We have to find out if there’s a link between the women.”
Giving a nod of understanding, Heath returned to his desk with Melissa’s number. Grateful he was detail-oriented, Ellie headed back to her office to call Cord.
The day was getting away from her. Just like the killer.
Thirty-Seven
“I need your help, Cord.”
His heavy breathing echoed back, and she pictured him chopping wood for his stove. It was a less unsettling image than the taxidermy wildcats he kept in his dark house. Lately, she’d had nightmares where she woke up and the feral animals were watching her, teeth bared, ready to tear her apart.
“What is it?” Cord asked.
Fear made her voice crack. “The man who killed those two women—he took Shondra.”
“What?”
Ellie closed her eyes. She suddenly felt as if she was suffocating. When she’d rescued Penny Matthews and the other little girl after Hiram took them, Hiram had buried her alive. Cord had literally dug her from the ground and saved her. He also admired her father, who’d been a mentor to him over the years. But she’d been so wrapped up in her own shock and pain she hadn’t considered how the fallout had affected him.
Forcing aside the thoughts, Ellie exhaled. “Special Agent Fox, the captain and Deputy Landrum just met for a briefing. We know where he left the first two victims. If he’s true to pattern, the nursery rhyme ‘Monday’s child’ is a clue. And he’s going to kill a woman for each day of the week. The sheriff has already named him the Weekday Killer.”
Emotions threatened to overcome her. “Shondra may be next, Cord.” Her voice cracked. “Bryce has deputies searching abandoned buildings and properties. But the rhyme may be a clue.”
“What can I do?” Cord asked gruffly.
“Help me think. According to the rhyme, Wednesday’s child is full of woe. The captain is dispatching deputies to cover local cemeteries and church graveyards. Woe means sadness, so look at the map and see if any place strikes you as significant.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Cord agreed.
“Good. Agent Fox and I are going to search the second victim’s house and look for her computer and phone. Call me if you come up with anything.”
“Sure.” His voice rasped out as if he was hurrying somewhere. “And Ellie, this man is dangerous. If he contacted you, he may be trying to lure you into a trap.”
“I survived my own brother’s attempt to kill me,” Ellie said. “This son of a bitch is not about to make me back down.”
Thirty-Eight
Somewhere on the AT
Shondra jerked at the chain around her neck, desperate to escape. All night long she’d listened to the other woman crying, weeping as the hours crept by.
Her heart ached. She’d tried to call out to her, to let her know that she wasn’t alone.
But her voice had made the woman only sob harder.
Shondra knew that her days were numbered. But for some reason, the monster was holding her, making her suffer first. Not like the others, who he kept a day or two before killing them. Why didn’t he just kill her, too?
Damn him to hell and back. He’d shown her the pictures of the women after he’d cut their throats. The sick way he’d posed them on beds of daffodils. The bramble around their necks.
He was sadistic. He killed for the thrill. Enjoyed watching a woman beg to live as she drew her last breath.
A noise sounded above, jerking Shondra from her thoughts. He was back. Storming through the house. Shouting and stomping and throwing something.
Frantic to free herself, she fumbled yet again in the dark for a way to release the chain, but there was no way to loosen it. Her fingers were bloody and raw from prying endlessly at the cage door. Summoning her strength, she struggled to loosen one of the screws holding the cage door shut, but it wouldn’t budge. The sharp metal stabbed the tip of her finger and blood trickled down her hand.
Exhausted and sore, she clenched her teeth and sagged against the floor of the cage, tears of anger filling her eyes.
You’re trash, her daddy used to say. Good for nothing trash.
When she was little, she’d believed it. She’d worn thrift-store clothes and used an outdoor toilet. She had free lunches at school, and the other kids made fun of her.
One day she’d had enough of being pushed around and she’d fought back. Sure, she’d gotten suspended for three days, but it was worth it. The bullies left her alone after that.