Page 47 of The Killer You Know

A loud roar erupts just as the building goes up in a ball of fire.

My heart jackhammers as I look back at the gym in horror.

“Fallon,” I thunder.

She had better have gotten the hell out.

31

Special Agent Fallon Baxter

The world swims back into focus, a blurry mess of darkness and confusion.

“What?” I moan as my eyes struggle to open.

My head throbs with a piercing ache, and then I remember it’s the aftermath of the sharp object that greeted my temple.

A gasp evicts from me.

My eyes spring open as I struggle to see.

Darkness surrounds me.

I’m moving; it’s moving.

It takes less than a second to register that I’m in the trunk of a car.

Panic seizes me as I realize my hands are zip-tied behind my back, the plastic biting into my skin.

With a surge of desperation, I contort my body, managing to slip my bound hands beneath my feet and bringing them to the front. It’s a small victory, but it grants me a sliver of control in a situation that’s spiraled way the hell out of my grasp.

The car hits a bump and my body jumps hard, causing me to groan.

The confines of the trunk feel like a coffin, suffocating with the air tinged with the scent of metal and gasoline.

I rub my elbow against the left side of my ribs, only to discover my gun is missing.

It all comes back to me. The reunion. Chasing down Vanessa. Standing in front of the car she was about to jump into, and then the building blowing up, then the whack to the side of my head.

I’m shocked she didn’t leave me there to die.

Why would she take me?

It was one heck of a spontaneous decision on her part, I’ll give her that.

I’m guessing she had the zip ties handy. And tossing me into the trunk was no easy feat, but a good adrenaline rush could move a mountain. And perhaps cause you to kidnap someone and then go out and kill someone else in the same afternoon.

A thought comes to me.

I must be leverage of some kind.

I shake my head, still unable to piece together the logic. She confessed to everyone in that building, even if they had no idea what she was trying to say. Jack and I saw those poppies light up under the luminol as if they were hardwired to glow into the night.

There’s no doubt she’s guilty.

There is certainly no doubt she’s a killer.

I pat my cardigan down and there’s no sign of my phone either. I can only hope she has it with her in the front. Jack and Nikki can track me down that way. That is, if they’re looking for me at all.

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