Page 109 of Fatal Vision

“I’ve got it,” she said when all three men reached to help her up the step and into the house. Using her cane, she forced Theo to back up. “No lights?”

He had a flashlight in hand, trying to illuminate her way down the hall. “The blast must have shorted something. None of them are working.”

Shelby’s pulse skipped erratically. Nothing like confronting a serial killer in the dark.

Maybe I’m wrong. Please, Lord, let me be wrong.

“Could you run upstairs and see if you can find a dark blue sweater in my closet?” she asked Theo. “I think that’s where I left it.”

He frowned. “Shelby…”

“I’m fine. Just see if you can find it.”

Nickelback produced a small flashlight as Theo’s reluctant footsteps sounded on the stairs. She made her way toward the dark kitchen, Nickelback leading the way with Daniel following behind.

Her phone buzzed again.Dammit. “Daniel, will you see if you can find me a different pair of shoes? There should be some in the closet under the stairs. You may have to walk past some of the bomb debris, so be careful.”

“You really think it’s safe in here?” he asked.

Air from the dining room hole blew through the house and Shelby felt a real chill. Of course it wasn’t safe. “I just want to grab my ID from the kitchen and then we’ll go. But I really need a fresh pair of shoes.”

He hesitated a moment, then acquiesced, disappearing into the shadows of the hallway once more.

The kitchen was only slightly in shambles and she skirted an upended kitchen chair and the toaster lying on the floor. Broken glass crunched under her feet from the carafe that had been thrown to the ground in the blast.

“What are you really looking for?” Nickelback asked under his breath.

She reached into an overhead cabinet and felt around. “My weapon.”

A buzzing sounded, but it wasn’t her phone this time. Nickelback pulled out his and tapped the screen. “Yeah, boss.”

Where is it?Her fingers touched fragments of the strapping tape she’d attached the gun to the paneling with. Dammit. Had she moved it and forgotten?

Had the killer stolen it?

Shelby headed for the pile of rubble that had once been her dining room, using her cane to knock a piece of ceiling out of the way. Nickelback followed, asking a question of Beatrice and listening as his flashlight skimmed over torn plaster where her wedding photos had once hung.

“She’s right here.” He touched Shelby’s shoulder, stopping her. “My boss needs to speak to you.”

Shelby stepped around her hall table, now lying on its side. “I’m kinda busy here.”

Nickelback grabbed her arm, halting her, and handed her the phone. “Now.”

Tucking the phone between her ear and shoulder, Shelby kept moving. “Ma’am, I don’t mean to be rude, but I really can’t—”

Beatrice’s voice cut her off. “Get out of that house now. Nickelback will take you somewhere safe. Do not go with anyone else. Do you copy?”

Her dining room was a complete disaster, looking even worse in the night shadows. The hole in the wall revealed the driveway, and beyond that, the skeleton of the two destroyed trucks. As Shelby shifted, she saw the house across the street. “Afraid I can’t do that. I have a case to solve.”

Above her, she heard the creak of the stairs. Theo.

“I have the results from the partial fingerprint on that wrapper Colton found,” Beatrice said. “And I’ve found a new connection between Lt. Moore and your current ASAC. You’re in imminent danger, Agent Claiborne. Your case can wait.”

“You got a match on the fingerprint?” Shelby felt a rush of adrenaline, like the warm spike of caffeine in her blood. Was she right? Was the killer here with her?

“If you had answered your phone earlier, I could have warned you. You need to leave now. The fingerprint is a match for—”

“Stop!” Nickelback said to someone behind them. “Put the gun—”