Hunter's Pursuit

by Kim Baldwin

  “No,” Otter said. “She’s pretty careful.”

  The woman continued to examine the keypad. “So what happened to you two?”

  Otter didn’t answer for a moment. “I got in the other entrance and was going to ambush her. She cut the lights and I couldn’t see a damn thing in there. She snuck up on me and knocked me out.”

  The flashlight swung from the security panel toward Frank, seeking his answer.

  “She jumped me outside.”

  The beam returned to study the panel.

  “Hey, how about helping us get out of these,” Otter asked, rattling his handcuffs and the chain connecting him to Frank. “We can all jump her when she comes back to feed us. Make it fast and easy, split the money.” He had no doubt this woman was another bounty hunter out to collect on Garner’s contract. A million split three ways would still be a hell of a payoff.

  The woman laughed. No, she cackled. “Make it fast? Easy? Now why in the world would I want to do that?”

  The tone in her voice stopped Otter cold. There was something about this woman that wasn’t...quite...right. “You want to do this alone, that’s cool. But how about helping us first? You know—I did you a favor, you do me a favor?”

  The woman came over to stand in front of him. She crouched down, her face inches from his. “But I’ve already done you a favor.” She smiled. It was a smile absent any warmth at all. A crocodile smile. “I’m letting you live.”

  She rose from her crouch and went back to the steel door, dismissing any further consideration of the two men in the corner.

  *

  Jake was long past conscious thought. Her body had taken over, and she had surrendered completely to the incredible sensations that were flooding her senses. Her skin was hypersensitive along the path that Kat’s fingers were tracing. They had slipped beneath the oversized sweatshirt Jake had on and were slowly exploring her stomach and side. Every now and then they would stray to tease the curve of her breast. Jake’s desire swelled until the anticipation was excruciating. Her tongue and lips pressed harder against Kat’s while her hand tugged at Kat’s shirt, pulling it from her jeans.

  Kat was lost in her own sensual haze. Every nerve ending was on fire. She had never felt so incredibly aroused. Her previous sexual encounters had not prepared her for this. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her ears. A rush of blood coursed through her like liquid fire. When Jake’s hand slid beneath her shirt and skimmed lightly across her already erect nipple, she could not suppress a moan of pleasure.

  “Well, isn’t this cozy,” a high, feminine voice interrupted from the bedroom doorway.

  Jake and Kat broke apart to look toward the door. Kat had her back to it. She turned, slowly, until she was facing the intruder. She shifted her weight so that her body would act as a shield between Jake and the new threat.

  “Katarzyna Demetrious. At last.” A woman dressed all in black held a gun on them. She leaned against the door frame as if she’d been watching them for a while. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment for a long time.” She had shoulder-length, curly blond hair, matted down after its long confinement under the balaclava. She was an attractive woman, but with a detached cruelty in her eyes that Kat recognized.

  Kat had not heard her full name in so many years it stunned her momentarily into inaction.

  “Before we get acquainted,” the woman said, taking slow steps toward the bed, “let’s have your gun. Left hand. Very slowly.” She kept her 9mm handgun pointed at Kat’s head as she advanced to the end of the bed, keeping well out of Kat’s reach.

  Kat’s hand moved slowly behind her and pulled her Glock out of her jeans. She tossed it on the bed near the intruder. The woman picked it up and shoved it into a pocket of her snowsuit.

  During the millisecond the woman looked away, Kat’s eyes darted toward the pillow that had concealed her loaded .38. Jake had moved it! She had rearranged the pillows to prop herself up to read. Kat had no idea where the gun was now.

  “Good girl,” the stranger said. She backed up a few steps to put a little more distance between them. She motioned Kat off the bed with the gun in her hand.

  Kat hesitated.

  The woman calmly cocked the 9mm.

  Kat reluctantly complied, easing off the edge of the bed with a glance back toward Jake.

  Jake’s mouth was open, her eyes wide, staring in absolute horror at the woman who held them at gunpoint. She was breathing so fast, she was nearly hyperventilating.

  Panic attack, Kat thought, unconsciously moving toward Jake to help her.

