Edge of the Season

by Trish Loye

  “Come on, Dani. Where are you?”

  * * *

  The Terrace had to be up ahead somewhere. Dani ran off the path onto the sparse snow. She aimed straight for a wide-paved walkway, hopping over the knee-high railing meant to keep people off the grass, and ended up skidding a little on the icy pavement.

  Up ahead, a horse neighed. This must be one of the transverse roads. She panted; her lungs burned and her breath fogged the air. She ran harder toward the sounds.

  She could hear panting in her ear and knew he chased her. She had to move faster. Ahead, concrete stairs slick with snow descended into a tunnel. She rushed down them and into the darkness, embracing it because it hid her from sight.

  She paused for a moment before leaving the tunnel, scanning the Terrace. Where was Jake? He’d said he would be here.

  But was he even in the park? Why hadn’t she asked that? She needed a place to hide until he could come. Please let him have a gun, she thought—though Jake himself was a weapon. Once he was here, then they could deal with this lunatic together. Just thinking about Jake made her stand straighter and eased her panic. He would come.

  She ran onto the Terrace. In her head, she heard Jake tell her to find cover, to not panic, to hold on. She kept to the edge of the paved area, heading for a path that went to the right of the Lake and the big tree beside it. She ducked behind it, listening to her panting breath.

  “Dani!” she heard Jake yell. Adrenaline rushed through her system and she jumped out from behind the tree. He stood on the road atop the stairs. He was here.

  “Jake.” She tried to yell, but it came out almost a sob.

  And then he was running down the stairs to her. Something moved in the tunnel. Jake turned, his gun already raised.

  A crack sounded, echoing around the Terrace.

  Jake jerked and fell back, thudding hard onto the steps. He didn’t move.

  “No!” she screamed.

  “If you don’t play by the rules, Danielle, then others are going to get hurt,” the Huntsman said. He stood by the tunnel entrance, a shadowed silhouette. His gun was still pointed at Jake, but she could tell by the angle of his hood that he looked at her.

  “Fuck you and your rules.” She had to get to Jake, but the psycho stood between them. Why wasn’t Jake moving? He should be moving.

  The Huntsman turned away from her and walked to Jake, who still lay sprawled on the steps. Was that dark shadow underneath him blood?

  Please let him be okay.

  The Huntsman stalked closer to Jake, still holding his gun up.

  “What are you doing?” she said, her voice getting louder.

  “I’m making sure he’s dead. I can’t have someone interfering.”

  He was going to shoot Jake again. She ran onto the path. She had to stop him, but how?

  “I’m right here.” She moved onto the Terrace. “Don’t you want to kill me?”

  “I’ll get to you in a minute.” He started up the steps.

  She kept expecting Jake to leap up, pull out his gun and kill the psycho, but he still wasn’t moving. He might not even be breathing. Oh God. Her breath hitched. She had to get him help.

  Sirens sounded in the distance. Were they headed this way? Could they help Jake?

  “Those are police coming here,” she yelled at the Huntsman. “I told some people to call for help. They’ll be here any second. If you want me, then you’re going to have to get me now.”

  “You are very annoying. Now I know why Rusakov wants you dead.”

  “Rusakov? He’s behind this?”

  The Huntsman turned to her. Good. He was focused on her now rather than Jake. “Rusakov is in prison,” she said.

  He took a step toward her. “He still has money and connections. And the man is very angry with you.”

  “Did he ask you to play this game?”

  She couldn’t see his smile, but she felt it. He took another step toward her. She moved back a step, hunching her shoulders, not having to fake the fear that coursed through her.

  “The game is my specialty. It’s why people hire me.”

  She shook her head.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m the one they call when they want their victim to suffer.” He raised his gun. She could barely see it in the dark. “Your boyfriend is dead. And soon, you will be too.” He paused. “Unless you run.”

  Adrenaline surged outward from her core, and she sprinted into the dark, away from his maniacal laughter.

  Away from Jake.

