The fire alarm in the theater building went off. Screams echoed from the lobby. Avery paused with her hand on the handle, but only for a second. Tom had made this move before at his house. The alarm would create chaos and draw law enforcement to the theater building.
Avery traversed the short distance to the athletic center. A flock of crows lifted off from a nearby building, flying overhead like a bad omen. It sent a shiver down her spine. She typed a code into the panel on the door, and the lock released. The metal handle was cool against her heated palm.
Avery pulled her gun and, heart pounding, stepped inside.
The door shut behind her with a click. It echoed across the empty lobby, bouncing off the marble floor. She forced a deep breath. Was that…music?
It was faint but there. Hair rose on the back of Avery’s neck as she moved through the lobby. The sensation of being watched plagued her. Her heart skittered as the location of the music became clear.
The pool.
Avery quickened her steps, racing to the pool area. The scent of chlorine burned her nose and humid air smacked her in the face. She stole a few precious seconds to clear the immediate area. Several closed doors led to locker rooms and other areas of the athletic center. She didn’t have time to search thoroughly. There was something at the bottom of the pool.
She raced around the edge to the deep end. No, not something. Someone.
Rachel.
With shaking hands, Avery undid her service belt and boots. She set them on the edge, along with her gun and cell phone, and dove in. The water was murky from sitting stagnant during the building repairs.
Please, Lord. Please don’t let me be too late.
She kicked, dragging herself down to the bottom. Her movements were slowed by the heavy weight of her uniform. Rachel was floating underwater, her eyes closed, hair swirling around her head. Avery’s lungs burned for air. She’d never been a good swimmer.
She dove deeper, grabbing onto Rachel’s feet. The woman was attached to some kind of weight. Avery used her fingers to trace the band around Rachel’s ankle. Velcro. She squeezed her mouth shut and willed her body to hold on, despite the searing desire for air. Avery tugged on the band. The first one came off.
She moved to the second one, but her fingers couldn’t find the edge. Desperation narrowed her vision. Avery’s lungs were screaming. She closed her eyes and put her attention on the band. Her fingers tripped over the edge. She tore at it.
Rachel floated free. Avery grabbed the other woman and kicked for the surface. Panic clawed at her throat. She wasn’t going to make it. Her clothes weighed her down, every move only seemed weaker.
At the last second, her head broke the water’s edge. Avery dragged in a ragged breath. Then another. She was shaking. “Rachel? Rachel, can you hear me?”
The other woman was cold and still. Avery turned on her back, and put Rachel’s head on her chest. With trembling fingers, she tried to check for a pulse but couldn’t manage. Better to try again out of the water. She kicked across the pool to the stairs, sapped of strength. Still, she kept moving.
She needed to call for help. It wasn’t until she was in the shallow end, Avery realized her cell was on the other side. Along with her gun.
She dragged Rachel out of the water and onto the tile. The woman wasn’t breathing. Her lips were blue.
“No, you don’t, Rachel. You stay with me.”
Avery scrambled to clear Rachel’s airway. She started doing CPR. Her focus was on one thing: saving Rachel’s life. She completed one round of chest compressions. Then another. Her own heart thundered, her breathing raspy. “Please, Rachel. Come on!”
She bent down and breathed twice more in the woman’s mouth. Rachel jerked. Avery turned her as Rachel threw up a mountain of pool water.
Tears ran down Avery’s face. “Thank you, Lord. Thank you.”
A noise came from behind her. Avery whirled as something slammed into the side of her head. Stars exploded across her vision. She toppled sideways, skating across the wet tile floor. Footsteps came closer. Avery kicked, but the move was weak and off-balance.
Her attacker straddled her. Something jabbed her neck. “Checkmate.”
No. The jab had been from a syringe. He’d drugged her. Rachel.
Avery threw out an elbow and had the sweet satisfaction of hearing her attacker grunt. The success was short-lived. She scrambled to find purchase on the tile floor. Adrenaline sped the drug through her system. She swung with her fist, but it landed on his shoulder. Dark spots danced in front of her eyes.
“I don’t have time for this,” he growled.
The attacker grabbed her hair, throwing her head against the floor.
Everything went black.
Twenty minutes. That’s how much time had passed since the last undercover officer had seen Avery. Weston clamped down on the dread clawing at his insides and focused on the task at hand. “Now that the firefighters have verified there’s no fire, we need to do a room-by-room check, starting with the lobby and branching out.”
Grady entered through the main doors. Weston pointed to him. “Coordinate with Ranger West to get it done.”
The leader of the team nodded. “On it.”
Weston watched as he moved toward the group of officers standing in the corner. The theater building felt huge, now that it was mostly devoid of people. He turned his attention back to the undercover. “Show me exactly where you saw Chief Madison last, Hank.”
The undercover tugged on his T-shirt and marched across the marble floor. “She was right here.” Hank pointed to the landing on the second floor. “It appeared something up there caught her notice. The chief moved in that direction
