Closer Than You Think Read Online Free PDF

reached for it. ‘Yes?’ she asked, her voice raspy and raw from the screaming.
    ‘Dr Corcoran, are you all right? One of the guests on your floor reported hearing a scream.’
    Her cheeks heated in humiliation. ‘I’m fine,’ she lied. ‘I had a bad dream. I’m sorry I bothered the other guests.’
    Faith replaced the phone in the cradle, then got out of bed and turned on the television, keeping the sound low while she found the box containing her Xbox, and unpacked its contents.
    A few minutes later she was settling on the floor, controller in hand, picking up the game where she’d left off the last time she had the nightmare.
    ‘It’s time to kill us some zombies,’ she murmured, because trying to sleep after the nightmare was an exercise in futility. This she’d learned twenty-three very long years ago.

Chapter Two
     
    Cincinnati, Ohio, Monday 3 November, 8.45 A.M.
     
    She’d wised up, he thought, watching Faith take a ticket at the entrance to a parking garage near Fountain Square. All the attempts he’d made on her life had made her careful.
    Good for her. Bad for me. He’d finally found her in a long-term-stay hotel with valet parking, which had kept her Jeep out of his sight. He’d waited all night until she reappeared. Once he caught her, she’d pay for the sleepless nights she’d caused.
    She’d finally come through the hotel’s front door an hour ago, dressed to the nines in an emerald-green suit and matching heels. At first he’d assumed she was going to see her attorney, but she hadn’t. Instead she’d driven into the heart of downtown. Where she was still being careful. The parking garage she’d chosen had cameras at the entrance. Probably on every floor.
    It was centrally located on one of the busiest blocks in the city, so she could walk to her destination, losing herself among the pedestrians. He was unlikely to catch her alone, but that was okay. He wasn’t going to kill her here anyway – it would be insanity to even consider it. He was biding his time until he could lure her to an isolated spot. One that was not near his basement.
    He followed her into the garage, unconcerned with the camera that snapped his picture when he took a ticket from the machine. His face was disguised and no one could link him to the Tennessee license plates on his van. The plates had been taken off a car driven by a drifter who’d decided that because the O’Bannions had abandoned their house, he could use it as his personal hotel. That had been a bad decision. The drifter hadn’t lasted nearly as long as the woman currently tied to his table. He’d screamed like a little girl at the first slice of the knife.
    The memory made him eager to return to Arianna. Patience. He’d be able to enjoy his newest guests once he took care of Faith. Now that he’d located her, he wouldn’t have to take the drastic step of evacuating the house.
    He slowly rounded a corner in the garage, pretending to look for a space when he was really looking for Faith’s red Jeep. Instead, he saw Faith’s red hair.
    There she was in her vivid green suit, a dark coat draped over one arm, crossing the garage right in front of him. She dropped her keys and bent over to pick them up, and he had to stem the urge to gun his engine. She was the perfect target. End her. Now.
    But that would be beyond stupid. The garage was busy this time of the morning. He probably wouldn’t make it to the street before the cops were on his tail. She couldn’t just disappear like the others. The cops would search all the places she’d recently been. Which included the cemetery, and the house. So stick to the plan. She wasn’t worth risking everything.
    He parked the van and, getting out slowly, made a show of gripping his cane as he closed the door. Shuffling with his back hunched, he knew he looked every day of ninety. A full beard covered his face, spectacles covered his eyes, and a hat covered his head. And as always, gloves covered his