He wanted her to scoop them up and run to her car. It’s the obvious thing to do. Even Rick said it just now.

“Sadie?” he says. “What’s happening? Are you in the car yet?”

“No.”

“Please hurry! And let me know when you’re safe.”

“The keys,” she says.

“What about them?”

“You honestly didn’t put them on the counter this morning?”

“No, of course not.”

“Neither did I.”

“So?”

“Think about it.”

He does. “Shit, you’re right. Stay out of the garage! Go out the back door and run to Carol’s.”

“But—”

“You’re not safe at home, Sadie! Run to Carol’s.”

“You’re scaring me!”

“You need to be scared. Listen: I’m giving you a task. Get out of the house. Run to Carol’s. Tell her to lock her doors and get her gun.”

“You’ll meet me at Carol’s?”

“Yes. I’m leaving the office right now. I’m calling 911.”

“Okay. Hurry!”

“I’m on my way.”

Sadie hangs up, races out the back door, sprints across the deck, but hears heavy footsteps coming up behind her. She screams, makes the split-second decision to vault the railing instead of negotiating the four steps that lead to the yard. It was a good idea, possibly a life-saving one, except that her trailing leg catches the top spindle and sends her plummeting face-first onto the grass. Sadie hits and rolls, looks up just in time to see….

Nothing.

There’s no one there.

Had she really heard footsteps?

Absolutely. There’s no doubt. Unless…

Unless they were the echo of her own footsteps.

Stupid! she thinks. She could have broken an ankle.

Sadie scrambles to a sitting position and darts her eyes around nervously, like a squirrel in a yard full of dogs.

Everything feels safe. Now that she thinks about it, even the house felt safe when she was on the phone with Rick. But the garage?

Not so safe.

The killer’s in the garage. Has to be in the garage. She can feel it. He’s in there now, possibly in the back seat of her car, waiting for her. Should she go back in the house and lock the door? Try to trap him there till the police show up?

No. She shakes her head at her stupidity. He’s probably got a key to the house. And if not, he could still kick the door open and get her.

Rick’s right. Safe thing is go to Carol’s. And quickly.

So why’s she sitting on her ass in the back yard?

Because she can’t help wondering what the killer has planned for her. Will he attack her suddenly, like an urban looter after a police shooting? Or rape her methodically, over time, like a Senate reform bill? Will he force her in the trunk of her own car and drive to a secluded spot? Make her dig her own grave?

Sadie shakes the scary thoughts away and concentrates on what she knows: one, someone’s trying to kill her. Two, she’s got a short window of time to get to Carol’s. Three, Carol’s got a gun and knows how to use it.

She presses Carol’s number on speed-dial and puts the phone on speaker. Then gets to her feet and starts running.