I shoved my feet into my sweatpants and then grabbed my shoes, yanking them on and my jacket. “I’m takin’ a squiz, see what’s goin’ on.”
“NO!” Wes grabbed my arm. “Patsy, it’s too dangerous! Don’t go out there.”
I heard my teammates calling out their locations as they converged on the disturbance not far from us. “This is my job, luv. It’s what I do.” I pulled a knife from the inside of my jacket and handed it to him, cursing the fact that I’d only brought one gun with me. “If anyone but me or my team comes in here, defend yerself. Don’t ask questions, Wes.”
“I can’t stab someone, Patsy!” Wes cried, staring in disgust at the knife as if I’d just handed him a wet fish.
“Just in case.” I leaned forward and pecked his lips. They were cold and rigid. When I tried to pull away, he wrapped me in his meaty arms. “I have to go, mo mhuirnín,” I said, kissing the side of his face as he held on. “Goin’ now.” I reluctantly pulled out of his embrace.
“Blast!” I picked out Alain’s voice, a posh British drawl I’d recognize anywhere. “There’s another bloody body here.”
“Report position, Joy!” Candy shouted through the coms.
“West end of the camp…not far from where the second body was found this morning.” Alain replied. “Good God! What the devil? This poor sod’s been badly beaten and strangled, Captain…just like the others.”
“Wait for me there, Joy. I’m on my way.” Candy’s pounding footsteps could be heard as his long legs no doubt ate up the distance between Alain and himself.
“I’m here with Joy, Captain,” Nash said. “Yeah, this is our guy. The killer left him just like the first guy Snickers and I found at the latrines this morning.”
Candy shouted back. “Affirmative. Patsy? Wes? Report in,” he yelled.
“We’re good as gold. We’re here, boss.” I crawled to the mouth of the tent and zipped it open before poking my head out. The fire was kitty-corner to our place across the road. The camp was chaotic. People screaming and mass panic going on around us. If Wes weren’t with me, I’d have bolted over to join my brothers already. I looked back over my shoulder. He seemed to sense my faffing about at leaving him because he instantly crawled over to me on hands and knees.
“Go do what you have to do.” Wes held up the knife. “I have this and clearly, the serial killer is busy elsewhere tonight. I promise not to leave.”
I hesitated, knowing he was probably right. I stared into his eyes only for a moment before making up my mind. “Love ya.”
“I love you too!” He patted my bum.
The last thing I noticed before ducking through the tent flap was his expression of sheer determination. I zipped the tent shut and ran out into the camp, praying he’d be safe. Over by the fire, Napoleon squatted, bent over a prone form with smoke rising up from the blackened clothing.
“Shit!” Napoleon threw an arm up over his face. “That smells rank.”
He was right. The scent of burning flesh brought back long buried memories of Afghanistan, firefights, and horrors I wish I’d never witnessed. I bent over Napoleon. “Is he dead, mate?”
“Dead, yeah, but this one wasn’t strangled,” Napoleon said. “Look.”
I bent to see where he’d pointed. A vicious looking slash to the neck had ended his life in an instant. The strong odor of accelerant rose up from the man’s jacket. “Bloody hell.”
“Candy, we’ve got another body here,” Napoleon said into the coms. “He didn’t die like the others. Dr. Reeves was right. The killer is decompensating.”
“Where are you?” Candy shouted over the bedlam.
“I’m with Patsy about twenty feet from his tent.”
“Stay there. I’m coming to you,” Candy shouted.
“Roger, Captain.”
I glanced back over my shoulder toward the tent. It looked the same as when I’d left it with the zipper closed. A shiver ran over me as I turned around just in time to see Candy barreling toward us. He frowned at me. “Where’s Chaudry?”
I shot the tent another look before looking back at Candy. “Safe. I left him in the tent less than a minute ago.”
“He’s wearing his coms?”
I nodded. “We slept with them in.”
“Wes!” Candy said into the earwig. “Come in, Wes.”
