Into the Night(2)

She twisted her right hand and caught the edge of the strap. She began to slide her hand loose.

“The eyes will be last,” he told her as if he’d just come to some major decision. “I’ve got to explore every inch of you to see why you’re different. It’s for the good of science. It’s always for the good. For the betterment of mankind, a few have to suffer.” He made a faint hmm sound. “Though I wonder about you...about us. With your mind...maybe...maybe we could have worked together.”

And maybe he was insane. No, there wasn’t any maybe about that. She’d gotten her right hand free, and her left was working diligently on the strap. Her legs were still secured so she wasn’t going to be able to just jump off the table. Macey wasn’t even sure if her legs would hold her. The drug was still in her body, but it was fading fast.

“But you aren’t like that, are you, Dr. Night?” Now his voice had turned hard. “I watched you. Followed you. Kept my gaze on you when you thought no one was looking.”

She’d felt hunted for days, for weeks, but she’d tried to tell herself she was just being silly. She worked a lot, and the stress of the job had been making her imagine things. She was in her final few weeks of residency work, and everyone knew those hours were killer.

Only in her case, they literally were.

“You don’t get that we can’t always save every patient. Sometimes, the patients die and it is a learning experience for everyone.”

Bullshit. He was just trying to justify his insanity.

“You see things in black and white. They’re not like that, though. The world is full of gray.” He moved the scalpel away from her cheek...only to slice into her shoulder. “And red. Lots and lots of red—”

She grabbed the scalpel from him. Because he wasn’t expecting her attack, she ripped it right from his fingers and then she shoved it into his chest as deep and as hard as she could.

Daniel staggered back. Macey shot up, then nearly fell off the table because her legs were still strapped and her body was shaking. She yanked at the straps, jerking frantically against them as she heard him moaning on the floor.

The straps gave way. She sprang off the table and immediately collapsed. She fell onto Daniel—and the weight of her body drove the scalpel even deeper into him.

“You...bitch...”

“You bastard,” she whispered right back. Then she was heaving off him. Her blood was dripping from her wounds and she crawled to the door. He grabbed her ankle, but she kicked back, slamming her foot into his face, and Macey heard the satisfying crunch as she broke his nose.

He wasn’t so perfect any longer.

“Macey!”

She yanked open the door. Her legs felt stronger. Or maybe adrenaline was just making her stronger. She ran out of the small room and down the hallway. He was going to come after her. She knew it. She needed help. She needed it fast. There were no security monitors on that hallway. No cameras to watch her. No help for her.

Her breath heaved out and her blood splattered onto the floor. She didn’t look back, too terrified that she’d see Daniel closing in on her. The elevator was up ahead. She hit the button, smearing it with her blood. She waited and waited and—

Ding. The doors slid open. She fell inside and whipped around.

Daniel was coming after her. He still had the scalpel in his chest. Because he’s a freaking doctor. He knows that if he pulls it out, he’s done. He’ll have massive blood loss right away. But the longer that scalpel stays in...

It gave him the chance to come for her.

His lips were twisted in a snarl as he lunged for the doors.

She slapped the button to close the elevator, again and again and again, and the doors closed.

Macey was shaking, crying, bleeding. But she’d gotten away. The elevator began to move. Gentle instrumental music filled the air.

The doors opened again, spitting her out on the lobby level. She heard the din of voices, phones ringing and a baby crying somewhere in the distance. She walked out of the elevator, naked and bloody.

Silence. Everything just stopped as she staggered down the corridor.

“H-help me...”

A wide-eyed nurse rose from the check-in desk. “Dr. Night?”

Macey looked down at her bloody body. “H-help me...”





CHAPTER ONE

“I’VE FOUND HIM.” Macey Night exhaled slowly as she faced her team at the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. All eyes were on her, and she knew just how important this meeting was. She’d spent five years hunting, searching, never giving up, and now, finally... “I believe that I know the location of Daniel Haddox.” She cleared her throat and let her gaze drift around the conference room table. “Daniel...the serial killer otherwise known as ‘the Doctor’ thanks to the media.”

A low whistle came from her right—from FBI special agent Bowen Murphy. “I thought he was dead.”

Macey had wanted him to be dead. “I never believed that he died from his injuries. That was just a story that circulated in the news. Daniel was the best surgeon I ever met. He knew how to survive.”

“And how to vanish,” said Samantha Dark. Samantha Dark was in charge of their team. The group had been her brainchild. Samantha had hand selected every member of their unit. The FBI didn’t have official profilers—actually “profiler” wasn’t even a title that they used. Instead, Samantha and her team were called “behavioral analysis experts.” But the people in that conference room were different from the BAU members who worked typical cases in the violent crimes division.