| ings. As the man stepped back in front of the chair, her left hand broke free. |
| A grim smile appeared on his face. "You think you're going to get away from me?" In one hand he carried the knife, in the other a pink electrical cord from the mixer she had saved so long for. Then it struck her. He was going to strangle her in some awful way, just like the victims in dog-eared police detective books that she hungrily devoured on the bus to work each morning. |
| He crouched silently down before her, and in a deceptively deft maneuver slipped off her right shoe. The man retrieved the knife from the floor, where he had placed it to remove her shoe. Her body shuddered with fear. This was the end. Tightly squeezing her eyelids, she hoped to block out the forthcoming pain. |
| With one swift movement, the man cut through her stocking. Taking one end of the cord, the stranger split the insulation down the middle without baring completely the copper strands. He fastened it to her small, slightly warped toe. Satisfied with his handiwork, he firmly plugged the cord in an outlet behind her. |
| "Now, let's see how many tunes you sing." Without warning, he roughly grabbed her free hand, forcing it downward. Slowly he ran his tongue across his finger, and when it glistened with moisture, he rubbed the tender inner crook of her elbow. |
| "No one. Just the professor," she murmured. "I told you already." |
| Moving his face close enough to hers to detect the fuzz in her nostrils, he demanded, "Are you sure?" He believed she didn't know anything more, but couldn't take any chances. "Tell me who else used the files?" |
| Before she could reply, he momentarily touched the other end of the wire to her arm. Any longer and it would have killed her. She screamed in pain. Her free hand kicked up involuntarily, digging its sharp nails into his face. It caught him completely by surprise. Angrily, in unthinking retaliation, he jammed the wire into her chest. He watched transfixed as the current coursed through her quivering body, as though a terrible, uncontrollable chill had seized her. His mind restored control. He pulled back. It was too late. |
| He cursed the lifeless form and his own stupidity. "It's too bad," |
|
