Dead Run

CHAPTER 40

Monday, November 19

8:00 p.m.

“Rachel!”

Liz bolted upright in bed and looked around her dark room, confused. She had been dreaming of Rachel, she realized. In the dream her sister had been calling out for her. Alone and locked in a stifling hot box. Slowly dying.

Shuddering, Liz scrambled out of bed. She saw it was eight, crossed to the bedroom door, unlocked it and stepped out into the hall. Her apartment was dark. Totally soundless.

“Mark,” she called softly. “I’m up.”

Silence answered her. Frowning, she flipped on the hall light and began making her way toward the second bedroom. She tapped on the closed door. “Mark, are you there?”

He didn’t reply. She tried the knob. The door eased open. She peeked into the dark room.

“Mark?” She reached for the light switch. Light flooded the empty room.

They’d come for him while she slept.

She shook her head. How would they have discovered his whereabouts? And how would they have gotten in without her knowing? If he wasn’t here, he’d gone out. He’d probably left her a note.

She went into the room. The bed was made, the coverlet army barracks taut, the pillows perfectly plumped. Turning, she crossed to the closet, opened it and looked inside.

Empty. Just as she had expected it to be.

Liz shut the door and started out of the room. Suddenly, she stopped, her gaze going to the bed. To the place the dust ruffle met the wooden floor. The ecru-colored fabric was folded back. As if someone had lifted it.

So they could scurry beneath to hide.

For a moment, Liz couldn’t breathe. Then she scolded herself to get a grip. Swallowing hard, she marched to the bed, bent and peered beneath.

Nothing. Of course. What had she thought she was going to find? The boogeyman hiding under the bed? Mark, grinning at her like an overgrown six-year-old? A dead body?

Mark had gone out. No doubt, he had left her a note, probably in the kitchen. A self-conscious laugh bubbled to her lips. She had better get that grip on herself before somebody had her locked up.

Liz turned off the light on her way out of the room. Smiling at herself, she headed to the kitchen. She flipped on the overhead light, then stopped in her tracks. A lidded coffee can sat in the middle of her tiny, kitchen table in a puddle of dark liquid. The same liquid appeared to be smeared on the sides of the can and tabletop.

Liz stared at the can. She recognized the brand as the same one her mother used to buy. She hadn’t realized they still sold coffee that way, ground in five-pound cans. She and Rachel had made banks out of them as kids. They had used them for butterfly houses and bug hotels, after cutting slits in the plastic top so their captured creatures could breathe.

Liz brought a shaking hand to her mouth and inched toward the table. She saw that the smears were red. The puddle a deep ruby. Blood, she realized.

A scuffling noise came from the can. With a sense of déjà vu, she reached for the can. She snapped off the lid and peered inside.

The creature peered up at her with its beady black eyes, teeth bared.

She jumped backward. The can slipped from her fingers and landed on its side on the table then rolled off and onto the floor. Blood splashed across the linoleum, the rat spilled out.

It lay there, chest heaving, near death.

Liz began to shake. Rat in a can. Sister in a box.

Slowly dying.

Slowly dying.

The words played in her head like a deranged nursery rhyme. She backed away. The doorbell rang. Liz swung in the direction of the front room, then started forward. Her slow pace quickened until she was running, tearing through the apartment to the stairwell, thundering down the stairs. Ripping the door open.

Rick stood on the other side.

With a cry, she fell into his arms.

His went around her. “You’re trembling.”

She pressed her face against his chest and held him tighter.

Mark was gone. Rachel was dead.

She was next.

“I heard,” he said after a time, softly. “About Stephen. That he had your sister’s Bible.” He tipped her face up to his, searching her expression. “I know what that might mean, Liz. I’m sorry.”

Emotion choked her. She couldn’t speak and tears welled in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry.” He cupped her face in his palms and brought his mouth to hers. He kissed her softly, sweetly, then rested his forehead against hers. “So sorry.”

A movement from beyond her open door caught her eye. Someone passing by, glancing in.

Someone watching.

Her heart stopped. Liz caught his hand and drew him the rest of the way into the foyer. Reaching around him, she closed and locked the door.

She held a finger to her lips and led him upstairs. He made a move to turn on the light but she stopped him. “Not yet. Someone could be watching.” She crossed to the front windows and closed the blinds, then to the side windows and did the same.

She switched on a lamp. A gentle glow fell across his features, softening them. Smoothing his concerned frown.

“What’s going on?”

She brought a hand to her mouth. It shook. She realized how close she was to falling apart and it frightened her. She couldn’t go there. Not now. Not again.

“I need to show you something.”

She led him to the kitchen. She saw that the rat hadn’t moved. Most probably it had died from lack of oxygen or of shock. Perhaps it had drowned in the blood it had been swimming in.

“Mother of God, Liz!” Rick crossed to the creature. He examined it without touching it. “Who did this?”

“After Lieutenant Lopez left, I was really tired…I had this headache…I lay down. When I woke up, he was…gone. I thought he might have left a note and I-” She cleared her throat. “I found the can and the…it was still alive.”

“Who, Liz? Who was gone?”

She dragged her gaze from the rat to Rick. “We have to talk.”

“Dammit, Liz. Who did this?”

“The Horned Flower.” She crossed to the sink and retrieved a pair of rubber gloves and a bottle of antibacterial cleaner from beneath it. She put the gloves on, then took a roll of paper towels from the dispenser. She returned her gaze to Rick’s. She saw by his expression that he thought she had lost her mind. “Mark was here, Rick. And now, they have him.”