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CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
They raced for thespot where the most recent victim would be trapped, tied in place with thewinch slowly tightening around their neck.
Amber could onlyhope that they would be in time. She couldn’t stand the thought that they mightbe late again. That they had solved the puzzle only for it still not to beenough.
Simon was driving,with all the speed and urgency that came from having done the FBI’s specialistdriving courses. If Francesca had driven frantically before, it was nothingcompared to the speed and precision with which Simon took the car aroundcorners and along streets, lights flashing and sirens blazing to try to getother cars out of the way.
It couldn’t be farnow, but for Amber, each passing second seemed to stretch into an eternity. Shewas all too aware that the winch would still be tightening inexorably, notstopping until the final victim was dead.
“Left now,”Francesca called out. She was shouting directions to Simon, trying to keep upwith his driving. It left Amber without anything to do on the way over.
Amber realized onething shecoulddo: she made a call to Richard Myer. Her phone rang onlya few times, then she heard his voice on the other end of the line.
“Richard Myer.”
“This is AgentYoung from the FBI. Where are you now, Mr. Myer?”
“In my home, ofcourse. My security team isn’t letting me out. Why?”
“Thank you,” Ambersaid. “That’s all I wanted to know.”
It meant that Myerwasn’t Steven Boon’s next intended victim. It was someone else. It was anotherthing that they’d guessed wrong in this investigation.
“Next left and weshould be there!” Francesca called out.
Simon threw thecar into a hard skid. As they turned the corner, Amber’s heart raced withanticipation. Would they find the victim in time or was it too late once again?
In the distance,she could see the abandoned apartment building, but there was no sign of anyonein the vicinity. Simon drove up to it and they screeched to a halt as heslammed on the brakes.
Amber barelywaited for the car to come to a halt before she leapt out of it, heading forthe door to the abandoned apartment building.
“Amber,wait!” Simon called out.
But Amber didn’tstop. This was no time to move cautiously. She knew she had to act fast. Shepushed open the door, her gun raised in front of her as she scanned the hallwaywithin. Was it a good sign that the door pushed open so easily? Did that meanthat Steven Boon had left the door open waiting for them? Did it show that theywere in the right place?
There was a mustysmell in the air, the kind that came from a place that had been left abandonedfor far too long. It was dark, and she couldn’t see anything.
“Hello?” shecalled out. “Is anyone here?”
There was noresponse, just the sound of her own breathing as she slowly stepped forward.She didn’t want to make any sudden movements, not knowing what might be waitingfor her in the darkness.
She pulled out aflashlight, flicking it on to scan around herself as the others caught up.Simon and Francesca both held flashlights of their own, the three beams cuttingthrough the darkness.
“Amber, we need tostick together,” Simon chided her.
Amber knew thatwas true but she needed to find the victim here. She needed to get to thembefore it was too late.
“I know, but weneed to move fast,” Amber said. She led the way. The three flashlightsilluminated the dilapidated interior of the apartment building, graffitiadorning the walls. They had to clear each space they moved through as theywent, and that took far longer than Amber would have liked.
Amber was gratefulfor the presence of the others, but she was all too aware of the secondsticking by. As she moved forward, she saw something move in the corner of hereye. She spun around, aiming her gun at the source of the movement.
But there wasnothing there.
“Get a grip,Amber,” she muttered to herself. “You’re just letting your imagination runwild.”
She took a deepbreath and continued forward, moving to the stairs.
There was anotherflicker of movement then, and this one wasn’t her imagination.
