Predator by Terri Blackstock

“Okay, I’ll make a phone call right now.” He would pay someone himself if he had to.
    It took about two minutes for Ryan to tell his secretary what he wanted done. When he snapped his phone shut,Krista turned back to Megan’s mother. “Is someone staying with her tonight? Because I’d be glad to.”
    “One of us will.” Megan’s mother patted the bag next to her. “I have a gun, and I’ll use it in a heartbeat.”
    Megan closed her eyes, her face twisting. Krista shook her head. “It’s a dangerous world we live in. And it’s getting more dangerous all the time.”
    By the time they came out of the hospital, word had gotten out that Ryan Adkins was there. Reporters surrounded the door they’d gone in, and flashed pictures and shouted questions as they came out.
    “Ryan, why are you here?”
    “Is GrapeVyne responsible for the murders?”
    “Do you know the girl who was attacked?”
    Ryan muttered “No comment” as he and Krista pushed through the crowd to her car. By the time they got it unlocked, one reporter had realized who Krista was.
    “Miss Carmichael, do you think the same person who killed your sister is involved in the latest attacks?”
    Krista got in and closed the door. As Ryan slipped in, he said, “Go! Let’s get out of here.”
    “How? They’re blocking me!”
    “Just pull out slowly. They’ll have to move.”
    Krista pulled out, and the crowd grudgingly parted. She put the car into Drive and inched forward.
    “Keep going,” Ryan said. “Just move. They’ll get it.”
    She finally got through them and drove to the exit. “They’ll follow us.”
    He watched in the rear window as the reporters ran across the parking lot toward their cars. He turned back around and searched for an escape. There was a strip mall up ahead. “Pull in there and go behind the buildings. They’ll race right past, and then we can head back to my car.”
    She did as he suggested and took a hard right, pulling behind the stores. Hopefully none of the reporters had gotten to their cars in time to see her turn off the road.
    She cut off the engine, and they both sat motionless. Krista finally broke the silence. “That was crazy.”
    “Tell me about it.” He looked back. No one had followed. “It worked. Let’s just sit here a minute until they all have time to pass.” He drew in a deep breath. “My board of directors isn’t going to like it. I don’t like it. I never should have come.”
    “You did the right thing, Ryan.”
    “It’ll be all over cable news before I can get back to the office.”
    “It’s a good thing. It shows that GrapeVyne cares.”
    “Yeah, well, my board members may not see it that way.” He leaned his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about it, so he racked his brain for something to talk to her about that didn’t involve the murder. “So what do you do for a living?”
    She glanced at him as though the question surprised her. “Why?”
    “Just wondered. I don’t know much about you.”
    “I work with at-risk teen girls, at a rec center called Eagle’s Wings.”
    He opened his eyes and frowned. “Eagle’s Wings? Where’d that come from?”
    “From the Bible—Isaiah 40:31. It says, ‘But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’ The girls we minister to need strength. We get them off the streets, help them get their GEDs, teach them Bible studies, train them with life skills, and counsel them.”
    That explained the Bible studies on her GrapeVyne page.He could have guessed she worked in a cause-driven job. “So who pays you?”
    “We’re supported by several local churches and individual donations.”
    “Not much money in that, huh?”
    Krista shook her head, clearly irritated at his question. “Everyone’s not motivated by money, Ryan.”
    He took the blow. “I read your GrapeVyne page. You