Linda was still cleaning up when they got there. She looked tired, but not as stressed as Ellie felt.
“I've got the footage pulled up on the TV already,” she said. “Come on back, you can take a look at it.”
She and Joanna followed her back into the kitchen, where there was an old television that was hooked up to the closed-circuit TV cameras. Linda handed Ellie the remote. “I’ve got to finish sweeping, so I’ll leave you to it.”
Ellie handed Joanna the remote and stepped to the side so her friend could get a better view of the television. After all, Joanna was the only one of them who had seen the killer before. Her friend situated herself in front of the TV and hit play. Ellie watched the expression on her face change with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“It's him,” she said just a few seconds in. “I recognize his haircut, and the shape of his shoulders. This is the guy who almost killed me, Ellie, and he's here.”
She replayed the footage and Ellie watched it too. It was grainy; Linda was right, the cameras weren't the best, but it was obvious the man was holding something in his hand. It looked like it might have been a knife, but she couldn’t really make it out. If it was a knife, it was a big one. A hunting knife.
“What was he doing here at the restaurant?” Ellie asked. “You don't think he's after Linda, do you?”
Joanna gave her a look. “How on earth would I know? The dude tried to stab me, it's not like we sat down and had an in-depth conversation about why he was doing all this. He definitely followed one of us down here.”
They traded an uncomfortable look. “I've got to call Russell,” Ellie said.
“I'm going to go make sure that the front doors are locked,” Joanna said. “I'll tell Linda what we found. Let me know what Russell says.”
“I will,” Ellie promised.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her husband's number. He picked up almost immediately, and she could tell by his tone that he was worried. “Is your friend okay?” he asked.
She remembered that she had practically hung up on him when Linda called. “Yes, she's fine. I'm sorry. Joanna and I ended up running out to the pizzeria to check out the security footage. Russell, Joanna says it's the same man. The killer is here, in Florida.”
He was silent for a long moment. “Ellie, where are you right now?”
“We are at the pizzeria with Linda.”
“Make sure she gets in her car safely and heads home, then I want you to go back to the hotel room and lock yourselves in. Don't let anyone in the room, not even room service. If you need to get out to get food or anything, go together and stay aware of your surroundings, and wait until daylight. I'm going to fly out there, and I'm also going to contact the local police and get them up to date with what’s going on. I’ll see if I can convince them to send an officer to keep watch on your room. With luck, we’ll be able to catch this guy before he tries anything. I’ll be down there on the next flight.”
“Do you have any idea who he is yet?” she asked. “Why he's down here? Why he’s targeting us?”
“I don't know yet,” he said. “But I promise you, we’ll have answers soon.”
She said a quick goodbye to him, promising that she would call him when they got back to the hotel room. She slipped the phone into her purse and stepped back out of the dining area to find Joanna and Linda talking by the doors. Joanna nodded at her. “I told Linda what happened. What's the plan?”
“Russell wants us to make sure that Linda gets into her car safely and heads home, and then he wants you and I to head back to the hotel room and lock ourselves in until he gets here.”
“He’s coming down here?”
“Yes. He said he's also going to contact the local police and that he would try to get a police presence posted outside our room.”
“Good,” she said. “Let's get going, then. I'll feel a lot better once we’re back in the room.”
“Do you need some more time, Linda?”
The other woman shook her head. “No, I'm ready to go now. I've just got to grab my purse.”
They waited while Linda grabbed her purse and double checked that everything was locked up, then they walked out to the parking lot together. Ellie didn't have her pepper spray with her – she couldn't take it on the plane – but Linda had some, and kept it handy in case the man was still lurking in the parking lot. Thankfully, the lot was empty other than for their vehicles.
“Thanks,” Linda said. “Let me know what happens, and I hope you two stay safe.”
“We'll keep an eye on each other,” Ellie said. “Sorry for causing all this trouble.”
“It's not your fault,” Linda assured her. “And don't worry about it. I was just thinking that my life was getting a bit on the boring side. This has certainly spiced things up.”
They said a quick goodbye, then Ellie and Joanna got into the rental car and headed back to the hotel. Ellie was exhausted, but at the same time she also felt wide awake. Somewhere out there in the city, a serial killer was hunting for them.
Chapter Fifteen
They parked as close to the hotel's front doors as possible, and scurried across the parking lot into the safety and security of the brightly lit lobby. The elevator brought them safely to their floor, and the two of them started down the hall toward their room.
“So, we’re just supposed to wait for Russell?” Joanna asked.
“Well, he said he was going to contact the local police and see if someone could come out here. I'm sure they'll get here before he does. I'm not sure when the next flight down here from Portland is.”
“I can't believe this is happening. I thought it would be safe here.”
