Hunter looked around the area by the women’s restroom. No sign of Sarah. He called her phone, and it rang until it went to voicemail. A young woman walked in the direction of the bathroom.
He jogged toward her and said, “I need your help.”
She slowed and looked back at him.
He took out his police badge and held it up. “Please check inside for a woman who’s about five feet four inches, long blond hair and brown eyes.”
Not a minute later the lady came back out, shaking her head.
“I’m calling her phone. Please go back in and see if you hear it.”
She returned to the restroom while Hunter called Sarah’s number again. He could hear it ringing. The seconds ticked off and dragged into a minute before the lady stepped outside with a phone wrapped in a paper towel. He moved to block anyone’s view of what the female student held.
“It was in the trashcan. What’s going on?”
“Police business. Thank you.” Hunter turned away from the young woman and ducked inside the men’s restroom where he carefully untied the paper towel from around the phone.
Acid roiled in the pit of his stomach. Myriad emotions flittered through him, leaving him smoldering with anger and fear. Sarah was going after Alicia by herself. There were so many reasons why that wouldn’t work.
Someone may be watching.
He had Sarah and Alicia’s lives in his hands. He couldn’t make one wrong step. But more importantly, he couldn’t wait around and hope that Sarah would be all right.
* * *
Sarah drove south on Third Avenue, her palms sweating so much they slid down the steering wheel. She took a hand off and wiped it on her pant leg then did the same with her other one.
“Turn right at the intersection with Prairie Road.”
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears so loud she nearly missed the next set of instructions of where she had to go. Had Hunter found her note? She didn’t know if writing him a message would make a difference, but she’d wanted him to know what was happening. She wouldn’t withhold anything from him again. She should have trusted his love more fifteen years ago, and then maybe she wouldn’t be meeting a killer to save Alicia and Donna.
At a stop sign on the edge of town, she stayed still rather than move forward although there was no traffic. After a few minutes, the phone in a cup holder in the console blared, the sound grating her nerves like a high-pitched shriek. They must have lost the connection. She was told not to hang up. Hopefully, the caller realized she hadn’t done it on purpose. She curled her hand into a fist, wanting to smash the phone, but after the fifth ring, she answered the call.
“Keep going on Prairie Road west until I say otherwise. If you don’t come, I’ll kill both of them in twenty minutes.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I know that Alicia and Donna are alive. I need proof of life.”
There was a long silence. Then a faint voice filled with tears said, “Aunt Sarah, I’m okay. Donna, too.”
“Honey, I’m coming—”
“That’s all you’re gonna get. I have no problem killing them.”
“I’m not coming unless you’ll trade me for them. You’ll have to let them go when I arrive.”
“Sure. They aren’t the one. You’re the one I’ve wanted all along. My first.”
Disgust and rage battled for dominance. She didn’t say anything else, but she pressed her foot on the accelerator.
“That’s a smart move,” came the disguised voice from the speaker on the phone.
Disgust won, and it coiled her stomach into a rock-hard knot. She couldn’t allow rage to take over. She needed to remain calm and composed in order to defeat this man. As she left the outskirts of the city behind her, she tried to figure out who the killer was. He’d been a classmate of hers at Cimarron City High School, in his family line he had relatives with Huntington’s Disease, and possibly he was starting to show some of the symptoms. When David was diagnosed, she’d read everything she could on it. Some first symptoms might be clumsiness, lack of concentration, odd movements, depression, angry flare-ups. Or maybe the guy didn’t know he might get Huntington’s Disease, and she could use that to her advantage.
“The turn is on the left. The road is paved for a few miles then becomes dirt. Keep going on it until I tell you otherwise.”
What could she do? Was he following her? No vehicle was behind her. Most likely he was somewhere on this dirt road. If she put him on hold and made a call to Hunter, he could be out here shortly, especially if she slowed her progress. Was there a camera in the car? She didn’t have time to check thoroughly and if there was, he’d know what she was doing.
“I’m sure right now you’re trying to figure out how to call for help. Turn on the radio and play any station. If the music suddenly stops coming through, I’ll kill your niece first before any help can get here. I’ve been following your career as an FBI agent. I know how you think. That’s why my MO changed from location to location.”
She did as instructed and began to pray. She couldn’t rescue Alicia and Donna without the Lord at her side. The killer was obsessed with her and would murder anyone to get to her.
“Did I ever work one of your crimes?” She hoped he would talk enough to give himself up and help her figure out how to stop him.
He laughed—a chilling sound. “I’m not telling you that—yet. But soon. Turn off the road at the next driveway on the left.”
She braked, backed up several feet, and followed his directions. She glimpsed a small house surrounded by woods. That must be her destination.
