Unfair Advantage

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE





Dani waited until he turned to set the lantern on a high wall shelf.

Then she gathered her anger and revulsion around her like a protective shroud. Snatching a wrought iron-based lamp from a table, she yanked the cord free and swung the lamp at him with every ounce of strength in her. He turned, reacted quickly enough to deflect a full on blow. Her momentum carried the swing through. The heavy lamp clipped him in the temple and he staggered back, dazed, crashing into the shelf with the lantern. It hit the cabin floor rolled.



Jerky disorienting light made the floor seem to move under her feet

as she burst from the cabin and sprinted into the woods. She considered running to the road. However, the unlikelihood of encountering a car on this quiet road, paired with giving up cover changed her mind.



“Danielle!” His enraged bellow gave wings to her feet.



Dani put her arm up to protect her face from small branches. Foliage

whipped at her skin. Cold rain slicked the ground, ran in rivulets over her bare arms and face. She didn’t dare run back to her cabin. He still seemed capable of giving hard chase. And, he’d expect it. So she changed direction, headed north.



Another cabin sat lakeside about three miles from this one. The owners

only used it for getaways. Chances were, it would stand empty even though the utilities remained on year round. She saw the security lights winking in the distance

sometimes.



Feeling better for having a plan, she increased her pace. She had to generate as much lead as possible. She didn’t know this area as well as the land around her cabin. Her experience with navigating in the dark on similar terrain wouldn’t give her much advantage. He was big, powerful and motivated. A branch scratched her face. Dani suffered a stab of panic. Not to mention he was psychotic.







By the time Roarke reached Dani’s cabin, Fielding’s Aztec sat in the drive. Roarke had received a return call from his partner less than twenty minutes ago. Fielding had just left Ashlyn’s to return to the city. He’d been able to turn around and head back in a hurry. Roarke and the trooper who’d given him an escort had encountered two roadblocks. At least a dozen state cars crowded the grass around the cabin, headlights illuminating the rain.



Officers in rain gear swarmed everywhere. Flashlight beams swept through

the trees skirting the yard. Roarke parked the truck behind Dani’s Camry. He took his off-duty pistol and shoulder rig from the lock box under the seat, stepped out of the vehicle into the rain.



Roarke swiped water from his face. An officer approached, rain dripping

from his hat.



“Detective Larkin, Trooper Yates.” The young, but competent-seeming

trooper offered his hand.



Roarke shook with him. “Good to meet you, Yates. Let’s get up onto the

porch.”



He faced the trooper once they’d gained cover. “Bring me up to speed.”



Yates nodded. “Detective Fielding arrived almost the same time as the

the first responding troopers. That included myself. We established a perimeter,ascertained no one occupied the cabin, then entered. At that time we found Miss Richards’ injured dog, also the cut phone line and disabled cellular.” He paused in his recital, turned called to another trooper, “Can we get this officer a vest?”



Within a few moments a state guy trotted up the steps with one. Roarke set his rig on the porch floor, stripped off his shirt, put on the protective gear and pulled his wet tee back on. As he buckled the tactical holster on, fear sank cold claws into his gut. “Any sign of struggle?”



“No, sir. She either left under duress, or unconscious.”



Roarke adjusted his holster. “Detective Fielding inside?”



“Yes, sir. He’s with the dog. We’ve called the vet that handles our K-9

units.” Yates flushed a little. “Special treatment in light of Miss Richards’ valuable contribution to the investigation’s closing.”



Roarke realized his personal involvement had become common knowledge.

“Appreciate that, trooper. I’d like to speak to my partner.”





Brand ducked beneath a still twitching branch. Rain made them move up

and down, not back and forth. She’d past this way recently. Adrenaline sang in his blood. It happened so rarely the experience gave great pleasure.



His experience in this environment equaled zero. He had only logic and

observation. Hunting a worthy adversary made all the difference. This was sport.







Dani’s thoughts ran faster than her body. Writing that number on Buddy’s

Bandage hadn’t accomplished anything. No one would even be looking for her.Ashlyn probably wouldn’t even call before the following morning. Roarke might call when he got back to the city. But if he didn’t reach her, he didn’t have any reason for alarm. No one knew the killer had laid a false trail.





Fear continued to rip at her. Cold rain beat down upon her skin. But she

focused on the terrain and direction. She couldn’t hear him behind her. She sensed him, his soulless evil.



The enormity of what she had to live for swelled in her like a tidal wave.



She would have to try to rescue herself.







Roarke saw Buddy laying upon the bed, alert yet quiet. He lifted his head, fixed his mismatched eyes on Roarke as he crossed to rub the dog. Fielding said, “Trooper Barnes believes there’s evidence our man came in a car. He found some oil leaked in a spot just down the drive. He, Yates and I hit the scene first. If you didn’t park there…”



Roarke shook his head. “Good eye in this rain.”



“Another ten minutes the slick would’ve washed.”



“What’s their plan?”



Fielding replied, “Roadblocks have been set up at both ends of Lake Road.

