Until Dark - Mariah Stewart [39]
Mentally he shrugs off any concern. He knows that soon, very soon, it will no longer matter.
She passes close by, close enough that he can smell her perfume. He counts her steps, knows exactly when to spring.
In a flash, he’s upon her from behind, one arm looped around her neck, the other positioning the stun gun.
And then she jabs him, hard, with her elbow. The unexpected blow knocks the gun from his hand. She spins, karate-style, preparing her defenses. With one punch to her jaw, he takes her out.
Panting from the unexpected exertion, he stands, hands on hips, and stares down at her.
Then he bends and lifts her, carries her over his shoulder down the path. Down, down, to the cave that he’s prepared for her arrival.
His nerves are on edge. She wasn’t supposed to do that. He was going to have to show her a thing or two.
He closes his eyes, remembering . . .
Then, later, the scene on his imaginary screen shifts.
It is dark now, and it’s done. Karen has paid the price and is of no further use to him. She’s to be disposed of. He’s left her in the cave while he goes up the path to the parking lot to see what’s going on. He gets to the top of the path, then stands quietly, sniffing the air like a dog. There are no cars in the lot now, no one about at all. Pleased, he moves the van close to the path, then returns to the cave for Karen.
He is halfway up the path, Karen slung over his shoulder, when he sees the light. He pauses, then steps off the path into the shadows. The light is a small dot on the ground, moving toward him. He stares, motionless, as the flashlight approaches, curious at first. Slowly, he lowers to the ground, still holding his burden, and crouches in the dark, watching the light move closer.
She is almost past him, when the light falls to his side of the path.
She opens her mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. He tosses Karen like a sack, leaps for his new prey.
He closes his eyes, remembering . . .
The knife in his hand, though he had no recollection of having removed it from its sheath. The knife at her throat. He could almost hear his own voice warning her to be quiet. To settle down and she’d live to tell about it.
Not that he’d considered for a minute not killing her, but she didn’t need to know that at that moment.
But had she listened to him? No. No, she started to scream for help. So what could he do?
He slit her throat, then carried her to his cave.
But there he’d lost control, something he’d never done before. Not ever. The knife had slammed down, over and over and over. . . .
He takes a long, slow breath, and stares at the screen, bringing back the images, savoring every one.
Chapter
Eight
“Selena, I’m so sorry.” Kendra looked up with eyes red from crying as Selena entered the room. “I am so, so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Selena, her own eyes brimmed with tears, hugged her. “If you hadn’t called Mark when you did, we could have lost Lola. I owe you for saving her life.”
“Mark thinks she was poisoned. They’re still trying to determine what it was.”
“That’s what he said when he called me. He said it could have been an insecticide, but he isn’t sure.”
“Lola’s too smart to eat something with insecticide on it.”
“Lola is a dog. If the chemical was strong enough, maybe even licking it could have made her sick. I just can’t figure out where she could have gotten into something that strong. I don’t have chemicals around my house.”
“Neither do I. And as far as I know, she didn’t eat anything except the dog biscuit that I gave her—”
“And the sandwich she found in your yard,” Selena said slowly.
The women stared at each other in silence. Then Kendra stood up and walked toward the door.
“I’ll be back in twenty minutes,” she told Selena. “The trash men don’t come until Thursday.”
“Why would anyone lace a sandwich with insecticide?” Kendra asked.
“And then leave it in your yard?” Selena shook her head. “Makes no sense at all, does it?”
“Well, turning it over to the police was a good idea. And thank God, Lola’s going