He staggered only a moment, but it was long enough for Harper to scramble out of his grasp. The clown turned toward Dani, his face an odd mixture of anger and hatred, yet conceit nearly oozed from his eyes as he stared at her, a smile—an evil smile—forming. It lasted only seconds, yet it felt like minutes. Then Harper threw herself at him, knocking him back once again. The knife fell from his grasp as they rolled on the floor, then he raised his arm, his fist connecting squarely with Harper’s face. Dani could almost hear the bones breaking as Harper collapsed.

He stood, picking up the knife as he turned toward her. It was in slow motion that he took a step closer.

“Gotcha again, little girl.”

She raised her arms, the gun clasped between her trembling hands. She was so scared, she couldn’t take a breath, couldn’t think. She couldn’t move.

“Oh, Danielle. You’re not going to shoot me. We have unfinished business, you and I.”

He was only ten feet from her. Now seven, six. Five. Her hands were shaking wildly, the gun swinging back and forth as her finger tightened on the trigger. Could she pull it?

The gunshot was louder than she expected. Time seemed to stand still as he faltered, his eyes wide with disbelief. He took another step toward her, his white-gloved hand reaching for her, trying to grab her. Then he fell to his knees, teetering there before falling forward, landing with a final thud on the dirty carpet, the knife falling harmlessly from his grasp.

Harper was standing there, her gun still pointing at his prone figure. It was only then that Dani realized that she hadn’t been the one who had pulled the trigger after all. Her hands were shaking so badly now, the gun nearly fell to the floor. Then Harper was there, taking the gun, pulling her close, whispering words that Dani never heard. She clutched at Harper’s shirt, burying her head against her, her entire body trembling, shaking uncontrollably.

It was over.

It was finally over.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Harper winced as the paramedic put a bandage over the cut on her cheek. “Not so damn hard.”

Emergency lights flashed from every direction, and the parking lot was filled with police cars. Dani had been whisked away by the FBI. As expected, they’d swooped in before the blood had even dried. They’d apparently tracked down Dani Strauss, as she thought they would. What she wasn’t expecting, though, was to see Reid and Lieutenant Mize materialize out of the crowd.

She stood, waving the paramedic away as Reid came toward her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” She looked past him. “Where’s Dani?”

He motioned behind him. “FBI. Giving a statement.”

She nodded. “What the hell are you doing here?”