“Kiss me before you fuck me.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to taste you. I know you taste good.”

He chuckled again. “How do you know?”

“Because I smell you. Please, let me taste you. Kiss me.”

He sneered. “You’re still thinking you’re going to escape. Well, I’m not just going to kiss you, I’m going to bite your cunt tongue and suck your cunt blood.”

He moved close, a bear outside the tent. His breathing was heavy; she smelled his sweat. He had her straddled. In the distance she heard the machine gun sound of a rain of fireworks. The shadow of his head blotted out the sky. The stars went out—so far away, and he so close. Her syringe floated in a handful of perspiration. One last chance—she had to get a grip!

“Open your mouth wide,” he whispered as his black face descended.

“I’m opening it, babe.” She was fortunate he still had his shirt off. When Gene and Scott had injected the vinegar in their victims, they had probably pinned them down on the ground. Easy to hit the heart that way. She was literally stabbing in the dark, but at least the absence of his shirt removed one obstacle.

“Fucking cunt,” he said as his breath brushed her cheek.

Her wrists were tightly bound and the mobility of her fingers was questionable. It was hard for her to twist the needle completely upward. At the last second she doubted she could do it. His lips touched her lips. She felt his tongue …

Kelly panicked. She jerked upward with the needle, not sure where the tip was headed. The flat of her palm was wedged against the base of the plunger. The needle appeared to sink into his flesh. She was sure the syringe had emptied but his reaction stunned her. One moment he was kissing her, and the next he let out a grunt and calmly sat back on his heels. He looked down at the needle stuck in his chest. It was rammed to the hilt below his breastbone. The angle appeared deadly—the needle should have gone into his heart. It was his reaction that devastated her. He did not look the least bit hurt.

“What did you do to me?” he muttered, sounding confused.

She didn’t answer. Just waited.