Page 56 of So Wicked

“Danny.”

“Danny, give Detective Slade Dr. Carpenter’s address and personal phone number. Slade, give him your phone number and mine. When we hang up, Danny, call and text Dr. Carpenter. Tell her what we told you, give her our numbers and tell her to call us.”

“Okay. Um… okay.”

“Slade, give me the keys.”

Slade’s brow furrowed, but to his credit, he didn’t balk. Faith tossed the keys out of the air and sprinted for the car. Turk followed, barking for her to slow down and be careful. Instead, she slid the last three yards and slammed into the car hard enough to leave bruises on her legs.

Turk gave a resigned bark and checked on her. Faith ruffled his fur quickly and opened the door for him to get inside. The roads were icy, but Faith was used to driving quickly on ice. She couldn’t move that quickly, but she would probably move more quickly than Slade would.

She pulled up to the café, and Slade climbed into the passenger seat. “Okay. We’re going to take the four-sixty-five south to… Jesus!”

He gripped the grab handle and pressed his left hand on the dash as the cruiser spun around and accelerated toward the road. The rear wheels fishtailed dangerously when Faith turned out of the parking lot, but she feathered the accelerator, and the wheels found their traction a moment later.

“Does this cruiser have winter tires?” Faith asked.

“Yes, but—”

“Studded?”

“Um… no, but—”

“That’s all right. I’ll make it work.”

“Are you kidding? Faith!”

He cried out again as she drifted onto the freeway. The freeway was less icy than the surface streets, but there was still a dusting of snow, and the cruiser flinched and slid slightly as she headed south toward Cumberland.

“Faith, if you get us killed on the way there, we won’t be able to help anyone,” Slade reminded her, struggling to control his voice.”

“I’m well aware of that fact,” Faith said. “Trust me. I’ve done this…”

She paused to navigate a particularly perilous stretch of snow that tried to turn the cruiser sideways. Once they were straightened out, she finished. “I’ve done this before.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Then deal with feeling like crap for a while,” Faith retorted. “We’re twenty minutes from Cumberland, and Carpenter’s vulnerable.”

“Yeah, I know. Just please don’t kill us, okay?”

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

“Yeah, telling me not to worry isn’t going to make me not worry.”

“Well, then worry quietly.”

He glared at her. “Your partner must love you.”

“He used to.” Slade raised his eyebrow, and Faith quickly changed the subject. “Call Dr. Carpenter again. Keep calling her until she answers.”

Slade dialed the number, and Faith counted the minutes.Hang in there, Dr. Carpenter. We’re on our way to rescue you.

The thought came to her that the killer could be saying the same thing. He or she was convinced that this was the only way to rescue the victims’ souls. It disturbed Faith to know that she and a serial killer could be having the same thought at the same time about the same person.

Drastically different means of achieving that goal, though.

They reached the Cumberland exit eleven minutes after getting onto the freeway. Faith looked ahead at the exit and saw that it was clear of traffic. “Fair warning, Slade. You’re going to hate this.”

---