“Oh, Erin.” Tears filled her own eyes. She pulled Erin into a hug, patting her brown hair softly. “Oh, God. What do we do?”
“We stop this. That’s what. There’s no way we’re going to let this keep happening. You were right this morning, Jordyn. We should’ve stopped this years ago,” Allie said. “We stop this now. Before anyone else gets hurt.”
“Including Erin,” Carrie said.
“Especially Erin,” Jordyn nodded.
“You can’t think they’d actually hurt Erin?” Kate asked, catching up on what was happening. “You said it was only kids?”
“It has always been kids.” Allie nodded. “Fully alive, already born kids. I’ve never seen a List with a fetus, though, never. I mean, how can they plan to…” She frowned at Erin. “I’m sorry, honey, but how can they plan to kill the baby before it’s born without hurting you too?”
Erin’s tears continued to fall. Her head fell into her hands.
“We’re not going to let it happen, regardless of what their plan is.” Carrie patted Erin’s shoulders. She looked at Jordyn. “Erin’s top priority. And the baby.”
“Lauren Taylor,” Jordyn said. “She’s my neighbor’s daughter. She has to be safe too.”
They furrowed their brows at her, shaking their heads.
“Please. I owe Henry my life. From what I can see, she’s all he has.” Jordyn felt herself getting worked up. She hadn’t even checked on Henry since she’d been home.
“Okay,” Carrie said. “But look, we all know all of these kids. In a perfect world, they all live. But in order for that to happen, we need to figure all of this out, and quick.”
“Luckily for us, Erin and Lauren are both last on The List. They’ll be the last ones we have to worry about, which buys us extra time,” Allie promised. “Like I said earlier, The List always goes in order.”
Chapter Eighteen
When they arrived back home, Jordyn unbuckled her seatbelt. “Thanks for coming with me, Kate, really.”
Kate nodded. “Jor, there’s something that’s been bothering me.”
“What is it?” Jordyn asked, her hand resting on the door handle.
“Why do you think Erin was on The List? I mean, how could these people already know? It’s not like she’s showing.”
“They know everything,” Jordyn said plainly. “I know how that sounds, but it’s like they have the whole town bugged or something. It’s the only way to explain it.”
“You think they want her because you all are plotting to catch them?”
“I guess so. Why do you ask?”
Kate was still, staring at the steering wheel. “Why just Erin, though? Not anyone else?”
“There are five other names on The List, Kate. One of which is Henry’s daughter. They live over there.” She gestured to his house. “Five other lives are going to end if we don’t stop this. Erin is not the only one.”
As if on cue, Henry appeared at his front door. Upon seeing Jordyn, he pushed it open and rushed out. His arms were bandaged poorly and he walked with a slight limp. Jordyn climbed out of the car and offered him a small hug.
“Henry, I’m so glad you’re okay. I wanted to thank you this morning before we left the hospital but I never saw you.”
He held up his hand, interrupting her sentence. “You have to take that down.”
Kate climbed out of the car finally, joining Jordyn. Henry paid her no attention.
“What do you mean? Take what down?”
“The ‘For Sale’ sign. You have to take it down. You can’t sell this house.” He hobbled over, attempting to pull the sign up himself.
“What are you talking about? You sold us this house. Of course we can sell it,” Jordyn insisted.
Jordyn heard the front door slam and turned around to see Connor rushing out. “Is everything all right?” His voice was calm, though he held out his hand to stop Henry from pulling up the sign.
Henry stopped, breathing heavily. “You have to take this sign down.” He pointed at it, as if they wouldn’t know which sign he meant.
Connor shook his head. “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that. It’s not the house. Your house is beautiful. We’re sorry if it’ll be an inconvenience for you. We’re just moving back home. It’s too much for us, this town. Don’t worry though, we’ll make sure it’s kept up until it sells.”
“No.” Henry shook his head. “You don’t understand. You can’t leave Bates.”
“What do you mean?” Connor asked, obviously starting to get annoyed.
“No good can come from leaving Bates,” Jordyn said, remembering Allie’s words.
