could have escalated from prepping dead bodies to murder.” With a sigh, she went to find another way into the building. Technically she needed a search warrant, but these were exigent circumstances. “And if he is our killer, Shondra could be somewhere inside.”
Ninety-One
Ellie checked the back door of the main building, but as expected, it was locked. A quick trip to all the side doors yielded the same results. Deciding the best method of entry without drawing suspicions from any passersby would be the basement, she asked Cord to show her the way.
The exterior door was locked, and the windows were set three feet apart on either side of the door. Ellie pulled a tool from her pocket, and jimmied it between the ledge and sill, prying it until the lock snapped. Thankfully the building was old, the lock half broken and easy to trigger open. Slowly she pushed up the window while Cord kept guard. She hoisted herself inside, then dropped to the cement floor.
Darkness coated the interior, and she froze, the space closing around her with its acrid odors and memories of death clinging to the walls. Ellie swayed, haunted by an image of the countless people who’d been laid out here, their final hours before interment spent naked and cold and left in the hands of the mortician as they were prepared to be laid to rest. Suddenly she felt trapped, suffocating, locked in the dark with no way out.
“Ellie?”
The sound of Cord’s breathing echoed around her, a comfort as the cloying tentacles of fear wound around her throat.
Dragging herself from the waves of fear swirling around her, she listened for signs that someone was inside. A dripping sound echoed in the silence. Holding her breath, she inched down the hall, using her flashlight to lead her and listening closely for any sounds of a woman crying or calling out for help.
Cord pointed toward the prep rooms and the strong scent of formaldehyde and body decay permeated the air, making Ellie’s stomach twist. Tiptoeing inside, she glanced at the metal tables, but to her relief there were no bodies laid out.
“The cold room,” she whispered as she crept toward the refrigerated area where bodies were stored until they were released for viewings or burial.
Cord led the way, his jaw set in stone as he pushed open the door. Holding her breath, Ellie prayed that she didn’t see Shondra inside but braced herself for the worst.
The room was ice cold, the frosty air slamming into Ellie, and it was lined with metal tables ready for multiple bodies to be stored. But it was empty. Ellie breathed a sigh of relief.
Ducking back into the hallway, she scanned the sign at the end of the hall. It was the room which stored the coffins for families to choose from. Tension knotted her shoulders as she pushed open the door.
Her flashlight darted across the eerie scene of a row of coffins. Pewter, silver, bronzed, some of the lids open, some of them shut.
Shondra’s face taunted her and she stepped forward to search the caskets. She imagined opening a coffin and seeing her friend, pale and lifeless, lying there.
But just as she shoved aside the image, Cord grunted. Suddenly something hard slammed against the back of her head and she let out a yelp of pain. Her flashlight fell to the floor, immediately going out and enveloping them in darkness. Ellie tried to reach out for Cord, to call for help.
But her hand connected with empty air and spots danced behind her eyes as she collapsed on the floor with a thud.
Ninety-Two
Crooked Creek
Entering Crooked Creek’s police station, Derrick hoped to meet up with Ellie. He’d phoned her on the way back to town but gotten her voicemail. A quick check with the hospital, and he learned she wasn’t there. She’d mentioned talking to McClain about a place to look for Friday’s victim. Was she out looking now?
Captain Hale was in a meeting with the mayor and the sheriff when he arrived, heated voices coming from his office, and Deputy Landrum was hunched over his computer, his face pinched with worry.
“Have you heard from Detective Reeves?” Derrick asked.
The deputy gave him a quick glance, then his eye twitched as he looked away, as if he didn’t know how to answer.
“Where is she?” Derrick asked again.
“I don’t exactly know.”
Derrick threw an accusing stare. The sheriff, the mayor and Ellie’s captain stepped from the office and went still, listening. “Listen to me, Deputy. Someone tried