Page 9 of Fatal Mistake
Cal nodded, but at her anguished expression he wished he hadn’t had to admit his concerns.
“But how can he…he was…we were friends. Good friends once. This’s crazy. My life. It was good. Now this. How will I ever get back to normal? Will I get back to normal?”
“Not until Keeler is caught.”
“But, he…” She shrugged and started crying softly.
She still didn’t believe Keeler was a serial killer, and Cal couldn’t risk her underestimating Keeler or she could wind up dead, too. Cal wouldn’t lose another woman on his watch. He firmed his resolve to keep this woman’s pain from distracting him.
“I’ll be here for you, Tara,” he said, meaning watching over her, not helping her deal with her emotional trauma. “Like I was with the helicopter. We’ll all keep you safe. Are you willing to help me?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” he replied. “Because we only have a few days until the first of the month, when Keeler is sure to detonate another bomb.”
* * *
4:30 a.m.
Darkness cloaked Tara’s room when she drifted out of sleep. The nurse had come in as Cal was leaving and given her something through her IV. She didn’t remember anything since. How long had she slept?
She rubbed her eyes and raised the bed. Movement in the window overlooking the hallway grabbed her attention. Groggy from the pain meds, she concentrated until a man standing on the far side of the hall became clear. He stepped closer.
Had Agent Riggins come back, or was it Agent Fields?
She blinked hard and squinted until the guy came into focus.
No. Oh, no.
Oren. It was Oren. There in the hallway, standing less than twenty feet away. A sneer on his face. A challenge in his eyes.
“You’re dead,” he mouthed, and slashed a hand across his throat before disappearing down the hall.
Panic curled through her body. Help. She needed help. She tried to get up. To call out, but the tiniest of movements sent the room spinning. Nausea followed, curling into her stomach and leaving it roiling. She closed her eyes and tried hard to move past the undulating waves of dizziness to think.
Oh, God, please. What should I do?
Agent Riggins. She needed him here by her side, but where had he gone?
He’d promised to be there for her, but he’d disappeared. Left her alone to fend for herself. Let Oren get to her. He’d probably gone back to his job, his office, having forgotten all about her.
“Help,” she finally got out.
She waited for a response from anyone.
She cried out again.
Nothing. No one.
Where was this Agent Fields? Why wasn’t he coming to her aid, or even challenging Oren?
She peered at the window. Reality hit, settling in and stealing her breath.
She was alone. All alone and vulnerable.
If Oren could step into the hospital and come this close to her, he could certainly locate her D.C. row house and pounce.
She’d be a sitting duck. Exposed.
