about the murder of her family, of course I’ve considered it.” Kane leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “So what should I do differently? She can’t remember, Noah. Her past is a blank. Did you see her face when you told her about the murders? Shock, yes, but you might as well have been telling her abouttwo people she’d never met before. She’s the most lost soul I’ve ever known, completely helpless to protect herself from whatever trouble might have followed her here. Whether she remembers anything to help me or not, I can’t turn my back on her.”
“I didn’t say you should. But Richardson was right to warn you to be careful.”
“And I intend to be.”
“Sure you do. If that lost soul in the next room leads you right into the lion’s den, you’ll be careful as hell.”
Kane was silent for a moment, then said, “She can help me find Dinah. I know she can. I can’t see further than that, Noah.”
“I know,” Bishop said.
It was dark when she turned off the Jeep’s headlights, dark as pitch, and cold for early October. Dinah shivered a bit even though she was wearing a sweater, and hesitated as she got out, her gaze going to the nylon windbreaker in the backseat. But in the end, she decided the sweater was enough. If she needed to move fast, the fewer layers that got in her way, the better .
She stood beside the Jeep until her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, then moved forward cautiously .
Dumb. This was so dumb .
The building loomed ahead, virtually impossible to identify, and she felt a moment’s qualm as she asked herself if this was even the right place. The directions had been maddeningly vague, and she might easily have been mistaken in the conclusions she’d drawn from what little information she could trust. She was probably not even in the right section of the city—
What was that? A sound … from over there. A whimper?
Dinah crept forward, her heart thudding in excitement, trying very hard to keep her breathing soft and even, not to betray her presence. Straining to listen. No other sound now, if there had been one .
Her overwrought imagination, probably .
God knew she had reason to imagine monsters .
Dinah stopped moving, standing still to better see and hear whatever lay around her. She had good senses usually, and there was also that little bit of something extra Bishop called a “spider sense”; it was a sharpened awareness of her surroundings, as though her five senses were somehow magnified by danger or the possibility of it .
Her eyes having adjusted quickly to the darkness, she was now able to make out more details of the building. Windows were high and dark, offering no clue as to what lay behind them. There didn’t seem to be a door of any kind. Somewhere was a loose shutter or piece of tin on the roof; she heard it rattling faintly in the breeze. And she smelled wood, lumber .
Something else as well .
Dinah stood utterly still, her chin raised, sniffing the night air that was teasing her with an odor she knew she should recognize but which lurked just beyond reach .
Primal. Animal .
The hair on the nape of her neck was stirring .
She needed to leave .
She needed to leave right now .
When it came at her there was no warning. No sound. Just a dark shape hurtling from its darker surroundings, and then the blow that knocked her off her feet .
And then the hot, tearing pain …
FOUR
Faith jerked awake to find herself sitting up in bed, her arms raised as if to protect her throat and face. Her heart was pounding, her breathing ragged, and her skin clammy, as though she had just raced in from the damp, chilly night.
It took several minutes for her to reassure herself that she was not out in the dark, lying on the cold ground with an animal tearing brutally at her flesh. That she was inside, and safe.
That she was not Dinah.
She was in Kane’s bedroom, which was still filled with afternoon light, as it had been when she had retreated there
“I didn’t say you should. But Richardson was right to warn you to be careful.”
“And I intend to be.”
“Sure you do. If that lost soul in the next room leads you right into the lion’s den, you’ll be careful as hell.”
Kane was silent for a moment, then said, “She can help me find Dinah. I know she can. I can’t see further than that, Noah.”
“I know,” Bishop said.
It was dark when she turned off the Jeep’s headlights, dark as pitch, and cold for early October. Dinah shivered a bit even though she was wearing a sweater, and hesitated as she got out, her gaze going to the nylon windbreaker in the backseat. But in the end, she decided the sweater was enough. If she needed to move fast, the fewer layers that got in her way, the better .
She stood beside the Jeep until her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, then moved forward cautiously .
Dumb. This was so dumb .
The building loomed ahead, virtually impossible to identify, and she felt a moment’s qualm as she asked herself if this was even the right place. The directions had been maddeningly vague, and she might easily have been mistaken in the conclusions she’d drawn from what little information she could trust. She was probably not even in the right section of the city—
What was that? A sound … from over there. A whimper?
Dinah crept forward, her heart thudding in excitement, trying very hard to keep her breathing soft and even, not to betray her presence. Straining to listen. No other sound now, if there had been one .
Her overwrought imagination, probably .
God knew she had reason to imagine monsters .
Dinah stopped moving, standing still to better see and hear whatever lay around her. She had good senses usually, and there was also that little bit of something extra Bishop called a “spider sense”; it was a sharpened awareness of her surroundings, as though her five senses were somehow magnified by danger or the possibility of it .
Her eyes having adjusted quickly to the darkness, she was now able to make out more details of the building. Windows were high and dark, offering no clue as to what lay behind them. There didn’t seem to be a door of any kind. Somewhere was a loose shutter or piece of tin on the roof; she heard it rattling faintly in the breeze. And she smelled wood, lumber .
Something else as well .
Dinah stood utterly still, her chin raised, sniffing the night air that was teasing her with an odor she knew she should recognize but which lurked just beyond reach .
Primal. Animal .
The hair on the nape of her neck was stirring .
She needed to leave .
She needed to leave right now .
When it came at her there was no warning. No sound. Just a dark shape hurtling from its darker surroundings, and then the blow that knocked her off her feet .
And then the hot, tearing pain …
FOUR
Faith jerked awake to find herself sitting up in bed, her arms raised as if to protect her throat and face. Her heart was pounding, her breathing ragged, and her skin clammy, as though she had just raced in from the damp, chilly night.
It took several minutes for her to reassure herself that she was not out in the dark, lying on the cold ground with an animal tearing brutally at her flesh. That she was inside, and safe.
That she was not Dinah.
She was in Kane’s bedroom, which was still filled with afternoon light, as it had been when she had retreated there
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