A calmness fell over her. She was in the Lord’s hands.
* * *
Hunter parked in front of the campus police office and hurried into the building. An officer was behind the main counter, leaning against it.
“I need to see Chief Scott.” Hunter showed the young man his badge.
The officer looked up. “He isn’t here. I’m Officer Hall. How can I help you?”
“How long has he been gone? Do you know where he is?”
“He was at Chief Kimmel’s house. That’s the last place I know of.”
“He’s not there.”
“Then probably he went to see his dad at the long-term health facility afterward. That’s why he came back to Cimarron City.”
Hunter had worked a few joint cases with the man but knew little about him. “I didn’t realize Chief Scott was from here.”
“Yeah, this is where he grew up. Can I help you?”
Chief Scott was in his thirties. Did he or Sarah go to school with him? He’d never mentioned it, and Sarah never said she knew him. “Yes. I need to see the video from the rear of the library,” Hunter checked his watch, “for the past twenty minutes. It’s an emergency.”
“Come around the counter. I keep an eye on various places around the campus as part of my desk duty.”
As the officer pulled up video footage, Hunter sat beside him in front of a bank of six cameras. If he could see where she went, he might be able to track her. Lord, I need Your help to find Sarah. I don’t want to lose her again.
“Ah, here it is.” Officer Hall rolled his chair to the right so that Hunter could see the lower middle TV better. “I’ll fast forward on the slowest speed, but I can stop the tape and zoom in if you need me to at any time.”
“I appreciate your help.”
“I’m stuck with desk duty until my ankle heals. It can get lonely around here with the chief gone a lot lately.”
Hunter focused his attention on the screen. “What’s wrong with Chief Scott’s father?”
“Sad situation. He has Huntington’s Disease and doesn’t have long to live.”
Hunter’s stomach sank. The killer was Chief Scott. He’d been in the rec room earlier—saw the whiteboard. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah. He’d been close to his dad. He’s been sick for over fifteen years.”
“Slow the tape.” Hunter leaned forward, staring at Sarah emerging from the back entrance to the library with something clutched in her hand, pausing a few seconds then heading across the grass to a white car parked not far away. She opened the door, and not a few seconds later, she started the vehicle and backed out. “We need to follow her on campus.”
Officer Hall moved his chair to another TV and brought up another feed.
“Zoom in on the license plate. I need the number.”
“There.” The young man tapped on the screen.
Hunter quickly wrote it down then stood, waiting to see where she went. When she turned out of the college and drove south on Third Avenue, he called the station and had an officer track where the white car went after that. “Call me when you have a location or she turns on another street. I’ll be driving that way.” He ran from the building and jumped into his SUV.
While he backtracked to the library and followed Sarah’s trail, he called Mark. “I believe the killer is Chief Travis Scott. I need to know what you can find out about where he lives and any property he or his father owns. I’m driving south on Third Avenue.”
“How do you know this?”
“Long story. Get me the information. Sarah’s going after him. An address in this area might be where she’ll be.”
“Sarah’s going after him?”
His phone buzzed. “I’ve got to go. I’m tracking where Sarah went.”
When Hunter answered the other caller, the officer said, “She turned onto Prairie Road going west, but I lost her when she left the city.”
“Send back up to where you last saw her car. As soon as I know where she went or find the car, I’ll let you know the exact location.”
“I’ll track your car in case something happens before you can contact me.”
Hunter disconnected, hoping Mark found a place near Prairie Road. His gut tightened with each minute that passed with no sight of the white car or Sarah. What if he couldn’t get there in time to save her?
* * *
At the cabin, Sarah came to a stop as instructed. In front of a detached garage was a blue truck. She’d seen it before, although she couldn’t remember where. After five minutes seated behind the steering wheel, she thought about getting out of the car, but this might not be the place. He might be checking for anyone who could be following her. And she didn’t know if Hunter knew what happened. He could still be at the library searching for her.
“Welcome, Sarah,” the killer said in his normal voice.
Chief Scott. He’d been at her sister’s house just hours ago.
“Now I want you to leave the car without any weapons. If you don’t follow my directions exactly, I’ll kill one of the women—your choice. Walk to the door and wait.”
She left her Glock and a smaller gun that she had in a holster around her ankle. He would check, but she couldn’t go in without some kind of weapon. She slipped a pocket knife under the long sleeve of her shirt then buttoned the cuff a notch tighter. It was a risk but not an obvious place to look for a firearm. She wouldn’t walk away from here unless he was taken out. Alicia and Donna might, if they hadn’t seen his face, but not her.
