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She rounded the last block of residential buildings and headed toward the wide road leading to the campus. Worried about someone driving by and seeing her trespassing, she kept to the shadows and walked along the tree-lined driveway to the entrance.
A jolt of apprehension tightened in her belly at the first sight of the buildings, empty with black windows and missing the usual welcoming illumination. Without the noise of students and vehicles, the campus resembled a ghost town. She moved on and the creepy sound the wind made rustling through the trees sent goosebumps running up her arms.
Back in the sunlight, her panic eased and she turned the last bend toward the main gate. She stopped and stared in disbelief at the massive gates blocking the entrance to traffic. With the number of cleaners and tradesmen coming and going during the summer break, they usually remained open. The only way inside would be through the wooded area. She hated the idea of running into a bear or a bobcat looking for its dinner, but she took a deep breath and plowed into the bushes.
The trees closed in around her, blocking the light, but she had taken this path before and hurried along. Nerves frazzled, she started at movements in the undergrowth and glanced in all directions. The woods seemed to be watching her with a thousand eyes. Branches snagged at her coat and tangled around her feet. Convinced roots would erupt from the earth and drag her down to hell, just like in the movies, she quickened her pace.
Gasping as waves of panic washed over her, she made her way back to the road, tripping over a sod of earth where someone had dragged wildflowers out by their roots. Dang, now I have mud on my boots. She could have avoided being scared to death if Chad had suggested meeting him closer to the main gate.
Loud rustling came from directly behind her as if something big had spotted her as their next meal. Fear grabbed her by the throat and she took off at a run. Moments later, she burst out of the woods on the other side of the gate and headed toward the gym. She checked the time on her cellphone. Shit, I’m almost fifteen minutes late. Chad should have been waiting for her but a peek through the gym window told her he had not arrived. Perhaps he’d walked to the pool to look for her. She messaged him but got no reply, and Chad usually answered in seconds. I bet his dad still has his cellphone.
Deciding to head for the pool to wait for him to arrive, she opened the cover of her cellphone and, engrossed in the game, wandered along the dark passageway. A few moments later, she reached the entrance. She heaved a sigh of relief seeing the gate slightly ajar. Chad must be waiting inside. She hurried along to the dressing room and disconnected from the game. The Olympic-sized pool stretched out in an expanse of blue, and the smell of chlorine drifted toward her. She could see Chad swimming way down the far end and grinned. She would surprise him and sneak into the pool.
After stripping in the changing room, she wrapped a towel around her chest and stepped outside, slightly embarrassed at the idea of being naked in front of Chad for the first time. She peered at the empty pool and swallowed hard. Where is he?
A low chuckle came from behind her and she turned around, pulling the towel tighter, expecting to see Chad. A man walked out of the shadows, shaking the water from his hair. As he moved closer, she recognized him and her cheeks burned. “How embarrassing, I thought you were Chad.”
“Chad couldn’t make it.”
Disappointment tinged with anger that Chad would do such a thing, she moved a step toward the dressing room. “If he is not coming, I’ll get dressed and be on my way home.”
A glint of metal drew her gaze to the knife glistening in his hand and she took a step backward. Panic closed her throat and she glanced around, looking for a place to run. The gate to the pool was not far and she could make it. She pivoted and sprinted between the dressing rooms and headed toward the gate. The black iron railings loomed up in front of her and she gaped in disbelief at the chain circling them.
Someone had locked the gate.
Gasping for breath, she grabbed the padlock but her trembling fingers refused to roll the combination. She stared behind her to see the man walking casually toward her swinging a red sock filled with something in one hand as if he had all the time in the world. Valuable seconds ticked by. She must concentrate before this lunatic changed his mind and ran at her. Turning back to the padlock, she spun the dial, locking in the combination.
One, click.
Two, click.
Three, click.
Four—nothing.
Frantic, she glanced over one shoulder. He was a few yards away and grinning like the Cheshire Cat. She spun the dial again and tried to lock in number four.
Nothing.
The evil, low, rumbling chuckle behind her made every hair on her body stand up.
“One, two, three, four ain’t the combination no more.”
I have to escape. If she took off now, she could run up the bleachers on the far side of the pool and jump the fence. Muscles bunched, she turned to run. Blinding pain smashed into her temple and her vision blurred. The ground appeared to rush up and hit her with incredible force. Air rushed from her lungs in a painful burst and, gasping, she tried to crawl away from the hideous laughter.
A shadow of the man passed over her and water dripped on her face from his wet hair.
“Going somewhere?”
Twenty-Eight
Jenna and her deputies had been working tirelessly to follow their leads, but by dinnertime on Wednesday, they had gotten nowhere. After eating dinner with Kane at Aunt Betty’s Café, Jenna decided to have an early night. She slipped into her slippers and strolled into the kitchen. The moment she added cream to her mug of coffee, her cellphone sounded the nine-one-one ringtone. She groaned and stared at the constant vibrating interference in her life then swiped the screen to accept the call. “Sheriff Alton, what is your emergency?”
“Oh my God, oh my God. You gotta send someone. I don’t know what to do.”
Jenna snatched up the pad beside the landline and grabbed a pen from the bunch in the empty pickle jar on the kitchen counter. “Take a deep breath and give me your name and location.”
“Chad Johnson and I’m outside the gates of the pool at the campus.” He let out a mournful moan like an animal in distress. “Something has happened to my girlfriend Kate, Kate Bright. I can see her lying on the diving board and her guts are hanging out. Send someone to help her.”
