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Sydney could feelher hands shaking as she dug in her purse for her phone. She didn’t know who tocall, but she wanted someone on the line. She wanted someone to know that shewas being followed. Maybe she should call 911 and try to get the police here.
Even as she didit, rough hands grabbed her, pushing Sydney in the direction of the panel van.She tried to cry out for help, but a hand clamped across her mouth. Her phonefell from her grasp, clattering to the sidewalk below.
Sydney struggledagainst the man’s grip, but he was too strong. She kicked and punched, tryingto get free, but it was no use. The man dragged her toward the van, his griptightening around her arm.
Sydney feltsomething jab into her arm and saw a syringe there. Almost instantly, she couldfeel the world starting to swim around her. Whatever was in the syringe workedquickly. Ahead, she could see the doors sliding open, revealing a darkinterior.
Sydney knew whatwas going to happen, horror filling her at the thought, making it hard tobreathe, hard to think. She had seen the news reports, heard the rumors. Sheknew that someone was targeting former Westford-Myer employees. And now, shewas going to be the next victim.
No, she wouldn’tbe, she couldn’t be. She refused to go down without a fight. As they got closerto the van, Sydney grabbed onto a nearby car’s side mirror, holding on with allher strength. The attacker yanked her, trying to pull her away, but Sydney heldtight, refusing to let go.
Her assailantgrunted in frustration, and for a second, Sydney thought she might have achance. But then the darkness started to close in around her as the drugs tookhold. The last thing Sydney remembered was the man lifting and carrying herinto the van.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
They were closingin on the boathouse, and possibly on the site of the next murder.
Amber could feelthe tension in the air as she, Simon, and Francesca approached the oldboathouse. The river running past it was dirty and gray in the dull afternoonlight. The boathouse didn’t look any better. It was run-down and obviously longabandoned, signs on the fence around it warning people to keep out.
Amber doubted thatthose signs would deter a killer, and they weren’t going to deter her or theothers either. If this was the spot where Steven Boon was planning to kill hisnext victim, they needed to be there, waiting when he got there.
The best-casescenario was that they would find him inside, setting up everything he neededfor the next kill, putting a winch into the perfect position to strangle avictim in a twisted game of hangman. Even if he wasn’t there yet, that onlymeant that they’d gotten ahead of him, so they would have a chance to wait, achance to allow him to come to them while the remainder of the Westford PD keptup a more active manhunt.
Amber had toremind herself that it was only a matter of time now before they caught StevenBoon.
The lock on theouter gate looked as though it had been broken a while ago, so it was easy toget inside the boatyard. Simon approached the door first, gun drawn. Amber wasright behind him, her own gun at the ready. Francesca kept a watchful eye,scanning the surrounding area for any signs of danger.
The door creakedopen, and Simon stepped inside. Amber followed, her eyes scanning the dimly litinterior. There were old boats and fishing gear scattered around, cobwebsclinging to the ceiling. The air was thick with the smell of damp and decay.
As they searchedthe boathouse, Amber’s mind raced. What if they were too late? What if StevenBoon had already taken his next victim? She couldn’t bear the thought offailing again.
There was nothinghere, though, no sign of Steven Boon yet. Amber felt a wave of frustration atthat. She’d wanted to find him right away, wanted to end this. The thought ofanother puzzle coming, with another life on the line, made her stomach churn.
She had failedwith the first puzzle. She’d made too many wrong guesses, taken too much timeto solve it, or both, with the result that Dave Muldeer had died just minutesbefore they could get to him. Amber was normally so confident in her ability tosolve any puzzle that came her way, but now… she couldn’t stand the thought ofhaving to solve another one with a life on the line.
It wouldn’t cometo that, though. They’d found the last place that he knew about to use as amurder site. He would come to them and they would end this before it even gotas far as him sending a puzzle.
“There’s no signof him here,” Francesca said. “Are we sure that this is the right place?”
“You saw the list,”Amber replied. “This is the last spot that was used by the money launderingoperation. He knows it’s empty, he knows it’s connected to an old crime. It hasto be here.”
She thought thatshe understood something about Steven Boon then. This was a man with a twistedsense of justice, one who believed that he was righting wrongs through hiskillings. He was committing murder, but in his mind, it was for the greatergood.
He was wrong, ofcourse. His actions wouldn’t bring back one person killed by the faulty brakesof the WM 120, and his twisted methods had crossed every kind of line. If he’dreally wanted justice, he should have simply told the Westford PD what had beengoing on, either before the accidents started or during the lawsuit, not addedto the misery that was out there with this mad attempt to execute those he heldresponsible.
“We should stakethis place out,” Simon said. “If he shows up, I want us to be ready. Let’s setup a perimeter and keep watch. We can’t afford to let him slip away.”
“That means we won’tbe out on the search,” Francesca pointed out.
“The rest of yourdepartment can keep looking for him, but I don’t think we’re going to find himlike that,” Simon said. “The only places we know he’s going to be are the sitesof the murders.”
Francesca nodded. “It’sa fair point. But I can’t call for backup. I can’t afford to take more peopleaway from the wider search.”
“That’s fine,”Simon said. “The three of us should be enough, and it will be easier to keepout of sight.”
“So the three ofus just huddle down here and wait?” Francesca asked.
“Tempting,” Simonsaid, “but I thought we’d split up. You cover the approach, I’ll wait aroundback, and Amber can be in here in case he gets inside.”
