No Refuge

N O R E F U G E (A Valerie Law FBI Suspense Thriller —Book Seven) B L A K E P I E R C E CONTENTS PROLOGUE CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY ONE CHAPTER TWENTY TWO CHAPTER TWENTY THREE CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY SIX CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN EPILOGUE PROLOGUE Agent Valerie Law felt her skin crawl as she stepped into the dark hallway, the heavy, metal doors clanging shut behind her. The walls were cold and bare, but something told her that this place was not barren. Her own footsteps echoed off the walls like a thousand whispering secrets, urging her to press on. Her heart thudded in anticipation as she approached the final door at the end of the corridor, the small sign beside it reading "Tobias Masley." It was a name from her past. The name of a man, a brutal killer, she didn't want to face again, but fate had led her there to that meeting, and fate, as Valerie had learned, was not to be avoided but met head on with courage. Valerie looked at her watch. A whirlwind of pressure was building inside her mind. Not only was she about to face a dangerous killer from her past, but her personal life was invading her thoughts too. Her mother was still in psychiatric care, and she had promised that she would be there today before visiting hours finished. Now, she wasn't certain if she would make it. Her heart ached at the thought of missing out on seeing her mom. But as she had often done, Valerie had to take her mind away from her personal life and focus on the job of being an FBI profiler. It was a career of sacrifices for the common good. She paused for a moment before gripping the handle of the door before her and pushing forward into the unknown. Then she went inside. Valerie stood in a small room, furnished with just a single chair and a table, alongside an unmade bunk. A guard with broad shoulders and a pencil thin moustache nodded at her from the corner of the room, standing almost to attention in her presence. They didn't often get visits from FBI agents. At the table sat Tobias Masley, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit. His sharp chin and high cheekbones gave him a sculpted face, like the grim figurehead on a statue gone bad. His dark eyes glimmered like onyx despite the stark fluorescent light above. Valerie walked slowly towards the table, and she felt a chill run down her spine. This was the first time she had seen Tobias since she and her colleagues had arrested him seven years ago. She had been the one who caught him, and she still remembered the look of hatred on his face as he realized that his reign of terror had come to an end. The irony of it all was that she caught him while working as a grunt, doing the questioning and canvassing of areas the higher ups didn't bother with. She caught him during her investigation, and it had gotten her noticed. It was a glowing star on her resume, even now as a seasoned agent in her early thirties. It had opened doors for her. It led her to chasing fugitives with Charlie in their previous assignment, then to the failure of the Clawstitch Killer case, and—finally—to the redemption of the Criminal Psychopathy Unit. There was a guilt deep within Valerie. She was glad she had caught Tobias, he was extremely dangerous, but what happened to him after ... was unnecessary. Valerie took the chair opposite Tobias and placed her briefcase on the table. She noticed that he was staring at her, and she knew he had been expecting her visit. She felt a sudden wave of regret mixed with frustration, but she pushed both deep down inside. She had come here to glean an important piece of information from Tobias, and she couldn't let her own feelings get in the way. “I'd say it's good to see you, Agent Law,” Tobias said in a sinister tone, “but I'd be much happier with my hands around your neck.” “You had your chance when I arrested you years ago,” Valerie said, trying to erase the memory of a rooftop tussle from her mind. Sometimes, she had nightmares about it—Tobias grinning, trying to push her to her death. “I think,” he said leaning over, “that you want to be in my company about as much as I want to be in yours. Why have you come to this hellhole?” She opened her briefcase and pulled out a photograph. She placed it on the table in front of Tobias and asked, "Do you recognize this man?" Tobias stared at the photograph. It showed a man in his forties with a full head of gray hair and rough stubble. His face was worn, but there was a hint of a smile in his eyes. He was surrounded by family and close friends. After a moment of looking at the face in the photograph, Tobias finally nodded. "Yes," he said, "I recognize him. That's Daniel Long." Valerie kept her adrenaline in check. A breakthrough—he was at least conceding that he knew the man in the image. "And what happened to Daniel Long?" Valerie then asked, knowing full well the answer. Tobias smirked, a twisted smile full of disdain seeping out from cheek to cheek. "He was found strangled in a field two years before I was arrested," he said, his voice like ice, his face cold and unfeeling. Valerie looked at him, holding back her contempt for what he had done. His careless attitude incensed her, but she knew she had to remain