Chapter 2 Holly
HOLLY
Ichecked the reference image of Dr. Jorge Ibarra from Google on my phone one more time before stepping into the busy cafe.
Attractive man with dark hair in his forties, on vacation with his wife.
So he wouldn’t be wearing a suit and tie.
All of the tables were full, many with couples on vacation, but they were clearly tourists.
I pulled up my email again, but I didn’t have a phone signal to reload my inbox. Hopefully the cafe provided Wi-Fi. Damn it, I should’ve given him my phone number so he could text me. I flagged down one of the harried servers. “Dr. Ibarra?”
The woman shook her head and rushed toward the front of the cafe. Then straight out the door. She yelled something but I didn’t quite understand. People started to stand, jostling me. Someone screamed.
Then I smelled smoke.
Fire. No wonder she’d been in a hurry. She’d run from the kitchen.
Panic spread as the customers all tried to get out the front exit. Smoke thickened, choking me, burning my eyes, making it difficult to see.
“Holly.” Someone grabbed my arm. “This way!”
My eyes watered so badly I couldn’t see the man’s face.
I covered my nose and mouth with my arm and stumbled after him, sliding along the wall, past the crowd of panicked customers, to what looked like an office area.
A side door. We stumbled out into a dingy back alley.
Gasping for fresh air, I bent over a moment, blinking the tears out of my eyes.
Something wasn’t right. I kept my head down, pretending to still be fighting for breath, while my mind raced.
There’s no way Dr. Ibarra would be able to recognize me. My image wasn’t included on the initial email I sent, and it wasn’t on the campus website either.
I hadn’t seen a woman with him. He wouldn’t save a random American college student and leave his wife to die in a fire.
Which just so happened to be in the place we’d agreed to meet this morning.
Forcing out another series of coughs, I slipped the backpack strap off my left shoulder, letting all its weight slide down to my right. I locked my fingers around the top loop, mentally preparing to swing the heavy bag straight at his head.
Something shoved me reeling backward. Slammed my back into the stone wall hard enough debris and pebbles rained down on me.
My head thumped against the rock, stunning me.
I didn’t feel hands on me. Nothing, actually.
Just… air. I couldn’t see anything. I tried to raise my hands defensively, but it felt like my brain was completely disengaged from my body.
I couldn’t command my muscles to move. Did he paralyze me? Drug me?
Short, frantic breaths only increased my confusion. My fear. Calm down. Breathe. You can’t escape if you’re hyperventilating.
“Now, now, Miss Price, there’s no reason to make this difficult.”
Oh god. I recognized that voice. I couldn’t see his face, but I’d know that overly charming yet sinister tone anywhere.
The memory of Snyder’s death flashed through my mind again.
His forearm locked around Natalie’s throat.
The satisfying thud of my foot against his balls.
I’d kicked him with all my strength, as if I could split him in half and shove his balls up beneath his ribs.
Seconds before the T-rex’s jaws snapped closed on him.
One big gulp. A lingering bloody stump of an arm still draped on Natalie’s shoulders.
Dr. James Snyder’s human body had been destroyed.
But the DSC agent remained.
I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound would come out. So I screamed inside my head, hoping the mrions might hear. Natalie! Snyder’s back! He’s here! Run!
The darkness spread like a cold, dead weight, and I was gone.