Page 104 of Counter Attack

“Think about it.”

Again the delay in figuring out the words. She’d heard speech like that before. A Halloween party. The DJ used a voice changer, and his voice sounded the same way. She took a deep breath, and her head settled down a little.

Phame. It couldn’t be anyone else.

“You really shouldn’t poke the bear.”

Poke the bear.She’d heard someone say that recently ... Her breath caught in her chest. Nathan. In her office. He’d warned her not to antagonize the serial killer. She hadn’t listened. Now she was in this mess because of her pride. She’d just had to let Phame know she’d found the website.

Alex tried to sit up only to realize her hands were tied behind her back. Her heart thrashed in her chest.

“I have to leave now.”

No!Being with a serial killer was better than being all alone in a cave with her hands tied. “At least give me a fighting chance. Untie my hands.”

“If you’re half as smart as you think you are, you can get out with your hands tied behind you. And if you’re not, then you die here.” Even through the voice changer, the words were matter of fact.

“Why are you doing this?”

“To let you know you’ll never catch me. And to make you pay.”

“Why?And pay for what?”

“Think about it.”

The bomber. “Phillip Denton was a murderer.” So stupid, taunting a serial killer.

“Just think—people died because of you. And someone you love is going to die.”

Alex was still processing the words when light filled the cavern, blinding her. The pain in her head went off the charts. By the time her eyes refocused, her captor was gone, and so was the light.

Seconds later, the sound of someone scrambling over rocks faded, and quiet wrapped around her like a straitjacket. Even if she got her hands free, she had no light. She would be crawlingblind. Alex had been in caves before, but never without a light. What if she got turned around and went deeper into the cave? Or went over a sheer drop-off into a pool of water thirty feet below? Or a drop-off with no water ... Either way was a sure death.

A sense of loss filled her thoughts. She had so many regrets.

Nathan. Why hadn’t she told him she loved him? Even worse, why had she told him she didn’t have time to fall in love?

He loved her, had even said the words—not that he had to, she saw it in his eyes. Had he ever seen Alex’s love for him in her eyes?

Pretty sure not—she was too careful to not show her feelings. And how stupid was that? He’d been her hero since he’d tackled the boy bullying her the first day she attended Pearl Springs Elementary.

And her grandparents. If she died, what would it do to them? What if Gramps had another heart attack?

Resolve filled her. Dying wasn’t an option. Alex wiggled and kicked her feet, trying to get on her side. It wasn’t working, and she fell back against the stony cave floor.

Angry, she kicked again, sending rocks skittering. In the dead silence that followed, the faint plop of the rocks hitting water below echoed in the cave.

Alex stilled. She was at the edge of a drop-off, maybe only inches away. Her heartbeat filled her chest, beating so fast she couldn’t count it. And her breathing tried to match it until she was panting. A cold wind moaned through the cave, chilling Alex, or maybe it was fear making her cold. Shaking started in her legs and spread to her chest and arms.

“Stop it!” The scream echoed on and on, startling her out of the panic attack. She said it again. “Just stop it!”

She was not a quitter. Alex forced herself to breathe slower and deeper until her body calmed.Take it one step at a time.How many times had she heard her grandmother say that? Alex needed to organize her thoughts. If only her head didn’t hurt so much. She pushed past the pain.

First, she had to get her hands loose. They were so numb, she couldn’t tell what the kidnapper used for binding. If it was rope, maybe she could use the sharp limestone rock that’d poked her in the back to cut it. Being careful to not move one way or the other, she found the rock, but it was useless against her restraints.

She didn’t think her wrists were bound with wire, but maybe plastic ... like a zip tie? She’d done exercises to get out of zip tie restraints, but to execute the move would require her to stand. Which at the present moment seemed impossible to do.

Was she going to die here? For once, had she met a problem she couldn’t solve?Lord, help me.

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