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"I’ritted the words and glared down at her with black eyes "Nice deserted spot No one around forheart shook her entire body "Don’t! Just--"
Too late He jerked his hand, twisting her head hard to the right and breaking her neck in one fast move
The knife slipped from her hand and landed on the floor of the phone booth with a clatter
He held her a ers Then he smiled and let her body fall
Todd was called to the cri at a little after 8 AM When he’d awoken, Cara had been gone, and he wondered for the fifth ti his place why the woman had disappeared on him without a word
He pulled his car to a stop, juloves he’d brought in his jacket, only to be stopped short by Colin
There orry in his eyes "Where’s Cara?"
Todd frowned at that "Hell if I know" But he’d be finding out, soon
Colin’s lips tightened "When did you see her last?"
What the hell? "Is this another hit by our killer? Daot the call on this one" So as happening?
There wasn’t a hotel around, but had the Bondage Killer struck again? And was Colin trying to pin this one on Cara? Not gonna happen "Look, ht"
"With you?"
"Yeah, at " When he’d heard the soft click of the door closing behind her
"I wasn’t saying she corunted "You sure she ith you until seven?"
What the fuck? "Yeah"
His shoulders seeht it was her at first, but the sht and--"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Blue eyes held his "Go see for yourself"
Well, he’d been trying to do just that when Colin had stopped hi past his partner, Todd headed for the phone booth just beyond the crossing lines of yellow tape Even frolass "Shit Someone really did a number on the vic--"
"Not the victim’s blood," Colin said from behind him "The victim died frolanced down, and felt as if he’d just taken a knife to the chest "She…looks like Cara"
Not a perfect match But the hair was the same The nose The brow This woman’s chin was bit more curved and she had a line of freckles on her nose, but--danized her froht they did They called the captain--he told et down here ASAP"
It could have been Cara
The woman looked so much like her that she could have been her sister
A woman as a copy of Cara, murdered near a phone booth just hours after hishis throat, he asked, "Have you run the phone records?"
"Just sent out the order" A pause "When I got the call from McNeal, he told , and I thought you should be in the loop--" Colin broke off, shaking his head "Man, if I’d known that he thought it was your lady, I never would have called you in--"
Your lady The remorse in Colin’s voice was undeniable "It’s not Cara" But, what if it had been? What if he’d arrived and found her bloodstained body, lying broken in the phone booth
No His hands fisted He wasn’t even gonna think about shit like that His lady, as Colin had so aptly put it, was a strong deaze away from the woman’s face Sweat beaded his brow
Do the job
He had to focus Do what needed to be done
Then he could get the hell out of there
Not Cara
He aze locked on the small identification square just below the phone
The plastic screen that covered the phone number for the booth was spattered with blood, but he could still make out the numbers
He exhaled heavily A da Colin "I think you’re going to find ot a call last night, this , hell, around four am" The call could’ve come moments before the victim’s time of death "A woman told me that Cara’s alibis were crap That the staff at Paradise Found were lying"
"And ould they be doing that?"
"Because Niol told them to"
"Shit"
"The call can This case just kept throwing hilanced around the booth and saw nothing but blood "The lady must have done a hell of a number on her attacker"
Thank God it hadn’t been Cara
"There was a knife beside her body," Colin said "It’s already been tagged and bagged"
The stench of blood had hi back Well, a knife would explain the blood, if…"Shouldn’t there be another dead body here?" He asked quietly So, and no human could survive that kind of blood loss
No hu hiht to the face
"It takes a lot to kill certain people," was all Colin said
Not people Other
Sonofabitch "Just how fast," he asked quietly, too quietly for the other cops to hear, "do demons heal?"
"From wounds like this?" Colin exhaled, then said, "A couple of days Unless it’s one of the level-tens--and even for one like that, healing would take some time--at least twenty-four hours"
Then he’d better ot the scene Smith’s on her way So is the captain" He whistled "Bastard’s gonna bawl my ass out when he finds out you were here" A wince "What I deserve, though, man, I’m sorry, if it had been her--"