Protector of One

Kerry groaned and sat up. Adrian kept a steadying hand against her back. “I’m not done,” she said. “There’s more here…somewhere.”

“What?”

She didn’t answer, but struggled to regain her feet. He arose behind her, moving quickly, ready to catch her if she fainted again. But it was as if some kind of steel had stiffened her.

She walked toward the campfire. Gage stepped toward her, as if to stop her, but then halted. Everyone halted, watching Kerry. It was as if they knew something was about to happen.

She tilted her head back, eyes closed, avoiding the now-covered body on the ground. Then her arm lifted slowly and she pointed. “She’s out that way. Hiding. She’s weak. You have to hurry.”

Perhaps even stranger than Kerry’s announcement, Adrian thought, was the way not a soul questioned her. Gage gave the order and the searchers fanned out again in the direction she indicated. Gage went with them, after ordering Adrian, Kerry and two officers to remain at the scene.

The wind shifted without warning, probably driven by the warmth of approaching dawn, and the stench of death overcame the smell of the pines. Adrian drew Kerry away, to where the breeze freshened with life.

“Are you okay?” Adrian asked her.

“Yeah.” She nodded slightly. “It’s starting to let go.”

“What do you mean?”

“The compulsion.” She lifted her gaze to his. “I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that I’m having these visions or the fact that I feel so compelled to act on them. It’s like being pressed from behind and not allowed to gain your footing, if you know what I mean.”

“Like being pushed by a crowd?”

“It feels something like that.” She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “I can’t ignore it. And I’ll be honest with you, if it saves that woman’s life, it’s worth it.” But she would still have to live with it, and the idea soured her mouth.

“It certainly would be.”

“I just hope this never happens again.”

He put an arm around her shoulders, telling himself he wanted to help warm her, but in all honesty he couldn’t have said which of them he wanted to warm. He had put his judgment about what was happening with Kerry on hold until later, when he could review in retrospect, but it remained he wasn’t sure what was happening here, and if they found a wounded woman tonight, he knew he was going to dislike what he would have to believe.

Kerry leaned into him, still holding herself, seeming grateful for the support. The calls of the search team were steadily moving away, upslope. Adrian looked up at the sky, and thought he saw a faint grayness outlining the tops of the dark trees. Soon daylight would answer other questions.

All of a sudden he felt Kerry stiffen.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She whispered, “He’s out there. Watching.”

Adrian lowered his voice. “Who’s out there?”

“The killer.”

Adrian felt the back of his neck prickle. “Where?”

She moved closer. “I’m not sure. I just feel him. He won’t shoot now.”

“How many?”

She shook her head. “I think only one, but it feels like someone else could be involved, too.”

“Hell.” He muttered the word and turned her so that she had a tree at her back and him at her front. “Remind me to get you a vest.”

“Vest?”

“Armor.”

The relative quiet of the scene began to give way to the sounds of people coming up the slope from below. Flashlights appeared, their beams darting around.