Page 180 of The Bone Code
“I will.”
“This asshole Huger could be your Disneyland AK psycho.”
“Believe me. Vislosky is doing her damnedest to find him.”
“I’ll rest easier when she does. Let me know?”
“Will do.”
“I’m off to the shower.”
“Rinse well.”
We disconnected.
I sat for a long moment, phone pressed to my chest.
No movement downstairs.
Then, close by and unmistakable.
The sound of a pistol slide ratcheting back.
39
Saturday, November 20
Ilistened with every cell in my being.
Silence.
No way the solothunkwas Anne. She’d have announced her arrival with all the subtlety of Hurricane Inara.
Had I imagined the sound?
Then, from beyond my door, a whisperedshhsssh.
A forgotten ceiling fan?
The AC kicking on?
A serial killer brushing a wall?
I eased from the bed and secured Birdie in the bathroom. Then, feeling a bit foolish, I dialed Vislosky.
Voice mail.
Leaving the line open, I placed the device on the bedside table. Moving as quietly as possible, I crept to the door and peeked out.
The figure was cloaked in the shadowy darkness of the hall. And wearing a black tracksuit. White stripes running along one sleeve indicated a forearm flexed to waist level.
My heart spiked hard.
An intruder! With a gun!
My mind splintered. Lock myself in the bathroom with Birdie? Bad idea. If the guy breached the door, I’d be trapped. Slip out onto the deck? Worse idea. The distance to the ground was a leg-breaking twenty-five feet.
I tiptoed toward my mobile to try Vislosky again. As I was halfway there, a voice froze me in place.