  She sobbed as she ran, pushing herself hard, but a part of her screamed to stay. To fight for Jake’s life. But what could she do? She had to draw the maniac away from him. If Jake was still breathing, this was the only chance she could give him.

  She put the Bluetooth piece back on. She hated listening to him, but she might gather clues about where he was if she could hear him. She ran along the path, away from the man she loved. And she did love him. Why hadn’t she told him that this morning? What was wrong with her?

  Jake loved her. And she loved him. And now she might never have a chance to tell him.

  “Are you crying, Danielle?” The Huntsman’s voice was back in her ear. She wanted to shriek at him, to vent her rage and fear, but she kept silent. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten to her.

  “I will have you crying before this is over. They all do. They cry and beg. It’s quite lovely to see.”

  She gritted her teeth and ran harder. “You are a sick fuck.”

  “Some might think so.” He chuckled. “But I always give my clients what they want.”

  He was walking still, she decided, if he could talk this much. It meant she could gain some distance on him. He’d said the game would go for three hours. Not that she believed him, but Alyssa and Jake would have called the cops by now. They had to be searching the park for her.

  Up ahead was a bridge that crossed the Lake. A solitary male jogger bundled up against the cold ran across it. She wanted to yell at him to turn around, to go the other way, but she was afraid that would only paint a target on him. She hated being in the open and sprinted across the stone bridge, counting the seconds it took in her head, her back tensed. Expecting a shot at any moment.

  The crack sounded. Her arm jerked and a loud splash sounded. The jogger stopped, startled, and looked around. A searing pain burned her upper arm. She grabbed it. Wetness soaked her hand; her leather jacket had a rip in it. The bullet had winged her arm and hit the water. She ducked down behind the stone railing.

  “What was that?” the jogger asked, his eyes wide as he searched the water.

  The Huntsman would shoot him if he stood there talking to her. She had to get him off the bridge. “Keep running or I’ll scream,” she said.

  He stopped looking at the water and turned to her, holding up his hands. “Easy, lady. I didn’t do anything.”

  “Then get away from me,” she yelled.

  He took off running toward the shore where the psycho waited, but she didn’t think he’d shoot the man now. Or at least she hoped not. She took a few deep breaths and then sprinted the other way. Running for her life across the bridge.

  Her life, and Jake’s.

  Chapter 6

  She made a sharp right after the bridge and ran east. Her arm throbbed with each step, as if it had its own heartbeat. She needed to bind it up, but that would mean stopping.

  Small paths meandered in this section, but she focused on moving eastward. She wanted an open road. She’d heard the sirens. There had to be police around who could help.

  It was only a few minutes before she ended up on East Drive again. She ran north along the road, but there weren’t any cars, just a female jogger with her Lab. Woman and dog stared at Dani as she whipped past, panting. Her legs weren’t going to last much longer and her body ached with fatigue. How long had she been running? The icy cold made her throat feel harsh and raw as she gasped for breath.

  Dani wanted to loop back to get to
Jake, to see if he was okay. But the Huntsman was behind her, too close. She could hear him singing softly in her ear. Then she heard the words.

  “Silent night. Holy night. All is calm…”

  The asshole was singing Christmas songs in her ear.

  She clutched at the ember of anger, stoking it higher. She needed to stop the swamping panic, and she used the rage as a wall to hold back her fear for Jake. She had to think clearly. Jake would tell her to calm down. It was just a man following her.

  Up ahead, a police car slowly made its way down the road, its lights flashing, but the sirens were off. She made a beeline for it. No shots sounded, so she thought she might be safe. She ran in front of the car and up to the driver’s side window. The cop motioned her back, speaking into his radio before he lowered his window.

  He was a lean Asian man about her age. His nametag said Lee. “Can I—”

  “Help me,” she said. “There’s—”

  A red dot appeared on the officer’s forehead. She took a step back, shaking her head.

  “Ma’am? What seems to be the problem?”

