“Shut up,” Kevin snapped, panic flaring briefly before he tamped it down.
He held his breath, listening intently.For several seconds, there was nothing.Then—another sound.Unmistakably footsteps.
Someone was in the building.Had he been followed here?
Sweat beaded on Kevin’s forehead.This wasn’t part of the plan.They were supposed to be alone, undisturbed as he made one last attempt to receive the cosmic message.
“We need to hurry,” he muttered.
Another sound reached him—closer now.Definitely footsteps, and they were approaching.
Paranoia bloomed in Kevin’s chest, spreading outward like ice through his veins.But how?Unless...
“You led them here,” he accused, tightening his grip on Diana’s arm.“Somehow, you knew.You’ve been working against me all along.”
“No,” Diana protested.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
In the darkness, he moved to find her, the cord stretched between his hands.
***
Hope flared in Diana’s chest at the sounds of someone else in the building.Had anyone noticed her missing from her shop?The Sheriff, perhaps—what was her name?Graves.Sheriff Graves, who had interviewed her about two murders.Or were the footsteps those of some indifferent stranger?
She forced herself to breathe slowly, fighting the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm her.If she called out for help, would her captor strike her down before anyone could reach her?
The darkness was absolute, robbing her of sight, but her other senses had sharpened in compensation.Each shuffle of Kevin’s feet against the concrete floor, each rustle of his clothing as he moved, painted a mental picture of his position.
She knew he had been moving around her, maintaining a precise distance.She struggled to remember the details of the room.But of course, those details had changed.The room had long since been divested of almost all of its equipment.
“I don’t have time to make you understand properly,” Kevin said, his voice taking on a manic edge.“We need to proceed now.They’ll leave without finding us.Then your body will help me tune into the signal.”
Diana reached out, her fingers connecting with cold metal—the base of a microphone stand, apparently one stray piece of equipment that hadn’t been taken away with the station was shut down.Relief surged through her as she wrapped her hand around it, feeling its solid weight.
She had seconds at most.Kevin was moving toward her again, his breathing growing louder as he closed the distance between them.
“Now,” Kevin hissed, his hands moving toward her throat.“It has to be now.”
Diana gripped the microphone stand with both hands, summoning every ounce of strength within her.
With a desperate cry that tore from her throat, she swung the heavy stand in a wide arc through the darkness.The microphone stand cut through the air with a soft whoosh, momentum carrying it forward with more force than Diana had anticipated.She felt resistance as it connected with something solid, followed by a grunt of surprise and pain.
Time seemed to slow as Diana realized she had made contact.But in the absolute darkness, she couldn’t tell if she had merely glanced him or delivered a more significant blow.She adjusted her grip, preparing to swing again if necessary.
“You—” Kevin began, his voice strained but still too close for comfort.
At that precise moment, the studio door burst open, flooding the room with the harsh beams of flashlights that momentarily blinded Diana after so long in complete darkness.
***
Jenna burst through the studio door, weapon drawn, flashlight beam cutting through the darkness.The scene before her unfolded in chaotic fragments—Diana Wells with a microphone stand raised like a club, Kevin Barrett stumbling backwards, his face a mask of surprise and rage.The beam of Jake’s flashlight joined hers
“Police!Don’t move!”Jenna commanded
For a fraction of a second, everything froze—Diana with the microphone stand still clutched in white-knuckled hands, Kevin with one hand pressed to his temple where blood trickled from a fresh wound, an audio cord dangling from his other hand like a dead snake.
Then, as if released from a spell, Kevin lunged toward Diana once more, his face contorted with fury.
“Get back!”Jenna shouted, moving forward, her weapon trained on Kevin.
