Until Dark - Mariah Stewart [94]
She recognized in Miranda a friend in waiting. She’d make certain that she followed through.
Interesting, Kendra thought as she turned over, that Miranda was right on target about her and Adam. They seemed to be in a holding pattern. Maybe, once this case was solved, they could take a few steps forward, instead of the side steps they’d been taking for the past week.
Then, there was the matter of her brother’s killer maybe not being behind bars after all, maybe being on her trail at this very minute. Maybe being the same person who seemed to be fixated on her. She pulled the blanket up over her shoulders against a sudden chill. None of the possibilities made any sense to her. Maybe when Adam got back from his meeting he’d have some insights.
At the thought of Adam, she smiled and closed her eyes. So much better to think about him than the man whose face she’d sketched.
Holding on to the image of Adam as he had stood next to his car earlier that day, one hand raised in a half-wave, she finally drifted off to sleep.
* * *
It was almost two when Miranda stole a look at the clock on the table next to the bed in the guest room across the hall from Kendra’s bedroom. By nature a light sleeper, every little sound caused her eyes to open and her brain to seek the source of the noise and its possible causes. She’d earlier identified the sound of a log falling onto the hearth in the living room below and a little creaking of the hot water pipes that fed the radiators.
But the sound that she was hearing now . . . she just couldn’t put her finger on it.
Instinct caused her to slide her hand underneath her pillow. Fingers sought then closed around the handgun, drew it surely and brought it under the covers, all in the matter of seconds. She lay in the dark, stifling her own breathing while she tracked the sound.
Downstairs. Near the bottom of the steps.
She strained her ears until they ached.
On the steps now, footfalls soft as snow.
Inch by silent inch, she raised herself from a prone position, then slowly moved her feet to the edge of the bed. The door was slightly ajar, and by the night-light’s glow in the hall, she could see Kendra’s door. It, too, stood open by several inches. Miranda held her breath, watching through the opening, until the first hint of shadow fell. In one smooth, quiet motion, she was on her feet and opening the door.
“Freeze!”
He turned in one swift motion, and she realized in that split second that she’d misjudged the distance between them. The heel of his left foot caught her squarely in the chest, and she fell back, allowing the intruder access to the steps.
“Son of a bitch . . .” Miranda growled and followed the assailant onto the steps. Three-quarters of the way down, she flung herself forward with both feet, landing a solid kick to the middle of his back. He fell the rest of the way, thudding onto the hardwood floor.
“Miranda!” Kendra yelled from the top of the steps.
“Turn the lights on!” Miranda called back, her gun now held tightly between both hands.
The elbow-punch to the side of her head came from nowhere and sent her spinning, but she managed to pull off two shots before going down and slamming her head against the newel post at the bottom of the steps. Somewhere, far away, a door closed softly. The gun slipped from her fingers, and she surrendered to the darkness.
Chapter
Nineteen
“How is she?” Adam’s voice was taut.
“She’s okay,” Kendra spoke softly into Miranda’s cell phone. “She was awake, though foggy, when they came to take her down for more X-rays a few minutes ago. She has a nasty gash from hitting the end of the newel post, and she lost a lot of blood. They’re going to keep her for a while, at least until tomorrow. I called Portia, and she