  “Don’t,” the intruder warned, taking a step toward Kat with her arm outstretched at shoulder level. Her eyes focused through the sights on the gun on the center of Kat’s forehead. She moved amazingly fast.

  Kat froze.

  The woman kept the gun trained on Kat, but she turned her head slightly to really look at Jake for the first time. “My, my. It is a small world, now, isn’t it? You created quite a few problems for me, you know. It’s been a while since I had to hot-wire a car, and I didn’t appreciate losing my rifle. But now you’re here, and I can take care of both of you at once.” She laughed, shaking her head in disbelief at her good fortune. “Goody goody. Must be my lucky day.”

  Kat’s mind worked furiously to try to comprehend what was going on. This woman had gotten in and snuck up on them. Kat had thought that impossible. She is obviously a bit crazy and she knows who I am. And who Jake is, too, evidently. Kat looked at Jake.

  Jake still hadn’t moved. She was gripped in a private terror, her eyes glued to the intruder. She had an almost glazed expression on her face.

  “She doesn’t seem to be doing real well,” the intruder observed, glancing from Jake to Kat and back again. “Missing hubby all of a sudden?”

  That finally brought a reaction from Jake, though not one that anyone expected. Frozen one moment, a blur of motion the next, she suddenly had Kat’s .38 in her hand. She pointed it at the intruder.

  “You killed him!” she screamed, tears running down her face. The hand holding the gun trembled slightly.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Yes, I did,” the intruder confirmed. “While you ran away.” She seemed not unduly concerned by the turn of events. She continued to hold her own gun on Kat.

  Jake’s hand shook uncontrollably.

  “And now you have a new lover,” the woman observed, nodding toward Kat. “He must not have been much to mourn over.”

  Jake looked at Kat. Her look was full of anguish and pain.

  Kat wanted to reach out to her, but she remained rooted in place. She held Jake’s gaze, and with a slow, deliberate movement, blinked toward the gun and nodded very slightly. A signal she hoped Jake would understand. She wanted her friend to pull the trigger.

  “How about her?” the intruder barked, drawing Jake’s attention. “Will you mourn her? Pretty touching scene I walked in on.”

  Jake looked back at Kat uncertainly. Her whole upper body shook. She couldn’t keep the gun still.

  “Put it down, or she’s dead,” the woman warned.

  Jake’s head whipped back around to look at the intruder.

  The woman had taken another step toward Kat. “Now!” She was only a couple of feet away and couldn’t possibly miss.

  Jake lowered the .38 and tossed it toward the end of the bed.

  The intruder picked it up, pocketed it, and moved a few feet away again.

  “Who are you?” Kat asked, her eyes darting between the woman and Jake, who had collapsed against the pillows.

  “Who am I?” the woman repeated, as if she were considering the answer. “Well, I guess that depends on who you ask. I’m using the name Scout at the moment.”

  The final pieces suddenly fell into place in Kat’s mind. Jake is—was—Sam’s wife. Scout killed him, and Jake saw it happen. But somehow Jake had escaped...in Scout’s stolen car. It explained why Jake had been speeding like a bat out of hell on that lonely road. She
was leaving the airstrip.

  Kat looked at Jake. Her friend was not the assassin she’d believed her to be all this time. She was an ordinary woman who was ill prepared to deal with this kind of situation. Jake appeared to be in shock. She can’t protect herself.

  Kat looked back at the intruder. She still didn’t know how this woman knew her real name, but she was certain of one thing—she was very, very dangerous. Scout had good reasons to kill them both, and she would apparently enjoy doing just that.

  “Well, Scout. How about I save you some trouble. I’ll double Garner’s offer if you just leave now,” Kat said.

  Scout laughed. “Oh, it’s no trouble, Katarzyna. Far from it. I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to reminiscing about some of your past...accomplishments.” She had a cruel, cold smile on her face. “And now I can also get to know your friend,” she added, leering at Jake and licking her lips.

  Kat’s blood boiled at the prospect, and she had to fight hard against a sudden urge to throw herself at Scout. The woman was too far away and she’d already demonstrated well-honed reflexes.

