Page 184 of Forever Dead

Selena reached the door and pulled it open.

The security chain snapped tight, leaving a gap of only a few inches.

She pushed the door back toward the frame and reached for the chain. Footsteps rushed behind her.

Foss’s palm struck the wood beside her head, slamming the door shut.

Selena swung the cane across his forearm. He withdrew his hand, but remained between her and the chain. The study opened beside them. She backed through its doorway and put the desk between herself and the hall.

She could not reach the front door without passing him.

At the study’s second doorway, leading toward the dining room, she stopped to listen.

Her breathing sounded too loud.

Something brushed the other side of the desk. Selena held still.

“Where are you going?” Foss called.

The voice seemed to come from the hall, or perhaps the room she had just left. The mask distorted the words enough that she could not place him precisely.

Selena edged toward the dining room. A narrow wash of outdoor light entered through the curtains. Chairs stood around a long table, and a sideboard occupied the far wall.

Her phone.

She reached into her jacket before remembering it striking the laboratory floor. She had left it beside the table.

A shoe scraped the hall runner.

Selena slipped behind the dining-room door and pressed herself against the wall. The cane trembled slightly in her hand.

Footsteps approached, slow and unhurried.

Foss appeared in the doorway, the mask entering first.

Selena held her breath.

He stood there for several seconds, then moved on.

She waited until the footsteps faded. One second. Two. Three.

Selena stepped out.

A hand shot through the darkness.

She swung the cane hard. Foss caught the shaft and pulled her toward him.

Selena went with the movement and drove her elbow into his ribs. He grunted, his grip loosening. She jerked the cane free and pushed past before he could catch it again.

The kitchen lay ahead.

There had to be a rear door.

Selena reached it and grabbed the handle.

Locked.

A deadbolt sat above it. She turned it, but the door still did not move. Another bolt had been fitted at the top of the frame, too high to reach quickly with the injured leg.