More just about every route. There’s a team putting into the water at a dock somewhere close to search from the shore.” He paused. “Whatever you want to do, I’m there.”



Trooper Yates entered the room. “Lieutenant Van Cleef just spoke to your

captain. He’s headed here, one hour ETA. The Lieutenant’s launching a land search with three squads assisted by dogs. Ten troopers left on this secured perimeter. But, it seems the perp had her on the road ahead of the closer blockades.”



All Roarke’s carefully controlled emotions seemed to stretch and twist at the same time. Did he stay here? Sweep the woods with those teams? Drive around like a madman in hopes of finding the killer and Dani?



“Let’s load up and run the roads some, Larkin.” Fielding nodded to Yates.

“We can get a radio to keep on the air.”





Dani’s lungs began to ache. Hiking three or four hours didn’t prepare her

for all out flight over the same difficult terrain. Twice she’d hit her shins on fallen logs. Branches had scraped and bitten her arms and shoulders. It felt as her heart might burst.



Suddenly a male form loomed before her. She slid to an unsteady halt. A

scream caught in her constricted throat. She could see just enough to realize this wasn’t her pursuer. Bare-chested, untouched by the rain, a powerfully built black man faced her.



In a quiet voice he said, “I knows sumin ’bout bein’ chased by bad mens.”



Fear still gripped her in a vise. “Are you trying to help me?”



He nodded. “Das a ditch on tawrds de lake. I ’spect you could lays down

and see he acomin’ pass on de high groun’ . Then g\'won back de way you come.”



“Thank you.” Dan sidestepped the spirit. He touched her as she broke and

ran. She changed directions, made her way with more care. Within moments she found the ditch. Five feet deep and perhaps to a foot wide at this end, it narrowed at the foot. Dani dug among leaves and earth until she found a short piece of wood, quickly laid down on her back.



Terror sent tremors through her. Rain pelted her face. Seconds later she

heard him coming. With a prayer, she hurled the thick stick as far as she

could toward the cabin. Dark, swift he passed within two feet of the ditch.She almost sobbed from sheer panic. She had to climb out of there blind. He could be standing close by, waiting to make certain he’d not fallen for a trick.



With all the stealth she could manage, she scrambled from the ditch and

raced back over the ground she’d just covered. In the dark it proved difficult to backtrack along her trail.



She battled fear and fatigue, ran faster.





Roarke put Buddy in the seat first, then climbed behind the wheel. The dog

had put up such a rebellion at being left behind - howling, thrashing, biting a trooper who tried to restrain him - they’d decided to take him along. Fielding jumped in, doors slammed and Roarke fired up the Ford. He drove to the end of the drive, turned right and headed up Lake Road.



“Probably a better chance he went this way,” Fielding offered. “Myself

and those first troopers all came from the other direction and the only vehicle any of us saw was the same old man in a fifties model Chevy.”



“That’s my thinking. Flip on the interior light above you. See if that crazy dog loosened his bandage.”



Fielding turned on the interior light. Instantly Roarke’s vision through the windshield suffered from glare. His partner said, “Buddy had dragged a nightstand through the house and clawed the front door with his good foot by the time we got there and - holy fucking shit! There’s a number written on here!”



Roarke downshifted, locked up the truck, slid up the wet road to a sideways stop. “Jesus Christ.” In Dani’s strained handwriting was the number twelve.



“What the hell does it mean?”



Roarke hit the gas. “Twelve Lake Road. Get on the radio. We need all boots on the ground forthwith.”





Dani could glimpse the edge of the forest. She could also sense her pursuer closing her lead. Then, unbelievably, unmistakably, headlights cut the rain-swept night. A vehicle coming up the drive!



As swift as the relief poured in, horror swamped it.



Roarke. She knew before she saw a glimmer of red. For some reason he’d

returned and gotten her message. She trusted his abilities. Still, couldn’t stand the thought of him bleeding for her. Vehicle doors slammed. Dani stumbled, tried to decide.



Roarke’s voice. “Dani!” Then Tim’s. “Dan-i!”



In ten feet she’d break from the trees.



She could barely see them backlit in the headlights. Maybe forty steps

beyond the forest’s edge she could be in his arms.



That put him in range of the killer’s gun. Roarke wouldn’t have the

protection of a bulletproof vest or his work weapon.



In the dark, wet forest she wavered.



A twig snapped ahead and to the left. She jerked her head in that direction, made out a silhouette. A flash of fire, then Tim fell.



Instinct drove her. She ran headlong toward that silhouette knowing she

delivered herself to a monster. He chuckled as she came between him and

a shot at Roarke. “Aren’t you the she-wolf?”



“You’ll have to shoot me first, then you’ll never have what you want.”



The killer smiled. White teeth flashed in the dark. “Maybe I’ll settle for killing you while he watches.”



“Dani,” Roarke’s clear cool tone was closer, “if you can, start backing up to me.”



An eerie calm descended. She made her choice. If she could only

save one life, she would save Roarke’s.