“I don’t think my renter’s insurance will cover this,” Alex murmured.

Meredith looked up, her eyes narrowed. “Somebody was looking for something.”

Daniel stiffened. “Where’s Riley? Riley!” He ran into Hope’s room, Alex on his heels. The other agent was in there surveying a similar state of disaster. “Where’s my-?”

The agent pointed down where only a tail could be seen sticking out from under the bed, wagging like a metronome in slow motion. Daniel heaved a sigh of relief as he gently pulled Riley out. Riley gazed up with his sad basset eyes and Daniel cupped the dog’s head in both hands, scratching behind his ears. “What happened to you, boy?”

“I found a bowl on the floor in the bathroom, under the window,” the agent said. “The window was open and the bowl still had a little canned dog food in it.”

“I left a bowl of dry food in the kitchen. Riley can’t have canned food. It’s bad for his stomach.” Daniel’s jaw clenched. “Whoever did this drugged him.”

Alex checked Riley’s eyes. “He looks dazed. Would he have barked at an intruder?”

“Loud enough to wake the dead,” Daniel answered. “We need to get the food in that bowl tested.”

“Well, there’s quite a mess in the bathroom,” the agent said. “Doesn’t look like too much of the canned food stayed in him.”

Alex met Daniel’s eyes. “Could have saved his life.”

Daniel frowned. “What could they have been looking for?”

Alex stood and looked around the trashed bedroom with a sigh. “I have no idea.”

“They did the same thing in my room,” Meredith said. “Thank goodness I had my laptop with me. Where’s yours?”

“It was in the closet. Daniel, can you open it?”

He’d already pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and slid the closet door open with one hand. It was completely empty. “What was on your computer, Alex?”

“Nothing, really. Maybe old tax returns, so they have my social and my address.”

“We can report it to the credit agencies tomorrow,” Daniel said.

Meredith cleared her throat. “Alex, where’s your thing?”

Alex looked at Daniel. “Is my gun still locked in your trunk?”

He nodded grimly. “Yeah. Although I’m sure they brought their own, just in case.”

Alex’s shocked gaze flew to Meredith’s. “If we’d been here…”

Meredith nodded unsteadily. “But we weren’t. And Hope’s safe. She may have to wear the same clothes for a few days, but she’s safe.”

“We can pick up what you need on the way to the safe house,” the agent said. “Everything here’s going to need to stay the way it is until we can process the scene. You want to call CSU, Vartanian, or should I?”

Daniel rubbed his head and Alex could see the headache lurking in his eyes. “If you would, I’d appreciate it, Shannon. I need to get Riley to the vet. There’s an all-night emergency clinic near my house.”

“I’ll make the call,” Shannon said. “You need help getting the pooch to your car?”

“No.” Daniel scooped Riley into his arms, settling the dog’s head on his shoulder like a baby’s. “He’s a lead butt, but I got him. Call when you get to the safe house, Meredith.”

“I will.” Meredith pulled Alex to her in a fierce hug. “When will I see you again?”

“Tomorrow morning. You’re bringing Hope in to do her hypnosis, right?”

Meredith’s nod was shaky. “I hope I can make it through another one.”

“You will. Thank you for being there with me tonight.”

Meredith faltered. “Alex…”

“Sshh. Hush now. You couldn’t have known. So let it go.”

“You call me when you get to Vartanian’s. I assume that’s where you’ll be tonight.”

“Yes. That’s where I’ll be.”

Athens, Georgia, Wednesday, January 31, 11:35 p.m.

Mack flinched, the buzzing of his cell phone startling him. Careful not to reveal his hiding place, he checked his phone and frowned. It was a text message from Woolf. He wondered if Woolf had followed him here. But he’d been careful. No one had followed him. And Woolf should be busy right now.

He opened the text message. Thanks for tip. Here at scene. Who is he? 2 much blood 2 see face. Need ID before 12 for a.m. edition.

He hesitated, then shrugged. Up until now the Woolfs had been able to reason that he might just be an anonymous tipper and not necessarily a murderer. It was his experience that people could tell themselves all kinds of things to make themselves feel better, and the Woolfs were no exception. Romney, Sean, he texted back and hung up.

The Woolfs might not leap to his command anymore. But he was almost finished with them anyway. He heard footsteps. A male voice. Female laughter.

“You should let me drive you home,” the man said.

“I’m fine. I’ll see you in class, okay?”

There were sounds of kissing, then a male groan. “I want you. It’s been three days.”

She laughed lightly. “I have a paper due tomorrow, so not tonight, big boy.”

Mack hadn’t anticipated she’d have companionship. Stupid move on his part. He fingered the safety on his Colt, prepared to do what he needed to do to get away. But the man just groaned and after another kiss, left.

Lisa got in her car, humming. She checked her rearview and pulled her car away from the curb. He let her drive a few blocks before coming up behind her like a thief in the night. He stuffed the handkerchief in her mouth and pressed his knife to her throat. I’m getting good at this. “Drive,” he said. Now this was going to be fun.

Atlanta, Wednesday, January 31, 11:55 p.m.

“Why are we here?” Alex asked. “I thought we were going back to your house.”

“Here” was Leo Papadopoulos’s firing range. “Luke’s brother runs this place. He gives a discount to all Luke’s friends from the bureau.”

“That’s very nice,” she said. “So why are we here?”

“Because… Dammit, Alex, Sheila Cunningham was holding a gun when she died.” And he couldn’t get the picture out of his mind. “She never fired.”

“Like my mother,” she murmured. “Is it a woman thing?”

“No, men do it, too. It’s a training thing. When you get scared you freeze up. You have to have all those behaviors, those habits, ingrained. You do the same thing in the ER. When a crisis hits, you go into autopilot mode on some things, don’t you?”

“Some things, yes. So are you going to train me, Daniel?”

“Not in one day. But we’ll come back every day until either you’ve built up some reflexes or this is over and you don’t need it anymore.”

“Is this place always open at night?”

“No. Leo opened it up for us. He owed Luke a favor. I called Luke to ask if we could come by while I was waiting for the vet to see Riley.” That the vet believed his dog was suffering from being poisoned simply added to the fury churning in Daniel’s gut. He’d benefit from a little target practice himself. “Come on, let’s go.” He came around and helped her from the car, then took her satchel from the trunk. “You still can’t carry this around town, you know.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“But you didn’t say you’d obey.”

She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know.”

He shook his head and held the front door open. “Just go inside.”

Inside, Leo Papadopoulos stood behind the counter. “Danny! And who is this?”

Leo was a few years younger than Luke and just as popular with the ladies. “This is Alex. Hands off, Leo.” He meant it as a friendly jab, but instead it sounded ominous.

Leo just grinned. “Hell, I already knew that. Mama told me all about Miss Alex.”

Alex looked up at him. “And how does Mama know? She’s never met me.”

“Oh, she will, don’t worry.” Leo flashed a dazzling smile. “She will. You can go on back. Luke’s back there already.” Leo’s smile faded. “I think he had a really bad day.”

“Yeah, well, that’s goin’ around,” Daniel muttered. “Thanks, Leo. I’ll owe you one.”

Back in the range, Luke stood in one of the stations, his ears covered and his face creased in a feral snarl. Alex frowned. “What’s wrong with him?”