her sister sank into the chair beside her, clasping her hand, as Derrick and the sheriff exited the room.
“Keep guarding her,” Derrick told the deputy.
“You had some nerve back there,” Bryce growled.
“I’m just doing my job. Besides, it was the fastest way to clear you.”
“Ellie’s ass is toast.”
“Let’s find her first, then she can explain,” Derrick replied.
Once again Derrick rang Ellie again, but got her voicemail. “I think she’s in trouble. I’m going by her house.”
“I’ll go with you,” Bryce said.
“No. I’ll drop you at your office. Get a voice recording of Finton and McClain and we’ll have Kennedy listen to it. Also, there was DNA beneath her fingernails. Send both men’s DNA samples to the lab for comparison.”
Meanwhile, he had to find out who Cathy was. She might be the key to finding Shondra and Ellie.
One Hundred Thirty-Two
Somewhere on the AT
As his voice boomed down the steps, Ellie was beginning to be able to move her hands and legs again. The cold metal floor where she lay was the bottom of a cage, she realized, and in the darkness she’d managed to reach up and feel the sides. There were bars, she figured, revolted.
Is this where he’d killed some of his victims? In this cage? In this room? Had Shondra sat in this very spot? The questions spun in her head.
Terror bled through her as his feet shuffled across the floor, but she tamped it down with steely determination. She didn’t want to give him the pleasure of seeing her fear.
He stalked toward her, a hulking shadow with a black mask. He was tall, with wide shoulders like a linebacker’s. Ham-sized hands. Heavy footfalls. She held her breath as he inched towards her.
Keys rattled as he unlocked the cage door. He knelt in front of her, icy black eyes piercing.
“Hello, Ellie, it’s good to see you again.”
Again? The voice… she knew him.
“Come on out and let’s play,” he said.
She didn’t move.
He yanked the chain connected to the collar around her neck so sharply pain ripped through her.
“I said come out and play.” Grabbing her by her hair, he forced her to crawl forward. “It’s time you learned you’re the weak one. That you have to obey.”
She’d never obey him––or anyone else.
The chain clinked as he hauled her toward him. Then he stood, towering over her, and kicked her in the stomach. She bit back a cry, gasping for breath, then braced herself as he delivered another and another, grunting with every blow.
With one big, hard hand, he pulled her head up. “Beg me, Ellie. Beg for your life.”
This was what he’d done to the other women before he’d killed them, she realized, lying there at his mercy. This is what he had done to Shondra.
Knowing she somehow had to find a way out, she collapsed into a puddle, staying as still as she could. He knelt in front of her, jerking her face up to look at him again.
“You will beg before it’s over. They always beg,” he spat.
Fury fueled her, and she pushed away the pain, rolling onto her back and kicking him hard. He groaned, reaching for her, but she kicked him again and sent him flying backward.
“You bitch,” he roared. “You’ll pay for that.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice raw.
“Don’t you remember, Ellie? It’s been a while, but I haven’t forgotten. I’ll never forget what you did to me.”
“What I did?” The murdered women’s faces flashed behind her eyes. She was next. Lifting herself to her hands and knees, breathing through the pain, she crawled toward him. But he was fast, wrenching the chain so hard that the collar tightened, choking her. Using it as leverage, he stood and kicked her again, this time in the face. Blood spurted from her nose and mouth, then he delivered a sharp blow to her ribs, sending her to the floor in agony.
“Now you see whose stronger and smarter,” he shouted.
Another kick, another punch to her face with his fist, one after the other relentlessly, until she collapsed, the pain swallowing her.
One Hundred Thirty-Three
Crooked Creek
“Folks, this is Cara Soronto, your local meteorologist. The entire North Georgia area is now under a tornado watch, which means conditions are ripe for a funnel cloud to strike the area. Already five people have died in Alabama and trailer homes were literally ripped apart in Tennessee. My best advice; stay home for the next twelve hours as these dangerous winds roll across north Georgia with a vengeance.”