was still shiny, which meant that it hadn’t dried.
Which meant that it was fresh.
Colin reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The battery still had a tiny bit of charge left, but the signal strength was zilch. Cell reception around the college was notoriously awful. He would probably have to walk 200 yards into the woods just to get a single bar, at which point his battery would probably die.
He stuffed the phone back in his pocket and cursed under his breath. The logical thing to do would be to run like hell and call the cops.
But then he thought of Shalene Nakogee. He had promised her that he would help and had failed her miserably. He thought of Terrence Devane and all the women he had used and would go on using. He thought about the fact that there was a decent chance Devane would get away with it again unless he was caught in the act.
He spotted a sledgehammer leaning against the main receiving desk. He stepped carefully over the blood and grabbed it. It weighed at least 25 pounds and he had to hold it in both hands to keep it steady. The weight was reassuring. If anything happened, though, he figured he was far more likely to drop it on his own foot than clobber an intruder.
What the hell am I doing?
he wondered as he made his way down the hall. The first door he came to was labelled ‘Electrical Room #2’. He tried the handle. Locked. He looked down. The trail continued down to the end of the hall and around the corner to the left.
He tried to remember where he was in the building relative to everything else, but his brain was fogged and wasn’t coming up with any answers. There was a gym, an ice rink and a swimming pool in here somewhere. He had never used any of them, however, so he was at something of a loss geographically.
He peeked around the corner to make sure there was no one lurking with a hatchet, waiting to take his head off at the Adam’s apple. The lights in the main hallway weren’t on. Either they didn’t work on motion sensors or the sensors were broken.
Colin rounded the corner slowly. His foot slipped and he slammed his shoulder against the wall, but managed to avoid dropping the hammer. In the low light, it was hard to see the trail. He cursed silently and stood back up.
This is stupid
, he thought.
I need to get the hell out of here.
Then he saw the light coming from under the door up ahead. Unable to stop himself, he tiptoed carefully forward. The sign on the door read ‘Women’s Change Room’. He pushed it open slowly.
Inside was a long wooden bench flanked on either side by a row of tall metal lockers. The only light was a faint blue glow coming from the other side of the lockers on his right. Colin strained to hear over the sound of the HVAC system. Was that a tinkling noise? And breathing. Yep. No doubt about it, somebody else was in the room with him.
He looked down. He could see the trail of blood move into the room and then right, banking behind the row of lockers.
Colin swallowed. His heart seemed to have relocated itself to his throat, which was causing his breath to come in short gasps. The sledgehammer suddenly felt like it weighed a tonne.
Okay, smartass. Now what?
-16-
T he man didn’t look at all the way Devries had expected.
He had suggested they meet in the lobby of the Ramada hotel, just off the highway. Devries had expected they were going to meet in a bar or parking lot somewhere. When he commented on it, the man pointed out that men in suits exchanged briefcases in hotel lobbies every day. It wasn’t the kind of activity that was as common in cowboy bars or doughnut shops.
The man looked like an investment banker. He was tall and thin and looked to be in his middle fifties. Being something of a clothes horse himself, Devries recognized a Hugo Boss suit when he saw one, although he did raise an eyebrow at the platinum cufflinks and Chopard watch.
Devries had been instructed to enter the lobby, place the briefcase in the chair next to
Which meant that it was fresh.
Colin reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The battery still had a tiny bit of charge left, but the signal strength was zilch. Cell reception around the college was notoriously awful. He would probably have to walk 200 yards into the woods just to get a single bar, at which point his battery would probably die.
He stuffed the phone back in his pocket and cursed under his breath. The logical thing to do would be to run like hell and call the cops.
But then he thought of Shalene Nakogee. He had promised her that he would help and had failed her miserably. He thought of Terrence Devane and all the women he had used and would go on using. He thought about the fact that there was a decent chance Devane would get away with it again unless he was caught in the act.
He spotted a sledgehammer leaning against the main receiving desk. He stepped carefully over the blood and grabbed it. It weighed at least 25 pounds and he had to hold it in both hands to keep it steady. The weight was reassuring. If anything happened, though, he figured he was far more likely to drop it on his own foot than clobber an intruder.
What the hell am I doing?
he wondered as he made his way down the hall. The first door he came to was labelled ‘Electrical Room #2’. He tried the handle. Locked. He looked down. The trail continued down to the end of the hall and around the corner to the left.
He tried to remember where he was in the building relative to everything else, but his brain was fogged and wasn’t coming up with any answers. There was a gym, an ice rink and a swimming pool in here somewhere. He had never used any of them, however, so he was at something of a loss geographically.
He peeked around the corner to make sure there was no one lurking with a hatchet, waiting to take his head off at the Adam’s apple. The lights in the main hallway weren’t on. Either they didn’t work on motion sensors or the sensors were broken.
Colin rounded the corner slowly. His foot slipped and he slammed his shoulder against the wall, but managed to avoid dropping the hammer. In the low light, it was hard to see the trail. He cursed silently and stood back up.
This is stupid
, he thought.
I need to get the hell out of here.
Then he saw the light coming from under the door up ahead. Unable to stop himself, he tiptoed carefully forward. The sign on the door read ‘Women’s Change Room’. He pushed it open slowly.
Inside was a long wooden bench flanked on either side by a row of tall metal lockers. The only light was a faint blue glow coming from the other side of the lockers on his right. Colin strained to hear over the sound of the HVAC system. Was that a tinkling noise? And breathing. Yep. No doubt about it, somebody else was in the room with him.
He looked down. He could see the trail of blood move into the room and then right, banking behind the row of lockers.
Colin swallowed. His heart seemed to have relocated itself to his throat, which was causing his breath to come in short gasps. The sledgehammer suddenly felt like it weighed a tonne.
Okay, smartass. Now what?
-16-
T he man didn’t look at all the way Devries had expected.
He had suggested they meet in the lobby of the Ramada hotel, just off the highway. Devries had expected they were going to meet in a bar or parking lot somewhere. When he commented on it, the man pointed out that men in suits exchanged briefcases in hotel lobbies every day. It wasn’t the kind of activity that was as common in cowboy bars or doughnut shops.
The man looked like an investment banker. He was tall and thin and looked to be in his middle fifties. Being something of a clothes horse himself, Devries recognized a Hugo Boss suit when he saw one, although he did raise an eyebrow at the platinum cufflinks and Chopard watch.
Devries had been instructed to enter the lobby, place the briefcase in the chair next to
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