double over with a groan. Jogging down the steps toward them, Bryce snagged his handcuffs from his belt and tossed them to Derrick.
Catching them, Derrick turned Paulson around and slapped the cuffs on him. He had no doubt this man set the fire at the Reeves’ house. He reeked of smoke and sweat, his clothes and skin stained with soot.
Bryce gave the man a venomous look then read him his Miranda rights as he hauled him toward the squad car.
“I hope that bastard died today!” Paulson shouted as Bryce shoved him in the back seat and slammed the door shut.
Derrick understood his hatred. Hell, he detested the fact that Randall was still walking around while his sister and nearly a dozen other little girls were dead at the hands of a monster.
But he’d joined law enforcement because he believed in it. If people took it into their own hands, there would be no safe place for anyone to go.
Sixty-Seven
Marvin’s Mobile Home Park
Derrick wanted to shake some sense into Paulson, to get some answers. But the look that Bryce gave him warned him not to.
He’d give him five minutes, then he’d take over. He’d already watched Randall, one small-town sheriff, screw up a case and let a killer roam free for decades––tearing his family apart in the process. This one was too important to mess around.
“Okay, Paulson, we know this,” Bryce said.
The man didn’t look so intimidating now he was cuffed. He was older than both Waters and Fox, and skinnier. He reeked of smoke and sweat, and his eyes looked glassy, as if he was too wasted to realize just how much trouble he was in.
“I lost my daughter because of that man.” Paulson’s voice shook with rage. “He was supposed to protect little girls like Ansley, but he let that psycho get away.”
Derrick understood his fury. He felt it too––it had haunted him for decades. Sometimes at night he woke in a cold sweat, wishing he could kill Hiram and Randall, wishing he could make them pay for his sister’s fate.
“I know you’re angry,” the sheriff said. “But the law says a man is innocent until proven guilty. And I’ve known Randall Reeves a long time. He didn’t turn a blind eye to justice. He was searching for your daughter’s killer all those years.”
“That’s bullshit,” Paulson spat. “They covered it all up, then protected their own daughter at the expense of everyone else’s. And now they’re going to get off scot free.”
“The law will decide what is true,” Sheriff Waters said bluntly. “You can’t go around threatening people and burning down their houses. For God’s sake, Randall and his wife might have died.” Bryce leaned closer. “Vera Randall almost did die. She’s in the hospital now fighting for her life.”
Paulson’s handcuffs clanged as he shook his fists. “Do you think I give a shit about that bitch? She gave birth to an evil monster. That means the devil is in her blood.” He grunted in disgust. “That means Ellie Reeves is evil, too.”
Derrick dragged him to his feet, his patience worn thin. “You hate Randall and Vera, I get it,” Derrick growled. “But their daughter had no idea what was going on. She risked her life to save those children.”
The sheriff cleared his throat. “He’s right.” Bryce moved up beside him. “And if you decided to kill these other women to get back at her, you’re going to prison for the rest of your life.”
Paulson’s eyes widened, snot dripping from his nose. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Did you send Randall and Ellie Reeves threats?” Bryce asked.
Paulson’s yellowed teeth clamped together, a vein throbbing in his neck.
“I take that as a yes,” Bryce said. “Then when you thought he might get the charges dropped you killed those women to get revenge against the Reeveses?”
Paulson began to shake his head. “No, goddammit, I… set that fire, but that was all I did.”
Sixty-Eight
Rose Hill
Eula Ann stood in the midst of the rose garden, her body jolting as fear swept over her.
As she closed her eyes, she swore she heard the shrill scream of a woman as she drew her last breath. There was so much evil out there in the forest.
There was goodness, too, like that Ellie Reeves girl. And the others who were hunting this latest killer.
Kneeling, she plucked a red rose from the bush, then plucked the petals one by one. Holding them in her palm, she raised her fingers and let the wind pick them up and