  What should she do? She couldn’t let him be shot. The psycho was too close. She kept backing away and held up her hands. “I’m leaving,” she whispered into the Bluetooth. “Don’t shoot him.”

  “You’re not playing by the rules, Danielle.”

  The officer opened his door and got out, a frown on his face. The red dot danced a bit, but stayed on his forehead.

  “Ma’am? Are you okay?” His gaze zeroed in on her arm. “Is that blood?”

  “I’m leaving,” she whispered into the Bluetooth. “Please don’t shoot him.” She raised her voice so the cop could hear, but kept backing away. “Everything’s fine, Officer. My mistake.”

  “Ma’am.” He put his hand on his service pistol. “I need you to stay where you are.”

  “Can’t do that,” she said.

  She turned and bolted into the thicket along the road. Branches clutched at her, pulling her clothes and ripping her hair. The officer shouted behind her but she kept going, gasping for breath. Something scratched her face. She put one arm up to protect her eyes as she forced her way into the brush.

  A path appeared before her and she stumbled onto it. Without thought, she turned away from Jake and the cop and the Huntsman, and ran again.

  “Run, little rabbit.” The Huntsman chuckled in her ear.

  He was going to kill her.

  She knew it now. She expected a bullet in her back at any moment. Part of her just wanted to stop and lay down. To give up. Why keep running? He wasn’t going to let her live. She didn’t want to die, but she couldn’t see a way out anymore. Jake wasn’t going to save her. No one knew where she was, and she couldn’t outrun the Huntsman.

  The trees and bushes grew thick in this part of the park. She must be somewhere in the middle. Dirt paths weaved through the forest and she raced along them, taking turns without thinking, just moving in the same general direction.

  Away from Jake.

  Sweat ran down her back and her breathing grew labored. How long could she keep this up? She pushed herself up a hill, a stitch in her side slowing her down.

  She needed a plan or she was going to die, and so would Jake. She had to help him.

  She needed to get rid of the Bluetooth. But what about the tracker? She remembered the man bumping into her in the toy store. He’d given her the burner phone, but where would he have put the tracker? Was it on the phone, or on her clothes?

  She stopped. Time to find out.

  “You’ve stopped running, Danielle,” he breathed into her ear. “Are you giving up? I’ll be there soon to put you out of your misery.”

  She ripped off the Bluetooth earpiece. Then she shucked her jacket. If the tracker was anywhere, it was either in the phone or in her coat.

  At the last second, she pulled the rock Cassie had given her from her jacket and stuck it in her back pocket. She needed all the protection she could get. Even from a rock angel.

  She took the phone and jacket and pushed her way into the thick brush, shivering in the cold night air, her thin T-shirt no protection from its bite or the icy branches that scratched her skin. One snapped along her arm where the bullet had grazed. The pain made her curse aloud.

  She tapped in three numbers before shoving the jacket and phone under a bush and running back out the way she’d come. Once she hit the path, she ran harder than she had before, wondering if she’d just doomed herself and Jake’s family to death.

  * * *

  Grenville lowered his Beretta and turned off the laser sight. Danielle raced into the woods like a scared animal. Branches snapped and her panting breaths echoed back to him, where he waited behind the trunk of a giant bare-limbed elm tree.

  He wanted to laugh in delight, but the police officer also watched her go and spoke on his radio, no doubt calling in the situation.

  Grenville looked at the screen of his mobile, watching the blue dot of his prey move farther into the area known as the Ramble. It was okay if she got a bit ahead of him—there was no way she would survive the night. The officer continued to speak on his radio. Grenville frowned. The police could spoil the fun of his game. He would need to finish it sooner.

  He eyed the police car. Or perhaps he would take his game to that house he’d rented.

  Grenville calmly put away his phone. He left his hiding place and moved forward at a brisk pace.

  “Excuse me, Officer,” he said.

  * * *

  Jake’s head pounded from where he’d hit it on the concrete step, but he didn’t move, listening to his surroundings with his eyes still shut. Leaves rustled. No traffic or people that he could hear.

