“She didn’t share the details. But after she filed, some other female officers spoke up as well. An investigation ensued, and he was dismissed from the academy.” Randall worked his mouth from side to side, his face growing more and more ashen. “After he got kicked out, I heard his wife left him. I… believe they had a child, and they were killed in an accident.”
Derrick’s blood went cold. “He could blame Ellie for that.”
“But why wait until now to try to get revenge against her?” Randall asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe he spiraled downward after that. Or maybe he got help. Who knows at this point? But seeing Ellie in the news being reported as a hero might have triggered his need for vengeance. What’s his name?”
“I think it was something like Herbert— No… Hugh. Burton, that was it. Hugh Burton.”
Derrick had started to walk away when Randall called out his name. “Agent Fox? Please find my little girl.”
Derrick’s gaze met his. He would find Ellie, but not for Randall.
One Hundred Thirty-Seven
Somewhere on the AT
Ellie swallowed back a sob as she stared at Shondra’s lifeless form inside the cage. It was too dark to see if Burton had slashed her throat, but the strong odor of blood and body waste permeated the damp room. Water dripped somewhere close by, pinging on the concrete floor.
Forcing her to crawl over to the cage, Burton unlocked the door and ordered her inside. A clamminess washed over Ellie, and she thought she might pass out. The cage was big enough for a large animal but cramped with her and Shondra inside. It smelled like blood and dog hair, and she bit back a retch.
The door clanged shut, and she felt Burton watching her as she lifted a battered hand to touch her friend. Shondra was only thirty years old––she had her whole life ahead of her. After such a broken past, she’d met a woman who loved her and they’d planned to get married. But she would never get the happiness she deserved.
Now she looked thinner, as if she hadn’t eaten in days. Her skin was pale and splotchy, black and blue with bruising. Her hair lay in a tangle, dried blood making the strands coarse. Ellie gently pushed it away from her cheek. Her friend’s skin was ice cold.
One Hundred Thirty-Eight
Stony Gap
Derrick met Bryce, Deputy Landrum, Captain Hale, Cord and half a dozen other deputies at the sheriff’s office to brief them. Bennett had been fast in investigating Burton. Armed with new information, he asked everyone to meet in the conference room.
Captain Hale hung up his phone as he walked in. “That was Deputy Eastwood’s girlfriend, Melissa. She’s hysterical and demanded to speak to Detective Reeves.”
“What did you tell her?” Derrick asked.
“That I’d have her call her,” he said grimly.
Derrick dove straight in. “I believe Detective Reeves has been abducted by the Weekday Killer, and this is him.” He tacked Burton’s photo on the whiteboard. “Sheriff, can you get an all-points bulletin out for him, send his picture to Angelica Gomez and have her run it?”
The sheriff nodded. “What makes you think he’s the killer?”
“He fits the profile and has a vendetta against Detective Reeves. Burton was at the police academy with her. He had trouble there, though. Volunteered to train dogs but was caught abusing them. Later, Ellie filed charges against him for sexual harassment. Her complaint started a wave of others that got him dismissed and ended his career in law enforcement. His life went further downhill from there. His wife, Cathy, left him, taking their six-year-old daughter with her. He chased after them, but the wife crashed and she and the little girl both died.”
Bryce made a strangled sound, causing Derrick to pause.
“Do you know him?” he asked.
“I saw him at Haints,” Waters murmured, pressing his hand to his forehead.
“You talked to him?” Derrick asked, his jaw tightening.
“Yes… I met him years ago at a weapons training seminar, but I had no idea he knew Ellie.” Bryce had paled.
Captain Hale cleared his throat. “What did you talk about?”
“I don’t know,” Bryce said. “We had a beer, that’s all.”
He’d probably found common ground by bashing Ellie. “What did you tell him?” Derrick barked.
“I may have mentioned she was in therapy. I heard her and Deputy Eastwood talking one day.”
“You stupid son of a bitch,” cursed Derrick, barely containing his rage. “You fed him information and he used it to find his victims.”