Lonesome Lawmen

Four-3

“There is a passion for hunting . . . deeply implanted in the human breast,” Hayes murmured. With every fiber of his instincts he knew that hunting her was about more than a death. He needed her death. As long as her blood pumped through her veins he would be in pain. He had to kill her if he was to survive.

He worked with calm intensity, marshaling all his resources, all his will, using his pain to fuel his drive and directing it toward tracking Dani before she could go to ground or be picked up the by Marshals.

He had tapped his sources inside law enforcement and knew she was on her own. It pleased him to have her so. Took out the middle men. Made the hunt just between them, the way a good hunt should be.

Hayes looked through her financial accounts, his fingers stabbing the keys as he put a trace on her bank and credit card accounts, a “cc” on her email. If she tried accessing her money, he would know when and where as soon as the Marshals did and he could mobilize faster than they could. Bureaucracy was a b***h.

Not that he thought it likely she would use them. He studied her bank account on his screen. Either her agent was stealing from her or she was carrying a lot of walking around money. A whole lot.

“Money’s a horrid thing to follow, but a charming thing to meet.” He looked forward to that meeting.

The first instinct of a hunted animal was to go to ground. He turned his search to local hotels. Child’s play to look through their systems for a recent registration by a female paying with cash. On the fifth try he hit pay dirt. Louise? He made a note of the name and room number she was using. As in Thelma and Louise, he wondered with a grin. He noticed she had made some telephone calls, all of them to numbers he recognized as Internet lines.

What was she up to, he wondered, then shrugged it off. Whatever it was, he would soon put an end to it.

A message that he had email came up on his screen. Hayes glared at it. He knew who it was, was tempted to ignore it. Bates, the man behind Richard Hastings, the man footing the bill, had a hair trigger temper. If he thought Hayes couldn’t complete the contract, if he lost his fear, then he would put everything he had into hunting Hayes down. He would give Gwynne’s contract to someone else. Hayes couldn’t let that happen. So Bates must be placated. For now.

He pulled up the email, and read the short, vituperative message, then stabbed the response button and typed a kiss-ass reply. When it had been sent off, he logged off. He had an appointment to kill.

* * * *

Where would she go? Matt stood next to Alice, studying a map of the city. A few meager push pins marked the places Dani had been spotted. Around the room there was an assortment of electronic surveillance equipment. Faxes, printouts, and the remains of breakfast, lunch and enough Styrofoam coffee cups to breech a landfill littered the massive conference table.

When Riggs call came in, Matt settled near the speaker telephone, rubbing the chin he had obviously shaved too fast this morning and said, “I hope you have good news, Riggs.”

“Some. We got a trail. She surfaced downtown at Saks Fifth Avenue, bought some clothes—“

Matt looked at Alice. “Shopping?”

She arched her brows. “It’s been six months.”

“—a new laptop, had a makeover—“

“A makeover? No—“ He held up a hand as Alice opened her mouth. “I don’t want to know.”

She grinned as Riggs said, “Hold on. I think we got something.” There was a muted rumble of voices, then Riggs came back, “She checked into the Hilton—“

“We’ll meet you there.” Matt was out of his chair and halfway to the door before he finished the sentence. “Come on, Alice. I’m sure I’ll need your insight into the weird workings of the female mind when we get there.”

* * * *

Hayes felt the emptiness of the room hit him before he shut the door. He fought back the pain disappointment sent through his skull and reached out, trying to find her essence. He felt her fear first. Smiled as it spread a healing balm over his pain. It connected him to her more than any of his other kills. He frowned, suddenly uneasy about it.

What was so different about her? Why did she disturb him? He had only to close his eyes to see her here, moving about, thinking, planning, trying to escape him.

Yes. She felt him hunting. How curious.

He followed her scent into the bathroom, picked up her discarded towel and breathed her in. The idea that she could sense him unsettled, while it intrigued. It was also dangerous. To him, to his future with Willow. He hesitated. Maybe he should disappear. Let Bates find someone else to complete the contract. Bates would come after him, but he know how to disappear.

It would be the sensible thing to do.

He knew, before he turned to leave, that he wasn’t going to be sensible. He had to keep going. He had to kill her or die trying. The pattern required her.

It was that simple.

He had his hand on the door knob when he heard someone outside the door.