8:00 p.m.

Everything was in place. Lolli drove a loaner Prius, the exact model she’d crashed at the duck pond. Two car lengths behind her, Levaughn drove my jeep while I sat in the backseat with my MacBook, the cell jammer beside me. Nadine hung onto the J-strap in the passenger seat. We’d been driving around the city for thirty minutes with no sign of Reaper.

And then, it happened. He connected to the cell tower.

Fingers pounding the keyboard, I drew a radius around the first cell tower. But in order to locate his hideout I needed a second cell tower. While I waited for the information the Prius took off at breakneck speed, swerving all over the road.

Right on cue, Nadine panicked. “Hurry. She must be terrified.”

“I’m goin’ as fast as I can. Relax.”

The second cell tower revealed itself, and I merged the radius of the two orbs.

Where they intersected narrowed the search area, but not enough to pinpoint Reaper’s exact location.

“Babe, Nadine’s right. Lolli’s going way too fast. Reaper might end the ride for her. There’s no way he’ll allow her to escape twice.”

“I know this. Please, I gotta concentrate.”

“Just bear in mind, you might not have as much time as you think.”

“Okay, okay. Got it. Shit! He threw up a fake cell tower. That bastard’s tryin’ to hack me.” I mumbled, “I’ve got news for you, asshole. It’s gonna take a lot more than a Trojan horse to beat me. Game’s on now, pal.” In seconds I blocked his mediocre work, and did a little hacking of my own. “Gotcha.” When I added a third tower, the three intersecting orbs pointed to Reaper’s location, give or take ten feet. “Nay, grab the cell jammer. I need to stay on him.”

“Me? But I have no idea how that thing works.”

“Screw it. Use mine.” I tossed a handheld device into the front seat, and Levaughn lost his friggin’ cookies.

“What the hell, Shawnee? Where’d you get a cell jammer? More importantly, why do you even own one?”

Crap. “Seriously? You really think it’s the best time to get into this?”

“It’s illegal, and I’m a sworn officer of the law.”

“First off, it’s not illegal to own it, only to use it. Now, will someone please throw the damn switch before Lolli crashes?”

As if aliens had dropped a foreign object from the sky, Nadine studied the device. “What are these tubular thingamajigs on the top?”

Levaughn was still rambling about why I had the jammer in the first place. “Why’d I bother NRT if you had a jammer all along? Unless you were tryin’ to hide it from me.”

“You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me. Snap out of it, people. Lolli’s life is on the line. Nay, those thingamajigs, as you call it, are antennas. Each one has a specific purpose. Plug the AC adapter into the cigarette lighter. Then, on the side of the unit, you’ll see the power button and four dip-switches. See how the antennas are different lengths? Look at the bars next to each dip-switch and make sure the length matches the antenna we want disabled. Not yet, though. We need to be within range first.”

Before continuing, I took a cleansing breath. Which didn’t do shit to un-jitter my nerves. I craned my neck around the driver’s seat. “We need to get closer. The jammer only works within seventy feet. Okay?”

“I’m on it.” Levaughn floored the gas, the jeep racing down the breakdown lane to catch the out-of-control Prius.

“Awesome. Keep her steady. I’ve got one more thing to do.” In case Nadine disabled my WiFi hotspot by mistake I sent my iPhone a text with Reaper’s location. The musical trill confirmed receipt. “Nay, you ready?”

She mumbled, “No,” but I ignored it.

“Super. Okay, I want you to enable all the antennas except the longest.”

One might think I’d asked her to buckle up in the electric chair by the way she hesitated. “They slide side to side. It’s not rocket science. When an antennae’s enabled you’ll see the corresponding green light on the top of the unit. Remember, don’t block the WiFi. Sorry. Don’t switch on the longest antennae. Got it?”

“I…I…”

Up ahead, the Prius careened on to the sidewalk, nearly mowing down a young couple and their dog. With a jerk of the wheel, the car sideswiped a maple tree, caving in the entire driver’s side. Was Lolli still steering, or had Reaper taken control of the wheel?”

“Gimme the damn thing.”

She handed over the jammer. Switching on the first three antennas, I killed the cell signal. The three of us gaped at the Prius as it sailed off the sidewalk, into the street, the headlights bouncing to the rhythm of its shocks. Good thing Levaughn reacted in time, or she would’ve collided with my jeep. It took a while for the car to reduce enough speed to coast to a stop. Levaughn pulled in behind Lolli and leaped from the driver’s seat, the door left wide-open, keys in the ignition.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Cell jammer in hand, I chased after him. With all the damage to the side of the Prius getting inside might be tough.

Behind the wheel, Lolli was hysterical, her words incoherent through the tears.

Tugging the door handle, Levaughn called out, “Smell that? If we don’t get her out of there, the gas tank could explode.”

I hustled around the bumper to the passenger side. First I tried the door handle. Locked. Hollering, I banged on the glass. “Unlock the damn door!”

Inconsolable, Lolli kept her head down, her shoulder-length curls masking her face as her whole body trembled.

“Unblock the signal,” said Levaughn. “We need to call the fire department.”

“Fuck that. Hang on.” I charged back to the jeep and dragged out my trusty bat. When I returned, I gave Lolli a quick warning. “Cover your face.”

Damn near catatonic, she didn’t move.

Over the roof, Levaughn shouted at me to break the glass. To be safe I swung at the back passenger window. Glass shattered everywhere. With the bat I knocked out the remaining loose pieces, and crawled inside. Reaching between the seats, I flipped the door locks to open while Levaughn hustled to the other side.

He swung open the passenger door. “Are her legs pinned?”

“Don’t look it.”

“Okay, cool.” By the arm he yanked her upper body closer to him. “Grab her legs.”

Staying close to the crushed door, I hopped the headrest. “You gotta drag her a little more so I can reach them.”

And so, he did.

Once Lolli’s waist passed the middle console I slid my hands under her knees while Levaughn firmed his grasp under her armpits.

“Not too fast,” I said. “I don’t have the best grip.”

Slow but steady, we carried her out the car and over to the jeep, where we laid her across the backseat. Somewhere between dragging her out of the car and securing her inside my Montero, she passed out.

“Oh my God,” shouted Nadine. “Is she dead?”

Levaughn told her, “No. Sometimes the body shuts down when it undergoes extreme trauma. She’s in shock. Don’t worry.” He dashed to the driver’s side and slipped behind the wheel. I stayed in back, with Lolli’s head resting on my lap.

“Shawnee, kill the cell jammer so we can notify the PD. We’ll get to the hospital a lot quicker with an escort.”

“But what about Reaper? If he catches on that I found his location, he’ll get the hell outta Dodge. This’ll all be for nothing.”

“All right. New plan. Notify the PD. Tell them we’re en route and to send a bus to meet us on the way. You’ll have to keep the line open to update them on where we’re at. Nay, when the ambulance arrives, can you ride with Lolli to the hospital?”

“Yup.”

“Excellent. Okay, babe. Do your thing.”

With a flip of the switch service was restored, and I called Pittsburgh PD. Levaughn’s plan worked. Halfway to the hospital, the EMTs met us for the hand-off. Nadine jumped in the ambulance with Lolli and we took off after Reaper.

Now came the hard part, confronting a serial killer probably hell bent on destroying me for rescuing his victim.