Page 18 of Echo, the Sniper (Men of PSI #2)

“Rory, if the sniper wanted you dead, you would be. You dragged me out here for my professional opinion, right? That’s what I’m giving you right now.

Look where we are—a vast, concrete plain with nothing to get in the way.

The sniper would have dropped you before you even had a chance to start screaming.

But that didn’t happen, so talking to Coates feels like a dead end to me. ”

His words triggered the memory of me standing there screaming while Dane lay on the ground, Coates putting pressure on the bullet wound even as blood gushed over his hands.

“I... I did scream.” Like that, I was lost in that terrible moment of time, listening to the echoes of the almost inhuman sounds that had come out of me as Dane bled out. The horror of watching someone die.

God.

God.

Dane may have been my personal monster, but no one should die like that. No one.

“Yeah.” He took a step toward me, then stopped as abruptly as if he’d run into an invisible wall.

His face seemed to tighten before he glanced in the direction of the busy street.

“Maybe we’re looking at this all wrong, yeah?

Maybe what happened to your ex was just a random drive-by, and there’s nothing deeper about it than that. Have you considered that possibility?”

“The coroner’s report said it was a high-caliber bullet shot from a rifle,” I said, forcing my numb lips to move. How had they gotten so cold all of a sudden? “Also, don’t forget that I was a witness. I saw and heard everything.”

“Believe me, I’ll never forget that you’re a victim in all this.”

“I said witness, not victim.”

“Same difference, from where I’m standing.”

I shot him a sharp glance. What the heck did that mean?

The last thing I wanted was to parade myself around like some embarrassing professional victim seeking his sympathy.

“My point, Echo, was that I didn’t hear the shot.

I didn’t hear it, so it didn’t come from that street in front of us.

Yes, 14 th Street is a good fifty yards away from where we’re standing, but I can still hear the traffic, so you know what that means? ”

He grimaced like he didn’t like me questioning him. “You would’ve been able to hear the shot if it’d come from a car.”

“Exactly. But I didn’t. And lastly, from a statistical standpoint, drive-by shootings involve more than a single, surgical shot, because drive-bys are as much about terroristic violence to psychologically hold a community hostage as it is to eliminate a specific target.

I looked it up,” I shrugged again when he just stared at me.

“You’re not the only one who thought it may have been a rando drive-by.

Believe me, it wasn’t. It was an assassination. ”

He stared at me long and hard before shaking his head. “Heaven help the fool who tries to pull the wool over your eyes,”

“I just want to track down who’s trying to kill me, and that leads me to the fire. You were able to catch that Edward was the psycho who vandalized my car, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Was he the one who tried to... to burn me alive?” I could hardly imagine that sort of thing coming from Edward, much less stomach that level of betrayal.

But what did I know? There was a time when I also hadn’t been able to imagine charming, jovial Edward was just as dirty as Dane ever dreamed of being.

Clearly I needed to work on my imagination.

To my surprise—and secret relief—Echo shook his head. “The firebug wore a ski mask and a hoodie, and he seemed to know where every camera was, so we never got a good look at him. All I can tell you is that he was smaller than Edward Terwilliger.”

“Everybody is smaller than Edward. That guy is a hairless Wookie.”

A fleeting smile ghosted his lips before it vanished. “The firebug also knew where you were sleeping. Went right upstairs to your bedroom door, no pause or hesitation, before burning the outside of it.”

I swallowed, and my suddenly desert-dry throat almost stuck together.

Logically I already knew I’d been targeted for death in the worst way imaginable.

The evidence showed as much. But to hear him confirm it chilled me all the way to the marrow.

I tried to ignore the horror of it by digging deep for a shrug.

“I guess I should count my blessings he didn’t open that door. ”

“He did. I think he’d planned on killing you in your bed. At the last minute he changed his mind.”

I stared at him, the blood draining all the way to my suddenly shaking knees. “Was it really that close?”

“Yeah. Which means I need to get you out of here. I think your ex’s assassination, as you put it, proved this place is a prime location for shooting sitting ducks.

” As if he somehow knew my knees were threatening imminent shutdown, he came to gather me under his arm and turned me back toward the convention center.

“Let’s head back to the hotel so you can get some rest—”

“After we talk to Warrington Coates,” I semi-agreed, relieved beyond words we were leaving Dane’s death spot. “I know it’s probably an impossible chore to track Edward down since he’s on the run, but I do know where to find Coates. And I have questions.”