The Dying Breath: A Forensic Mystery

before you drive off the pass, there’s something you should know. . . .”

Chapter Sixteen

    “YOU’RE LYING,” KYLE said. “You want me to believe that there’s something I should know.” His words seemed to taunt her as he clutched the wheel so hard the vessels seemed to pop from beneath the skin of his hands.
    Cameryn took a breath, trying to clear her mind in a wild bid to buy time. She could feel the seconds of her life were ticking away, each second, each heartbeat, each breath, almost her last. Fear rose and bloomed so large she could barely exhale. Control, she told herself. Stay in control.
    “So what is it?” Kyle snorted with contempt. “Nothing, right? You’re trying to buy some time. A pathetic attempt, Cammie. I expected better from my anam cara .”
    When she couldn’t answer, he said, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. See, there’s nothing you can do. I’ve already covered all the bases. Kyle O’Neil is calling the shots, just like always.”
    “No—I just don’t know how to put what I’m thinking into words. Please slow down.”
    In reply, Kyle pushed the petal harder; the engine whined in protest as the trees streamed past in streaks of green.
    “ Kyle!”
    “Relax, we’re almost there.” He leaned forward so that his chest brushed the steering wheel, his face manic, intent, his eyes narrowed to slits. “You can see into my mind by what I’ll leave behind. You and me, crushed to pieces on the rocks below. I’m thinking the car might explode and then all they’ll find will be ashes. Instant cremation. What a way to go.”
    “Don’t—”
    “Why not? I’m not afraid to die.” A sadistic energy emanated from his erect body, and with one hand he gestured wildly. “ Everybody dies, remember—mortality rate stands at one hundred percent. It’s all about making a statement . Whoo!” He pumped his fist in the air. “Yeah!”
    “Aren’t you scared about what comes after?”
    He glanced quickly at her, his eyes alight with a strange gleam. “You mean hell? If there is a hell, I’m running it. I’m smarter than the devil, Cammie. Haven’t you noticed that I never kill in a common way—man, I have a signature ! Exotic deaths. They’ll write about me forever , in their pointless little journals about the psychopathic mind. But like I said, I’m tired of playing. Now I just want to win. And I want to take you along for the ride.” He made a tsk ing sound between his teeth. “Me an only child, and you raised all alone. Both of us are drawn to death and now we’ll be going there together, sailing beyond straight into the other side. It’s perfect.”
    “This doesn’t have to end!” She was screaming now. Pleading with someone who didn’t seem to feel, her words falling like petals against stone.
    “Yes,” he said calmly. “I think it does.”
    Outside she saw a meadow unfold before her, the tall stalks of yellow grass peeking out of the snow like the bristles of a golden brush. They were driving through the one last open expanse before the final descent into Ouray, to the sheer cliff of the Ruby Walls, the place where she and Kyle would die. Mount Abrams rose to the east: an amphitheater of rock touching the sky dome, void of trees, glistening as though it had been topped with pastillage.
    He was going fast, much too fast, on this last straight stretch of road. Only moments to make a plan.
    “Kyle, listen to me. No, just listen.” There was desperation in her voice that she couldn’t control. “Back in the cemetery, when you kissed me, something happened.”
    “Really.” He gave her a strange half smile. “And what was it that happened to you, Cammie? What feeling did I unlock?”
    “I think—I think it was the way that you said we both are drawn to death. But I don’t think we need to die, Kyle.” She placed her swollen left hand on his thigh. Her stomach roiled as she touched him, but she could see no other way than this. “I think we can both live. I know we can. We don’t have to go off the mountainside. You and me—we can be together.”
    He laughed hollowly. “And how would that look to the outside world? Cameryn Mahoney and her little zip tie, following me around like a dog on a plastic leash. Or do you think no one would notice the binding?”
    “No, Kyle.” Her head whipped from the road to his face as she tugged against the plastic cord, helpless, trapped. Images, maybe the last she would ever see, streaked by, so much beauty in