“What?” Connor snapped at her.
Henry nodded. “She’s right. Once you’re here, this town is like a curse. It follows you everywhere. Leaving would only make it worse. You have to stay.”
“What are you saying?” Connor frowned.
“This town, the deaths, it’s all contained here. All of it.” He glanced around as he spoke, checking to make sure they weren’t heard.
Connor stared at him, his jawline twitching.
“Once you leave Bates, try to escape—”
“Escape?” Connor yelled, his face visibly troubled.
“Listen to me,” Henry demanded, his voice low and strained. “Anyone who leaves Bates dies.”
“Dies? Is this some kind of joke?” he asked, looking around wildly. Suddenly, his eyes found Jordyn. “Did she put you up to this?” His eyes bugged out of his head in anger.
“Listen to him, Connor! This isn’t about me. I haven’t been making this up! He’s right.”
Henry spoke again. “All of the deaths here, the murders…people try to leave, but they always end up dead. Always. Whatever plagues this town, it follows you.”
“What? What follows you? Are you saying Bates is haunted?” Jordyn asked.
Connor laughed. “Oh my God, you’re both completely delusional.” He slapped his thighs in outrage.
Henry’s face became stony. “I’m not a very gullible man, Mr. Atwood. I like to believe that I’m reasonable. But I don’t know what else to call this. Now, I shouldn’t even be talking to you about this. It’s not safe. Just think about what I said and take it down. Please. Before there’s not even all three of you left to leave.” He ducked his head, hobbling back toward his house. “Take care.”
Jordyn looked at Henry as he walked away, remembering The List, and ran toward him.
“Oh, Henry!”
He turned back around.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry about Lauren. I’m going to do everything I can to stop this,” she said sincerely, touching his arm.
His face grew pale. “What do you mean?”
His face told her he honestly had no idea. “I- I mean, the, I, haven’t you seen…” She bit her lip.
Recognition flooded his face and he bolted for his house. “Lauren,” he screamed as he threw the door open and ran inside.
***
Once they were back inside, Jordyn followed Kate toward the kitchen. Connor stomped in last, his face red and filled with rage. “What is with you people? Is there no one in this town that’s sane?”
“Connor, please. I know this is hard to believe, I know it seems crazy, but it’s all true. All of it. Someone, something in this town is murdering children. Someone threatened Ollie. You saw the text message!”
“Yes. I did. And I asked you to stop doing whatever it was you were doing that would cause it. Whoever this is, they threatened our child and you still continue on like nothing’s happened.”
“They’ve threatened people I really care about too. How selfish would it be of me to only think of Ollie? You heard what Henry said. Running away won’t help, which means Ollie is always going to be in danger. You could help me stop them.”
“What in the world could you possibly do, Jordyn? You are just one person. You’re one small woman up against God knows who. And for that matter, how do you know that it’s not Henry? Maybe he’s just te
lling us this because he doesn’t want us to leave. Maybe he wants us to stay, wants to hurt us. We have no reason to trust him.”
Jordyn crossed her arms, her back pressed up against the kitchen table. “It’s not Henry.”
“How do you know that? You couldn’t possibly know who it is. I want Ollie, you, all of us as far away from this town as possible.”
“It’s not Henry. I know you don’t believe me about The List, but it’s real. It comes out every six months with six new names. This time Henry’s daughter is on The List.” Jordyn paused, letting it sink in. “His daughter is set to die. It’s not Henry.”
Connor was quiet, staring past Jordyn for a while, collecting his thoughts. When he finally turned, his face was softer. “This List.” He rubbed his mouth, refusing to make eye contact with her. “Was, uh, was Ollie?” He stopped talking, unable to ask.
“No,” Jordyn assured him, touching his arm. “No. Ollie’s safe. For now, at least. But it’s like I said, until we end this, he’ll never be safe forever.”
Connor nodded. “Which is why we’re leaving.”
“Have you not heard a word I said?”
