Darkest Hour by Rob Cornell Page B

hazy edge of sleep, right before the full dark plunge, which meant she was just aware enough to register the intruder bounding into her apartment despite the fact she couldn’t hear it. She snapped wide awake and sat up in bed, her heart racing and hands shaking from the sudden adrenaline dose to her system. She cried out as if she had awoken from a nightmare. Unfortunately, it turned out she had awoken into one.
    The woman had jet black hair with a pristine white stripe down the middle. The only thing that kept it from looking like she wore a skunk on her head was the pretty face the hair framed, and eyes a shade of blue that seemed to shine in the shadows made by the drawn shades.
    The woman approached Kate with the gun up and aimed straight at Kate’s face. She wore what looked like a black track suit, the kind that made a whisking sound when the legs brushed together.
    She moved her mouth, but Kate couldn’t hear what she said because of the ear plugs. She quickly pulled them out and tossed them aside. “What? What do you want?”
    “I told you to put your fucking hands above your fucking head.” The woman had an accent. Australian, maybe?
    Kate complied. The barrel of that gun looked as wide as a manhole from her perspective. The thing probably shot missiles instead of bullets. “I don’t have a lot of money.”
    “Don’t want your fucking money.” The woman came right up to the bed and pressed the barrel of the gun to Kate’s forehead. “Cross your wrists over your head.”
    Kate crossed her wrists.
    “Now hold still.” The intruder pulled a plastic loop from her pocket. She placed the loop around Kate’s wrists and pulled on a loose end. The loop zipped closed, the plastic cutting into her skin. The woman backed off and motioned with the gun. “You can put your hands in your lap now.”
    Kate lowered her hands and checked out the zip-tie. Where the plastic dug in she felt a persistent sting. She also felt some circulation loss in her fingers. Five minutes or so and she’d probably lose feeling.
    “What do you want from me?”
    “I’m going to say a name. You tell me if you know it.”
    Kate stared back, said nothing.
    “Craig Lockman.”
    This woman knew Craig? Was this some demented stroke of luck? She didn’t know what the woman wanted, but was it possible the woman could lead Kate to her daughter?
    “I know him,” she said. “Do you know where he is?”
    “I’m the one asking questions, love. You dig?”
    Kate nodded. She glanced toward her door, wondering if anyone might walk by and notice the door itself was missing and the woman with the giant gun inside. This was New York. Even if they noticed, they’d probably pretend they didn’t.
    But the glance at the doorway led Kate to then look at the door itself, flat on the floor in the middle of the room. A little kiss of vertigo came over her. This small woman, no bigger than Kate, had kicked the door clear off the frame and halfway across the apartment.
    The woman must have noticed where Kate was looking and what was going through her mind. She grinned, revealing a diamond inset in one of her front teeth. “You like that, huh?”
    “You’re not human.”
    The woman raised her eyebrows. “Savvy.”
    “So what are you?”
    “Your fairy fucking godmother.” She waggled her gun barrel back and forth. “No more introductions. I have a few more Qs for you. Where’s your daughter? She at school?”
    Kate sneered. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
    “Don’t play with me, coochie. Where’s the girl?”
    “I already told you. I don’t know. Her father took her away from me.”
    That clearly caught the woman off guard. She lowered her gun, shoulders sagged, and she started pacing. “Un-fucking-believable. This is my luck. Romeo is going to pop a gear.”
    Kate swung her legs down and sat on the edge of the bed.
    The movement drew the woman’s attention. She snapped around and pointed her gun back at Kate. “Chill