becoming slurred.
“Filthy coward.”
She heard him laugh. And again, he licked her, her ear this time,
his tongue slow, lapping, and she wanted to gag, but she didn’t because
her mind was beginning to float now, and it was easy and
smooth and the fear disappeared as she just fell away from herself.
No time, she thought, as what she was and what she thought
were slipping away, like grains of sand scattering in a wind. No
time, no time to stab him with that screw. No time to ask him
again if he was this Krimakov who’d been cremated. No time for
anything.
Adam stood there in her open bedroom doorway. She was gone,
simply gone. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “No. Oh God, no!
Savich!”
But she was gone, no sign of her, nothing at all.
It was Sherlock who said as she sipped a cup of black coffee, “He
used the tear gas as a diversion. While we were all outside looking
for him, he simply slipped into the house and hid in Becca’s bedroom
closet. Then he probably drugged her. How did he get her
out? Our guys were back in position by the time we came back inside.
Oh, no, get everyone together! We weren’t exactly organized
when we were looking for him outside. Dillon, who was assigned
to the back of the house?”
“Jesus,”Adam said. “No, damnation, no!”
They found Chuck Ainsley in the bushes twenty feet from the
back of the house. He wasn’t dead. He’d been struck down from
behind, bound and gagged. When they peeled the tape off his mouth, he said, “I let him creep up on me. I didn’t hear a thing. He
was fast, too fast. Oh God, what the hell happened? Is everyone all
right?”
Savich said matter-of-factly, “He took Becca. Thank God you’re
not dead. I wonder why he didn’t just slit your throat, Chuck? Why
waste time tying you up?”
Sherlock said, as she hunkered down next to Chuck and untied
both his wrists and ankles, “He doesn’t want the police here yet.
He realized that if he killed one of us, that’s what would happen. It
would force his hand. He would lose control. We’re really glad
you’re okay, Chuck.”
Adam said, “He must have knocked you out before he shot tear
gas into the house. We came roaring out, everyone trying to find
him, and we didn’t miss you. There was too much confusion.
Damnation.”
Sherlock gave Chuck a drink of cold water and a couple of aspirin
once they got him into the kitchen. “If you won’t have a headache,
you should,” she told him, then hugged him. “Thank God you’re all
right. Since you weren’t at the back of the house watching for him,
he must have just slipped out with Becca over his shoulder.”
“We didn’t miss you,” Adam said slowly. “I can’t believe we
didn’t have the brains to get everyone together and count heads before
we settled back into the house for the night. Hell, we didn’t
even think to search the damned house.”
Everyone was rattled as what happened sank in. There was nothing
to say, no excuses to make. He’d made fools of them all.
An hour later, Sherlock and Savich found Adam in the kitchen,
his head in his hands. Savich lightly laid his hand on his shoulder.
“It happened. We’ve all flagellated ourselves. No thanks to us,
Chuck is all right. Now we’ve got to fix it. Adam, we’ll find her.”
“I was supposed to keep her safe,” Adam said, staring at his clasped
hands. “I’ve got to be the biggest fuckup in this damned world. He’s
got her, Savich. He’s got her and we have no idea where.”
“Yes, he’s got her,” Savich said, “and he’s probably going to take
her to Washington. That’s it, isn’t it? He wants her with him when
he confronts Thomas? She’s his leverage. Thomas would do anything
to save her, including giving himself up to this maniac.”
“We’re talking like Krimakov is alive, like we don’t have any
doubts about it at all,” Sherlock said.
Adam said slowly, “Forget the reports, forget what the operatives
said. The body was cremated. That’s all I need to know. It’s Krimakov.