The one from the backseat punched her in the back again, and Vanessa started to run. What choice did she have?

"Lue do may se den toil'

You're going to die.

She heard shouts behind her.

Oh God, God, God, what were they saying? What was going to happen to her? Why had she let them pick her up? Big mistake, big mistake!

Then all Vanessa could think about was running.

Alex Cross 8 - Four Blind Mice

Chapter Twenty

Let her go,“ Thomas Starkey said. ”Let's be fair now.

We told Vanessa we'd be good."

So they leaned against the Suburban and let the frightened girl run off into the swamp, gave her a good head start.

Starkey slid on one of the Ranger's new tan berets. It had replaced the black beret of the Special Forces, once the rest of the Army had gone to black. “Here's the first side bet of the evening. Ole Vanessa will be wearing her platform heels when we catch up with her. Or do you boys think she'll shuck the shoes?” asked Starkey. “Bets, gentlemen?”

“Shuck 'em for sure,” said Griffin. “She's dumb, but she's not that stupid. I'll take your bet. Fifty?”

“She'll be wearing the shoes,” pronounced Starkey. “Girl that pretty working the street, she's dumb as a board. A hundred says so.”

Just then they saw a pair of lights veering off the highway. Someone was driving toward where they'd parked. Now who the hell was this?

Trooper," said Starkey. Then he raised his hand in a friendly wave at the slow-moving police car.

“Problem here?” the static said once he'd rolled up close to the big blue Suburban. He didn't bother to get out of his car.

“Just a little pit stop, Officer. We're on our way to Fort Benning from Bragg,” Starkey said in the calmest voice. In truth, he wasn't nervous about the trooper. Just curious about how this would turn out. “We're in the Reserves. If the three of us were on the first team I guess we'd all be in trouble.”

“I saw your vehicle from the road. Thought I better check to make sure everybody was all right. Nothing but swamp back there.”

“Well, we're fine, Officer. Finish our smokes and hit the road again. Thanks for the concern.”

The state trooper was just about to pull away when a woman's scream came from the woods. There was no mistaking that it was a cry for help.

“Now that's a damn shame, Officer.” Starkey swung his pistol out from behind his back. He shot the trooper point-blank in the forehead. Didn't even have to think about it. “No good deed goes unpunished.”

He shook his head as he walked to the police car, shut off the headlights. He got into the front, pushing the dead trooper aside, and pulled the car out of sight from the main road.

“Go find the girl,” he said to Harris and Griffin. “Pronto. She's obviously not too far. And she's still wearing her platforms, the twit. Go! Go!” he repeated. “I'll give you chumps a couple of minutes' lead. I want to get this cruiser completely out of sight. Go. Warren is Point. Brownie is Flanker.”