"Yeah, but his partner, that Rich Meeker guy, might. He was practically spitting in my face. There was one point I thought he was going to hit me. And earlier today he was following me down the street."

In the parking lot, Ruby chose a spot in the middle, balancing the need for protective coloration with the need for isolation.

"Keep your head down," she said as they walked in. "Even if the cops put someone in the security office to watch the feed, if you don't tilt your face up they might not notice you." She walked over to a map of the mall. On the floor in front of it was a lost black glove. She picked it up and rested it on top, where it might attract more attention.

"There's a phone store on the other side." She started off, but Nick didn't follow.

"What's the matter?"

"Um, I don't have any money. Not enough for a phone, anyway."

"Don't worry. I'll cover it."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. You're my friend." Even in the midst of everything, Ruby felt a warm glow saying the words.

As she and Nick walked past store after store, the lost glove stayed in her thoughts. It felt as if it were somehow connected to Lucy. It must remind her of the dead girl's lost mitten. That was it, wasn't it?

She was buying the new phone when it came to her. The guy was still counting out her change when she walked a few feet away. She barely registered his stare or Nick calling her name.

Because she knew why they had found Nick's DNA on Lucy. Found it on her even though he had never touched her.

CHAPTER 45.

K.

MONDAY.

LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER.

"Alexis Frost?" Kenny said as he moved against the current of students streaming out the school's front door. He had gotten her name from an online article about Portland SAR, one that had helpfully included a captioned photo. On her Facebook page, she listed the name of her school. On the school's web page, he had found the time school ended.

Pretty good detective work for a guy who was supposed to be slow. How many years had he let others define him? He should have defined himself.

"Yes?" She turned toward him, holding her phone. The way she tilted her head, curious but shy, reminded him of Lucy. He felt a momentary pang, but he pushed it away.

He remembered his role. Brisk. Compartmentalized. He was modeling himself on the people who had dealt with him after his mother died. In fact, under an open winter coat, he was wearing the same suit he had worn to his mother's funeral. Because it was a suit, he figured it made him look more official.

"I'm afraid there's been an accident."

Her eyes went wide as a fawn's. Just as he had hoped, she filled in the blank so he didn't have to. "Is it my mom?"

"I'm afraid so." He nodded briskly. "She's been taken to Good Sam. They asked me to come get you." He had already turned and was walking away, as if certain she would follow. "She's been asking for you."

He heard her footsteps as she hurried to keep up with him.

Who was the smart one now? He had a girl following him, as meekly as a lamb.

Lamb to the slaughter.

CHAPTER 46.

ALEXIS.

MONDAY.

COULDN'T BE HAPPENING.

When the man told Alexis about her mom, she was parsing Ruby's text.

The cops want to arrest Nick. He's safe, for now. But we need to figure out how to prove they're wrong.

Did that mean Nick was with Ruby? Or that she had hidden him someplace? Was it better if Alexis didn't know the answers?

As soon as she heard that her mom was in the hospital, Alexis forgot about everything else. But by the time they reached the man's old blue pickup, her footsteps were slowing down.

"What's wrong with my mom exactly?" she asked.

"I told you, she's at the hospital. Now come on, we need to get there." He stepped behind her and put a hand under her elbow. He was wearing gloves, even though his coat was unb.u.t.toned and it was about 40 degrees.

"Tell me what happened," she demanded, turning away from him and stepping back.

"There was an accident. Your mom was driving and-"

"What?" she interrupted. "We don't even have a car."

His eyes narrowed. "Listen to me," he said, stepping toward her.

Alexis took another step back, but there was nowhere for her to go. The door handle jabbed into her lower back, and he was so close his knees crowded hers.

Instead of finishing his sentence, he jabbed something into her rib cage. Something hard. She looked down. It was a gun.

This couldn't be happening to her, could it?

"Put away your phone," he ordered.

Alexis obeyed. Mostly. But as she slid it into her purse, her thumb moved to the corner and tapped the spot that normally read "Connect." In her mind's eye, she pictured the next display and moved her thumb a quarter inch to the left. To where there should be a phone icon. She tapped again. If she had done it right, she was dialing Ruby. If she hadn't ...

"Get in the truck and then scoot over to the driver's seat. And don't try anything, or I'll shoot you."

Alexis looked past him. They were only half a block from school, but the kids had already dispersed in all directions. No one was close enough to catch her eye.

