The address Shelby gave them was a fifteen-minute drive from where Rachel had made the call. Add with traffic and a driver unfamiliar with the city, it took closer to twenty-five. Lisa lived in a ten-story apartment on the corner of a fairly busy intersection, and they were able to find a parking spot a block over. As they walked to the building, Rachel checked her watch and saw that it had somehow come to be 9:57. It seemed that once night had fallen over the city, it had also started eating away their time. The late hour made Rachel feel as if the night were actually chasing them; after all, if they did not find the actual killer before the sun came up, she was certain there would be a fifth body. So, if the night was indeed chasing them, it was a race Rachel intended to win.

The apartment building was a classic sort of cleannot a place someone would consider run-down and dirty, but not the crowning achievement of cleanliness and sophistication either. Lisa resided in Apartment 221, so they took the stairs to the second floor. As they walked down the hall, the sounds of a typical apartment at night greeted them: scattered and muted conversations, the soft hum of television shows and music, the ambient drone of the buildings air conditioning.

When they came to Lisas door, Rachel felt her head swaying. It was the same dizzy sensation that had come on a few other times during this case. She knew exactly what it was. It was a warning sign, her bodys way of telling her that if she didnt slow down, she was going to end up having a full-blown episode. When shed had one several weeks ago while chasing after a suspect, shed managed to explain it away when Jack had asked. But she knew if it happened again, he was going to really dig in. She wondered if he might even report it to Director Anderson.

The swaying continued for a moment and even escalated. She closed her eyes against it and, though she wasnt specifically religious, found herself in something similar to prayer. Please, she thought. Keep it away. Push it away. Not right now, please…

She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Her head was still slightly swimmy but much better than before. Still, even as she noticed Jacks concerned gaze on her, she knew there was a ticking timebomb in her head and that it could very well knock her out at any moment.

You good? Jack asked.

Yeah. Too tired, and too much adrenaline. Just some vertigo, I guess.

If he didnt buy it, he made no indication. He simply knocked on the door, but Rachel could tell by his stance that he was making sure he was ready for anything. Several seconds passed, and there was no answer. Rachel knocked the next time and again, there was no answer.