Chapter 4

Dakota dropped her water bottle onto the hood of the car. She jogged toward the curve in the highway. Her boots crushed the dead leaves on the shoulder.

She rounded the bend. A massive black Maybach sat diagonally across the two lanes. Its hazard lights blinked rapidly, casting orange flashes against the trees.

The rear passenger door was wide open. A group of people clustered around the asphalt next to the rear tire. Panic radiated from them.

Dakota walked closer. A middle-aged woman lay flat on her back on the rough road. She wore a silk dress that pooled around her legs.

The woman, Audrey Wilder, was suffocating. Her face was the color of ash. Her lips were a deep, bruised purple. Her hands clawed desperately at the fabric over her chest. Her chest barely moved.

A younger woman, Tiffany Draper, knelt beside Audrey. Tiffany wore a designer suit. Tears ruined her makeup.

"Somebody do something," Tiffany screamed at the men in black suits standing around them. "I will pay one million dollars to anyone who saves her."

A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses knelt on the other side of Audrey. He was sweating profusely. A leather medical bag sat open next to his knees. His hands shook violently as he dug through the compartments.

Dakota stopped at the edge of the circle. Her eyes locked onto Audrey's neck. She watched the faint, erratic flutter of the jugular vein. She noted the exact shade of purple on Audrey's lips.

Dakota's brain processed the symptoms instantly. This was not a heart attack. The muscle spasms in Audrey's neck and the specific discoloration pointed to acute cardiogenic shock caused by a rare neurotoxin.

The doctor finally pulled a plastic syringe from his bag. The needle was long and thick. He drew a clear liquid from a vial. Epinephrine. Adrenaline.

The doctor raised the syringe. He aimed the needle directly at the center of Audrey's chest, preparing to plunge it straight into her heart muscle.

Dakota's stomach dropped. If that adrenaline hit a heart failing from neurotoxins, the organ would overwork and rupture in seconds.

Dakota moved. She didn't push. She dropped low with fluid grace, striking the inside of each man's knee with a sharp, incredibly precise blow. The bodyguards grunted as their legs buckled instantly under the targeted impact, creating an immediate opening she slipped right through.

She dropped to her knees. Her right hand shot out and clamped around the doctor's wrist just as he drove the needle downward.

A loud pop echoed as the bones in the doctor's wrist ground together. He let out a sharp cry of pain. The needle stopped one inch above Audrey's silk dress.

The doctor yanked his head up. His face was red with fury.

"What are you doing?" the doctor yelled. "Get off me."

Dakota twisted her grip. She applied pressure to the nerve cluster in his wrist. The doctor's fingers went numb and popped open. Dakota snatched the syringe out of the air.

She held the syringe up. The sunlight caught the sharp edge of the needle.

"If you push this into her chest, she will be dead in three seconds," Dakota said. Her voice cut through the panic like a blade.

Tiffany scrambled to her feet. She pointed a shaking finger at Dakota's faded jacket.

"Who the hell are you?" Tiffany shrieked. "Look at you. You look like a homeless beggar. How dare you touch her doctor."

The doctor grabbed his injured wrist. He scrambled backward.

"She is trying to kill the patient," the doctor shouted to the guards. "If Audrey dies, it is this crazy woman's fault."

The bodyguards recovered their balance. They reached under their suit jackets. The metallic click of telescopic batons extending filled the air. Four men formed a tight ring around Dakota.

The air grew heavy. The men glared down at her, ready to strike.

Audrey's body suddenly arched off the pavement. A horrible, wet choking sound came from her throat. The portable heart monitor attached to her wrist began to beep rapidly.

Dakota ignored the men looming over her. She tossed the syringe onto the asphalt. It rolled away. She looked directly into Tiffany's panicked eyes.

"I am the only person here who can keep her alive," Dakota said.