The Night Stalker

One Hundred and Eleven

Hunter pulled Katia into his arms again.

‘Katia, it’ll be OK. We’ll get out of here.’

‘No. .’ Desperation took over her voice. ‘You’re not listening. We can’t hide from him. There’s nowhere we can go where he won’t find us. We won’t get out of here alive. He could be standing behind you right now and you wouldn’t know. Unless he wanted you to.’

That statement sent a shiver up Garcia’s spine and he mechanically extended his left arm like a blind man, feeling the space around him — nothing but air.

‘I could never see him,’ Katia continued, ‘but I sensed him many times, right here, in the room with me. He wouldn’t say a word. He wouldn’t make a sound, but I knew he was there, watching me, just observing. I never heard him come in or go out. He moves like a ghost.’

‘OK,’ Hunter said. ‘The three of us moving blind isn’t a great idea. We won’t be able to cover each other.’

‘What do you wanna do?’ Garcia whispered.

‘Katia, stay in here. Stay in the room.’

‘What?’

‘I’ve been checking every inch of this place. He’s got no surveillance. There are no cameras, no microphones, nothing. He might know that we’re here, but there’s no way he can be sure that we’ve gotten to you or to anyone else. If you stay in the room just like you’ve been doing since the day you were captured, he’s got no reason to be angry with you.’

‘No. . no. I’d rather die than stay here alone for another second. You don’t know what I’ve been through. I can’t stay here. Please don’t leave me here to face him again. You can’t leave me here alone.’

‘Katia, listen, if the three of us move out of this room together right now, and if this guy can see in the dark and move as silently as you said he can, we’ve got no chance.’

‘No. . I can’t stay here alone. Please don’t make me stay here alone. I’d rather die.’

‘I’ll stay with you.’ Garcia said. ‘Robert is right. We won’t be able to cover each other if we move out of here together. He could easily pick us out one by one and we wouldn’t even know. I’ll stay here with you. As Robert said, he doesn’t know which room we’re in. For all he knows you’re here, alone, just like you were minutes ago. I’ll stay. There’s no way he can know I’m with you. If this door opens without the person identifying himself, I’ll smoke the bastard.’ He cocked his gun and Katia jumped.

‘It’s a good idea,’ Hunter agreed.

‘Why don’t you stay too,’ Katia pleaded. ‘Why can’t we all just wait for him in here and fight him together? We’ve got a better chance that way.’

‘Because he might not come directly here,’ Hunter explained. ‘We know for sure that he’s got at least one more victim held hostage. Our captain. He might go straight for her just to punish us. I have to try and find her before he gets to her. I can’t just sit here and wait. Her life depends on it.’

‘He’s right, Katia,’ Garcia said.

‘We can’t waste any more time,’ Hunter took over again. ‘Trust me, Katia. I’ll be back for you.’

Garcia put his arm around Katia and slowly brought her back into the room.

‘Good luck,’ he said as Hunter closed the door behind him and took a deep breath.

This already looks like a bad idea, he thought. Walking around in pitch-dark corridors, fighting a killer blind. What the hell am I thinking?

Hunter knew that there were about twenty feet between him and the end of the corridor. No more doors on this stretch. He moved cautiously, but he moved fast. The hallway swung left again. He stood still, listening as hard as he could.

Nothing except absolute silence.

Hunter had always been good at identifying sounds. Sneaking up on him would be a tough task. Though Katia had told him that Andrew could see in the dark and move like a ghost, he couldn’t believe anyone could be that quiet.

He was wrong.