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to drive past this pillar to the exit.
    It was over an hour later before Nicole came. Julie listened until her heels stopped clicking on the tarmac, the car door slammed and the engine revved. She risked a quick look and saw the wheels start to move. It was time.
    Counting under her breath as she had done every night this week until she had got the timing right, Julie closed her eyes and stepped out in front of Nicole’s car.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    A frisson of excitement shot through him as he watched the other one step in front of the woman’s sports car. His heartbeat quickened in time with the motorbike engine which throbbed between his thighs. His palms were sweaty inside his leather gauntlets and a fine mist gathered inside his visor.
    Such an emotional reaction surprised him. But gradually his pulse slowed and he started to wonder why the other one would have done such a thing.
    Once he had identified the chosen one, it had been like it always was when he was on a mission. He had followed her, learning her routines, watching her, and remaining unseen.
    But he had not anticipated the other one; this other woman who also watched and followed his chosen one. Why would she do that? Was she also on a mission? A mist seeped into his brain and he shook his head to clear it. He had to retain clarity of purpose, and surely he would have known. God would have told him.
    But the other one was there and there was no doubt in his mind that she also was watching and waiting. Intrigued, he had followed them both.
    And now this! There was no reason for it. To deliberately step out in front of the car was an act of stupidity.
    Nicole, for that was her name, was shaking as she got out of her car. It would only take a moment to rev the engine of the motorbike and send her flying into purgatory, just as she had done with the other one. But he restrained himself. It was too early and there was much to be done. She had not suffered enough.
    He revved the motorbike engine and sped past her as she bent over the body.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    The stiletto heel of Nicole’s shoe snapped when she floored the brake pedal. Her heart pounded and adrenalin zipped through her body. Christ, there was no way she’d be able to stop the car before she hit the bloody woman. There was a thud and the engine cut out as the car shuddered to a stop. Nicole stared unbelievingly through the windscreen, but the woman was no longer to be seen.
    The knot of sickness gathering in Nicole’s stomach rose until she tasted bile at the back of her throat. She must have hit her. She tried to get out of the car, but was overcome by a severe dose of the shakes. Closing her eyes Nicole rested her head on the steering wheel. Where had the woman come from? One minute she had been driving out of the car park as usual and the next there was this woman right in front of her car. Christ, maybe she’d killed her.
    If only the shaking would stop she would be able to find out. She gulped in a mouthful of air. Deep breathing, that was the answer. It always helped her when she had to present her ideas to the board. But this was not a bloody board meeting. This was something entirely different. Something she had never experienced before.
    Gradually her breathing calmed and she gained enough control of her nerves to stumble out of the car. Swearing under her breath, she hobbled round the bonnet. And that was when the shakes hit her again, for the woman was lying on the ground and she was not moving.
    ‘Christ!’ Nicole muttered, falling to her knees. Grasping the woman’s wrist she felt for a pulse, but could not find it. Either she was dead or she had not found the correct spot. She sat back on her heels, feeling vulnerable and at a loss. What would other people do in a situation like this?
    A motor bike roared past and she stood up, waving her hands at the rider to stop. But he kept going.
    Sinking back to her knees, she placed her hand on the woman’s chest. She could not detect