She leapt out of the car and pulled out her Glock. Rebecca was on her heels before she could even say anything. The front door was ajar. Jordan motioned for Rebecca to stand to the side, and she pushed the door open with her gun. She waited. Nothing. She leaned her head around the doorjamb and looked through the living room into the large kitchen. She saw nothing. Heard nothing. At least she didn’t see anyone lying on the floor.
She put her finger up to her lips, signaling Rebecca to stay silent. They crept inside wordlessly, guns poised and ready. The hall was dark and Jordan made out a light creeping underneath a door at the back of the house. She waived Rebecca down the hall.
The wood floor creaked, and they froze. Waiting. In their silence, Jordan heard soft murmurs coming from behind the door at the end of the hall. Her eyes narrowed. She recognized the deep voice and froze at the words she heard.
“You left me and now you deserve to die.”
Jordan jumped, her legs covering the last fifteen feet in less than a second. She flung the door open. Her eyes met Meghan’s, and she knew that whoever was behind those wild eyes was not the cool, collected doctor whom they had met before. Her eyes flashed madly. “You!”
Jordan couldn’t move. Meghan had Julie’s hair in her grasp, and a large knife pressed against her neck. Fear and something else flashed in her eyes. Something akin to resignation. Jordan’s jaw clenched tightly. This could only end one way.
Susan was duct-taped to a chair, blood seeping from her leg. Her fingers curled around the arms of the chair. Her mouth was taped. Where Julie had all but given up, fury flashed in Susan’s eyes, and Jordan knew if she got a hold of Meghan, she would kill her.
She leveled her gun on Meghan. “Put the knife down. All I need is you to give me a reason, and I’ll blow your head off.”
Meghan cackled. She spied Rebecca standing behind Jordan, and her face broke into an evil smile. “Mmm, you little bitch. How is it fucking Jordan? She’s good, isn’t she?”
“Meghan, stop.” Jordan’s voice was a low, menacing tone.
Meghan shrugged it off as though she was just having a conversation with a girlfriend. “She tastes good, doesn’t she? Did she tell you I fucked her too?”
Rebecca tensed, her temper and fear getting the best of her. “Fuck you.”
“Fuck me?” Meghan laughed cynically. “That’s what my whole life has been. People fucking me and walking away.” She cinched Julie’s hair tighter. She leaned close to Julie’s ear and bared her teeth. “That’s why you have to die, Christine.”
Suddenly, it made sense. Christine was the woman who had left Meghan and put into motion a series of events that had left too many women dead and the fear of one more.
Susan tried to yell through the tape, and it came out as a desperate groan.
Meghan’s head snapped up. She leveled her gaze on Susan. “I’m saving you. She’ll just fuck you and leave you.”
Jordan took a step closer. “Meghan, please. Don’t do this. It’s not Christine. It’s not too late. You can put the knife down and walk away. We can get you a plea bargain. You need help.”
Meghan dug the knife into Julie’s neck, breaking the skin and sending the first droplets of blood sliding down her neck. Meghan sniffed the air like a hunter picking up on the blood of its wounded prey. “Yes.”
Jordan stepped closer again. She wanted to close the gap in the moments that Meghan slipped out of consciousness. One step. Another step and Meghan’s eyes snapped to hers.
“Get back, or I’ll kill her now.” Meghan’s sneer was menacing, and Jordan took a step back. She couldn’t risk pushing Meghan off the very narrow precipice that she now occupied. There was a very visible line that separated Julie from life and death and Jordan was holding it in her hand.
“Stop, Meghan. It’s not Christine. She’s not here.” Jordan’s voice was calm. She needed to distract her. Keep her occupied just a little longer. “Meghan, tell me about Christine. Tell me how you met.” She silently prayed that Rebecca’s men were close.
Meghan paused. Her eyes regarded Jordan quizzically as if wondering why she would ask that question. Then suddenly as if a switch had been flipped, a smile broke across her face. “College. We met in college. I was in pre- med. She was going to school for music history. One day I was walking across the campus, and there she was.” Meghan’s voice was almost sing-song.
“Was it love at first sight?” Jordan moved almost imperceptibly. She needed to get herself close enough to get the knife away without hurting Julie. She couldn’t risk taking a shot. It was too dangerous. Her eyes flicked to Julie's, and she tried to reassure her that it would be okay.
“For me it was. Maybe for her too. We were young and crazy and everything new seems like love.” The lilt in Meghan’s voice was a stark juxtaposition to the crazed look in her eyes.
Jordan studied her closely. Her grip loosened on the knife. She inched closer, her eyes never leaving Meghan’s face. The silence in the room crackled around them with such intensity it threatened to suffocate them. The room had closed in and there was only her and Julie and Meghan. She sucked in a breath.
“A Beethoven concert. In the park.” Jordan moved another inch.
“We sat there under the stars, and I saw the way the music went through her. It made her come alive.”
Meghan’s eyes closed, and Jordan inched closer.
“I wanted to make her feel that way.”
Two inches. Jordan could almost touch her. She put her hand up to block any immediate moves, keeping her gun trained on Meghan. As if sensing the movement, Meghan’s eyes flew open. Her eyes widened like an animal caught in a snare, and in one last attempt to keep her freedom, she pulled the knife away from Julie and slashed at Jordan wildly.
Jordan tried to sidestep the sharp blade, but it caught her in the arm. She howled and in her pain, dropped her gun a fraction of an inch. Meghan saw her opening and lunged towards her.
Rebecca, who had been quiet, up until now, raised her gun, watching for an opening. She needed one good shot, but Jordan was standing between them. She couldn’t risk hitting Jordan. She opened her mouth to signal Jordan, needing her to move, but her breath left her.
The next seconds it seemed as though time stood still, the glint of the blade flashed in her eyes, and Jordan threw her hand up, hoping to block the majority of the blow.
The second Meghan pulled back to strike with the knife, Rebecca pulled the trigger. The sound rocketed through the room. The bullet hit with such force that it slammed Meghan into the wall behind her, the knife flying from her hand. She screamed loudly and covered the wound with her hand, blood already seeping around her fingers.
Jordan bent over her and grabbed Meghan by the arm, her gun leveled at her face. “Get up!” She hauled her to her feet roughly. Her head cocked at the sound of distant sirens. She put the gun up to Meghan’s face. “Walk… now!” Her next stop was the back seat of a blue and white.
Confident that Jordan was okay, Rebecca started to pull the tape off Susan’s mouth. Susan’s eyes glistened with tears of pain and thankfulness. Her gaze found Julie’s face. “Baby, are you alright?”
Julie stared ahead, the shock hitting her.
“Hurry up, please.” Susan’s eyes met Rebecca's, and she begged her to hurry. The pain was something she could forget, but she needed to get to Julie and make sure she was alright.
Rebecca freed her right hand, and before she could move to the left, Susan had already grabbed for it. She fumbled with the tape on her ankles before Susan pulled it off herself. She practically pushed Rebecca out of the way in her haste to get to her wife. She pulled Julie into her arms, cradling her against her chest. “It’s okay. I’ve got you know. She will never hurt you again.”
Rebecca watched the private moment a second longer then let them have a moment’s peace. God knew the next few days would be hell for them.
She left them and found Rick cuffing Meghan roughly. It was finally over. She met Jordan’s eyes and silently asked if she were okay. Jordan nodded slightly and winked. The cut was a small price to pay. They had finally caught the Cradle Killer. Jordan stepped closer to Rebecca, feeling her warmth. Rick’s voice wandered in and out of her head.
