The Dying Breath: A Forensic Mystery

He ran a hand through his hair then clasped the wheel. His posture was military, so straight the small of his back did not touch the upholstery. Blond hair stood from his head like an areola, longer than it had been when she’d last seen him. The features on his face seemed coarser, more hardened, his skin darkened by days lived in the open. With a lazy flick of his finger he turned on the blinker and coasted slowly out of the parking lot, stopping properly, checking the traffic in both directions before moving on at the proper speed. There was nothing about the two of them that would draw anyone’s attention as he turned onto Greene Street.
    “See, Cammie, last time, when I had you in my chicken coop, I didn’t kill you. I walked away. I gave you a chance. But I won’t do that again. This time it’s just you and me and eternity.”
    Cameryn could feel her mouth widen in horror.
    “See, the thing is, I’m tired of the game. I want to end it but I want it to be memorable. So I’ll take you with me. It will be poetic. Me and my anam cara .”
    “ Stop calling me that .”
    “I will call you whatever I want.”
    It was stupid to fight him, but she tried. If she was going to die it would not be passively sitting in the seat of a car. With her left arm flailing in a fist, she hit him as hard as she could, for Justin, for herself, and, for her mother and father and her mammaw. But he caught her fingers in his right hand and squeezed so hard she felt the bones crunch as she screamed in real pain.
    “Don’t do that, Cammie,” he said coolly. “I’m driving and it’s not safe. My, my, my, you are a hellcat, aren’t you?”
    “Let me go !” she said, swearing. Her fingers throbbed as he clamped down harder. And even though she didn’t want to, she cried out again.
    “That’s not appropriate language from my anam cara .” Dropping her hand, Kyle looked at her, his eyes amused. “The thing is, you’re not in a position to tell me what to do, Cameryn Mahoney. You are my Angel of Death. And I own my angel.”
    What does that mean? Frantically, she searched for anyone who could help her. Her left hand, almost useless, could still signal someone’s attention. In February, though, the plowed streets of Silverton were strangely empty, and the storefronts stood shuttered like pastel-colored ghosts. She searched for cars, trucks, pedestrians, anyone who might see her thrashing. Nothing. They might as well have been driving through a cemetery.
    Moments later they left the buildings behind them and had reached the fork at the end of town. He carefully turned on his signal and headed north. Mountain peaks loomed above her, towering granite capped by a shimmering pearl white layer of snow. Overhead the blue sky mocked her. Spruce trees, dark green against the white, marched away from her up the mountainside, their legions a useless army. She struggled against the zip tie but it held her fast. Her heart was pounding, her breath coming in short gasps. The ends of her fingers were turning white as the strong plastic tie dug into her flesh and she thought of animals gnawing off their own limbs in order to be free. If she could, she would do it to free herself from this monster. But the knife was out of reach and there was nothing she could do.
    Exultant, Kyle crowed, “Do you know how much preparation this took? Weeks of thinking. Weeks of planning.” A strange smile twisted his almost perfect features, distorting them so that she wondered that she’d ever thought him handsome. “I knew you were lying to me the whole time. I knew they would make you say what you did. Cammie, I was outside your house the whole time, watching.”
    Through stone lips she whispered, “But you called me from Leather Ed’s phone. . . .”
    “No, I used a spoofcard. Mobile invisibility.” He tapped the side of his head. “It’s all about the technology. A spoofcard subverts the caller ID system.” He spoke to her as though he had to make it simple enough for a child. “I turned on Leather Ed’s cell phone and left it there at the mine. They’ve probably found the phone by now, but”—he frowned comically—“they won’t find me.”
    “I. Don’t. Care.” She put a space between every word.
    “But you should!” His golden eyebrows shot up on his forehead. “I’m probably the only one you know who’s smarter than you. And now the game really begins.”
    Cameryn’s mind raced. Feelings whirled around her head in a