Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,86
they known what they were looking for earlier, they probably would’ve noticed it.
“If he was in there, that Sheetrock wouldn’t be in place,” Reese noted. “He’d have a hard time puttin’ it in position from that side.”
Brantley looked at him and nodded. “You see if the women are in there. I’m gonna check the rest of the house. Be careful.”
“Always.”
With his Sig in hand, Reese traded places with Brantley, pulling the Sheetrock out of its resting spot, setting it aside. On the other side, there was a thin door fashioned from balsa wood, it looked like. Not sturdy, by any means, but it served its purpose of sealing the space off.
Reese pressed his back to the wall at the side of the door in case Collins was on the other side with a weapon. With one hand, he turned the knob, pushed the door open, then peeked in. On the other side of the door, he was greeted with darkness. The sort that disoriented a person when they were in it for too long. It brought back memories that Reese quickly shoved aside. He would not go there now. He couldn’t.
He retrieved his flashlight from his belt, held it in one hand. Supporting the hand holding his guns, he moved deeper into the space.
Reese was greeted with scurrying sounds, and for a second, he wondered if the detective kept an animal. Or maybe rats.
One more step, more scurrying.
Something tickled his face so he reached up, found that it was a string. He tugged on it and a yellow glow filled the space.
No, those weren’t animals.
They were women.
Holy.
Fuck.
Chapter Twenty
“Collins!” Brantley shouted. “Show yourself, man. It’s over.”
There was a snickering sound coming from the living room, so Brantley moved that direction, gun at the ready.
“Jake? Is that you?” he asked, keeping his tone cool, that of a parent talking to a child. “We need to talk.”
A giggle this time. It came from the far corner of the room.
“We found your hidin’ place,” he said, shifting so he was moving along the wall, toward the kitchen.
He could see Collins crouched down beside the couch in the far corner, as though he was actually hidden from view.
“You said I wouldn’t find it, but I did, Jake. The game’s over.”
“Nuh-uh,” the childlike voice said. “I tricked you.”
“Tricked me? How’d you trick me?”
“They’re not all here,” he called back, another giggle following. “You missed one. My brother took her after he killed her. You’ll never, ever find her.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Oooh. You can’t say bad words.” The tone of the voice shifted from jovial to accusatory, his head peeking up over the arm of the couch. “You’re gonna be in trouble for that.”
“By who, Jake?”
“The mean lady.”
“What lady, Jake? Talk to me. Who’s gonna be mad that I said bad words?”
Detective Collins, or rather Jake as seemed to be the case now, unfolded himself from the corner, standing tall. He was wearing a ratty T-shirt and a pair of jeans that had seen better days.
“Momma,” he answered, his eyes widening as though he was expecting her to appear at any moment. “She’s gonna make you pull your pants down.”
Brantley watched as horror reflected on the detective’s face, his eyes darting to the hallway.
“Does she spank you, Jake? Is that the trouble you mean?”
He shook his head adamantly. “Not only that.” His eyes darted around the room.
He honestly didn’t want to know the horrors this man might have suffered as a child, but he needed to know what pushed him to do such heinous acts, so he asked, “Does she hurt you, Jake?”
His eyes were wild now, his hands trembling. “She can’t find us here, Brantley Walker. We can’t let her find us.”
“She won’t,” he assured him. “Your mother won’t find us.”
“Yeah, she will. She always does.”
“What does she do when she finds you?” he asked, keeping his gun trained on the man.
“Bad things.”
Christ. They had figured something tragic had happened to make this man regress into a child, but he hadn’t considered all the horrific ways she could’ve inflicted that pain.
“Like what, Jake? Does she not like when you play hide-and-seek?”
He shook his head, lower lip protruding in a pout. “No.”
“Why not?”
“’Cause I’m only s’posed to play games with her.”
He could feel his gut churn, but he asked anyway. “Like what?”
“The feel-good kind. It’s our secret game. I’m not s’posed to tell nobody.”
Oh, fuck. “But you don’t play those games anymore, do you, Jake?”
The man nodded.
“What does that mean, Jake? You do play them?”
Another nod. “With