Chapter 16-18 Summary

Kate McTiernan walks home on Saturday night thinking about her latest karate instruction. Kate enjoyed life in a college town. She would stay there and never move back home to West Virginia if she had not made a promise to her dying mother. She considers stopping at a bar for a drink to read the paperback novel she just purchased, but thinks better of it. Kate resides at the end of a long, sparsely populated street on the top floor of an otherwise-empty house. She falls asleep soon after arriving at home and before having chili or hot chocolate. She has absolutely no idea that she was followed home and that there is someone inside her house watching her.

Kate awakens, realizing there is someone else in her apartment. She is somewhat concerned about the recent killings in the news and...