Lib Novel Page 58
After a long moment, he started moving again.
Good.
She gripped a piece of rebar, a long slender length of iron used to reinforce floors and walls in construction sites.
“Then you must be afraid of me,” she said. “Why else would you be here?”
He didn’t respond. Suddenly, she was having a difficult time hearing him. He’d shed the jacket. He’d obviously realized it was giving him away.
She turned her head and listened. Where in the hell was he?
She heard his breathing. Quiet, measured.
In the next instant, he rolled out from under the truck and leaped to his feet. Before she could react, his arm snapped around her neck!
He whispered into her ear. “I’m not afraid of you, Kendra. But others are. That makes it much more exciting for me.”
Kendra swung the rebar upward and struck him on the head. He grunted in pain, but his grip remained strong. He twisted her around and slammed her head against the truck. She swung the iron bar toward him again. A miss.
She swung again. Another miss.
His grip tightened, cutting off her airway. She was losing consciousness. She swung at him again. Contact! He released her and staggered backward.
The door flew open on the other side of the garage. “Kendra!” It was Lynch.
Thank God.
She held the rebar in front of her. “Over here! Hurry!”
Her attacker was gone…
“Kendra!”
“Watch out!” she shouted. “He’s here!”
Lynch slid over the hood of a car and was suddenly beside her. He held his automatic in front of him. “Which way?”
She pointed toward the ramp up to the garage’s main level. “There.”
“Are you okay?”
She felt her bruised throat. “Yes. Let’s go.”
They bolted up the ramp and stopped. “How many exits are there up here?”
“Three, plus the main gate.”
“Are the doors locked?”
“Yes, but only from the outside. He could’ve gone out any of them.”
Lynch cursed and lowered his gun.
Kendra turned and headed back down the ramp. “We need to check on Pauley. He’s been hurt…”
They ran back to the garage’s lower level. “Pauley?” Kendra called out.
No answer.