Page 108 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

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Drop the shears,” the man said. “Now, or I’ll slit her throat.”

Alex let the shears fall to the ground. “Okay, okay. Please don’t hurt her.”

“I’m sorry, Alex,” Tracy said.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“Back to the picnic tables,” he ordered.

Alex couldn’t make out his features in the low light, but she could see his long, shaggy, dark-blond hair. She was trying to understand him as quickly as she could. She’d need to know more about him if she had a chance of saving Tracy’s life.

She led the way back to the picnic table and took a seat on the other side. It was wet from the rain, but she ignored it. He didn’t seem to notice.

She kept her eyes on him, watching for a chance to do something. A way to rescue Tracy.

“Who are you?” Alex asked.

“Do you really want to know?” He leaned in closer, and for the first time Alex saw his face. He had a scar on his upper lip, the kind that came from cleft palate surgery.

“Quit staring at me. I know I’m hideous.”

“Hideous? I don’t understand,” Alex said. “Are you talking about that small scar? It’s barely noticeable.”

His face turned dark red. “Liar!” he screamed.

The blood drained from Tracy’s face. She was terrified.

It was at that moment Alex realized the truth. She’d read this man wrong, and it could cost Tracy’s life as well as her own, and the women still locked in the cellar. He’d killed the kid he knew as Andy along with the girl who’d belittled him. Then, because he couldn’t accept what he’d done, he’d become Andy and started looking for the girl who’d hurt him as if she were still alive, just older.

“Why did you kill Brent?” she asked, trying to keep him distracted while she tried to figure a way out of the situation. “Who was he?”

He shrugged. “I found him living on the street. He was good-looking and needed a place to live. I brought him here to help me find you. Because he was handsome, the women were never afraid of him. Of course, now I don’t need him. I’ve found you.” He sighed. “He had a good life here, but he betrayed me. After everything I did for him. I couldn’t trust him anymore.”

Then he laughed. “He even asked me not to kill you.”

Alex wanted to feel some compassion for Brent, but she couldn’t. Women were dead, and he could have stopped it. He’d allowed them to die so he could live in this big house and stay off the streets. His attempt to do the right thing had come too late.

“So you’re the Ghost Rider?”

He laughed maniacally. “So you read my note.”

“Yes. Now tell me what you want.”

“I want you to watch Tracy die because you tried to ruin our plan. And then I want to kill you for what you did to my friend.”

Alex decided to take a chance. She had to get his guard down for a moment. Make him forget Tracy. “Stop this,” she said. “You killed your friend Andy, and the girl, Emily, who embarrassed you. You’re really Lum Jones. It’s time you faced the truth.”

His face became a mask of rage. “You just cost this woman her life.”

He raised the knife to Tracy’s throat, but before he could cut her, Alex jumped up on the table and lunged at him. She heard the sound of a helicopter above her as they were all enveloped in a bright light from above. Backup was here.

It was then that he plunged the knife into her chest.

As the casket was lowered into the ground, Logan dabbed at his eyes, trying to stem the tears that had been his constant companion ever since it happened. Then he looked around at the assembled mourners, including Jeff, Alice, Monty, and several other members of the BAU. They’d all been there for him, and he was so grateful for their support.

His thoughts turned to how instrumental Alex had been in rescuing those four women. To no one’s surprise, the bodies of the others were found in graves not far from the property.

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