'Don't shoot me in the back of the head, Jackie.'
We made our way down several more steps, the soupy darkness engulfing us. I heard a jingle of keys and tensed, and then a little light went on in Harry's hand.
'Key light. Best buck-fifty I ever spent.'
The basement floor came into view, and the smell wafted over us like a fog.
'Christ.' Harry wrinkled his nose. 'Something dead down here.'
A noise at the top of the stairs made us turn. Two uniforms.
'Flashlight!' I whispered.
They shook their heads. They'd taken off their flashlights when they put on the Kevlar.
'There's the circuit breaker.' Harry played the light over a wall near the bottom of the stairs. 'Go turn on the electricity. I'll cover you.'
I cleared my throat and passed McGlade on the stairs. There was a sound to our left.
'Help me.'
A growl followed, and then a heart-wrenching scream.
I ran for the circuit breaker.
Chapter 41
THEY'VE FOUND HIM.
He has barely started on her, barely even drawn blood, and now it's all going to end.
He curses, controlling the urge to cut her head off, forcing himself into action.
The Gingerbread Man can handle this. It isn't expected, but he's planned ahead far enough to foresee this possibility. He puts the knife in his belt, checks his pocket for the lighter, and grabs his gun.
He hears the front door burst in and he hits the circuit breaker, plunging the house into darkness. Someone yells his name.
Diane screams. He walks to her in the dark, guided by the flame on his Zippo.
'Scream again and I shoot you.'
The gun goes into her mouth to drive his point home. Then he uses the knife to cut her free.
'Kneel, bitch.'
She kneels on the concrete floor, whimpering. He flicks his lighter again and finds the master fuse on the floor, running along the back wall.
Voices.
Charles listens.
One is Jack's.
Light the fuse and get out of here, he tells himself.
But Jack is so close.
Charles wants to see her one more time.
He goes to his wife and crouches behind her as Jack and someone else descend the stairs.
One last time, Charles thinks. One last dance.
Before everything goes boom.
Chapter 42
I RUSHED THE CIRCUIT BREAKER, OPENING the panel door and flipping on the main.
The basement exploded in light. Spotlights. Set up on stands and hanging from the ceiling like a TV studio.
And in the center of the lights...our killer.
'Hi, Jack.' He was squinting against the glare, hiding behind a kneeling half-naked woman. She had blood running freely down her torso from several dozen cuts. A gun was being pressed under her chin.
My gun.
'Take it easy, Charles.'
'I've got him, Jack.' McGlade assumed a shooting stance. 'I can blow his head off from here.'
Charles brought his free hand around to the woman's front and flicked a Zippo lighter. He held it next to her hand. In her trembling fist was a length of rope. I followed the rope to where it divided into six segments, each leading to the base of a large barrel. They were spaced far apart along the walls of the basement.
It wasn't a rope at all. It was a fuse.
'Hold it, Harry! Everyone fall back! I don't want anyone within fifty yards!' In my earpiece, I heard the commotion of my men complying.
'Such a good cop, Jack. Such concern for her people.'
'What's in the barrels, Charles?'
'Gasoline. Enough to take out the whole block.'
