The automatic doors of St. Joseph Hospital in Hollywood whooshed open and Bethany stepped out into the muggy summer night. She balanced on the curb in her navy scrubs and rubber-soled clogs. It was creepy being alone on Sunset Boulevard in the middle of the night.

Bethany should have left with her co-workers forty minutes ago but old Mr. Carson in 214-B had an airway obstruction that required intubation. So here she was, on the street and alone at one o’clock in the morning.

The nursing supervisor had been clear in last week’s staffing. “We’ve been notified of a recent crime wave. Three women have been strangled in the past month, all between the hours of midnight and five o’clock and all within a ten-block radius of this hospital. Under no circumstances should you walk alone to the employee parking lot. Is that understood?”

Bethany released her long blond hair and shook it out as she weighed her options. Option one was to run to the employee parking lot, only two blocks and five minutes away. Option two was to order a Lyft home and then back again in the morning. Maybe her helicopter mother would insist on option two but that meant waiting for a car and she was just so tired. Anyway, a quick run would wake her up for the drive home.

Bethany slung her zebra-patterned purse across her body and took off at a slow jog. It was so peaceful at this hour. No cars, no people, just the soft hum from the freeway a mile away. She relaxed. After all, what had her parents always told her? Bethie, you were born under a lucky star.

At the end of the first block, she saw a moving shadow across the street. By the shape, a man. By the size, a big man. He turned in her direction, and started to cross the street slowly towards her. Her heart seized with panic.

“Stop!” Bethany shouted. “I’ve got pepper spray!” It wasn’t true but she could run fast. When her clogs slowed her down, she kicked off the shoes and kept running in her stockinged feet.

She was almost to the parking structure when she saw a man in a white coat walking just ahead of her. A doctor from the hospital.

“Wait!” she cried.

The man turned around. It was Dr. Leo Parnall from cardiology with his thick white hair, bushy grey eyebrows, and neat blue tie. His regular features were twisted in puzzlement.

“Bethany? Is that you? Is everything all right?”

“Oh, thank God!” Bethany reached him and bent down to breathe. “I knew I wasn’t supposed to walk to the lot by myself, but, but, I thought I could make it and then I saw some strange man on the street back there, and, and…” She gasped for air like a guppy on a table.

Dr. Parnall put a reassuring hand on Bethany’s shoulder. “You’re right, young lady,” he said. “It’s dangerous out here. Come on, I’ll walk you to your car. I know this will never happen again.”

Bethany walked close to Dr. Parnall, nearly touching him, as they approached the parking garage stairwell. She said a silent prayer of thanks to her guardian angel. In twenty minutes, she would be home and put this nightmare behind her.

Dr. Parnall listened to Bethany’s breathing as it slowed. She was quiet now, calm. That was good, easier. His hand closed around the loop of wire in his right pocket. He fingered it, feeling a sharp rush of pleasure. It was almost time.