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It was dark, hot as hell and filled with spiderwebs. Black widows and brown recluses were the most dangerous.
Snakes were common in the area, and he held his breath, listening for the hiss of a rattler. He’d be ready to jump out of hiding if he felt the slimy, scaly creatures slithering across his body.
He closed his eyes and listened but a rancid odor swirled in the air. An odor that reminded him of death.
A smile tugged at his mouth.
Inflicting pain was an aphrodisiac. He kept a running video in his mind of each victim’s screams. Although lately he’d grown bored. With his methods. With his choices. They were all starting to bleed together.
He needed to expand his thinking.
Murder, after all, was just a game. After ten years of playing, he needed to up the ante.
THIRTEEN
Gina, Ken and Cade started running and shouting with relief, and Ellie realized Betsy had been found. Her heart warmed as the family engulfed the child in hugs and kisses.
Thank God. Not every case wound up with a happy ending.
“Betsy, sweetheart, we were so scared,” Gina cried.
“Honey, are you okay?” Ken pulled back to examine his daughter. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“My foot hurts.” She stroked the kitten’s head. “I found Kitty. Can we keep him?”
Gina rubbed the animal’s back, hesitating for only a second. “Sure, sweetie. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Relief flooded Cade’s face, although he kept looking up the hill at something.
“We’re glad you’re safe,” Ellie said as she smiled at the child. “What happened?”
“I chased Kitty then I got losted and I found a shed and went inside and fell.” Betsy sucked back tears. “Then that girl came and she gotted me out of the shed. And we saw a man in black in the woods and she got scared and started running.”
The couple looked puzzled and Ellie waited; the little girl was more likely to tell her mother what happened than a detective.
“What girl?” Gina asked softly.
“The girl,” Betsy said as if they should know. “She gots a hammer and banged up the floor where I fell and pulled me out and gave me a piggyback ride.”
Gina hugged Betsy again. “Was she alone?”
“Uh-huh. Her name’s Lorna Bea,” Betsy said, then looked around. “Where’d she go?”
Cade pointed to the neighboring cabin. “I saw a girl running up there.”
The couple exchanged a look and the mother tweaked Betsy’s ponytail. “Next time, don’t run off chasing an animal without us.”
The couple thanked Ellie and she stepped aside to call Cord and an ambulance. But Ellie still had an uneasy feeling.
Had the man in the woods been a hiker or… was he up to no good?
FOURTEEN
THE LADY IN BLUE BRIDGE
Cord and the team had searched a two-mile radius when he spotted what he thought might be a car in the lake. With the water at an all-time low due to the drought, he remembered the stories about bodies buried below the surface. Marked graves had been moved during the damming and creation of the lake, yet many unmarked graves had not been relocated.
He aimed his flashlight across the lake’s surface, hiking closer and climbing over a fallen tree for a closer look. His phone dinged on his hip and he glanced at the number.
