The race to Muir Woods had been frantic. Every car seemed to get in his way. Mason had wanted nothing more than to knock them aside to get to the right location. All he could think about was Amy and how she had spent her last few moments within these trees.
But he was on the other side of the woods. Not where Amy had died, but where Thomas Chance had been hanged from a tree. A gruesome image of the body flickered in Mason’s mind, but he did his best to ignore it. He swallowed a dry lump and made his way up the path.
The darkness of night covered him. Homeless people occupied some of these bushes, but he wasn’t in danger. Not from them, anyway. All he really had to worry about was a serial killer. One who had it in for him, too.
It took a few minutes to reach the right spot, but he got there. Mason found himself out of breath, panting heavily as the moonlight poured through thin gaps in the trees. He looked at the tree where Thomas had died. The branch his body had swung from had been trimmed. Recently, judging by the looks of the bare cross-section. There was a stump nearby where a hiker’s body had been found on the same night.
Otherwise, he was alone.
“I’m here,” he called out.
But there was nothing. A rustle in the bushes on either side. Startled animals, Mason thought. And then another thought occurred: Had he been lured out here as a distraction while the Lullaby Killer went back for his family? A wave of panic washed over him. He turned and started to run, but by the time he even gained some momentum, there was a stirring behind him.
Mason stopped, turned, and saw the worst thing he could have possibly imagined.
It was Marvin Wendell… but he wasn’t alone.