Page 42 of The Grave Robber

I wasn’t born so much as summoned.

—T-shirt

Halle’s new last moment bore little resemblance to the firstone. In this one, she lay naked on a tile floor, her arm covered in blood asshe reached out, trying to touch the person who lay on the floor beside her.

Me.

I lay dead, shot in the back, probably trying to get her tothe bathroom, so something had clued us into the fact we were in trouble. Justpast me stood a man. Since Halle was focused on me, only his legs showed in thevision. Dark gray slacks. Spit-shined Oxfords. And the barrel of a semi-automaticassault rifle.

A calmness enveloped me, despite my pulse having gonesupersonic. Thanks to the vision, we had the upper hand. I had to use it to ourbest advantage. I had to think while the adrenaline spike cleared my head. Herlast moment changed after I put her phone in the microwave. He’d probably beenlistening in and realized I’d caught on when the sound flatlined.

Halle didn’t move. She cradled the pup and waited, trustingme to fill her in when I could.

My first priority was to get her out of there, but Meachamwas outside somewhere with an assault rifle. We couldn’t just go out the frontdoor.

I rushed to my bag, tore through it, and tossed her aT-shirt and a pair of sweats. They would swallow her, but her dress couldhinder her escape.

She put them on without question as I hopped into a pair ofjeans and ran to the bathroom. The window, probably around the size of Meacham’sdick, was too small for Halle to get through, and there was no adjoining door.

Fuck. What had clued us in? Why had we been running for thebathroom?

I glanced at Halle again, studied the memory once more, andlooked for the slightest clue to help me devise a plan. At the corner of hervision, shards of glass were on the carpet by Meacham’s feet. He was going toshoot us through the window. The curtains were drawn, so he couldn’t see in,meaning he may have a thermal-imaging scope. But even thermal imaging couldn’tsee through walls like in the movies. And the first shots he took didn’t hittheir marks, allowing us to run for the bathroom.

Realization hit me. He’d intentionally shot out the windowand then used his scope to find us. This time, we would act first.

I grabbed Halle just as the first shot hit the wall besidemy head.

Halle yelped but allowed me to drag her into the bathroomwhile three more shots penetrated the window and showered plaster around us. Ilaid her in the tub with the pup in her arms. My only hope was to lure himinside and then disarm him.

I handed her my phone. “Call the cops and stay put, nomatter what you hear.”

She nodded, her breaths ragged with fear.

I tried to take the pup out of her arms, but she fought mefor the first time, shaking her head frantically.

“I’m going to drop her out the window. She’ll be saferoutside.”

She conceded with a hesitant nod and handed her over.

I opened the tiny window and dropped the pup onto theground. She whimpered, already spoiled by Halle’s attention.

“I’m sorry,” Halle said when I turned back to her, hugetears swelling in her eyes. “This is all my fault.”

I knelt beside her. “No, it’s his fault.”

She frowned. “Then whose is it, if not mine?”

“Unless I’m greatly mistaken, it’s Paul Meacham’s.”

“Paul?” she asked taken aback. “He’s our head of security.”

“Yes. And I believe he was the man in the forest. He’s beenstalking you, toying with you, for seventeen years.”

She pressed a hand to her mouth.

I pointed to the phone and said, “Cops,” before leaving. Iconsidered lying on the floor and pretending I’d been shot, but knowing thatasshole, he’d put a few more in me for good measure. So, I pressed myselfagainst the wall by the door and waited. If he was any good at this, he’d lookthrough the crack after opening the door and check behind it before entering.Here was hoping he sucked.

“He’s coming,” Aunt Lil said, and I turned to see hercowering beside me, peeking from behind my arm.

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