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Cole moved away to let her get on with her job, backing up to where his lead deputies stood. Andi looked up at Cole as soon as she sensed his presence.
“She wasn’t killed here,” the deputy told him. “The ground isn’t disturbed anywhere, and she was arranged too carefully.”
Arranged? He’d thought she looked dumped. Could be either. It wasn’t like he’d spent a lot of time looking at murder scenes. War was different; that was survival. This…this was just sick.
Unexpectedly, bile rose in his throat, and he had to fight the urge to lose the contents of his stomach. “Do any of those kids have an idea what happened?”
Andi shook her head. “They were having a little after-hours picnic here…”
“Which they know is against the rules,” Mickey pointed out.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you and I did it,” she reminded him. “Hell, every kid in High Ridge has done it. That gate at the entrance is a joke.”
“All right,” Cole broke in. “Details please.”
Andi blew out a breath. “They were running low on soft drinks. No beer, everyone’s underage, and they know what happens if you catch them. Anyway, Leanne had driven here in her truck so she volunteered to go to the store for supplies.”
“No one saw her come back.” Mickey picked up the thread. “They were all over at the opposite side of the park, away from the road. But after a while, they got worried about her. When she didn’t answer her cell, they decided to fan out and start looking. See if maybe she was playing some weird game with them. You know, the way teenagers take it into their heads to do. When they got to this spot, two of the kids found her and yelled for the others. Someone called us on their cell.”
“Jesus.” Cole swiped his hand over his hair. “What a thing for them to see. Okay. We need to find her truck. Then we need it swept for evidence. Maybe it will give us an idea of where she might have been taken. I don’t think we need both deputies on crowd control. Mickey, go tell one of them to get going.”
Mickey pulled one of the deputies aside, gesturing and giving him orders before rejoining Andi and Cole. “It’s been a long time since we had a violent crime here,” he commented, anger scoring lines in his face. “Hell, there’re only twenty-five thousand damn people in the whole county.”
“The last time we had anything,” Andi pointed out, “was twenty-five years ago. Remember those two years we had that pedophile running amuck? You were spending summers at your aunt and uncle’s ranch, remember?”
Cole’s stomach cramped. He’d been so young then, but details had stuck with him. Impossible not to. Surely, this wouldn’t turn out to be the first of a series, like the pedophile killer. That’s all he’d need, with Dana Moretti kicking up dust on the old cases and now, maybe, lured by this new one. How bad could his luck get?
“Cole?” Andi prodded him. “Doesn’t it seem odd to you that Dana Moretti shows up asking questions about the pedophile cases and then this happens? You don’t think there’s a connection, do you? Maybe she rattled someone’s cage?”
Cole shook his head, pushing back the dread clawing at his throat. No way did he want to think Andi’s off the wall question had any real credence to it. “I don’t see how one has anything to do with the other. For one thing, this girl’s too old for our last killer. For another, he’s long gone from this area. If we’re lucky, this will be a one-time thing. We’ll catch the guy, and that will be the end of it.”
Mickey took off his hat, wiped his forehead on his arm, and clapped his hat back on his head. “Jesus, this will make waves all the way to San Antonio.”
Cole’s lips thinned. “Yeah, we can expect a full court press from the media once they get hold of this. Everything’s so much more immediate today than it used to be. Let’s keep a lid on it as long as we can. Pass the word.” He narrowed his eyes at the two people in front of him. “When that happens, no one—and I mean not one person—talks to the press except me. Okay, then. I’m calling a meeting first thing in the morning. Make sure everyone knows that. I’ll meet you two back in my office when you’re done here.” He sighed. “I guess I’d better go speak to the parents.”
****
Hidden in the trees at the top of a hill, he had a good view of the action. The spotlights the sheriff’s deputies had rigged lit up the place like it was high noon. The coroner was still kneeling by the body, but he could see they’d covered her with a sheet.
Pity. He did so enjoy looking at her, even in death. She’d been such a luscious armful. Even when she’d come awake and tried to fight him. He’d loved the look of fear he created, the terror, the knowledge that things were beyond her control. That had always been part of the excitement, seeing the knowledge of their impending death in their eyes. His little flowers had looked so beautiful. And this little plum, she’d been easy pickings.
Oh, how grateful she’d been at his offer to rescue her from her little dilemma. Coaxing her into his truck had taken little effort on his part. Why not? He was a trustworthy soul. Everyone knew that about him.
She’d been a feisty one, but he’d taken the wind out of her sails easily enough. The pain he inflicted was so satisfying, keeping him in a constant state of arousal.
He laughed silently to himself.
He’d thought long and hard about doing this. His other hobby was so much safer and nearly as fulfilling. But he needed to get rid of Carrie, and he couldn’t make it too obvious.
This was only the beginning. He needed to have his next victim picked out and be ready to act quickly. And the ones after that as well, all of them leading him to the biggest prize of all.
Yes, sir. Before he sent Carrie to permanent hell, he’d show her what hell was like here on Earth. And he’d enjoy every minute of it.
He sighed, put his truck in gear, and let it roll silently down the incline and out of sight of the park. He really wanted to hang around until they took the body out. Maybe get another look. But that was flirting with danger, and he hadn’t quite reached that stage again yet.
Except, of course, with his other little hobby.
Chapter Eleven
