Nikki hung up the phone and scrambled toward the desk to pack up the pictures and computer disks she’d left scattered around.
The bells at the door sang. Sedna couldn’t be that fast. She looked up and saw she was right—it wasn’t Sedna at the door. A tall man in a hoodie charged at her. She swung her handbag at him. She hit him furiously and continuously as the contents of her bag fell out and onto the ground.
Sedna couldn’t be that fast. The man tried to grab her but couldn’t because of her flailing arms and swinging bag. Keep that up, she told herself. She kept pummeling him, withdrawing toward the door as she did so. But before she could reach it, she felt the sharp blade of a knife invade her chest. She looked down to see lots of blood flowing from her as the man in the hood dropped t
