through her head, driving her forward.
By the time she reached the edge of the ridge, her hands were aching, her head was pounding, and her gloves were ripped from clawing at the rough bark and bramble. Reaching for leverage to pull her the rest of the way, she held onto a thick tree root and dragged her body over the side. Swinging her leg up, she managed to crawl over the edge and then collapsed, her breath panting out.
Bushes rustled ahead, and she spotted Derrick running toward her.
Shoving her tangled hair from her face where it had come loose from her ponytail, she tried to stand. The world swayed again, and she cursed, then blinked, determined to stay strong as he approached.
But the fact that he was alone made her stomach clench. “What happened?” she wheezed out.
Derrick’s dark eyes skated over her. “He got away. Had an ATV parked off the way.”
“He hasn’t used a gun with his victims.” Ellie gestured towards the falls. “But the close proximity to the woman’s body suggests he could be the killer.”
“If he wanted us to find her, why shoot at us?” Derrick questioned.
Ellie shook her head. “It’s a game to him, and he isn’t finished. He wants to play out the days of the week.”
“You’re probably right.” Derrick walked toward her, halting a foot away, his frown deepening. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine,” Ellie said, shrugging him off. She zeroed in on his cheek. “You’re hit?”
“Just a shrapnel graze,” he muttered, his voice edged with frustration. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. “Let me take a look.”
“I’m fine,” she repeated through gritted teeth. The sound of the vultures swooping, their wings flapping in the silence, made her turn. “Let’s get back to the body.”
Derrick nodded, then lifted his hand. “I collected a couple of bullet casings. Looks like he was using a .45 caliber pistol.”
“So, he has a gun, but he doesn’t use it to kill the women,” Ellie said, frowning. “He slashes their throats instead.”
“Maybe he uses the gun to force them into going with him,” Derrick suggested.
“I guess he could be hiding out and stalking them before he ambushes them.”
“This guy is a sociopath,” Derrick pointed out. “They can be charming, handsome, look perfectly normal.”
“That’s the reason he can stalk them without anyone noticing,” Ellie said. “Because he doesn’t look threatening.”
“The worst kind,” Derrick replied. “He could be sitting right next to you and you’d never suspect him.”
Forty-Eight
By the time Ellie and Derrick made it back to Teardrop Falls, the Evidence Response Team had arrived, along with Laney.
Cord met them, his phone in hand. “I have to go, Ellie. A hiker fell off the ledge at Rattlesnake Ridge.”
“Then go, and Cord,” Ellie said, “thanks for your help here.”
Darkness tinged his eyes and he turned away quickly, leaving her to wonder again if he was still angry with her. But she didn’t have time to analyze it now. They both had their secrets.
The investigators were combing the area for evidence, and Ellie had the instinctive urge to wrap a blanket around the poor woman’s body, even though she knew better than anyone not to compromise the scene.
The ME looked up from where she was examining the victim, her eyes widening slightly, and Ellie realized she must look a mess. Hazard of the job.
“Are you all right?” Laney asked.
Ellie shrugged, although her head was thumping like someone had hit her with a hammer. “Took a roll down a hill, but I’m fine, unlike our poor lady here. Are her lips sewn shut like the others?”
Laney nodded confirmation. “But this scene feels even more brutal than the last one,” she said, pointing toward the blood that had dried on the woman’s neck and torso. “What do you think this means?” Laney asked.
Ellie cleared her throat. “He carved a heart on her chest because he thinks she doesn’t have one.”
Forty-Nine
Skinny Minnie Whiny Vinny. Skinny Minnie Whiny Vinny.
No, no, no, no! He was not Skinny Minnie Whiny Vinny. Not anymore. The doctor at that nuthouse said he was like two different people, and he was the other one now.
The strong, smart one. The one who’d make all the women who’d wronged him pay.
He had friends now, too. Maybe two friends. Yes, yes, yes, the man who’d come to see him at the sanitarium was his friend, too. He never could have gotten out without him. And now here he was, doing favors for him and Hiram. That’s what friends were for.
Gripping the