Page 156 of Girl Between

“Yeah?”

“Then it’s not a stretch to assume she got the rest of it right.” He pointed to another section of the report. “Unsub is smart. Enjoys the thrill of hiding in plain sight. He’ll most likely feel safe in a heavily populated area of the city where he can blend into a crowd when necessary.”

“That’s the CBD,” George said, unfolding a map for Jake to look at. “Urban, heavily populated, but still has enough vacant buildings for him to hide.”

Jake nodded. “According to Dana’s research, Monroe will have found himself somewhere to set up shop.” He read from her report again. “Unsub will need access to a secure off-the-grid facility with fail-safe power system to perform medical procedures on his victims.”

“That’s most the hospitals in the city.”

Jake shook his head. “It’s not a hospital. She said off-the-grid.”

George frowned. “Shepard, we’re in the hurricane belt. Everyone in this city has a generator.”

“We’re talking about more than your average home generator.” Jake pointed to Dana’s report again. “Something bigger. What buildings in the CBD have built-in backup power?”

“Most of the banks. Some hotels. Maybe some high-end shops.”

“How do we go about finding which ones?”

“Blackout grid search would be fastest,” George suggested.

“If we cut the power, Monroe will know we’re on to him. Could make him accelerate his plans.”

“You got another option?” asked George.

Jake frowned. “No, but I won’t put Dana at risk. We find another way.”

Creed stalked over, Dana’s report in hand. “That’s not your call, Agent Shepard.”

138

Dana tiptoedinto the make-shift hospital room. Tchaikovsky played over the beep and whir coming from several monitors and pieces of medical equipment. She stared at the girl in the hospital bed, watching the tubing move dark fluid to and from her slender arm.

Dialysis. Dana recognized the hemodialysis machineinstantly. Her grandfather had been hooked up to the blood cleaning machine during the final years Dana spent with him.

The feebly thin girl in the hospital bed needed a kidney.

A quick glance at the name on the chart at the end of the bed confirmed Dana’s fears. This was Amelia Landry.

What kind of monster keeps a dying blind girl as a hostage?

From the look of her, Amelia didn’t have much time left. Yellow, papery skin, sunken eyes, blue nails, and the slow rhythmic beat of low blood pressure on her heart monitor … It all pointed to the end stages of kidney failure.

Still, Dana knew she couldn’t leave the poor girl to die in this place. Who knew what horrors Monroe had in store for Amelia?

Dr. Landry didn’t deserve to see his daughter laid out in a cemetery like a broken doll. He didn’t have Dana’s forgiveness, but shewouldn’t wish this on her worst enemy. The old doctor had endured inconceivable loss. Dana knew what grief could do to a person. Her own had driven her to some pretty dark places.

In a way, it was the reason she was here, in this mess.

She’d run into the darkness ever since it stole her parents.

She was running still.

Chasing monsters.

This is it,she told herself.The last time.

She’d stared into Levi Monroe’s fathomless eyes. His soul, if he had one, was pure evil. And she would spend whatever time she had left purging it from the earth.