Page 25 of The Killer She Knew

Maintenance workers had given up on trying to bring the sabotaged generator back to life. The wiring stripped from another unit wasn’t interchangeable. They just had to ride out the storm, same as everyone else. It didn’t make for thebest conditions, but they were safe as long as they remained quarantined to this building and didn’t turn on each other. Leigh found herself descending into the basement, grabbing for her phone’s flashlight.

She tapped the button on the screen, and white light seared her vision as she crossed the threshold. Quietly closing the door behind her so as not to wake anyone in the lobby, she faced off with a long corridor smelling sweetly of rot. Pools of water puddled in the cracks along the cinderblock walls and cement flooring. Overhead bare bulbs added to the creepy factor as she took the first few steps. “Ford?”

Had the marshal slipped down here for his security rounds, and she hadn’t noticed? No. That didn’t fit his pattern.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Water pelted her shoulder from above. Several tons of rain had soaked the surrounding property and was trying to work its way inside a non-waterproofed foundation. Then again, who could’ve predicted a hurricane in the Atlantic reaching this far inland? Leigh’s flashlight failed to illuminate anything more than a few feet ahead of her and reflected back at her from puddles spreading across the floor. Some several inches deep. She raised the phone’s flashlight ahead of her.

And landed on a human shape.

Back turned to her, she couldn’t make out any details other than mountainous male musculature, short dark hair, and black clothing and boots. Not Ford. Energy charged into her free hand as she reached for her holstered sidearm and raised her weapon. “Hey!”

The figure sidestepped into a corridor to his left.

Out of view.

Leigh pressed herself against the wall and heel-toed toward the corner as silently as puddles and her shoes allowed. She couldn’t ignore the instincts screaming at her not to follow, butshe couldn’t ignore a potential lead on Alice Dietz’s murderer either. The killer was trapped on this campus with them. What better hiding place than a series of underground tunnels administration only ever used for maintenance purposes?

Back pressed against solid cinderblock, she forced her breathing to slow. Charged nerves lost a bit of their influence as she craned her neck around the corner and raised her flashlight beam.

Empty.

Leigh stepped into the corridor, her focus honed on any potential threat. Water soaked through her shoes, much deeper here, as if the foundation itself sloped steeper into this section of the building and collected the storm’s tears. Each step had her wading until her slacks were plastered against her legs from her knees to her ankles.

A trap. This was a trap. Whoever had killed Alice Dietz was intelligent enough to realize they weren’t getting out of Durham until police cleared the roads, but escape would still be his number one priority. The first step to getting away with murder? Make sure you’re not being chased. But the lure had already hooked into her. Pulling her deeper into the building and eviscerating her survival instincts.

Leigh built a mental map back to the door leading up to the lobby. It would be easy to get lost down here without anyone knowing where she’d gone and just five percent left on her phone battery. She glanced at the screen. Make that three percent.

She should turn back now. Wait until morning when Ford could accompany her in another search of the basement. But by then, the killer could be gone. She couldn’t wait for backup.

She caught sight of movement ahead. Her lungs suctioned to her ribcage as she raced against the deepening flood to catch up. “FBI! Stop!”

The water thickened here somehow, and she really didn’t want to think about what she was wading through as she approached the end of the corridor. Ice worked through her feet and cut off feeling in her toes the deeper she trod. Leigh pulled up short of a dead end. That didn’t make sense. He’d been right here. Spinning in place, she lost her grip on her phone. The device hit the two feet of water increasing by the second and blacked out.

Throwing her into darkness.

“Shit.” If the killer had wanted her out of the picture, he was certain to get his wish in the next few minutes. Leigh stretched her free hand out to test for a wall—something—to lead her out of this fresh hell. She’d never had a problem with small spaces, but the corridor closed in too tight. Too dark. Unknown. Crouching, she allowed the rest of her outfit to soak through as she searched for her phone. She couldn’t leave it, but saving it might be a waste of time if she died down here. Her fingers grazed the powerless brick, and she attempted to turn it back on. In vain.

Water sloshed against her legs.

But she hadn’t moved.

And the feeling she was being watched again hardened the muscles along her spine. Leigh raised her weapon. Completely at the mercy of the darkness—and the killer—closing in.

His voice cut through the thudding pound of her heartbeat behind her ears. “I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a very long time, Agent Brody.”

SIXTEEN

Durham, New Hampshire

Wednesday, October 9

8:01 p.m.

A flashlight beam seared across her face.

Leigh blinked to force her vision to adjust, throwing up the hand still clutching her phone to block the onslaught. It didn’t do a damn bit of good, but she wasn’t dead yet. She at least had that going for her. But why was she still alive? “If you’re trying to escape, you’re doing a really shitty job. Starting with giving away the advantage with a flashlight.”

A low laugh rumbled over thetick tick tickof water leaking through the foundation. Deep and warm and nothing like a killer should sound.

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