her hostage and abused her,” Ellie said, figuring it out. “Stockholm syndrome.”
“You’d be surprised what a woman will do when she thinks she’s going to die.” He threw his head back and laughed, the ugly sound booming off the concrete walls. “She was easy to manipulate, to train, just like the dogs.”
“You’re a sociopath,” Ellie said, earning another slap across the jaw.
“Once I had her under my thumb, I could make her do anything for me. Not like you or Cathy.”
“Where is she?” Ellie asked.
He shrugged, then brushed his calloused fingers across her cheek. A second later, he snatched off the rubber band holding her ponytail and spread her hair over her shoulders. “Your daddy should have taught you how to be a lady.”
“And yours should have taught you how to be a man,” Ellie said, unable to resist the barb.
He hit her again, this time so hard her head snapped backward and the dog collar cut into her neck. She gagged as he hauled the chain, dragging her after him.
“That’s a good girl, Ellie. Good girl.”
Tears blurred her eyes at the menacing edge to his deep voice, but she blinked them back. She refused to give him the satisfaction of crying in front of him.
Her body ached as he heaved her into the hallway, into another cold room, where the air was thick with the smell of blood. Three metal cages glinted in the dark.
Two were empty, but she saw the outline of a body in the other.
One Hundred Thirty-Six
Bluff County Hospital
Derrick found Randall Reeves perched by his wife’s bedside.
He knocked on the door, which stood ajar, the sound of machines beeping and whirring from inside. Randall looked up, surprised, then something akin to suspicion settled on his craggy face.
Derrick motioned for him to step into the hallway, and Randall kissed his sleeping wife, before striding toward him.
Anger darkened Randall’s face, his tone defensive. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s about Ellie,” Derrick said, knowing time was of the essence.
Randall softened somewhat. “What about Ellie?”
“The Weekday Killer has her.”
Randall balled his hands by his sides and straightened, looking more like the intimidating man he used to be. “How did you let this happen?” he barked. “You were supposed to be working with her.”
Guilt slammed into Derrick. He’d been beating himself up the entire drive over. “I don’t have time to get into everything, but the bottom line is that I went to Ellie’s house and found signs of a struggle in her bedroom.”
The man’s face turned ashen. “No sign of Ellie?”
He shook his head. “One of his victims is in the hospital, but she never saw the man’s face. But he told her that Ellie had to pay for humiliating him. That means the killer knows Ellie personally, that they crossed paths. Captain Hale is reviewing her old cases, but you know her better than anybody. Is there anyone you can think of who hates her?”
Randall pinched the bridge of his nose. “She and Bryce have some tension, but he wouldn’t hurt her or kill all those women.”
“He’s been cleared,” Derrick said, earning a surprised look from Randall. “But think. There has to be someone in her past.”
“You know Ellie. She’s a ball buster and has pissed off a lot of people, but… to want to kill her. I…”
“If you don’t give me something here, it might be too late for your daughter.” Derrick barely resisted beating the damn man. “Think about it. This perpetrator forces the victims to wear a dog collar. Perhaps he trains dogs to fight?”
Randall’s frown deepened.
“He also said she humiliated him. And he mentioned something about a woman named Cathy. He could have seen Ellie in the news lately, maybe that triggered something in him. We’ve eliminated the family members of the Ghost victims.”
“You mentioned he might have trained dogs to fight?” asked Randall, pacing in the hall.
Derrick nodded.
Closing his eyes, Randall rubbed the back of his neck. “There was an officer at the academy with Ellie. An incident, but it happened a long time ago.”
Derrick’s pulse jumped. “What kind of incident?”
“He volunteered to train dogs for the K-9 units, but he was caught beating one.”
Derrick’s heart raced. “Was there anything else?”
Randall glanced back at his wife’s room, but she hadn’t moved. “Ellie was very competitive and athletic. She ran rings around a few of the men. She was faster, was mentally sharp, and also outshot a lot of them at the shooting range. She filed a complaint against the same man for sexual harassment.”