  Kat had to focus. Wait for the right moment. Push down the rage she felt at the image of Scout harming Jake. Her emotions could make her careless. If she failed, Jake would be defenseless.

  Kat looked at Jake again. She was worried about the dazed expression in her eyes. “Jake?” she said, ignoring Scout for the moment in an effort to jar her friend back to reality.

  “Jake?” Scout repeated. “Why do you call her Jake? Pet name?”

  “It’s Riley,” Jake whispered, more to herself than to either of them. “Riley McCann.”

  “Oh, this is rich,” Scout said. “You didn’t tell her your name?” She looked at Kat. “And you didn’t ask?”

  “I didn’t know it,” Riley said without emotion. Her eyes were clenched shut.

  Don’t, Kat wanted to say. Don’t tell her anything. She wanted so much to reach out to her. Riley. That will take a little getting used to.

  “You didn’t know it?” Scout snorted, disbelieving. “You didn’t know your name?”

  “No. I didn’t remember my name, or anything else until...” Riley’s voice trailed off as her eyes opened and focused on Scout. Her dazed expression seemed to clear.

  Kat noticed the change with relief. The shock seemed to be wearing off. She wondered how much Jake—Riley—was remembering.

  “Until you saw me? How sweet,” Scout purred. She turned to look at Kat. “And how much have you told her, Katarzyna? Does she know about the estate where you grew up? Your famous father? The special academy you got to attend in Virginia?”

  Kat tried to mask her shock. How the hell does she know all this? How does she know about the Academy? Her silence seemed to infuriate Scout.

  “I bet she doesn’t know about all the people you’ve slaughtered in their sleep!” Scout screamed, her face and voice suddenly conveying all the rage that was pent up inside her.

  Kat still didn’t respond.

  “On the floor, Katarzyna! Face down, hands behind your back!” She waved the gun at Kat. When Kat didn’t immediately move, Scout aimed the gun toward Riley, and her cruel smile reappeared. She pulled the trigger and the gun went off.

  The bullet missed Riley’s head by less than a foot. It slammed into the headboard, splintering it.

  Riley flinched when the bullet hit and stared wide-eyed at Scout, who calmly cocked the gun again and took aim at Riley’s head.

  Kat dropped to the floor. Her instincts were screaming against it, but she knew Scout’s threat was deadly serious.

  Once she was on the floor, Scout approached her and put her gun to Kat’s head while she fished in her coverall pockets for handcuffs. “Don’t test me again,” she warned. She put one knee on Kat’s back to pin her to the floor as she fastened the cuffs tightly to Kat’s wrists.

  “Who are you?” Kat asked again, her face pressed against the cold concrete floor.

  “Justice,” Scout replied, just before she brought her gun down hard against the back of Kat’s head, knocking her unconscious.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Kat came awake to the sound of Jake’s voice. Not Jake. Riley, she remembered. Her head throbbed.

  “Can you hear me? Kat? Please wake up and talk to me. Kat?” Riley pleaded in a loud whisper.

  Kat opened her eyes. To darkness. Not quite total darkness. Her eyes were beginning to adjust. She could just make out a small bit of light around the closed door she lay opposite. It was enough to allow her to discern her friend’s outline. Riley was on the floor several feet away.

  They were in the pantry. The smell of the fish sauce had thankfully faded and was now annoying but tolerable.

  “Please, Kat. Please wake up and tell me you’re all right. It’s Jake.” Riley said.

  “Thought your name was Riley,” Kat replied in a low whisper.

  “Thank God,” Riley said. “I wasn’t sure you’d remember. I was kind of hoping you might want to wake up to Jake. Are you all right?”

  “My head is killing me.” Kat tried to move. Her hands were handcuffed behind her and her feet were tied together. A short length of rope connected her hands and feet. She could tell from the dim light that Riley was similarly hog-tied, though her knees weren’t bent back at such a sharp angle. “Think I’m all right other than that. What about you?”

