woods, where were Daryl and Duncan? Had Duncan been injured more seriously than she’d thought? Wasn’t the wire she was wearing working?
“I told you in the diner yesterday that you were in danger,” Patrick said in a calm voice. “She didn’t wish you well. She’d been studying your movements in D.C. for a while.”
“She was the person you filmed wearing the hooded sweatshirt. The one who set up that scene in my apartment?”
“Yes. I actually admired her style until she did that amateurish job, but then I knew I had to put a stop to it.”
“Why didn’t you tell us all that yesterday? Why did you throw suspicion on Sid Macks?”
“Because I hadn’t decided what to do about Ms. Lewis yet.” Then he smiled at her, and the glee in his eyes had the panic inside of her threatening to break free again. “After all, she does fit my profile.”
Keep calm. Keep him talking. And think. “I don’t understand. Why would you have to do anything about her?”
His smile faded abruptly and some of the calmness faded from his voice. “Because she had decided to stalk you, and you belong to me. The ones who came before you—they were nothing. All they did was to bring me to you. You’ve been mine ever since you set me free. No one else can have you.”
Piper recognized what she was seeing in his eyes. Not merely madness, but obsession. And she remembered what Duncan had said. True obsession destroyed rationality.
But Duncan would be thinking in a rational way. He couldn’t think any other way. The certainty of that helped her focus. She’d made sure to say quite clearly where she and Deanna were going. And Duncan would never have followed her along the cliff path. He would be with Daryl even now entering the caves from the other entrance at Tinker’s Falls. And he’d be expecting her to lead Deanna into that third cave where they’d found the earring.
Now she wouldn’t be leading Deanna anywhere. So she had to keep Patrick Lightman talking.
“Do you know why Deanna was following me in D.C.?”
“Not at first.” He glanced down at the very still body of Deanna Lewis. “I checked into her background and learned that she was a photographer. So I thought she wanted to hurt me by stirring up all those nasty stories in the press again. But after she staged that scene in your apartment, I knew she wanted to hurt you. And I was right.”
“You followed her up here.”
“I followed you both up here. I protect what’s mine. I overheard her talking on her cell phone this morning and telling someone that she intended to make her move today to eliminate you. She suspected that you’d found the second earring and that you were searching the library for the location of the necklace. It made her furious. She knew that you were being protected by the FBI and the CIA and she was still going to find a way to hurt you. So I did what I had to do.”
“Do you know who she was talking to?” Piper asked. “Did she say why she wanted to eliminate me?”
Lightman shrugged. “The sapphires. She believes they belong to her. Just as I believe you belong to me.” He raised the gun and pointed it at her. “I’m a little more wary of the FBI and the CIA than she was. I’m sure they’ll be along shortly, so we’ll climb down together. Ready?”
READY WAS THE LAST THING HE was, Duncan thought as he and Daryl finally reached the cave where he and Piper had found the earring. He’d kept the fear and anger on a very tight leash as he’d listened to that maniac talk about his obsession with her. Instead, he’d focused his energy on crawling as fast as he could through the narrow tunnel near the falls. But the thought of her having to climb down to the beach with Lightman had his fear threatening to take control.
All he could think was that he hadn’t said nearly enough to her last night and he’d kept his distance all day. He hadn’t told her what she’d come to mean to him. He hadn’t told her he loved her. So they had to get to her in time. And they still had two tunnels and a cave to go.
Crossing the cave where they’d found the earring, he’d stepped into the next tunnel with Daryl close behind when he heard Piper’s voice again. “They’re going to know I’m missing by now. Sheriff Skinner will be looking all along the lake for Deanna and me.”
“We’ll have to take our chances,” Lightman said.
“My sisters and I played a lot in these caves when we were little,” Piper said. “I know another way out.”
Duncan met Daryl’s eyes as silence stretched for three beats.
“Tell me about this other way out,” Lightman finally said.
“This is the first of three caves connected by tunnels that finally reach to ground level. We’ll come out in the woods near a waterfall.”
Two more beats of silence.
“I’ll hold the flashlight,” Lightman said. “Lead the way.”
“She’s bringing him to us,” Duncan whispered to Daryl. “We have to beat them to the center cave.”
Piper spoke over him. “The tunnel to the first cave is short. And there’s this big boulder in the middle cave that we’ll have to get around. It’ll take some time. And the second tunnel is longer.”
Duncan immediately held a hand up to Daryl. She was talking as much to him as to Lightman, reminding him of the layout. Signaling him? She was right about the fact that the first tunnel was the shortest. He spoke softly again to Daryl. “I think she has a plan. We’ll get as close as we can to the end of this tunnel and still keep out of sight.” Then he pulled out his gun. Daryl did the same.
PIPER FORCED HERSELF TO breathe in and out slowly, evenly, as she led the way to the center cave. She could only hope that Duncan had read between the lines of what she’d been saying to Lightman. More, she hoped her plan would work. To give it just a little more credibility, she slid on some of the loose stones underfoot and slapped her hand against the side wall of the tunnel. “Watch your step,” she said to Lightman.
“Watch yours,” he said back to her.
The fact that he was holding the flashlight and her body blocked much of the light slowed their progress. If he’d given it to her, she might have used it as a weapon. But Lightman was no dummy. So she was going to have to use what came to hand. When they stepped into the center cave, he swept the light around, throwing long shadows on the walls before he let it come to rest on the opening of the next tunnel.
There was enough spillage for her to get a good look at the large boulder that had once blocked off most of the tunnel. There were plenty of pebbles and rocks at its base. Without giving herself the chance to think any further, she strode toward it. The instant her foot struck some of the stones, she let it slide out from beneath her, then fell, making sure to hit her head as hard as she dared against the boulder on the way down. She heard the sound of the impact, saw stars, and fell so that she landed on her side. Before he could get the light fully aimed at her, she wrapped her fingers tightly around a rock the size of a baseball.
“Get up. You tried that same trick to distract Ms. Lewis. It won’t work with me.”
“Hit … my … head.” The beam of light blinded her, but it
