Page 82 of Killer Clone

This was personal.

Slade spoke again. “Did you hear me? Don’t take any risks. If he’s there, take him down together. SWAT’s about ten minutes behind you. This ends tonight.”

Soon, a nightmare that had started with a bloodless corpse hanging in a Pennsylvania wood would come to an end in a Nashville homeless shelter. McAuley would surrender or be shot.

Determination closed in, sharpening Hagen’s focus, shrinking his world. They were going to get him. McAuley would fail, and this whole strange ritual was going to end. For good.

When Maureen King killed herself, Hagen was sure the case was over. Another killer down, another case closed.

He’d been wrong then. He couldn’t be wrong again.

“That Dispatch group. The one on Patrick Marrion’s phone. Did Mac manage to find a way in yet?”

“No.” There was just a hint of disappointment in Slade’s voice. “Mac’s still navigating red tape while waiting for an invite.”

Hagen checked the map on the screen. He slowed slightly and pulled a right. The back tires screamed. “Almost there.”

Stella glanced at him. “We need to take him alive.”

The “what?” that blasted from the phone was even louder than the question exploding in Hagen’s head. He followed up the SSA’s question.

“Stella, if we can take him alive, we will. But?—”

“We’ve got to get into that Dispatch group. We missed the mark with McAuley. Maybe there are others willing to kill. We need to know who they are, all of them, which means we need him to give us access to that group and start tracking people down.”

Stella was right. But they hadn’t been able to take Maureen King alive. There was no guarantee they could take Trevor McAuley alive either.

The phone was silent for a moment before Slade spoke again. “Your first priority is to keep yourselves safe and then secure everyone at the shelter. Only then can you take this guy down. SWAT is seven minutes out. Wait for them.”

Hagen yanked the steering wheel again.

Stella slid into the door. Hagen pulled into the soup kitchen’s parking lot and stopped.

“Yes, sir.” Stella hung up and clicked the safety off on her weapon. “Let’s go.”

Hagen killed the engine. They pulled on their bulletproof vests, and Hagen followed Stella into the parking lot. A food truck was parked near the fence, and there was a smattering of other vehicles.

Anja and Ander pulled in behind their SUV.

“Let’s see what we’ve got, ladies and gentlemen.” Ander greeted them as he tightened the Velcro on his vest.

“Slade said to wait for backup.” Stella was already moving toward the building, however. “But we can do a perimeter check.” Hagen and the other two fell in behind her, drawing their weapons.

The building in front of them had three doors, all lit by a single bulb that spilled a pool of yellow light onto a trio of welcome signs. The first welcomed the hungry to the soup kitchen, the second greeted the weary, and the third led to a meeting room.

Someone screamed.

They should wait. The rest of the team were less than five minutes away now. They should hold off until everyone arrived so they could all go in together.

Another scream. The noise came muffled through the wall, followed by a loud “nooo,” which was then followed by softer cries, a mixture of horror and panic.

Stella’s dark eyes met Hagen’s. He knew what she was thinking.

They couldn’t wait.

“Breaching.”

The three of them lined up behind Stella.

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