Chapter 101

Michael Steel watched from the rafters of the old warehouse. He had worked his way up into the dank and dusty old beams carefully and quietly. It had taken precious time. Time that he knew he might not have had.

There was just enough light filtering in through the clouded window panes of the warehouse's old roll-up door for him to see. The scene below him was eerie enough without the criss-cross pattern of shadows on the floor. Steel slowed his breathing even further than he already had. He slowed his heartbeat down to what should have been dangerous. He relaxed, centering himself, and he waited.

Below him, sprawled onto the damp and dusty floor, was a young woman. She was about 18, Michael figured. She was pretty, but not beautiful. Plain was the descriptive word, with her brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She was dressed in a short vinyl skirt and a one-strapped tank top. Steel noticed that the half-shirt had been pulled low, revealing a bare left breast. The skin t