Page 52 of So Deadly
Kevin Marshall was a world-class forger.At one point in his career, he’d been famous for producing driver licenses so good that there were still about eight hundred people using them despite not having taken a single test.
Those came with risks, though.The government really didn’t like people who made fake IDs.Get caught doing that, and you ended up with a lot more than a slap on the wrist.Service dog certs, though?Hell, he could probably get caught again and not suffer any serious consequences.
He had no desire to test that theory, of course.He made sure his records were clean as a whistle, and every certificate he mailed had a return address to a P.O.Box registered to a business that was registered in Delaware.He never saved a template, making each cert from memory each time and deleting every single file once the document was printed.He liked his fast car and his hot casual girlfriend.He really didn’t want to screw that up.
He deleted the file for this most recent order, poured himself a congratulatory glass of wine, then heard a knock on the door.He frowned and tried to remember if he’d ordered a package.
Another knock sounded.His heart started to thump a little, but if this was the police or the FBI trying to nail him, they’d be unable to find anything incriminating.He was okay.
A third knock sounded.He rolled his eyes, ignoring the increasing thump of his heart, and headed for the door.He looked through the peephole and saw no one.
He sighed and rolled his eyes again.“Damned ding-dong ditchers.”
He turned around, and when the knock sounded again, he spun back, threw the door open, and shouted into the air.“Hey!You guys want some?Come back here, you little assholes!”
Nothing.No one.The porch was empty.
Heat climbed his cheeks.“Yeah, screw you too!”he shouted.
He expected laughter to follow him as he closed and locked the door.No laughter came, but when he turned around, he saw his kitchen window open, the curtains fluttering in the breeze.
He stopped and stood stock still.His throat constricted, and when he saw the shadow extending across the floor toward him, he released a soft cry.
He looked up and saw the owner of the shadow, a petite person—it looked like a woman—wearing a dog mask.The fake teeth of the mask dripped fake blood that looked real enough he wondered if maybe itwasreal.
Light glinted off the stranger’s palms.Kevin released another cry when he saw the razor blades embedded into the woman’s gloves.“Oh, shit,” he whispered.“Oh God, please—”
Then the attacker rushed him.Kevin staggered backwards, but the claws found his ribs, his stomach, his face, his throat.He tried to scream, but no noise escaped.The world was a blur of pain.
***
Faith frowned when she saw the open window of Kevin Marshall’s residence.Her blood chilled when she saw the screen torn open and pushed inward, leaving ragged strips clinging to the edges of the frame.
“Shit,” she cursed.“She’s here.”
“Yeah, I see it,” Jessica said.“You think she’s still—”
A shriek interrupted her, loud enough to drive the songbirds roosting in a nearby tree fleeing into the sky.It didn’t sound like a scream of pain.It didn’t really sound like a scream at all.To Faith, it sounded a lot more like the snarl of an enraged animal.
“Yep,” Faith said.“She’s still here.”
Turk sprinted toward the open window, releasing a snarl of his own.Faith followed, drawing her weapon.Please, please don’t let us be too late.
Faith leaped through the window after Turk and landed in a forward roll.She got to her feet and saw the killer snarling at Turk, who had her left arm pinned.Her face was covered with a snarling dog mask, painted red around the teeth to represent fake blood.
Some of the paint slid down the mask’s chin, and Faith’s stomach lurched as she realized the blood wasn’t fake.
For a split second, Faith could only stand there, staring in shock at this human-turned-monster, this animal demon wrestling with her dog.Then the killer raised her right arm, boxcutter claws extended as she prepared to slash at Turk’s face.
Faith aimed her handgun at the suspect and shouted, “Hurt him, and you die!”
Jennifer stopped and stared at Faith.Through the mask, Faith could see her eyes roll wildly in their sockets, any pretense at sanity gone.She snarled at Faith, and Faith stifled a shiver.To her left, Kevin Marshall lay on the ground choking on his own blood.
Jessica’s shadow darkened the window.“Faith!”she called.“Did you… Oh, God.”
“Climb through the window and unlock the front door,” Faith said.“Have the paramedics take Kevin Marshall out of here.”
“No!”Jennifer shrieked.
