties after his head injury and shook her head. “I know that’s the way you are used to working, Dave but we do this by the book. There are hunters all over the forest and anyone could be down here and walk into range. We have to be sure it’s the killer before we shoot. You can’t just kill the first person who walks in here; he has to pose a threat.”
“I figure he’s already posed a threat to me, ma’am.” Kane’s mouth twitched up in the corner. “Say I go along with this madness. What’s your plan?”
“If I dart into the open, for just a second to gain his attention, I can move into the shadows and climb to the top of the canyon. The team is scanning that area. They’ll spot me, and come running. This is the only option we have. Like I said, they have no idea we are down here.” Jenna shrugged. “If I stay, we will be playing the killer’s game. The lunatic up there doesn’t want to kill me outright; he prefers to torture his victims and we can use it against him.”
“And if he disables you?” Kane sipped the water from his bottle and winced. “Say he shoots you in the arms; you won’t be able to fight or use your weapon. Your team won’t be there in seconds, will they?” He gave her a long look. “He is using a high-powered rifle and from what I have witnessed so far is a marksman. He could take the team out before they know what’s happening.”
Jenna shook her head. “Not my team. For heaven’s sake, you trained them and we have Wolfe up there in command. He is like you, an ex-marine. He won’t let us down.”
“If you say so, but I’m your best protection even with a busted knee.” Kane’s gaze narrowed. “If you know me as well as you say you do, you’ll understand.”
“I do but right now, I need to protect you. This is the best option. I have to trust in our team.” She squeezed his shoulder. “Stay safe. I’ll deal with this son of a bitch then send Wolfe to help you, I promise.”
Refusing to argue with him, she replaced her sunglasses, pushed the bottle of water into her pocket, then turned and sprinted out of the forest across the sunlit area in full view and back into the shadowed tree line to the steep canyon wall. She dove into the undergrowth and headed slowly up the side of the chasm. Above her, she heard the sound of a rifle with a suppressor shooting in rapid succession; the killer was firing all around her as if herding her. A wave of panic hit her. The game has changed. I’m playing by his rules now.
61
His day could not get better and now his prey had marched right out of cover and into his sights. He chuckled and aimed a few more shots to her right. “Come on, get back on the trail. I am waiting to play with you.” He leaned over the edge, watching the bushes move as Mariah climbed up the steep incline.
She would be exhausted by the time she reached the top, and with the sun dropping fast, he didn’t have too much time to allow her to rest before he concluded his hunt. He glanced at his watch. He had maybe an hour of good daylight left. He wanted the chase; seeing her run frantic then knowing she could never escape fed his need. The votes were in on how he would kill her, but herding her closer to his cave was his main objective. He wanted to savor her in front of his friends. After all, it had been years since some of them had seen a woman.
He quivered with excitement at the thought of her reaction when he switched on the lamps in his cave. She would scream, horrified at his friends’ expressions. He doubted many people would appreciate their rate of decomposition like he did. His friends would smile at her and he would feed off her terror. His heart would beat so fast and yet he would be calm. He did so like to take his time with his prey and savor each delicious moment.
He waited for her to pop out of the canyon and bolt down the trail, heading toward her campsite. Taking his time, he strolled after her; she was moving at a slow pace and it would be easy to keep up with her. He followed, then to his surprise, she stopped walking, stood in full view, and took a long drink from a bottle of water. He raised his rifle then placed two shots into a tree on her left. To his surprise, she did not run screaming into the forest but turned slowly to face him. He stepped into the open and pointed his rifle at her. He had distorted his voice and it should terrify her. “Run or I’m
going to kill you where you stand.”
“What? You’re planning on shooting me in the back?” Her loud voice came out in a confident sneer and it was strangely familiar. “Big man, with a big weapon. You are just a weakling son of a bitch using a high-powered rifle against an unarmed woman. A real man would at least have the guts to fight me one on one.” She lifted her chin. “What? Am I too big for you to take on? Go home to Mommy, little boy, and stop wasting my time.”
Anger flared and he dropped the rifle and unsheathed his knife. “I’ll make you sorry you said that to me, bitch.”
62
Desperate to gain time, Jenna waved her arms at him. “Bring it on, you little worm.”
Her bravery came from the movement ahead on the trail. Her team was closing in and her raised voice would have caught their full attention. The man before her was tall but not as big as Kane, and covered from head to foot. A hideous skull-print bandana masked his face, and sunglasses covered his eyes. He was just as Colter Barry described. She stood feet apart and shoulders straight to make him come to her. Kane’s profiling on this lunatic filtered into her mind; the killer fed on fear and likely enjoyed his victims to beg for their lives.
Adrenaline pumped through her and she wanted to fight him as if the notion of a woman bringing him down would put everything right. She heard him speak but not to her; he was communicating through his com. The idea he might have accomplices had not entered her mind. Unease slid over her. He was advancing and tossing the knife from hand to hand as if he had all the time in the world.
“I’m going to kill you slowly and make you scream for mercy but I never give mercy.” The killer moved toward her in slow, deliberate steps. “You’re mine now, Mariah. There is no escape.”
Desperate to show no fear, Jenna laughed at him. “My name is not Mariah.”