  “She didn’t knock me out,” Riley whispered. “Just brought me in here and tied me up. Then dragged you in here. My knee doesn’t like this, but I’ll live. I was worried about you. Your head was bleeding a lot.”

  “I’ll be all right. How long was I out?”

  “About ten minutes.”

  “Did she say anything?”

  “She...well, she tried to screw with my mind,” Riley said vaguely. “Unsuccessfully. I was too worried about you to think about much else.”

  “What did she say to you?” Kat asked, her temper rising.

  “She...gloated,” Riley said. “Over my husband’s murder.” Her voice was full of pain. “Said she might not have had to kill him if I hadn’t interrupted her. Tried to make me feel guilty for running away. Told me she’d...get me back...for all the inconvenience I caused her.”

  “How much do you remember?” Kat asked.

  “Everything. It all came back when I saw her. She killed Sam. My husband. I went to the airstrip. He’s—he was,” she amended sadly, “a helicopter pilot.” She took a deep breath. “She had a knife to his throat. He was tied up on the floor, like we are now.”

  Her voice took on a slight tremor, as if it suddenly occurred to her that the same fate might be in store for both of them. “He had cuts all over his body,” Riley went on. “His shirt and pants were bloody and he had cuts on his face.”

  Kat knew how painful this recollection was, but she had to let her continue. She had to learn everything she could about Scout to best prepare for whatever lay ahead.

  “He started screaming as soon as he saw me. ‘No, Riley! Run!’” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “She killed him as soon as the words were out of his mouth. She...she slit his throat.” Her voice was full of anguish. “I didn’t really have time to think. I did what he said. I ran. I took her car. She nearly caught me. She was chasing me, shooting at the car. I took off in the only direction I could. I don’t remember going off the road, but I was really upset.”

  “How did you end up in her car?” Kat asked. Throughout Riley’s recollections, Kat had been working at her bindings, trying to loosen them, so far without success.

  “I parked my truck in back, next to Sam’s. His wasn’t running, and I had told him he could use mine while I was out of town if he’d give me a lift to the airport in Marquette. I was supposed to go to Vancouver that night for a job. When I walked around the building, I noticed the car parked in front. I glanced inside because I didn’t recognize it, and I saw the keys were in it.”

  There was a long pause. “Sam and I had been separated a long time,” Rile
y explained. “I was gone a lot, and he was always having affairs while I was on the road. It wasn’t a bad breakup—we were still friends. But I guess I was just in the habit of noticing things—like who he was spending time with. Anyway, when I ran out of there, I just headed for that car because it was a lot closer than my truck.”

  Riley was silent another long moment. “I wonder if Sam might be alive if I’d done something differently. It just all happened so fast.”

  “Listen,” Kat said. “There’s nothing you could have done. This woman is a cold-blooded killer.” She tried not to think about the fact that the description she’d just used fit her as well. “Riley, I’m very sorry about your husband.” The next confession was hard. “I think he died because of me.”

  “Because of you?”

  “Scout is after me,” Kat said. “I knew Sam. Not well. I mean...I never knew he was married. I used his helicopter a lot when I was building the bunker and when I needed to resupply. I think Scout somehow figured out I knew him, and she was trying to get Sam to tell her where I was when you interrupted them.”

  Riley absorbed that news. “You’re not to blame, Kat,” she said finally.

  “And neither are you,” Kat said. “Scout’s a nutcase. Any idea what she’s doing now?”

  “She said she wanted to find out all she could about you,” Riley said. “Do you know what that means?”

  “Maybe,” Kat said. Can Scout find the weapons room? She thought it unlikely. No, but she might be able to hack into the computer if she got into the bunker. She thought about her e-mail correspondence with Kenny. That could be trouble.

  “Jake? I mean, Riley, sorry—” Kat began.

  “I don’t mind if you call me Jake, you know,” Riley said.

  “Good, because I might slip now and then,” Kat said. “Can you scoot over here closer to me?”

  Riley had attempted several times when Kat was unconscious to move toward her. But each time she did, the pain in her knee was so excruciating she nearly blacked out. “I can’t, Kat. I tried to, but my knee is just too—”