Page 44 of Once Vanished
“This is different,” Riley said, forcing steadiness into her voice.“Voss got away because I made a mistake.But you won’t be getting away, Leo.The building is surrounded.There are snipers on the rooftops, teams at every exit.Even if you kill Officer Martinez, you’re not walking out of here a free man.”
Leo’s eyebrows rose, an expression of exaggerated surprise.“Surrounded?You mean you didn’t come alone like I asked?I’m hurt, Riley.”He gripped Susan’s dark hair, pulling her head back further to expose the vulnerable column of her throat.“You were supposed to play by my rules.”
“There’s no point in taking her life,” Riley pressed on, desperately trying to connect.“It won’t help you escape.It won’t advance your goals.All it will do is add another murder charge when they catch you.”
But even as the words left her mouth, Riley saw the subtle shift in Leo’s expression, the faint gleam of satisfaction in his eyes—he had anticipated this.Had expected her to bring reinforcements, to surround the building.
Which meant this wasn’t a desperate last stand.It was another move in his game.
“I’m disappointed,” Leo said, his voice dropping to a near-whisper that somehow carried across the cavernous space.“I’d hoped you might have learned something from your previous failure.Might have come alone this time, trusted me enough to follow instructions.But I see you’re still making the same mistakes.”
Susan’s eyes met Riley’s, wide with terror but also a desperate hope.Riley could read the message there—help is coming, so I might survive this.
Riley took a careful step forward.“It’s over, Leo.Let her go, and we can talk about—”
“Talk?”Leo laughed, the sound echoing harshly off the concrete walls.“We’re beyond talking now, Riley.If I can’t have the pleasure of your exclusive company, then I’ll have to find my satisfaction elsewhere.”His face hardened.“And if I’m going to be taken or killed today, I think I’d like to take one more life before I go.For old times’ sake.”
The movement was so fast that Riley almost missed it—a precise flick of Leo’s wrist, the blade slicing across Susan’s throat.Not a wild slash, but a calculated incision, deep enough to hit the carotid artery but not instantly fatal.A wound designed to create a window—just enough time for Riley to make her choice.
Leo shoved her forward as blood erupted, startlingly bright against her pale skin.As the officer toppled forward, Leo turned and sprinted toward the back of the facility.
“Officer down!”Riley shouted into her mic as she pressed her hands against the wound.“East entrance of the main floor!I need medical now!”Susan’s blood pulsed with each heartbeats, hot and slick.“Stay with me, Susan.Help is coming.”
Susan’s eyes were wide, her mouth working silently.One of her hands clutched at Riley’s sleeve, a desperate anchor.
“Bill!Hogue!”Riley called into her mic.“He’s heading toward the south exit.He can’t have gotten far.”
She glanced up, torn between the dying woman beneath her hands and the fleeing killer.But there was no real choice, not this time.She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.Around her, she could hear the thunder of approaching footsteps as the tactical teams rushed in.She bent lower over Susan, applying more pressure to the wound.
“Hold on,” she whispered.“Just hold on.”
*
Riley’s voice crackled through Bill’s earpiece, “Officer down!East entrance of the main floor!I need medical now!”
Beside him in the command vehicle, Hogue was already barking orders into his radio, mobilizing the medical team.Bill didn’t wait.He lunged for the door, drawing his weapon in one fluid motion as he hit the ground running.
All he could think wasLeo has hurt someone.And Riley is alone with him.
He’d been listening to their entire exchange through the comm unit as Leo recreated the Throat Slitter standoff from fourteen years ago.Bill remembered the aftermath of that case—Riley’s quiet devastation after Officer Chen’s death, the way she’d second-guessed herself for months.When Leo had uttered those same words—”You can save her life, or you can catch me”—Bill had felt an icy premonition.
Now, sprinting toward the east entrance, that history hit him hard.They couldn’t lose another officer.They couldn’t lose Riley.
“He’s heading toward the south exit,” Riley’s voice came through again, strained but controlled.“He can’t have gotten far.”
Bill adjusted his course, gesturing to the tactical team members running alongside him to split off toward the south wing of the sprawling facility.The old waterworks was a labyrinth of machinery halls, filter galleries, and storage rooms—a warren with a dozen potential escape routes.But they had every exit covered.Leo was contained.He had to be.
They entered through a side door, weapons raised, moving through the dim interior.Bill took point, following what he guessed to be the most direct route to Riley’s position, his senses hyper alert.
He rounded a corner and there she was—Riley on her knees beside a fallen figure, her hands pressed against a wound that leaked crimson onto the concrete floor.Blood had soaked the front of Riley’s shirt, was smeared across her forearms.The tactical medic was already rushing past Bill, dropping to the ground beside them with his kit.
Hogue arrived seconds later with four more agents, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous space.
“That way,” Riley said without looking up, jerking her head toward a corridor leading deeper into the building.“South corridor, then he turned west.He can’t have gotten far.”
“Jensen, Gleason, with me,” Bill commanded.“The rest of you, split into pairs and cover every exit point.”
They moved fast, fanning out through the facility.Bill took the route Riley had indicated, his weapon ready, eyes scanning for any sign of disturbance—a drop of blood, a scuff mark, anything that might indicate Leo’s passage.The corridor opened into a vast chamber filled with ancient filtering equipment, huge concrete basins now dry and cracked with age.The space offered a hundred hiding places.