Flashback - Page 106

“Move!” Kendra pulled Chloe to her feet and held her gun in front of her. Behind them, several patches of dry brush were burning. They ran toward the water as embers continued to fall from the sky. But a figure suddenly appeared in front of them.

“That’s far enough, ladies.”

Kendra and Chloe froze. Krebb was standing there holding his assault rifle. “Drop your weapon, Dr. Michaels.”

Kendra held on to her handgun a moment longer.

Krebb brandished his AR-15. “Trust me. I can squeeze off thirty shots in the time it would take you to fire one. Throw your gun to the ground.”

Kendra tossed her gun down. “Everyone knows what you’ve done,” she said. “Killing us won’t help you.”

“What I’ve done?” Krebb smiled. “Everything I’ve done was for God and country. I’m no different than your Mr. Lynch. I suspect he’s racked up quite a body count over the years. Or tonight alone.”

Kendra shook her head. “You turned a monster loose on our city. And when you found out what he’d done, you let him get away with it.”

“You let him kill my mother,” Chloe said.

Krebb seemed genuinely regretful. “Trust me, I would have given anything not to have that happen. Collateral damage is a fact of life in my world.”

“Collateral damage?” Chloe asked incredulously. “Is that what Detective Chase was? And Detective Williams? Collateral damage?”

“Is that what you think we are?” Kendra said softly.

“I’ve been forced to make tough choices over the years,” he said. “Not all of them have been easy to live with.” Krebb suddenly wore a strange expression. His eyes fluttered, and blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He fell to the ground.

From the darkness behind him, Rod Wallace stepped forward, still holding his bloody knife. With his free hand, he picked up Krebb’s assault rifle. “I almost went to one of those boats and took off.” He smiled. “Aren’t you glad I didn’t?”

“It’s you…” Chloe said.

“Yes. I understand you’ve been looking for me, Chloe. What do you want to know? Your mother’s last words? What her final moments on Earth were like?”

“No. I’m far more interested in your final moments on Earth.”

He nodded. “Appropriate.”

Wallace spoke with unbridled confidence, and every movement could be called a swagger, Kendra thought. Like most other serial killers she’d known. She was surprised by his youthful appearance, and again by his close match to Bill’s alternative sketch.

“You killed your champion,” Kendra said, motioning toward Krebb’s body.

“I was already living on borrowed time with him. He probably thought he’d have one of his thugs kill me, maybe even later tonight. Purely self-preservation on my part. But now… I’ll take my leave. I’ll come for you later, Kendra. But the time and place will be my choosing. It may be weeks, months, or years from now. Until then, just keep looking over your shoulder. And Chloe… I haven’t decided what to do with you and your sister. But if I do decide to come for you, my offer is still open. I’ll give you the opportunity to ask me anything you want about your dear mother. I remember her well.”

With lightning-fast speed, Chloe pulled Williams’ gun from her rear waistband and fired three shots into his chest.

The knife and gun fell from his hands, and he stumbled backward. He fell to the ground and looked up at Kendra and Chloe as the blood spread across his torso. His entire body trembled, and he tried desperately to catch his breath. “No,” he gasped. “This isn’t right. It can’t… happen to me.”

“Sure it can.” She plowed two more shots into his chest. “See? Die, you bastard.” Chloe held up the handgun as tears streamed down her face. “This was Detective Williams’ gun. That was for him and Detective Chase.” She aimed it at him at point-blank range. “And this one’s for my mom.”

She shot him in the head.

Kendra didn’t have time to tell Chloe not to fire, and part of her hadn’t wanted to. She was happy to see this evil asshole die, especially after he’d just promised to keep her looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.

“I’m not sorry,” Chloe said. “If you want to turn me in, go ahead.”

Lynch’s voice suddenly came from beside her. “There’s no reason to do that. I’m sure there will be blame enough for all before this is over. We’ll just have to sort it out.”

Kendra turned. Lynch and Sloane had just run up with the assault rifles they’d obviously taken from Krebb’s men. They stared at the two dead bodies on the ground in front of them.

Sloane turned toward her sister and Kendra. “You guys have been busy.”