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“He’d need privacy.”
Thornton called Karen. “What’s close to the location you gave Sadler? Is there an unoccupied structure nearby?”
Thornton called out locations as she listed them. Unrented office space. A home that was for sale.
“Whittaker’s house,” Gray said. “It’s still a crime scene. I bet he thinks we wouldn’t look for him there, and it would give him a thrill.”
Thornton peeled away from the curb and set the siren blaring. Gray had to hang on to the armrest to keep from being having his brains rattled.
As he drove like a maniac, Thornton shouted into the radio, sending officers to all the locations Karen had listed.
Jenna couldn’t have long. Gray prayed he was right about where she was or that someone else would find her. Please don’t let her be another body he had to examine.
14
When they pulled up, siren silent now, they saw Whittaker’s white car parked on the street, a dent still in the rear panel. “Arrogant son of a bitch. He’s not even trying to hide.”
“He doesn’t know we’re onto him,” Thornton said. “Probably thinks he’ll get away with this like he has the others.”
“No fucking way. How are we going in?” Gray asked.
Thornton inclined his head toward the side yard. “Around back.”
They exited their vehicle after Thornton gave orders to their backup.
They moved silently to the back door. Thornton motioned for Gray to cover the right side when he opened the door.
It was too damaged for the lock to hold. The kitchen was nothing but a burned-out shell so it was easy to see that no one was there.
The living room was also clear, but the mess there indicated someone had been in a struggle. Had Jenna fought Whittaker as he dragged her inside?
“Bedroom,” Gray mouthed and pointed toward the hall.
Thornton nodded and signaled for Gray to go first.
He moved carefully, back to the wall, as he listened. He heard a muffled sound, a footstep, then another. He eased down the hallway to the first door on the right. When he kicked it open, gun raised, he thought he was prepared for what he’d see.
He was wrong.
Whittaker had Jenna bound. She lay curled on the floor, duct tape over her mouth. Blood had soaked through her clothing in several places. Whittaker had a long knife in his hand and the tip lay against her throat.
One move, and she’d be dead before Gray could do anything about it. Jenna was conscious, pale and shaking. She looked at Gray briefly, then closed her eyes. Blood dripped down her neck where Whittaker pressed the knife against her skin.
No way could Gray drop Whittaker without Jenna dying too.
“So you finally figured it out?” Whittaker asked.
“Did I?”
Gray heard Thornton move behind him and signaled for him to back down.
“You don’t have to hurt her,” Gray said.
“I do. I have to hurt them all.”
“No. You aren’t hurting anyone else no matter what I have to do to stop you. Why do you think the girls deserve to die?”
“You know why.”
