It was hot. Old. Dark and dusty. There were a few windows. Small ones, with no chance of real escape. And no real light shining through. But she could see outside, and that confused her even more.
She could see her father’s house from where she was. And from the direction, she had to be…near Josh’s. And from the height of where she was, she had to be at least three or four stories up. And there were only a few houses on Josh’s block that met that description.
She looked down at the yard, what she could see of it.
It confirmed what she’d suspected.
She was in the attic of Josh’s house.
Why?
And where was he? He was supposed to be home already. He had to be around there somewhere.
Had that woman hurt him?
How could she get out of there?
Chapter 53
“Tell me what it is you want. We can work it out.” Yes, she’d been on the list. Dammit.
But Josh knew damned good and well that profiles were just educated guesses at times. What did he know about this woman? She worked for the local lab in forensics. Which explained how neat the scenes had been. But what was her motive in doing this? In killing almost thirty women? He studied her appearance quickly while keeping his hands where she could see them. “You don’t need the gun, Autumn. Not with me.”
Why had she shown up at his home? Was she the Ghost? How had she known to focus on him? “Whose blood is that on your shirt? Did you hurt yourself?” She was a tall woman, probably taller than Kelly’s almost six feet. But whereas Kelly was as skinny as a rail—with a few exceptional places that he loved—this woman was sturdy. Not curved at all, but with the wide shoulders and solid build necessary to manipulate victims however she wished. He knew many men smaller and weaker than this woman probably was. She wasn’t a threat to be taken lightly; especially with the gun pointed right at him.
“You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” She wiped at her left eye. It was ticking; a sign of her agitation or something else? “For almost three years I’ve waited for you to notice.”
“Notice what?” He didn’t have a fucking clue what the woman was talking about.
“Me. Me. Who do you think I meant? Her?”
Her? A victim? Becca? Or… “Kelly.”
“I always knew you were smart. But I thought you were awkward when it came to women. You didn’t date. I know you didn’t. Until Kelly. And then she’s all over you. I know it had to do with Tennessee. Everyone talks about how high-stress situations can make someone make poor choices. And that’s what you did. But her? What does she have going for her? She’s so skinny, and with all that weird hair and the even weirder clothes. And nobody likes her. She’s so bitchy at times. Everyone knows that. Yet I saw you and her out in the drive. Kissing like that. You haven’t even looked at me. Yet you were all over her. She’s just a stupid slut. And you’re better off without her.”
Fear and panic unlike any he had ever known filled him. “Did you hurt her? Where is she?”
The woman stared at him for the longest moment. “Yes, I see. You do care about her, don’t you? Do you love her?”
Did he love her? Hell, yes. But would that be the smart thing to tell this woman? “I don’t know. Should I? Autumn, what did you do to her? Is she hurt badly somewhere?”
A sly expression went across her face. “Maybe. I certainly didn’t expect so much blood. It was quite messy, of course. And I’ve seen quite a few gunshot wounds on the job. Never that immediate though. I’m not sure that’s something I’ll repeat. I like cleaner. Less chance of a forensic mistake, as well. And no gun to trace. But the bitch was breathing when I left her. I had to come to you, you see.”
Should he believe her? “Where is she? Is she somewhere she can get help?”
“That would be rather stupid of me, wouldn’t it? I am not stupid, Josh. Why didn’t you see that before? Why didn’t anyone?”
“No one said you’re stupid. I’m just worried about Kelly. We’ve been close friends for a while.” The thought of her hurt somewhere… “Tell me where she is. And then you can just walk away. Get in your car and go someplace where the police won’t find you. You can start your life over again.” And he would hunt her down until the end of his days. After he found Kelly.
Dear God, was she already dead somewhere?
“And forget all about you and how you betrayed me?”
“Betrayed?” He rapidly revised the profile to one he had never considered before. Had she developed obsessive feelings for him? “By me. Tell me how, so I can make it right.”
“Don’t patronize me, Josh. I have tried since Becca. Remember her? I saw your face the day she was found. You understood why I had to do it. Understood the beauty and the release it brought. The challenge.”
“Becca was a friend. What you saw that day was my grief…” Something had turned in him that day, too. The desire to stop Becca’s killer. Had something changed in her? Something that made her focus on him? Was that why he’d felt everything closing in around him? Had it not just been him? Had she deliberately made it where he would be at the center of it?
How many victims’ deaths could be laid at his feet?
“I’m sorry. I had heard rumors that you knew some of the victims.”
“Just the one. Where’s Kelly?”
“She’s around. I don’t want to talk about her. She should have stayed away from you.”
“We were free to be together. You and I have never even spoken before today. Why should I want to be with you?” He was losing his patience. If she was hurt, bleeding…he needed to find her. He stepped toward the woman. “I’m going to her.”
If she followed the new profile, if he had become the center of her romantic obsession, then he had to act quickly. Self-harm was a real possibility for this woman—but he didn’t give a damn about that. But there was also a very strong indicator that the woman would kill both him and her.
