Her phone vibrated, jerking on the pavement. It had fallen from her hand when she and Tucker had jumped for cover. She bent to stare at the screen.
Got you.
But...Tucker was racing after the guy who'd fired at them. So the shooter couldn't be texting-
She heard the faintest rustle of a footstep behind her. Dawn started to whirl around, but then she was hit from behind. Hit hard and fast. He shoved her forward and her head slammed into the brick wall on the side of the building. Her finger jerked on the trigger of her gun and she fired a wild shot, one that seemed to echo in her ears.
* * *
TUCKER LUNGED FORWARD and tackled the bastard who'd been running so fast. They'd already crossed the street and rushed into another alley. This shit ends here. He hit the perp hard and they tumbled onto the ground. He rolled the guy over, glaring down at the bastard. "FBI, you son of a bitch-"
It was a kid. A too-pale teen with acne on his face and terror in his eyes.
This isn't the killer.
"Who the fuck are you?" Tucker demanded.
The guy was shaking-shuddering. "I...I dropped the gun, man!"
Yeah, he'd dropped it when they were running. Dropped it-thrown it at Tucker. Same fucking thing.
"S-said he'd pay me if I fired... Just a shot to scare you... Didn't...didn't mean to hit you-"
And another gunshot blasted.
Tucker froze.
The kid was staring up at him in absolute horror and a gunshot was echoing in his ears. The blast had come from behind them.
Dawn is back there.
"Guy g-gave me a couple hundred." Spittle flew from the kid's mouth. "Just to scare you. Just to-"
Tucker yanked out his cuffs. He locked one cuff around the kid's wrist and the other he snapped around the pole on the side of a Dumpster. "You stay the fuck here." He jumped to his feet and spun around. His heart thundered in his chest as he ran back toward Dawn.
* * *
SHE COULD TASTE blood in her mouth. She'd busted her lip when he'd rammed her head into the bricks. He slammed her hand down hard, nearly breaking her wrist, and the gun dropped from her fingers.
Fine, you bastard. You want to play rough? She drove her left elbow back at him, hitting him as hard as she could. He grunted and eased his hold on her, just for a moment. The moment she needed. She lurched free of him and rushed toward the mouth of the alley.
"I'm going to teach you to like pain."
She stumbled.
"We'll get Tuck, and then the real fun will begin."
She whirled around. Those words were from her nightmares, from the past that she wanted to forget.
He was there, holding her gun, his face covered by a black ski mask. His voice was rasping at her as he pointed that gun at her chest.
"You think you know him?" He laughed. "Guess again."
"Dawn!" Tucker bellowed her name.
The bastard in the mask lifted her gun and she threw her body to the side.
Footsteps thudded away. She pushed herself off the pile of garbage that she'd landed on as she realized that the guy was running away. Leaving her there. He hadn't even tried to shoot at her.
"Dawn!" Tucker's voice was closer. Desperate. She shoved to her feet and turned toward him.
"He was here!" She grabbed Tucker's arms. "He was just...here." She pointed toward the alley but the guy was gone. Tucker took off running and so did she. Her gun was gone-the bastard had taken it. When they got to the back of Voodoo Tats, she still didn't see him. Her head jerked to the left, to the right.
///
Where is he?
How had he vanished so fast?
And...if he wanted me dead, then why didn't he take that shot?
"He dropped the phone." Tucker pointed to the ground but didn't touch the phone that was there. Probably because he didn't want to smudge any prints. But the guy in the ski mask...he'd been wearing gloves. "This way!" He headed down the small alleyway next to that phone. She followed him, but she didn't see any sign of the bastard who'd attacked her.
With every step she took, her heart grew heavier. He was right there, and now he's gone.
* * *
HE'D WANTED TO take Dawn with him. To put her in the back of the vehicle he had waiting. To slip away with her into the city.
To spend hours working on her. Making her like the pain.
But she hadn't come alone. She hadn't followed the simple freaking instructions that he'd given to her.
So he'd had to improvise.
He slipped between the buildings, moving like a ghost. He could hear Frost yelling for him. He could hear the desperate tread of their feet as they searched.
They weren't going to find him. They weren't going to stop him. He would get away...