  He opened his eyes. He lay on the stairs going down to the Terrace. He could barely make out the clouds covering the stars overhead. Just a vague impression of dark upon dark.

  The step’s edge dug into the back of his head. He sat up, and cursed silently at the pain that shot through his skull. His thoughts stumbled, making him feel drunk. God, he hated concussions.

  He rubbed his chest through his vest. Even though it had saved his life, it still felt like someone had hit him with a sledgehammer. He’d have to thank Alyssa for her foresight.

  His last memory played through his head. He’d been running down the steps to Dani when he’d seen movement out of the corner of his eye. He’d turned, aiming his weapon, but his foot had slipped on the icy step, making him miss his shot and getting himself shot in return.

  Fuck. The asshole had hit him. The asshole who even now chased Dani.

  He got to his feet. Dani had been here right before he’d been shot. He pulled out his cell and tapped a number as he scanned the area.

  “Did you find her?” Alyssa answered.

  “No,” Jake said. “Can you track her cell?”

  “Already tried. We found it abandoned in the toy store.”

  Jake cursed. “Put a BOLO out on her. There’s a lunatic chasing her. He’s armed.”

  “I’ll update my men. I can’t leave Cassie yet. Be careful.”

  “Always.”

  He hung up and dialed another number.

  “Mike’s House of Pleasure, what can I do for you?” Mike, the head of E.D.G.E.’s I.T. team, answered.

  “Mike, this is College. I need eyes on Central Park.”

  “Wilco,” Mike said, his voice now serious. Jake could hear tapping in the background. “What’s up?”

  “Dani’s in trouble and I don’t think she’s got much time left.”

  A brief pause and more key tapping. “Okay. Where are you?”

  “Bethesda Terrace. Middle of the park.”

  “Satellite coming online. Shit. Cloud cover’s playing havoc with the images. A military-grade satellite will be overhead in thirty minutes.”

  “We need info now.”

  “Right. I’m hacking into police surveillance cameras, but they’re only on the outskirts of the area.”

  “Stay on th
ose images. Monitor the police channels, too. Let me know the instant you know anything.”

  “Wilco.”

  Jake hung up and racked his brain for his next step. Ahead of him was the Lake and beyond that a thickly wooded area. Dani might hide in there, but how would he find her now?

  He had to leave emotion out of this and think logically. The gunman had been between her and Jake when he’d shot Jake. Dani would have tried to draw the gunman away before he could do any more harm…

  Jake stared at the dark thicket of trees on the other side of the Lake. That’s where she was.

  He ran.

  He’d crossed the stone bridge and had just reached the woods when Mike called him back.

  “I’ve got something. It might be a long shot, but there’s a 911 call in your area. The line is open but no one’s speaking. The dispatchers are trying to get the location to send cops in.”

  His muscles tightened. Was it Dani? “Tell me you’ve found it.”

  “Of course. It’s roughly two hundred meters northeast of you.”

  Jake ran along the winding paths, focused on maintaining a fast, steady pace. His head throbbed in time with each footfall.

  “Thanks.” Jake’s chest ached with each breath where the bullet had hit, but he ignored it and the pain in his head. Dani was all that mattered. He pushed himself to go faster.

  “Talk to me, Mike,” he said into his phone.

  Mike guided him, until he told him to stop. “You’re within ten meters. I can’t pinpoint anything closer.”

  “Roger.” Jake began calling Dani’s name. His stomach dropped when only the wind howled in response. He did a quick grid search of the area, moving carefully through the woods, but he couldn’t see her. There was no one here.

  Where the hell are you, Dani?

  He lifted his phone to speak to Mike.

  “Did you find her?” Mike asked.

  “No,” he said. “She’s not here.”

  “According to this, you’re standing right beside her.”

  Jake looked around. “What the fuck?” He surveyed the area again, then cursed long and loud. Dani’s leather jacket sat by a bush. He dug through the pockets and, sure enough, a phone was inside. Along with an earpiece. It wasn’t her phone.