“So did I,” Ellie said softly. She reached into her wallet as they neared the door and pulled out her key card, sliding it through the lock. It blinked green and she pushed the door open, stepping into the dark, chilly room. She tossed her purse onto the couch and grabbed a TV remote, shutting off the television, which she had left on earlier in her rush to get to the pizzeria.
“Housekeeping came,” Joanna said as she walked into the bedroom. “We must've forgotten to leave the Do Not Disturb sign on the door.”
Ellie made a face. While she was grateful to housekeeping for cleaning the room, she never liked the idea of strangers cleaning up her mess while she wasn’t there. Or at all, really.
“I'll put the sign on the door now. I don’t want anyone coming in here, not with everything that’s going on.”
She grabbed the Do Not Disturb sign off the door and, after looking out the peephole, opened the door just enough to slip the sign onto the outer part of the handle. She shut it again, turning the deadbolt and attaching the chain lock.
“I'm pretty tired,” she said when she was done. “I think I'm going to get ready to eat dinner and then hit the hay.”
“All right. I’m not hungry anymore, so I’m just going to brush my teeth and put my pajamas on.”
“Okay. I’ll text Russell before I forget and let him know that we made it back safely.”
She sat on the couch next to her purse and pulled her phone out. She had just turned the screen on when she heard a piercing scream come from the bathroom. She jolted up, feeling the phone slip from her fingers, and ran into the other room. She stumbled to a halt at the sight that greeted her. Joanna was standing at the entrance to the bathroom, with a tall man behind her, a wicked looking knife pressed to her throat.
Now that she saw him in person, Ellie thought he looked vaguely familiar. She made the connection suddenly. She had seen him before in the newspaper the same morning that Ms. White had been killed.
“Don't hurt her,” Ellie said.
The man laughed, tightening his grip on Joanna, who looked terrified. “Sure, I'll let her go, just because you asked so nicely.” He snorted. “What do you think I'm going to do? Now that I'm here, I can kill two birds with one stone. Or, one knife, I guess.”
He twirled the knife, as if showing
off, and Joanna took that chance to stomp on his instep. She was still wearing her shoes, which were flats with a hard rubber heel, and he shouted and hopped back out of reflex at the pain.
Joanna ripped herself from his grip and ran at Ellie, almost colliding with her. The two of them stumbled toward the door, but the man was too fast. He dove forward and tackled Joanna to the ground. At her friend’s scream, Ellie turned around and without thinking, aimed a kick at the hand that was holding the knife. The knife flew out of the man's grip, but he didn't let go of Joanna.
She screamed again and kicked out, but she impacted his side and it didn't have the same effect as before. He gave an angry shout and yanked her toward him again, reaching out for the knife with his other hand. Ellie hurried forward and kicked the knife further away, realizing her mistake as she did it. She really should have grabbed it for herself, though she wasn't sure if she would actually be able to bring herself to use it against the man.
He snarled, a frightening sound, and grabbed at her ankle since the knife was out of reach. She yanked her foot back just in time. Joanna kicked again, and this time managed to break free, though she lost a shoe in the process. She scrambled to her hands and knees and started trying to make her way toward the hotel room door again. The man was fast, though, and he was right behind her. Ellie followed them both out into the main area of the hotel room and saw Joanna run into the door, scrabbling at the locks and trying to pull it open, but to no avail; she had forgotten to remove the chain. The man took advantage of this and grabbed her again, this time by the back of the neck and tried to pull her back.
Panicking, Ellie grabbed the biggest, strongest object she could see – the hotel-provided ironing board – and jabbed it at him like spear, catching him in the side. He grunted and let go of Joanna, who turned around and pushed him away. Luck was on their side for once; the backs of his knees hit the edge of the couch and he fell over, landing on the couch with a groan. Ellie raised the ironing board again, hoping she looked threatening. Joanna grabbed the pot of cold coffee from the long desk by the door, which was left over from that morning. The man flinched as she picked it up, and Ellie remembered that Joanna had already thrown hot coffee on him once. He wouldn’t know that this pot was cold. She spotted the pink skin on his neck from where the other pot had burned him. Suddenly, she felt more confident.
“Why?” she managed to ask. “Why are you doing this? Why are you killing people?”
He sneered at her, still eyeing the coffee pot warily. “Because you left my dreams to die. I lost everything, and I'm going to make sure you do as well.”
“I don't even know who you are,” Ellie said. That wasn't quite true. Local Man Loses Everything Due to Lack of Growth in Town; Will New Resort Give Kittiport a Much Needed Boost? His name was Travis, she thought.
“What, you couldn't find a building for sale or lease so you decided to kill people to free up space?” she said, staring at him incredulously. “All of those people died… Just because you wanted to rent a storefront?”
