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“Oh, that’s right; you never ask their names, do you?” Her lip curled in obvious disgust. “Is she locked in the cage in the cellar?”
How does she know about the cage? Only one of his girls had ever escaped. Stu had lost one and paid the price for his stupidity. When his girl vanished, he had scanned the newspapers for months but had not seen one word mentioned about her. Looking at the woman standing before him, she could be the girl; there was a slight resemblance. “Is this a joke?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?” Her aim did not falter.
She knew too much and had the confidence of a cop with plenty of backup. He took his eyes off her for a split second to glance out the front window expecting to see deputies’ cruisers outside but only the forest filled his view.
“If you’re looking for the sheriff, she won’t be coming to the party.” The woman smiled as if she had read his mind. “I have big plans for you, Bobby-Joe. You do recognize me, don’t you?”
The puzzle fell into place. She must have been one of their earlier girls. Luckily, she had never said a word to the cops. She must have liked being here. “You do look familiar now I come to look at you.” He cleared his throat. “What do you want?”
Her eyes locked on his face but her mouth twitched at the corners as if holding a gun on him was funny. “I’ve been out visiting old acquaintances and thought I’d drop by. I just couldn’t get our time together out of my mind.”
Relieved, he smiled his best come-get-me smile. “Never found anyone as good as me, huh? You don’t need to hold a gun on me, all you have to do is ask.”
He opened his arms wide and held in his gut to make the towel puddle at his feet. He needed a distraction to grab the knife but the woman’s attention had locked on his face; not even her eyes moved. “Like what you see?”
“I see evil. A person who hides behind a mask.” Her mouth turned into an ugly grimace. “You are a pathetic little worm and not worthy to be called a man. You see, a real man protects children.”
“So why are you here?”
“To even the score.” She wet her lips as if savoring her words. “I know what you are and I was in the hospital when you murdered Jane. Now it’s your turn to pay but first, I want your laptop, all the images you have of the girls you kept here, and the masks.”
“No way.”
A bullet whizzed past his ear in an ear-piercing boom, splintering the wall behind him and showering his bare flesh with splinters of wood. He flicked a glance over one shoulder and gaped at the hole in the wall. Holy crap, she is using hollow points. Fear shook his knees and sweat coated his skin. He held up his hands. “Okay, okay. They’re locked in the pantry.”
“Get them, all of them, and before you think you might try and cut me or maybe grab a gun, think again. I’ll drop you before you can take your next breath.” Her eyes fixed on him and she smiled. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.”
Terror gripped him and, keeping his hands high, he moved slowly to the pantry door. “I’ll need to lower my hand to open the door.”
“Keep one hand on your head.”
“Sure, anythin’ you say.” He opened the door wide and with trembling fingers slid open the false back to the pantry. Keeping one eye on the crazy woman with the gun, he opened the safe and took out his laptop. He piled a box of images and files on top then stuffed the clown masks into the box. He looked over one shoulder. “Where do you want these?”
“On the kitchen table. Open the laptop and show me what’s on those thumb drives.” Her dark eyes moved over him. “One move, one tiny move toward me, and your head is leaving your body.”
He complied and turned the screen around for her to view the images. “Now what?”
“Now we’re going for a little walk.” She pulled out zip ties from her pocket and dropped them on the counter. “Turn around. Hands behind your back.”
Anger tightened his throat. “No way. Are you jokin’? Shoot me, bitch, because as sure as hell, you’ll have to kill me before I go anywhere with you barefoot and naked.”
He lunged for the knife on the counter and white-hot pain sliced through him in a bolt of lightning. His limbs stiffened and his heart raced. He hit the floor face down and heard the unmistakable crack of bone as his nose shattered. The metallic taste of blood ran down his throat. He could not move a muscle. Holy shit, she used a stun gun on me.
“How does that feel, Bobby-Joe?” The woman bent and secured his hands behind his back with zip ties. She looped a few together and tied his ankles, leaving enough space to shuffle his feet. “I’ve picked out a nice tree close to the falls with your name on it.” She grinned at him but her eyes were as cold as ice. “Unless you want the stun gun on your balls next time, I suggest you do as I say, but I promise you one thing: Before you die, I will make you scream.”
55
Kane caught the smell of decomposing flesh before he rounded the bend in the path to the cabin. Duke was pulling hard on the leash and making strange barking noises then stopping to howl. He turned to Bradford and took in her ashen face. “Have you attended a homicide crime scene before?”
“No, sir.” She straightened as if trying to look efficient and fell into stride beside him. “It smells pretty bad.”
“It’s only going to get worse. Use one of the face masks in your backpack. If anyone asks you to enter the crime scene, you must be wearing coveralls and booties. Don’t touch anything without wearing gloves.” He glanced around, peering through the wall of trees. “Be alert, we have no idea if the area is secure. The killer could be right beside us and we wouldn’t see him in the cover of th
e forest.”
They walked around a hairpin bend and he could hear Jenna speaking on her cellphone. “What’s your ETA?”