When she exited the safety of the car, she strode to the front porch and waited. The only sound she heard was an owl hooting in a nearby tree. After several moments, her heart increasing its beat with the passage of time, she considered barging into the cabin and possibly surprising him since she’d followed his direction so far, but charging in with a knife wasn’t a wise decision. Hunter wouldn’t think her coming alone was one either, but she had to fix her mistake of not reporting the rape fifteen years ago.
The feel of eyes drilling into her back shivered down her. She looked over her shoulder to find Chief Scott by the car with his gun pointed at her. She faced him.
He made his way toward her, a rifle pointed at her chest. “I wondered if you would leave your ankle holster and gun in the car. A wise decision.” Stopping a few feet from her, he gestured with his weapon. “Open the door and go inside.”
“Where did you come from?”
“The end of the driveway. Just making sure no one was following you. I like a woman who does as she’s told.”
Acid bubbled in her stomach, and bile rose into her throat. She grasped the knob and turned it, praying her niece and Donna were inside and alive. A few feet into the cabin light from a small window revealed a large empty room with several closed doors to the right. “Are Alicia and Donna behind one of them?”
“Yes.” He removed his handgun from its holster and leaned the rifle near the front door.
“Then let them go. I’m here to take their place. You don’t care about them. You want me. Have for years.”
“Ever since I was a junior in high school, but you were too wrapped up in Hunter Davis. I thought you would get tired of him, and I’d have my chance with you. You never did. I had to stop your wedding. But then you left town. Disappeared. It took me a while to find you. I was excited when you investigated the case in New York. I knew you wouldn’t find me there, but I couldn’t stay in New York. I had to come back to Cimarron City. But luck was with me. You finally came home. I decided that was a sign that you and I would be together from this point on. No more games.”
Sarah straightened, lifting her chin. “Then release Alicia and Donna. Fulfill your part of the bargain.”
“Sorry. I lied. I’m keeping them as insurance that you’ll do everything I tell you. If you don’t, I’ll hurt them. It’ll take me a while to subdue you and train you.”
She couldn’t remember him from high school. There was a vague memory, but the name didn’t mean anything to her. “Why me?”
“You were nice to me my first day at Cimarron City High School. A couple of bullies were mocking me. You stood up for me. Of course, I paid them back later.”
Seventeen years ago. She racked her mind for that incident, and still she couldn’t remember. “Who bothered you?”
“Zach Moore and his cousin, Bart.”
“They died in a car wreck at the end of their junior year. You caused it?”
He nodded. “I planned that for months.” He covered the space between them.
“Did you know I had your son?”
His face paled. “You’re lying. Where is he?”
“He died from juvenile Huntington’s Disease almost six years ago. Pneumonia killed him in the end. I had myself tested. I don’t carry the gene, which means you do. Have you had any symptoms of the disease?” His irrational behavior could be one.
“I saw the whiteboard. I wondered how you’d found out about my father...” Anger fueled his hard stare and clenched jaw. “It’s time you understand what your duties will be. Take off your clothes.”
“No.” She met his anger with her own, working the pocket knife under her cuff.
He charged her, raising his arm and striking her with his fist against the side of her head.
* * *
At the end of a drive that led to a cabin with the white car parked outside, Hunter stood behind a large tree and cased the area with his binoculars. This was the location No one was in the vehicle, which meant that Sarah must be inside. He needed to get closer and see what was going on. Where was she? In the cabin? Were Alicia and Donna there as well?
His phone buzzed. It was Mark.
“Are you close?” Hunter asked.
“About a mile away.”
“I’m moving nearer. Park out of sight at the end of the driveway. You’ll see my car.”
“Okay.”
Hunter slinked toward the hideout, praying everyone was alive. With each step closer, his pulse rate accelerated. The front window curtains were closed. Maybe the ones on the side or back weren’t. Was there only one way into the cabin? He went wide to circle the place and figure out the best way to get inside, hopefully undetected. Thoughts of what could be going on inside urged him to move faster, but that could make matters worse. As he checked out the small house, he noted no other entrance and that all the drapes were closed.
With no way to see inside, he returned to the front and sneaked toward the door, keeping his attention on the windows for any sign of Scott peeking out. When he reached the only entrance, he tried the knob. Locked. That was going to make getting into the cabin undetected harder.
Although he didn’t hear Mark arrive, he sensed his presence and glanced over his shoulder to see his chief instructing his three officers to fan out while Sarah’s father glared at the place. Hunter crept toward the side of the cabin and called Mark.
“Only way in is the front. It’s locked. Have an officer bring a battering ram. Hurry.”
“Have you heard anything?”
“No, it’s been quiet.”
The sound of a gunshot reverberating through the air, mocking Hunter’s words. He raced toward the entrance.