Page 87 of To Die For

She looked up at him, the fear etched starkly in her features. “Someone else could post the bodies. That would—”

“They’ve been cremated.”

“Cremated!”

She seemed to shrink down to nothing. “I’m in real danger, aren’t I?”

“Who knows you’re here in Seattle, at this house?”

Coburn looked ready to faint. “I…”

“Doris Chandler?”

She nodded. “So what do I do?”

“We need to get you somewhere safe. Then the FBI can take your statement and maybe we can make a dent in this case.”

“Do you think we really can?”

Devine was about to reply when he heard a noise coming from the back of the house.

CHAPTER

40

HIS GLOCK OUT, DEVINE SEIZEDCoburn by the wrist and pulled her up from the table, even as he used his elbow to nudge off the light switch.

As the space fell dark, he said quietly, “What’s the configuration of rooms upstairs?”

A frightened Coburn said in a strained whisper, “Three bedrooms, and three en suite baths all off one hall.”

He nodded, pulled his phone, punched in 911, and told them he was a federal agent, the address of the house, and that there was an intruder. He then led Coburn out of the room, even as they now heard faint footsteps from the rear of the house.

In the front room Devine eased back the curtain. Only his vehicle and the Lexus were visible, but his instincts told him that there was someone also lurking out there.

Devine hustled Coburn up the stairs, and after making a quick scan of the room setups, Devine settled them in the far back bedroom. While Coburn stood shivering, Devine locked the door and then slid a bureau in front of it.

He looked up and said urgently, “Get away from that window.”

She instantly pressed herself against the wall.

“What now?” she moaned.

“We hang on until the cops get here. Shouldn’t be long now.”

He had Coburn crawl under the bed and lie curled up against the bottom of the headboard, as far from the door as possible.

“Stay there and don’t come out until I tell you to.”

“Please don’t let them kill me.”

He now heard footsteps on the landing, and a few moments later they were stealthily moving down the hall. Devine took up a shooting position at an angle to the bedroom door and called out, “I’m an agent with Homeland Security. If you come any closer, Iwillopen fire.”

He listened. Damned if they didn’t come closer.

Okay, here we go.

Devine fired three shots through the thin wood of the door. One was at eye height, the second at the gut, and the third at the shins in case they had dropped to the floor.

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