Evil Without a Face

you stay put until you hear from me. You understand? No heroics, Seth.” She repeated the instructions she’d given the kid an hour ago. “Call 911 if things get dicey. Going to radio silence now.”

“Dicey. Got it.”

Seth did his best to maintain radio silence, in his unique way, but his heavy breathing into the mouthpiece reminded her of a late night call from a pervert. The kid held the mic too close to his lips and didn’t always release his transmit switch when he was done, another practice she had to correct.

Eventually, Seth broke the silence.

“Define dicey.”

With no time to set him straight, she slipped through the back door and shut it behind her, grimacing at the creak of its rusty hinges. Time to get to work.

Jess squinted as she got inside, looking toward the front for a way to the second floor. The hallway looked as dismal as the alley she’d left behind. Gang signs were spray-painted on the walls in an array of colors. And trash was strewn along the baseboards and over a stained ratty carpet that had definitely seen better days. Shoddy wall sconces were positioned down the hall, but with every other bulb burned out, the old hotel looked more like a cheap horror flick. Maybe the dim lights were a blessing in disguise.

Jess walked past each door with caution, not ruling out an ambush, but the place had one purpose for most of its patrons. The sleazy hotel rented by the hour. At the next door that thought was reinforced with the unbroken rhythm of a bed squeak and the steady bang of a headboard against a wall inside the room. A woman’s breath caught as she panted her encouragement.

“Yeah, baby, do it.” She tossed in a theatrical moan and a gasp. “Harder, that’s it. Oh, you’re so good.”

It didn’t take long for the woman’s companion to cry out, a loud pitiable groan. Prone to a cynical nature, Jess wondered what Mr. Stopwatch would do with his remaining fifty-five minutes. She rolled her eyes and kept moving toward the stairs in front. Her weapon held in a two-fisted grip, she drifted down the hall with eyes alert.

Until—

“Jess? Target’s on the move. You read me?” Seth cried out through her earpiece. “He’s spooked.”

Her eyes grew wide. Baker must have heard the noisy door hinges or been warned by the front desk. She broke into a sprint toward the stairs and collided with an old wooden banister as she rounded it, bruising a hip. Damn it!

From the front desk of the hotel a sleazy guy in a wrinkled T-shirt and a scraggly beard yelled after her. “Hey, where’re you goin’? I’m callin’ the cops, lady.”

Jess looked over her shoulder, her sarcasm on full throttle. “Then you better flush the hookers. I’d hate to see you lose your Triple A rating.”

She barely had time to respond to the clerk’s warning when she heard Seth screaming in her ear, “He’s out the door. I can’t see him, Jess. What do you want me to do?”

She heard the panic in his voice, but a door slammed on the second floor and drew her attention. She had to move. Fast.

She bounded up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, gripping the banister with her left hand to propel her body up. When she got to the top, she raised her weapon, ready for anything. The stainless steel of the Python glinted under the pale light as she moved the barrel right, then hard left.

That’s when she heard the footsteps down the hall, running away from her. She rounded a corner in time to see Baker slip through a door marked EXIT, but not before he turned to grin. A shaved meaty head set atop no neck on a square muscular body, the physique of a wrestler. Scumbag! Baker had a lead and the laptop under his arm.

“Not gonna happen, asshole!”

Jess chased after him. She knew he might stage an ambush at the exit door, but it didn’t matter. She’d risk anything to get this jerk. Anything!

“He’s going out the back. The fire escape.” She took time to let Seth know what was going on. Otherwise, the kid might do something she’d regret later. “Hold your position. Don’t do anything.”

She ended the communication, but muttered under her breath, “This bastard’s mine.”

Jess grabbed the door and shoved through it with a shoulder. Once she got on the other side, she slammed it quick, not wanting to make herself a target silhouetted against the light. She aimed the gun down the grated metal steps. As her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, she searched the shadows below for any sign of movement.

Nothing.

Baker could have her in his sights even now and she wouldn’t know until it was too late. With her heart throttling her ribs, Jess steadied her breathing. She crept down the steps, her back to the wall, with the business end of the Python trained down the alley. Adrenaline had her wired, but she didn’t want to make a mistake. Having a bad day in her line of work could put her in the hospital or the morgue.

When she got to the bottom of the fire escape, she looked up and down the alley, unsure where he’d gone. He had a lead, but not enough for him to lose her. The hair at the nape of her neck stood on end. More than likely he lurked beyond the light, waiting for her to turn her back. The safest course for a sane person would be to walk toward the street in front, sticking with the light. Instead, she followed her gut instincts and headed deeper into the alley—into the dark.

Sanity was highly overrated.

She listened for anything out of the ordinary, but the sounds of the city made that nearly impossible. Her feet crunched over glass and gravel. She couldn’t afford to look where she stepped, not taking her eyes off what little she could see. He’d hear her coming but it couldn’t be helped.

Still, she pressed on, the Python in her grip.

Suddenly, she heard a faint rustle coming from inside a Dumpster up ahead. She held her breath and crept closer, straining to hear a repeat, but nothing. Had she only imagined it? She swallowed hard, knowing Baker might leap out at any second, ready to shoot. She adjusted her grip and kept moving. The metal bin loomed dead ahead, with so many places for him to hide. Doubts surged through her brain, mixed with a strong dose of self- preservation, but she struggled to stay focused.

Jess heard the frailty in her breath and felt the sharp thrash of her heart. In a second she’d know if Baker hid inside the trash where he belonged. To get a drop on him, she had to raise the lid, fast. Any hesitation could get her killed. She eased a palm to the heavy lid, took a deep breath, then shoved with all her strength.

“Unghh,” she grunted and threw back the lid, pointing her gun into the shadows.

“Yowwgrrrr.”

A loud shriek crawled under her skin and up her spine. Movement deep in the shadows. A dark cat leapt from the bin and bounded over her shoulder. Its claws found her face and neck. The sting of the attack sent shivers across her skin like tiny needle pricks.

“Shit!” she cried out and leapt back, almost losing her footing on a broken beer bottle. The glass shot across the alley and shattered against the wall.

“Jess? What’s going on? Can you hear me?” She heard Seth’s voice in her ear as if he stood right behind her. A startling sensation. Almost creepy. She was used to working alone.

She looked down into the Dumpster and frantically searched the outside. Baker wasn’t there. She’d lost him. She nearly collapsed against the brick wall behind the trash bin, sweat streaming from every pore. Bending over, she braced a hand to her knee to keep from falling over, loosening her grip on the Python. Shaking her head, she couldn’t believe her lousy luck.

“I’m okay, Seth. But…I think I lost him.” She gulped the hot moist air, her throat raspy. “Gonna keep looking. Stay put.”

Jess replayed the chase with Baker in her head. It had all happened so fast, but she couldn’t believe she missed him again. Shaking it off, she raised her weapon and headed for the rear of the alley. That’s when she heard it.

An engine.

Headlights flashed on, drilling her in their spotlight. She squinted and raised a hand to shield her eyes. The screech of tires jolted her heart. And the smell of burning rubber hit her nose. When a cloud of dust kicked up, it drifted in front of the headlights like an eerie fog. She knew it was Baker behind the wheel of the dark SUV even