No,” he spat. “They died because they outbid me, over and over again. I put an offer in on each of those buildings, and each time someone jumped in at the last moment and snatched it out from under me with a higher offer. Do you know what it feels like to have your dream snatched out from under you again and again and again, watching your family slowly fall apart because you’re not bringing in the money you need to keep them fed and clothed? Do you know what it's like to see your wife walk away with your four-year-old kid because you can’t provide for them?” He gave a bitter laugh. “This town wrecked me, so I'm going to destroy the town.”
He made a move as if to get up, but Joanna took a threatening step forward with the coffee pot. “Not so fast, or this is going in your face next time,” she said. “How did you know we were here? How did you get into the room?”
“Nothing will stop me. I’m done taking no for an answer. I'm going to prove to the world that I'm not a failure, and if one of the people I swore to hunt down troops off to Florida with nothing more than a scratch on her arm, then I'm not doing my job right. Your friend,” he sneered at Ellie, “was just a happy coincidence.”
“You never tried to buy the pizzeria,” Ellie said. “I shouldn’t be on your list of people who wronged you.”
“You're right, you didn't buy it. You just got handed it for free after your grandfather died. I didn't even get a chance put an offer in on the building.”
“You still didn't answer my other questions,” Joanna said. “How did you know where we were going? How did you get into the room?”
Ellie glance at her friend and realized that Joanna was stalling for something. But what? She remembered that Russell had promised to get a local police officer stationed outside their hotel room. Would he or she get there soon enough?
“Fate was on my side,” he said. “I saw your flight papers lying on the counter when I broke into your little restaurant. I wondered what was in Miami, Florida. A quick search online showed me that your little pizza friend owns a second restaurant here, and I put two and two together. Then I just had to call around to different hotels and ask for you by name. I figured you’d be somewhere nearby the pizza restaurant, and I was right. This hotel was only my third try. I only had to wait around for a few minutes before one of the maids came by to clean. You’d be surprised how easy it is to get into someone’s room if you tell housekeeping that you forgot your key and need to get your wallet. We had a nice little talk while she cleaned.”
Ellie stared at the man in horror. Not only was he a cold-blooded killer, but he had a level of determination and passion for his perceived vengeance that was astounding to her. She knew that he wasn't about to let them walk out of here easily, but they also weren’t going to give up their fight very easily either.
A loud pounding at the door was the distraction he needed to jump up. Joanna flung the coffee pot him and the cold liquid splashed all over his face. He jolted to a halt, just for a moment, but it was enough for Joanna to run and unhook the chain while Ellie hit him in the stomach with the ironing board again, hard. He grunted and stumbled back, and Ellie heard the door open behind her.
“Put your hands on your head and drop to the floor,” she heard behind her after a moment of silence, while the officer took in the scene. A wave of relief washed through her as she watched the man across from her fall to his knees, his face contorted into an expression of hate as he slowly put his hands on his head.
Epilogue
Ellie walked through her front door, inhaling the familiar scent of home and feeling something deep inside of her relax. It felt good to be back. The unexpected trip to Florida had lasted only a couple more days. After Travis had been arrested, she had to stay for questioning, and then had spent an extra day doing absolutely nothing but enjoying the scenery with Russell and Joanna.
Travis, since he was a resident of Maine and had committed the crimes in Maine, was going to be moved back to the state for his trial. Ellie just hoped that nothing went wrong while they were transporting him. She had seen the look of hate in his eyes, and had no doubt that more people would die if he somehow managed to escape.
She felt almost giddy for the entire flight. The sudden relief of not having to worry about the killer anymore was a tremendous weight off of her back, though she knew that he would continue to haunt her dreams for a long time.
Joanna was relieved too, she could tell. Even though she was covered in bruises, she seemed to be in good spirits. Ellie didn’t blame her; fighting off a serial killer was a great ego boost.
Russell was unusually quiet. She had waited the entire flight and drive home to ask him what was going on, since she wanted to be alone to talk with him. Now they were home, she was done waiting.
“Is everything okay?” she asked as he shut the door behind them. The dogs ran up to greet her and she heard Marlowe calling from the hallway.
“Of course,” he said, pulling her into a hug and kissing her cheek.<
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“Is it really?” she said, pulling away from him just enough to look into his eyes. “I know you. Something's up.”
He sighed. “I just can't help thinking about all the people I was too late for. I can't believe we didn't put it together sooner. That article was in the paper the very day that he started his killing spree. He had a picture and everything, I don’t understand how I could have been so blind. I should have made the connection. Instead, I kept looking into people that were involved with the hotel. I even interviewed a couple of construction workers from there.”
“None of us knew it was him,” Ellie said. “You can't blame yourself for that. No one could be expected to remember every single newspaper article they’ve ever seen.”
“I just can't help but wonder how I made so many mistakes. I shouldn’t have asked you to leave the state. I just ended up putting you in more danger.”
Shrimply Sublime Murder Page 6