The menacing silence pressed in like a pillow over Dani’s face, even as a slight lightening of the sky softened the darkness. She eased back until the wall stopped her, felt for the gun’s safety, and then hesitated. What if it was Cloris or one of the other tenants making a trip to the bathroom? She couldn’t shoot. Not until she knew…and hen what? Just pull the trigger? Send bullets thudding into a human body? Just like Richard? Could she kill? Even to save her own life? While she wondered, Dark Lord came in. No wings beat the fetid air to herald the arrival of Death’s messenger. There was just the muted rasp of breath and a slight groan as the wooden floor gave under his weight. She knew it was him, even before she separated his dark silhouette from the framed opening of the door. Hayes