Cedric was already shouting orders to his men.
Chloe just nodded briskly and turned away.
She was leaving. Again.
King was back to smirking, even though Cedric was now telling the guy he would be getting his ass hauled down to the station. Joel moved to the right so he could see Chloe and—
“Hi, there.” King blocked his path. “Just so you know, I don’t like you any longer.”
“Totally wrecks my heart,” Joel growled back. “How will I sleep at night?”
“Stop staring after her like a lost puppy. You’re done. She’s marked you off her list and moved the hell on. That’s Chloe for you. When she’s done, she’s done.”
He didn’t have time for King’s crap. “You don’t know anything about us.”
King laughed. “No? Because Chloe shares quite a bit with me. Like the fact that you’re the one who ended things. You burned that bridge. Chloe isn’t the type to sit around and cry you a river. She’s already moved on, or can’t you tell?”
Chloe had told King about their fight? “You misunderstand.” Joel’s voice was curt.
“Then enlighten me, doc. Because from where I stand, the story was pretty simple. Chloe lied. You got pissed. Now it’s done.” His smirk was back. “Always thought you were playing out of your league, anyway. Why don’t you run along back to Texas and leave Chloe to me?”
“That’s enough.” Cedric locked a hand around King’s shoulder. “King, you’re coming to the station. Better get that lawyer Chloe mentioned. And stop trying to push Joel into swinging at you. I am not in the mood to arrest you both.”
Joel glanced over King’s shoulder.
Chloe was gone.
***
She was sure they’d locked down the hospital. She’d noticed the extra cops when she first went inside. Now she got what their presence meant. Chloe would bet they were checking each person’s ID at all the exits.
Cedric would want a record of every person at that hospital.
The killer would know that. So he wouldn’t just waltz out one of the main entrances. No, he’d try to slip by the cops.
She suspected Joel had been right in his assessment of the killer. The perp probably had been wearing scrubs. A surgical mask over his face. Gloves. Booties to cover his shoes. A cap over his hair. The perfect disguise that also allowed the killer not to leave a single shred of evidence behind.
Annoying and vaguely impressive. She knew this hospital, though. She’d made a point of knowing because just a short time back, Joel had been in danger there. Someone she’d trusted had hunted him.
She’d gone through the corridors of that hospital. The forgotten nooks. She and Cedric had searched until they found Joel. Just as she was now going to search and see if the killer was still waiting.
Kelly’s death had been recent. Nurses had still been rushing in the room.
How would he get out?
She was sure Cedric had sent his men to search the basement. That was an obvious hiding spot. And he had guards at the main doors.
To her mind, that left option number three.
There used to be a chapel on the first level. The hospital had closed it down when they’d opened a big church right outside. But the chapel had its own entrance/exit. A place that should have been boarded up.
It was easy to remove boards.
And there were no security cameras at the old chapel because the space wasn’t in use any longer.
Chloe headed for that chapel. She took the twists and turns on the first level with no hesitation, but her gaze did dip toward the men and women in scrubs as she headed for her destination. She made a mental note of faces.
Everyone seemed focused on other tasks. They barely paid her a glance.
At the entrance to the chapel, she stilled. The old cross was still above the door. For a moment, she looked up at it.
Her father had insisted that she and her brother go to church every Sunday with their mother. Her mother had sat in the first row, a small smile on her face. She’d nodded at all the right times. Said the right words.
Scolded Chloe when she got fidgety.
Donned the perfect mother role.
Chloe’s hand pushed against the door. If no one had been inside lately, it would have been locked.
It wasn’t locked. The wood slid inward and the hinges groaned. The interior of the chapel waited, big and cavernous. A dozen, red-cushioned pews gleamed beneath the faint light that spilled from a stained-glass window over the old altar. She took one step inside and felt chill bumps rise onto her arms. The air smelled stale, as if it had been closed up for a while. On the other side of the chapel, she could see the old, red EXIT sign. The letters still glowed.
She was willing to bet the door beneath that sign would swing open easily.
No one else was in the chapel. Had the perp already left?
She took another step forward.
“You’re not supposed to be in here,” a man’s voice said from behind her. “This chapel is closed.”
Her breath eased out slowly. She hadn’t heard him approach, and she had very good hearing. She was typically hyperaware of her surroundings. She’d been trained to be aware. The very fact that she had not heard the man approach told her something important.
He’d silenced his approach. Deliberately used careful steps to sneak up on her. And he was probably wearing booties on his feet to muffle the sound of his movement even more.
His voice had been a little raspy, as if he’d distorted it. There was only one reason to do that. Her hand slid into her bag. “Sorry,” she said brightly as her fingers curled around the mace she kept hidden in there. “I needed to say a little prayer.”
“God can’t help you,” he whispered.
Don’t be so sure.
She brought up the mace, but before she could swing around and aim it at him, something hard hit her in the upper shoulder and back of the head. The blow knocked her off balance and sent her crashing into a pew. She sprawled and twisted, but didn’t let go of her mace. The chapel darkened as pain surged through the base of her skull, but she could see his form lunging toward her.
“Didn’t Lucia look just like her?” His whisper teased her ears. “You were warned not to dance with mother…”
She sprayed her mace. It erupted in a stream, and he yelled as he shot back.
He immediately ran for the old EXIT sign and Chloe shoved to her feet. But the chapel swung sickeningly around her, and she had to grab the back of a wooden pew for support. When she looked down, she saw the blurry image of broken wood. Probably the wood that had been over that back door to stop people from getting inside. He’d slammed the heavy chunk of wood into her head and shoulder.
She took another halting step forward as nausea rolled through her stomach. He was getting away. She was letting him get away. A guttural groan tore from Chloe as she forced her way to the exit door, one pew at a time. The back of her head pounded in a relentless agony, and if that bastard had fractured her skull, she would make him pay.
The exit door hung open a few inches. Bright light trickled inside. Chloe kept her grip on the mace and shoved the door open. Sunlight immediately had her head screaming as the agony intensified.
Wonderful. Just wonderful. The exit had led to a busy parking lot. Cars were zipping by, people milling about, and…