And that meant Kelly would be more than just vulnerable. She could be dying and no one would be able to help her. “Where’s Kelly?”
“I’m not telling you that.”
“Why not? What did she really do to you?” Josh stepped closer. He would have only one real chance at getting her subdued. And it was going to be close. Extremely so.
Chapter 54
Kelly found an old coat rack in the back corner. If she leveraged it in the right place, the laws of physics should work in her favor. She could pop the wooden slats over the windows free and maybe—just maybe—slip through. Then she could find her way to the ground.
She looked at her cast. It was mostly gone, with just a few chunks of plaster left in a ring around her wrist. The bullet had shattered the plaster and most likely nicked her radius before grazing the side of her head.
She’d gotten extremely lucky, and she knew it. She’d used the only fabric she could find to wrap around her arm to stop the bleeding—it was probably an antique pair of bloomers—but that was just slowing it. There wasn’t any arterial damage, so she wouldn’t bleed out.
But between her arm and her head, she was seriously feeling the pain.
None of that mattered.
She’d been able to see both of Josh’s vehicles in the drive below. He was there somewhere, wasn’t he?
But if she was in the attic where was he? If she made too much noise would that bring that woman back?
Kelly didn’t know what to do—but the one thing she knew was that there was no way she was staying in this attic any longer than she had to.
She jammed the coat rack into the window and pushed with all of her strength.
The first board popped off. She’d already pulled the old screen out of the way. She should be able to get out the window and onto the roof. If she couldn’t find her way down, maybe she could get a message to the neighbors to call the police or something.
Anything was better than staying inside and wondering.
***
Josh leaped, taking he
r across the chest and down to the kitchen floor. “You stupid bitch, where is she?”
She bucked and fought, stronger than he’d ever imagined. They grappled on the floor for several moments, rolling around. Her gun went skittering across the freshly laid laminate. He didn’t stop to watch its path.
Josh rammed his knee in her back, and she let out a keening wail. She straightened her legs and rolled, taking him with her.
She plowed her knee straight between his legs.
And then she ran.
Instead of outside like he’d wanted, expected, she headed up. Away from him.
Just as a crash sounded from somewhere above them.
Chapter 55
No. How could he have done this to her? Why couldn’t he have understood how much she loved him?
Josh would never have raised his hand in such anger to her. Not her Josh.
She ran up the stairs and toward the attic. Where that bitch waited. She should have shot her again. If it hadn’t been in such a busy fucking neighborhood, she would have shot the woman and left her in her father’s driveway. That’s what she should have done anyway. Who cared if the woman had so many younger siblings who would see her body?
Then they would have learned to leave other women’s men alone.
She shoved through the door, conscious that he would be behind her at any moment.
She would show them both. And she would relish seeing his face when the woman died right before his eyes.
And then…then he would learn exactly how it was supposed to be between them.
She made it through the door in time to see Dr. Reynolds’ feet slipping out of the window.
Autumn grabbed for her.
The woman screamed and yelled. Autumn held tight. She’d certainly had victims yell and fight before.
But none had ever mattered as much as this one.
He was behind her, yelling. It didn’t matter.
She went through the window after the bitch. If nothing else, it would be nothing to throw the skinny scarecrow off the roof. A four-story fall would be perfect.
He could see his precious Kelly splattered across his driveway.
And then he’d get the point.
He had no love if it wasn’t with her, where it belonged.
Autumn went through the window.
Chapter 56
Kelly had a choice to make, and with that woman’s hands almost on her ankles she had to make it fast. If she stayed on the roof right outside the window, she had no way to get herself down. If she went up...she definitely didn’t have anywhere to go except left or right. She might be able to access the widow’s walk, but then what? But if she went to the top of the jutting third story addition to the house, she could almost reach the tree branch that hung over the roof.
It was a better option than nothing. She hurried as fast as she could.
She didn’t make it.
Autumn’s hand tangled in her hair and yanked, pulling Kelly almost off her feet.
“Let go!” Kelly lashed out with her uninjured hand. But that put her at an extremely precarious angle.
Her other hand slipped, where it gripped the side of the old chimney. She grabbed for it again; but how was she supposed to hold on to old brick with hands that were slicked with blood?
The house was a huge old colonial, with stories of varying heights and additions that were even more diverse in rooftops. If she could make down to another floor, and then another.
There was a tree by the top of the front porch. If she could reach the branches…
The woman was screaming at her. Kelly used her nails and aimed at the woman’s eyes.
She got lucky.
Autumn screamed.
Someone else yelled.
Kelly’s heart almost stopped when she recognized the man coming out the window. “Josh!”
“Hold on!”
Yeah, good advice, but a bit impractical.
Autumn screamed again.
A car pulled to a stop in front of Josh’s drive.
