shadow. They were much faster and harder on the body, ripping him apart and hurtling toward the end of the street where the blue, blobbish streaks seemed to suddenly disappear. He could see faint imaging indicating a body moving around the corner in a vehicle. He followed, jumping from one shadow to the next, finding several that took him almost to pace alongside the car, so he could make sure he was following the right man.
Haydon Phillips drove at a reckless speed, clearly furious, off his usual cool and deliberate game. He depended on Grace. She was, in essence, his family. He needed her, and in his sick fantasy, she was part of his world. She supported him, just as they’d supported each other when they were children together. He might get angry at her, but in the end, in his mind, it was the two of them against the world.
He drove too fast and carelessly, weaving in and out of traffic. Vittorio twice tried to find a shadow that would take him directly into the vehicle, but even going beneath the glaring streetlights, and using the fastest tubes, it was impossible. He couldn’t do anything but keep up with him.
With a sinking heart, Vittorio knew the inevitable happened. The siren sounded faint at first, a strange, waffling noise heard as more of a muffled wap wap wap inside the fast shadow he rode. The red and blue lights cut through the dark of the night as the law enforcement vehicle cut through the cars on the road to settle behind Haydon’s stolen car.
There was no way to warn the policemen that the man they were pulling over was a very desperate serial killer. Haydon glanced in his rearview mirror, cursed and spat, then hit the steering wheel several times. He slowed the car and began to pull to the side of the road. The police car behind him slowed as well and pulled to the slower lane in order to get directly behind Haydon’s car again.
Haydon suddenly accelerated and took the first exit available to him. His car fishtailed and then raced around the long curve leading back to a heavier-trafficked area. Vittorio was forced to step out of the small shadow and catch another to reverse his direction. The police car followed, but now they were a distance behind.
Haydon rounded the corner so that for a few seconds he was out of sight of the patrol car. He slammed on the brakes, opened the door and jumped onto a grassy section of the sloping embankment. The car continued forward at a rapid speed, gaining momentum as it rolled down the hill toward the traffic.
He lay prone in the grass as the cop car swept around the curve, sirens blaring. As soon as the vehicle was past, Haydon was up and running toward the buildings on the outskirts of the suburb. The houses were smaller with neat yards and shared fences. Haydon managed to vault the low fences and not even break stride.
Vittorio had to admire him. He clearly stayed in shape. He could assume the role of anyone he chose, and he played that person to the hilt. He’d sat through a dinner at the fund-raiser with many of the most astute businessmen on the planet, yet he hadn’t been caught out in his disguise. He’d approached four trained bodyguards, clearly believable in his role. One by one he had taken them out. He’d outsmarted the police and now he was clearly going for his usual hole—someone’s home.
Dogs barked throughout the neighborhood, desperately trying to alert their owners to the danger creeping up on them. Someone yelled from their back porch to shut the hell up. One dog’s bark was cut off abruptly. He squealed once and there was an abrupt silence.
Vittorio stepped into a shadow that took him to the edge of the fenced-in yard where the dog had ceased to bark. Haydon was bent over the animal and he suddenly dropped its body to the grass and straightened slowly, looking around. Light from the moon spilled across his face, leaving him a pale gray. In that moment, he looked pure evil. Satisfied that no one was around, he flipped off the cruiser that was now going up and down streets slowly and walked with confidence to the side of the house, clearly examining it for an entry point.
Vittorio could see the house had a very distinctive attic. The structure stood out because, although it was short