Too Far Gone Read Free

near darkness.
    As if she would believe something so absurd. They’d killed Desmond and the woman, too, probably. Why would they keep her alive? Trembling, she tore off her shoes and moved faster. Each door she reached was locked.
    “You are a beautiful woman, Lauren Marie.”
    The voice she recognized as belonging to the man in charge seemed to boom all around her.
He knew her name!
Renewed fear throttled through her. Maybe if she made it down to the lobby—
    “I know how to care for beautiful women. Come to me, and I will put the world at your feet. I am far more powerful than your dead lover.”
    She struggled to think beyond the smothering panic. She had to do
something
.
    “Nikoli?” the man called out, his unfaltering footfalls echoing softly.
    “Here.”
    Dear God!
They had spread out. With all the offices locked, the two of them would have her cornered soon.
Do something!
    She looked around for anything she could use as a weapon. Spotting the fire alarm on the wall, she made her way there and pulled it. The alarm wailed and emergency lights flashed up and down the hallways. Water squirted and then began a steady sprinkle all around her. Taking the fire extinguisher, she hid behind the nearby water cooler.
    Somewhere down the corridor the boss swore, the words reverberating a cruel accompaniment to the discordantly flashing lights. “Wrong choice, Lauren Marie! You are a dead woman!”
    She gripped the fire extinguisher, her body shaking. Suddenly she heard sirens wailing outside. Hope swelled in her chest, but the silence in the corridor had her pulse galloping even harder.
Where were the killers?
Had they decided she wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught? Had they cut their losses and run?
    Regret trickled through her at the thought that she might have been able to help the other woman if she hadn’t run.
No
. With no weapon and no cell phone, running had been her only choice.
    Every second of the next two or three minutes pounded in her brain. What felt like a lifetime later, the thump of boots had her daring to peek past the water cooler. Firefighters hustled along the corridor.
    Trembling so hard she dropped the fire extinguisher, Lauren moved away from her hiding place. The firefighters stalled, the beams of their flashlights blinding her.
    She moistened her lips and forced out the words she needed to say. “Please. Help me.”
     
    Wilshire Boulevard Police Precinct, 11:38 p.m.
    “That’s it?” As exhausted and emotionally weary as Lauren was, she felt stunned at the detective’s seeming indifference. “I’ve spent the last three hours explaining to you how two men killed Desmond and probably the woman in his office. I’ve given descriptions to your sketch artist. I’ve cooperated with your every request, including having my hands checked for gunpowder residue. Now you expect me to just walk out of here as if two killers aren’t looking for me, and to be available in case you need me for further questioning?”
    This was insane!
    Detective Randolph Treadwell shrugged. “If anyone gives you any trouble—” he nodded toward the business card she held “—you give me a call.”
    “The killers saw me and chased me,” she repeated, anger and fear churning wildly inside her. “They know who I am. How long do you think it will take them to find where I live?”
    Treadwell leaned back from the interview table. He’d loosened his tie. The off-the-rack suit was rumpled. Everything about the middle-aged man screamed impatience. He was ready to go home and Lauren was standing squarely in his way.
    “Look, Miss Woods, you have my word we’re going to do all we can to find your boyfriend’s killer. But the fact of the matter is, unlike TV cops, our resources aren’t unlimited. If you need us, you call and we’ll be there. That’s the best I can do at this point.”
    Lauren stood. “Fine.”
    Treadwell pushed back his chair and stood as well. “If you recall anything else, you be sure to