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Back Less than Dead Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. DEDICATION
  5. CONTENTS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

She broke through the brush and into the clearing. She caught her ankle on a grapevine and almost lost her footing but managed to stay upright. More than anything in the world she wanted to turn and look back, to know and understand the terror that was pursuing her—but she didn’t dare. She ran screaming for the trailer, her heart pounding in her throat, unable to feel her legs or the ground under her feet. She ran with everything in her, but the trailer seemed an infinite distance away. She was utterly exhausted; she imagined her strength failing completely, collapsing to the ground, unable to move—the horrible image was enough to keep her going a few more steps.

She reached the open trailer door and scrambled inside, doubled over and panting like a spent mare. She staggered across the living room and through the doorway into the bedroom beyond. She stumbled to the far corner of the room and turned, sliding down and wedging herself tightly against the walls, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and staring back at the doorway, waiting for the pursuer who would never come.

She looked across the room at the floor-length mirror and saw a terrified ten-year-old girl with long black hair and green eyes. The little girl buried her face in her arms and began to cry.

Alena woke up in her bed, sobbing.

17

17

Nick looked down at Kegan, who was kneeling inside a newly opened grave and probing in the soil with a pointed trowel. “Have you seen Marge lately?” he asked.

“Not this morning.”

“What about yesterday?”

“No, now that you mention it. Why?”

“She said she wanted to confirm these sites, but I haven’t seen her around. Ask around, will you? See if anybody’s seen her.”

Kegan smiled up at him. “You miss her, don’t you?”

“It’s hard to describe the feelings I have for her.”

“Don’t laugh,” she said. “I’ve read about things like that: You despise someone so much that you suddenly begin to like them.”

“I just realized something,” Nick said. “I’m in love with you.”

“Dr. Polchak! Dr. Alexander!”

Nick and Kegan turned. At the tech tent a courier from the FBI crime lab at Quantico was waving at them with a manila envelope.

“That should be our test results,” Kegan said.

“It’s about time. Let’s take a look.”

Kegan took the envelope from the courier and spread the papers out on a folding table in the shade of the tent. The courier looked at her and asked, “Have you got anything for me to take back?”

“Those,” she said, nodding to three corrugated evidence boxes lined up on a nearby table. Each measured one-by-one-by-three, and each contained an entire set of bones recovered from a grave, as well as soil samples and any artifacts found nearby.

“Anything else?”