she was right back where she had been for the past five years. “I just want the truth, Virgil, whatever it is. My children need to move on. So do I.”
Virgil nodded. “The mass grave was a huge discovery. It may be the key to solving this thing. We just don’t know yet. And we might not know for a long time. We just have to keep going.”
“Going where? My entire life is on hold.” Kate felt her cheeks get hot. “Elliot Stafford has asked me out a few times—just as friends. I would actually enjoy that. But I don’t feel comfortable even entertaining the idea.”
“I know. No one would fault you for it, though.”
“But I would.” Kate dabbed her eyes. “I need closure first. In my heart of hearts, I doubt Micah and Riley Jo are alive. I’ve grieved losing them until it’s made me sick. I just want an end to the question mark—one way or the other.”
Abby was in a tug-of-war between sleep and wakefulness, aware of a throbbing pain in the back of her head. Where was she? She lay on her side and groped the area around her. Dirt.
She opened her eyes to a dimly lit pit. Fear seized her. She remembered being hit from behind and passing out. She reached to the back of her head and touched the aching spot.
“Ouch!”
Her hand was wet and sticky. Blood!
Abby shivered so hard her teeth were chattering. She wished she had on her sweats instead of just jeans and a T-shirt. She sat up, her muscles sore, and hugged herself to keep warm.
Was this her captor’s idea of a meat locker? Was he going to butcher her and feed her to the pigs as he had threatened? She started to cry. Lord, I’m scared. Help me.
Her eyes adjusted to what little light there was, and she saw a trapdoor overhead—with a small metal grate for a window. She stood on her tiptoes and pushed on it, but it was securely in place. She peeked through it and saw what appeared to be rustic metal shelves filled with canning jars. A single lightbulb burned overhead, but the wattage was so low she couldn’t tell anything else about the room.
She sat against one wall, hugging her knees, lamenting her decision to hide in the bed of Jay’s truck. He didn’t know she had come up here. And neither would anyone else.
Abby heard a door open above. Her heart nearly pounded out of her chest. She curled up in a fetal position and didn’t move. Or breathe.
“You awake down there, girlie?” said the man.
Abby didn’t answer, but she was trembling. Surely he noticed.
“Don’t matter. You ain’t gonna be around long. How’s it feel to lay your head on the ground where your daddy was? I put him down there after J.D. shot him—to preserve his body till I was ready to make good use of it.”
Abby’s tears fell onto the ground. Unless she made it out, her mother would never know what had happened to her either—or that Ella was Riley Jo.
The man laughed. “Soon as I find J.D., I’ll make you both disappear. Them pigs is gonna be mighty happy.”
“Wait!” Abby sat up and held her gaze on the silhouette of the bearded man, who knelt next to the grate. He appeared to be the same man she had seen at Murchison’s. “When Jay was twelve, he shot my father by accident. That’s when you found my sister and decided to raise her, right? You named her Ella. You and your wife also have twin boys—about three years old. One of them’s named Ronny.”
The man wore a stony expression and was quiet for a few moments. “You’re too smart for your own good. Shoulda left well enough alone.”
“Just tell me what happened,” Abby said. “You’re going to kill me anyway. Let me die knowing the truth.”
“Not unless you tell me where J.D. is.”
“I don’t know. Honest. I hid in the back of his truck. I knew he was coming up here. I tried to follow him but lost sight of him when you grabbed me. I’ve got no reason to lie about it.”
“Who else knows you were comin’ here?”
“No one.” The instant she said it, she wished she hadn’t. “Okay, that’s not true. Lots of people know where I am. My whole family does. And my friends. They’ll have the entire sheriff’s department coming up here any minute.”
The man grinned. “You’re a lousy liar. And J.D. won’t tell nobody