He jabbed her again. "Do it. Or I'll kill you right now." Alexis's biology cla.s.s had supplied her imagination with a neat diagram of everything that was at risk. Liver, kidneys, ovaries, duodenum. Plus some major blood vessels.

"Okay, okay," she said, opening the door and stepping up. The keys dangled from the ignition. She sat down on the bench seat and began to slide over, her eyes fixed on the other door's handle. Should she open it and run out the other side? But the man was already right next to her.

Her heart contracted. From her purse rose a tiny, tinny whisper. It was Ruby saying, "h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo?"

"I'll do whatever you want." Setting her purse down in between them, she spoke louder than was necessary, trying to both cover the sound and provide Ruby a clue at the same time. "Just please don't shoot me."

"Start the truck and go straight down this street for two blocks and then turn right."

As she turned the key, Alexis caught a whiff of his rank sweat. He seemed younger and less a.s.sured than she had first thought. Maybe midthirties. About her height, but she had noticed how the suit strained against his powerful chest.

"What do you want? Why do you have a gun?" Please don't hang up, she mentally implored Ruby. Figure out what's going on and get me some help. Although wasn't it more likely that when Ruby hadn't gotten an answer she had decided it was a pocket dial and hung up? And even if Ruby could hear Alexis, what could she do?

"Don't worry about that now." He jabbed her again. "Just start driving and follow my directions."

Alexis drove past two people she vaguely knew from third period kissing on the street corner. She tried to broadcast her thoughts. Look at me. Notice there is something wrong.

Lost in their own world, they continued kissing. Their eyes were closed.

Following his instructions, Alexis turned right. Should she crash the truck into a telephone pole or a newspaper box, then jump out and run down the street screaming for help?

As if reading her mind, he poked the gun into her side again.

"If you try anything, I will kill you and anyone you ask for help."

"Okay." The word got stuck in her throat. Alexis cleared her throat and tried again. "Okay." If she acted obedient, maybe he would let down his guard.

About a half block behind them was a black car. She needed to attract attention. But subtly, so the man with the gun didn't notice. Alexis turned the wheel slightly until she was a few inches over the yellow line. With a featherlight touch, she began randomly tapping the brake. She prayed that the other driver would call 9-1-1 and report an impaired driver.

Instead, he pa.s.sed her with a blaring horn and an outthrust finger.

"Stop that!" the man said, jabbing her with the gun again. "Stop trying to attract attention. If I have to, I will kill you right here."

Alexis didn't like the way he phrased it. As if killing her was a given, the location the only optional part.

Think, Alexis, think! she commanded herself.

She couldn't escape him.

She couldn't rely on others for help.

So what did that leave? Maybe she could build a bridge between them. To make it so that killing her was no longer something he could think about so easily.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'll do exactly what you say."

He nodded. "Good." The pressure on the gun eased up infinitesimally. "Keep going straight."

On the off chance that Ruby was still there, she said, "I'll just keep driving on Powell. Do you want me to turn on Seventeenth?"

"No. Just go over the bridge."

"The Ross Island?" she said, although the answer was obvious. But maybe not to Ruby. If she was listening. If Alexis wasn't talking to dead air. "Where are we going, anyway?"

He put his free hand to his head. "Can't you shut up for just a second?"

"I'm just trying to understand. I mean, you must have your reasons for kidnapping me. Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

"It's not really what I want. It's just what I have to do." His lips crimped together and then he took a deep breath. "I have to kill you."

CHAPTER 47.

RUBY.

MONDAY.

FOLLOW MY DIRECTIONS.

"Ruby! Ruby!"

Nick was standing in front of her, but Ruby barely registered him. Instead, she was smoothing the outside seams of her pants with her thumbs, up and down, over and over, as her mind worked it through.

"Ruby!"

"Huh?" She blinked and forced herself to focus on him.

"What is the matter with you?" He held out her change.

She ignored it. "That glove. That glove is like the DNA. Only instead of leaving behind a glove, you left behind your DNA." In her mind's eye, she replayed how Nick had thrown up when he saw Mariana's leg, then wiped his mouth.

"What glove?" His forehead creased. "What are you talking about?"

"The one I picked up and moved." Nick still looked blank. "When we came in the mall? Like five minutes ago?" He nodded but didn't look any less confused. "If someone else came in after us and saw the glove on top of the sign, they might think that the owner set it down and forgot about it. When really I'm the one who put it there."

"Yeah, so? I don't get it."

"Remember Locard's exchange principle?" Ruby thought of how the paramedics had run to help Mariana.