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She breathed out. Yes. Her father was here! He’d save her. Make that bad man pay for taking her.
“You broke the rules,” the bad man said in a deep voice.
“Daddy!” Lorna Bea screamed. She wanted to run to the door but her wrists were bound and a rope tethered her to the wall. She twisted her hands to try and free them but the ropes cut into her wrists.
A sliver of light snaked through the room as the door opened. Her father’s boots pounded the floor as he entered.
“Daddy, help! He killed Nana!”
Her father glared at the other man and cursed. “Was that necessary?”
“What? You don’t like to have fun anymore,” the other man hissed.
“I’d hardly call killing an old woman fun,” her father snapped.
Lorna Bea’s throat clogged with fear. What kind of fun was the man talking about?
The other man chuckled. “Don’t worry. I spared her the knife.Shewasn’t the one I wanted.”
“Don’t do this,” her father said in that sharp tone that made her stomach turn upside down. “Lorna Bea’s just a child, an innocent in all of this.”
“No, she’s not. She’s the reason the damn cops are crawling up our asses.”
A knife glinted in the darkness as the man waved it around.
Terror ripped through Lorna Bea. Was he going to kill her?
“We know what you did, Frank,” the bad man said. “We finally figured it out. All this time we thought Waycross left town to hide out, but he was dead.”
“Daddy, what’s he talking about?” Lorna Bea cried.
“Be quiet,” he snapped. “I’ll handle this.”
The other man stalked toward her, then lifted a hank of her hair and chopped it off with the knife. She yelped, trembling with fear.
“Leave her alone,” her father growled. “We’ll find a replacement.”
“No, it has to be her. And it has to be tonight.”
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO
The sound of brush crackling behind Ellie startled her and she dropped her phone and whirled around. Two men in black masks lunged at her and Cord. She threw her arm up to deflect the blow but was too late. One of the men struck her on the side of her head. Pain shot through her temple. Stars swam behind her eyes. The world spun.
She heard grunting and an angry howl as Cord and the other man fought. “Get off her!” Cord shouted.
Cord knocked the second man down and stormed her attacker. He flung Cord backward. The second guy recovered, charging Cord from behind. Ellie tried to fight back, but he raised a knife to her throat and went still. The tip of the knife pricked her skin. Images of former victims with their throats slashed swam in her head. She dared not breathe.
Cord howled. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him fall to his back. A knife was lodged in his stomach. Blood spurted.
Ellie screamed in rage, then grabbed her assailant’s knife hand and they fought. He twisted her arm behind her back. Sharp pain splintered her shoulder as she felt it being wrenched from the socket. A dizzy spell swept over her, and she went limp.
“Looked forward to this celebration for ten years,” he growled.
Ellie recognized his voice. Pockley.
“She’ll be our grand finale.” Radcliff.
She’d been right about them. They were in this together.
