Page 46

Thirty-Six

With Seamus and Dante setting off for the rear of the train, Reggie and Anna begin their search of the front, starting with the baggage car. A single glance shows it to be empty.

They move into the first coach car, where there are very few places to look. Just beneath the seats and in the open luggage racks running the length of the car above them. In both, if Judd were there, they’d see him immediately.

The only true hiding place in the car is the lavatory crammed into a back corner, as small as a utility closet. Reggie takes a position in the middle of the aisle, his gun aimed at the lavatory door as he gestures for Anna to open it.

She approaches the door slowly, knowing Judd Dodge could be on the other side, clutching the same blade he used to slit Herb Pulaski’s throat. That thought—that he could do the same thing to her—makes Anna’s hand tremble as she grips the door’s latch.

She lifts it, slowly, as her entire body now trembles. The whole time, Anna’s careful not to make a sound, because if she does, Judd might know she’s there. He might already know, she realizes, and be poised and ready to strike.

Latch released, Anna opens the door a crack.

It creates a slit of darkness through which she sees nothing.

Just a thick, ominous black. She tilts an ear toward the open space, listening for the sound of movement or someone breathing.

All she hears is her own breath, which grows harder and more ragged by the second.

She looks to Reggie, who gives a nod urging her to open the door all the way.

Anna does, flinging it wide open and leaping backward before Judd can come at her with his knife.

But Judd isn’t there.

The lavatory is empty.

Anna, however, continues to tremble.

“Cold?” Reggie says.

Anna nods, although she’s not sure if it’s the temperature or the fear humming through her.

Reggie takes off his jacket and hands it to Anna.

“You’re doing great,” Reggie says as she gratefully slips it on.

They repeat the same search process in the second coach car, Anna willing her body to tremble less as she approaches the lavatory, lifts the latch, opens the door. It’s also empty.

“Is that where you were hiding earlier?” Anna says as they move into the sleeper car.

“Yeah,” Reggie says, visibly impressed.

“Why didn’t you make your presence known then?”

“Because I was worried I’d be stepping into a battle zone.” Reggie grunts as he looks around the car. “Turns out I was right.”

“As the inadvertent creator of that battle zone, I apologize,” Anna says.

After searching the lavatory at the rear of the sleeper car and finding nothing, they head to the coach lounge.

There are even fewer places to hide here.

Just chairs and side tables under which only children can squeeze.

Anna knows because she and Tommy had done just that when they were young and the Philadelphia Phoenix had felt like a second home.

Their pace slows in the adjacent club car, which contains multiple places to hide.

In addition to the counter where food is served, there’s the janitor’s closet at the front of the car.

Once a place where Anna thought the poison that had killed Judd might be kept, it’s now the most likely spot where a very much alive Judd could be hiding.

Reggie and Anna assume their positions. Him facing the door, gun drawn, her slowly beginning to pull it open. This time, when a crack appears between door and frame, there’s no anxious pause allowing Anna to peek through it. The door immediately flies open on its own.

Anna leaps out of the way.

Reggie flexes his finger against the trigger of his gun.

But instead of Judd Dodge, what emerges from the darkness of the closet is nothing but a mop, two brooms, and a metal pail, all of which clatter to the floor.

“Well,” Reggie says with a chuckle of relief. “I can honestly say that’s the first time I’ve been attacked by a mop.”

“Not a regular hazard of the job, eh?” Anna says.

“No. Usually the bad guys are a little more animated.”

“How does it feel when you catch one of them?” Anna asks.

Reggie strokes his chin, deep in thought. “Satisfying. Knowing you’re helping the greater good. You ever think of doing something like that?”

“Every day for the past year.”

“I meant after this. What do you plan on doing once this is all over?”

Anna had asked Seamus the very same thing a little over an hour ago. Her answer now is the same as his then. “No clue.”

“Well, in my humble opinion, I think you’d make one hell of an FBI agent.”

“Are there women agents?”

“Not yet,” Reggie slyly replies.

“I do enjoy a challenge.” Anna kneels and reaches for the mop. “Permission to throw these guys back in the slammer?”

“Permission granted,” Reggie says, allowing the faintest of smiles. “I’ll start searching the galley.”

He disappears into the next car while Anna continues gathering the cleaning supplies.

She stuffs them all back into the closet and closes the door.

On her way to the door at the back of the car, Anna looks to the windows.

Outside, the blizzard still rages all around them.

A full whiteout. She stands still a moment, trying to gauge if the Phoenix has slowed at all in the storm.

Anna’s train legs tell her no. It’s still going full speed.

With a relieved sigh, she moves to join Reggie in the galley. It’s dim inside, the only light coming from above the stovetop. In that wan glow, Anna spots something lying in a heap in the middle of the floor. As her eyes adjust to the gloom, she realizes what it is.

Not something.

Someone.

Anna moves closer to see Reggie on the floor, surrounded by a widening circle of blood. She drops to his side as he stares up at her through pupils dilated by pain.

He’s still alive, thank God.

For now.

The amount of blood on the floor isn’t a good sign. Neither is the knife sitting a few feet away, blood dripping from the blade.

“The bastard stabbed me,” Reggie says, sucking in air through his teeth.

Anna doesn’t ask him who. She fears that if she speaks, Reggie will be able to tell how scared she is right now. How utterly terrified.

Because her worst fear has come to fruition.

Judd Dodge has struck again.

And this time he’s no longer targeting the guilty.