Thank God. Cody was armed and if she wasn’t Ken definitely was. They were four stories below, though. And there was no way they’d be able to hit Autumn without hitting Kelly—or Josh.
“Autumn, you’d better stop now. They’re federal agents. They will shoot you.” Josh’s voice was firm, calm. Kelly tried to focus on that. Instead of on the fact that she and a crazy bitch killer were dangling forty feet above the ground. “Let go of her hair. Step back inside. You can’t win now. They are going to stop you. I am going to stop you. And we’re going to keep her safe.”
Was he baiting her? Kelly sure hoped not. But it was Josh, and he would do whatever he could to keep her safe. Just like she would do the same for him.
That gave her a strength she didn’t know she possessed.
She grabbed the woman’s arm in her own and yanked. Several strands of her hair broke, but that was a small cost. “Let me go.”
The crazy bitch struck out, and Kelly didn’t move fast enough. Her fist bounced off the spot just below where the bullet had grazed Kelly’s head earlier. It dazed her.
Autumn wrapped her free hand in Kelly’s shirt and pushed.
***
Kelly went over.
Josh would never forget the fear in her eyes when she fell. He grabbed for her, but Autumn was between them.
But…Kelly had grabbed Autumn’s pants as she’d fallen.
She dangled above the second story roof ten feet below. If he could get to her, he could pull her up.
“Hang on, Kel, I’m coming. I won’t let you fall, baby. I won’t!”
Chapter 57
Ken moved in a blur, too fast for Cody to really process what he was doing. He looked over his shoulder at her. “Keep that woman in your sights and if you get a shot—take it. She’s not going to stop until Kelly goes off the edge.”
“Get her, Ken!”
He did something she completely didn’t expect.
He climbed the tree.
Cody kept her weapon trained on the woman who literally held Kelly’s life in her hands.
Dear God, Ken, move faster. Please.
How could Kelly hang on much longer with a broken arm and all of that blood?
The woman turned and looked toward Ken. Had she noticed him? There was a possibility she hadn’t.
Cody yelled, trying to draw the woman’s attention in her direction.
Chapter 58
She wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. She wouldn’t. Kelly didn’t know what to do; her only thoughts were to get back up to safety. To Josh.
“Hold on, Kel. I won’t let you fall.”
Josh again. Did he know she could hear the fear in his words? Did he realize that wasn’t exactly helping her at the moment? “Josh, I—”
Her grip slipped. The crazy bitch’s pants were lightweight summer cotton. They weren’t meant to support a woman’s weight. It was just a matter of time before either one of two things happened.
The pants ripped and Kelly fell.
Or her weight was enough to pull Autumn over the side of the roof with her.
Either way, Kelly wasn’t liking the outlook.
Someone else yelled, and she didn’t dare look. She thought it might have been Cody.
Her friend’s voice reminded her of one important thing. She and Josh—they weren’t up there alone.
And that meant that there was a good chance more help was coming. Because when one PAVAD member was in trouble, they all came running.
Her dad was probably at the forefront of the charge.
That gave her enough strength to hold on.
Her dad and Josh—she wouldn’t die in front of them.
***
Josh didn’t think it would be enough.
He had Autumn by the arms and was trying to pull her weight closer. If he could get her on the more solid part of the roof, he could grab Kelly. Could lift her to safety.
But now that he’d figured Autumn out he kne
w he would get no help from her.
To her, killing Kelly would be utter vindication for what Autumn viewed as Kelly’s attack on her.
And that meant that to get Kelly to safety he would have to get Autumn completely out of the way. And there was truly only one way to do that.
And he was prepared to do it. Without hesitation if it meant saving Kelly. He stepped more fully in front of her.
“If you take her down, Autumn, I’m going, too. And so are you. Is that how you want to end this? All three of us splattered on the pavement? You might not die. I might not. But I swear to you if she’s hurt any more than you already have, I will haunt you even in the afterlife. I love her just that much.” As he spoke, he moved closer. Until he blocked her field of movement completely.
All he had to do was reach down and lift Kelly up to safety.
But if he did that it would make him vulnerable to her. And that would put him in a position for her to make his words a reality for the three of them. And she most likely would do just that.
There was movement behind her.
Josh recognized the man.
Ken Chalmers had just changed everything completely.
Chapter 59
Kelly heard his words and knew he meant them.
Her hands, slick with sweat and her own blood, slipped on the cotton pants that were her only lifeline. She would have to let go, or she would go over without question.
If she reached out she may be able to grab the edge of the roof with her good hand.
But if Autumn kicked out her leg, Kelly’s chances would be gone. Just like that.
She reached out, hoping the woman’s attention was fully on Josh. Her fingers gripped the overhang. There wasn’t much to hold on to. A small arm of wooden decoration was just out of her reach. She could brush it with her fingers, but couldn’t get a grip.
Ghosting (PAVAD: FBI Romantic Suspense Book 10) Page 16
