Andrea shares how terrified she was when she realized he wasn’t taking her home and how he pulled over, yanked her out of the front seat, and stuffed her into the trunk. Her throat works with the remembered fear. Hetook her to the rear parking lot of an abandoned factory, raped her, and left her naked and unconscious on the cracked and faded asphalt.
As she speaks, the images flash through my mind as if I were there. I can smell the sweat from the bastard’s physical exertion. Can hear his raspy panting. I can see her lying on the ground like a discarded rag doll.
The black dots float across my field of vision, and I know I have to get out of this house soon or I will vomit on the woman’s beautiful Persian rug.
I touch the phone at my waist and say, “I have a call.”
I rush out of the house so fast I almost stumble over the dog.
Sixteen
Andrea Donnelly
I step up to the window and watch as the older detective walks toward his SUV, where the other one, the woman, waits.
My heart is thundering. I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming, but somehow I didn’t. From the second I saw the news that the bastard was officially missing, I should have realized this would happen. Of course the investigation would include all the victims. Each one would be questioned, maybe even considered a suspect.
The remembered sound of shattering glass has me squeezing my eyes shut. I was so certain no one saw me that morning. It was very early. The neighborhood was dead silent. And still, except for my movements.
I wore all black, even a ski mask, and of course gloves. The baseball bat I used did the trick quickly and fairly easily. Slicing the tires was a little harder than I expected. But I managed.
Then I saw him. My heart almost stopped. Does the same thing now. I force myself to breathe. He stood in the doorway that I hadn’t even heard open. He watched me. Just stood there watching me. He couldn’t possibly know who I was, and yet somehow I felt utterly naked in front of him.
I felt as if I were that little girl again and he could see all of me.
I wanted to kill him right then, right there.
But I had to be smart ... for my kids.
So I finished what I had come to do.My part.
No matter what happens, I will never regret what I did. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Seventeen
Detective Walter Duncan
I finished the interview as quickly as I could. I climb behind the wheel of the Tahoe and glance at Liv, who has her eyes closed. Damn.
“Andrea Donnelly was home Saturday night. She says her best friend can confirm it, since they were together making margaritas. She pulled a twelve-hour shift on Sunday night and spent Monday at home with a sick daughter,” I say.
Liv grunts. “I guess we can check her off the list, then.” She says all this without opening her eyes.
I start the vehicle without agreeing or disagreeing.
There is only one more victim on the list that we haven’t had some sort of contact with: Melanie Hardeman. We still haven’t been able to interview Janie Hyatt, but her partner spoke for her, sort of. Admittedly, the two’s alleged surveilling activity of Fanning is suspect. As is the burned-out barn, but we haven’t found anything more to take our suspicions to the next level. And we can’t get a call back.
But I’m fairly convinced that something went down related to Fanning with those two, Reeves and Hyatt.
Sanchez is still a potential actor in all this despite being away. His alibi regarding the road trip to Mexico has checked out. He used his passport to cross the border into Mexico, as did his friends. But that doesn’t meanthey didn’t have a body with them. The timing is the suspicious part for me. Not to mention that I just can’t get past this story of him as a skinny little kid taking down Fanning all by himself. He had to have help. I simply cannot see it otherwise.
In the end, I am growing more and more convinced that we’re beating a dead horse.
Even if all seven prove to have firm alibis, we’re left with a family member or friend or maybe a totally unrelated vigilante who could be responsible for Fanning’s disappearance. The fact that he hasn’t shown up at a hospital or in a morgue leaves no doubt that he is missing, conceivably dead.
Then again, it’s possible he has taken off and plans to set up a new identity someplace. But that takes money, which makes the option unlikely.
The only reasonable alternative makes my heart ache. I do not want to find out that Fanning has hurt another person and is holed up somewhere.
