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side.
    It was empty, but wet from recent use.
    “Lilly, this is not funny! You need to answer me!”
    Exiting, he turned to the master bedroom. The door was closed. His chest was heavy with fear. Placing his hand on the latch, he paused.
    He withdrew it and knocked.
    “Lilly, it’s Kadin. Are you sleeping?”
    He pounded harder.
    “Lilly!”
    The metal knob was as cold as his feet.
    The fear of changing all he knew and all he hoped for paralyzed him.
    Lord, I am begging you …
    He opened the door and stepped in.
    Lilly was on her bed, posed as a corpse in the coffin. She was nude, but covered in a crisp white sheet that was folded over her breasts and tucked beneath her arms. He swallowed thick mucus and walked to the bed.
    Reaching down, he placed two fingers on the inner aspect of her wrist and waited. Her warm skin reassured him. The fast, steady pulsation beneath his fingertips proof her heart was beating. The rise and fall of her chest confirmed she was breathing.
    He grabbed her shoulder and shook her.
    “Lilly!”
    Her black hair covered her face. With gentle motions, he smoothed it away and tucked it behind her ears as she preferred to wear it.
    It was then he noticed the bruising—anger-inflicted patches of red and blue. Grab marks surrounded both her upper arms. Her right eye was tense with edema. The swelling so tight he couldn’t examine the pupil. The left eye appeared untouched.
    He pried it open with gentle fingers.
    The pupil, swallowed in a blue halo, was small and pinpoint. It ticked back and forth like a fast-paced metronome.
    He knelt beside her.
    “Lilly, I need you to wake!”
    Reaching again for his phone, he dialed 911. The numbers blurred through his welling eyes. At that moment, his heart racing from massive adrenaline release, he realized he could no longer stand in judgment of any patient’s family member when they acted irrationally. His close emotional connection with Lilly superseded his years of medical training.
    “Police, fire, or ambulance?”
    “I don’t know … I need everybody,” he said, choking back tears.
    “What’s the emergency?”
    “My friend … she’s been attacked.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his free hand. “I think she’s been drugged. She’s not responding to me.”
    “Sir, is she breathing?”
    “Yes.”
    “What’s the address?”
    “1225 Aspen Circle.”
    “Is the intruder still there?”
    “I don’t think so. Please, can you hurry?”
    “We are sir, we’re coming.”
    “I’m scared for her.”
    “Stay on the phone …”
    He muddled through the rest of the questions. The next thing Kadin registered was the firm hand of a police officer on his shoulder and the man gently easing the phone from his grip.

Chapter 7
    N ATHAN RACED THE stairs two at a time. He paused at the crime scene entryway and began a cursory exam of the door. Pulling on a pair of latex gloves, he ran his hand lightly over the frame, noting receptacles for three deadbolts. Every edge was clean and untroubled.
    The day he was expecting had arrived.
    He had no doubt that victim number five was inside.
    Two paramedics with a woman secured to their gurney neared him. He stepped to the side, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.
    “Hey, Mike. How is she?” Nathan asked, the woman unmoving under his touch.
    “Hanging in there. Looks like he hit her with some weird drug. Blood pressure and heart rate are sky high but stable.”
    “Got a name?”
    “She’s one of ours,” Raul answered, securing the belts tighter.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Dr. Lilly Reeves. Works in the ER at SMC,” Mike answered, shifting the free-flowing IV bag to his other hand. “We run into her all the time.”
    A vision of this woman in a different dress and manner flashed into his mind. She had stood in front of him with a fist firm to his chest, preventing him from questioning Torrence Campbell. Bringing his hand to his forehead, he rubbed his fingers hard over his