CHAPTER ONE
"How much further to thetop?"
Chrissy wasn't entirely sure whyshe'd agreed to go out hiking with Martin. Hiking wasn't really her thing, butsaying “yes” had seemed like the obvious response when he'd asked her to comeout with him.
She'd been trying to impress him,but there had to be an easier way than this. As they trudged up a steepincline, sweat drenched their clothes, and the sun bore down on themrelentlessly to the point where Chrissy was starting to wonder if it was reallyworth it. Then she looked at Martin, taking in just how good-looking he was,with a tall frame and chiseled physique shown off by his tight T-shirt. At thatmoment, Chrissy started to remember why she was making this effort.
They had only been on a couple ofdates, and she still felt a bit nervous around him, but the more they hung out,the more comfortable she became. Chrissy was hoping that this trip might be themoment when they took things to the next step, the one she'd imagined eversince the two of them met in a bar a couple of weeks ago.
Martin looked at her with a grin."Not much further. Just a little bit more and we'll reach the lookoutpoint."
Chrissy nodded and pushed forward. Herhiking boots crunched on the gravel path. She had to admit, the scenery wasbeautiful. The trees were tall and lush, and the air was crisp and fresh. Itwas a nice change from the stuffy city air she was used to.
"Maybe we could take abreak," Chrissy suggested, partly because Martin's idea of "notfar" didn't fit with hers and partly because she'd thought of at least onething she'd rather be doing with Martin than hiking.
"Chrissy—"
Chrissy grabbed his arm and pulledhim onto a small side path. She took the opportunity to graze his lips withhers, promising more.
"Come on. We'll still get tothe lookout point, but I can think of other things that are far more fun to dofirst,” she said.
If Martin was slightly taken abackby Chrissy's sudden move, he still didn't resist. He wrapped his arms aroundher waist, pulling her closer to him as their kiss grew deeper and morepassionate.
Chrissy moaned softly, enjoying thefeel of Martin's lips on hers. She could feel the tension building betweenthem, and she knew that they both wanted more.
"It looks like there's aclearing over there," Chrissy said. It looked like it was a good spot foreverything that she had in mind. Better than the path, at least.
Martin followed her, his hand stilltightly clasping hers. The clearing was surrounded by trees but open to thesky. Wildflowers stood around the edges in a riot of color. The sun shone downon them, casting golden light over their skin.
It should have been beautiful. Itshould have been perfect. Instead, Chrissy froze in place, staring inopen-mouthed horror at what lay in the middle of the clearing.
She clung to Martin's arm, chokingback a scream, barely able to bring herself to look. A body. There was a bodythere in the clearing.
Chrissy felt as though she mightfaint. A man lay there on his back, tied in place to stakes in the ground, openeyes staring up at the sky. The ground was dark around him, and it took Chrissya moment to realize that it had to be blood. Someone had tied a man there, cuthis veins and left him to bleed to death. Chrissy knew what that meant. She'dseen the news reports. This was the work of the Exsanguination Killer.
CHAPTER TWO
It was strange for Paige to be backin the St Just Institute.
"How did it make youfeel?"
Agent Paige King sat in a treatmentroom of the psychiatric institution where she had once worked before she hadbecame an FBI agent.
Back then, she'd been tasked withassessing people who had been brought in while she worked on her doctorate,trying to determine whether they were mentally ill or merely criminal. She'dworked with some of the worst killers, trying to understand them and whatmotivated them.
This time, though, she foundherself sitting on the other side of the table. She was there as an out-patienttoday. She wondered what she looked like, sitting there in her dark suit, herred hair tied back neatly from features that made her look a little youngerthan her twenty-five years, bright green eyes looking out with a hint of worry.
She was sitting across from Dr. AliceChang, one of the senior psychiatric staff there at the institute, a middle-agedChinese American woman with dark hair and brown eyes, wearing a white coat overa long floral skirt and white blouse. The one element of decoration she worewas a butterfly hair clip, enameled in green and blue. Paige found herselfwondering if that was a deliberate affectation to make herself seem lesssevere.
"Agent King?" she said."How did it make you feel that your actions brought about the death of asuspect?"
Paige took a deep breath, and closedher eyes for a moment. She could still feel the weight of the guilt on herchest, like a heavy stone that she couldn't shake off.
For a moment, she was back there onthe roof of a mall in the town of Winterly, slamming into Alvin Richards to tryto get him away from the woman he was going to kill. She recalled the struggleshe'd had with him, and the two of them falling over the edge of the roof.Paige had managed to grab onto a dangling cable to avoid falling to the groundfar below. Alvin hadn't.
"The official review clearedme of doing anything wrong," Paige said. "I only used the force I hadto use in the situation to protect others."
"That wasn't what Iasked," Dr. Chang pointed out. "You're avoiding the question."