Connor lowered his face to hers. “I don’t care what some old man says on our lawn. I don’t care what your little friends have told you. Let someone try to follow us, try to kill us. Hear me, Jordyn, when I say that we are leaving Bates, and we aren’t ever looking back.” He placed his hands around her face, stroking her cheeks. “I can’t let anything happen to you or Ollie. I can’t. And I don’t know how I can protect you here. I need to keep you safe.”
Before Jordyn could respond, the silence in the house hit her. “Connor, where’s Ollie? Mom? Where is everyone?”
Connor dropped his hands from her face. “They’re gone. Back home.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Kate, who had been quiet up until this point, finally spoke up. “They just left me?”
Ignoring Kate’s question, he went on. “They took Ollie home to keep him safe. We’re all going to be joining them next week. We just need to pack up the rest of the house.”
“You just made this decision without me? He needs his mother, Connor! You can’t just decide something like this. You didn’t even let me tell him goodbye. What if something happens to him before I get to see him again?” She was nearing hysterics, her whole body shaking, as she stared at her husband’s cold expression.
“Nothing is going to happen to him. Your parents wouldn’t let that happen. We made a joint decision that this would be the easiest way for everyone. After last night, no one was sure where your head was. It’s just a week, not even a full week. Five days, actually. I thought it would help you clear your head.”
“You thought wrong.” Jordyn shoved her way past him, rushing toward the nursery, finally letting the tears flow.
***
When Jordyn awoke, Kate was with her in the nursery. The dark night came in through the open windows. She rubbed her eyes for a few moments, dark circles filling her vision.
“Are you okay?” Kate asked.
Jordyn pushed herself up off of the floor into a sitting position. “I don’t know how to even answer that.” She stared at the floor, pushing the carpet around with her hands.
Kate frowned. “I know.” She pushed back in the rocking chair, swinging slightly.
“Where’s Connor?”
“He went to bed a few hours ago. I said I’d stay up with you. I figured that’d be better.”
Jordyn nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”
“He brought you some tea earlier, but I’m sure it’s cold by now.” She gestured toward a mug of Earl Grey. Jordyn made no move for it, though her throat ached for a drink. “Look, Jor, you of all people know I am far from being Connor’s biggest advocate, but I really do think Ollie’s safer there. At least for now. Not because of you, I’m with you now, but at least this gives us five days to get all of this figured out. Five days with Ollie away from this place.”
“Five days?” Jordyn stared at her, pouting. “Five days to solve a mystery that has been going on for ten years? Who’re we kidding, Kate? This was a stupid idea. We’ll never be able to stop this. And now Ollie’s gone and I’ll probably never see him again and it’s all my fault.”
Kate climbed out of her rocking chair, moving to the floor beside Jordyn. “Hey now, stop it. I know you’re upset. You have every right to be, but that doesn’t give you the right to quit. I won’t let you. Unlike Connor, I can see what an amazing thing it is that you’re doing here. You’re giving these women hope, Jor. Hope that they probably never had before. That’s on you.” She pushed Jordyn’s hair out of her face. “I know that you’re sad, but Ollie’s still alive. He’s healthy, safe. Most of the people here don’t have that. You do. I really do believe in you. You’ve always been able to lead people in a way that I’ve never seen. So lead, Jordyn. Lead this town.”
“But how? How am I supposed to lead them when I have no idea what we’re dealing with and no time to find out?”
“Okay. Our biggest guess is what?” Kate begged her.
Jordyn thought for a moment. “Well, it’s probably a group. With the amount of intel they have, there has to be more than just one or two.”
“A group. Okay. Of how many?”
“I don’t know. Eight or ten at least, right?”
Kate nodded. “Eight or ten. Okay. There are eight or ten of these people. There are, what, twenty-five hundred others? At least? People who have lost. People who are just looking for a way to fight back. You can’t believe that Carrie, Allie, and Erin are the only ones. There’s strength in numbers, Jordyn. So, we get numbers.”
Jordyn frowned at her sister. “But how? I mean it’s not like we can print out flyers and go door to door. People in this town are terrified, Kate. It’s not going to be easy.”
Before Kate could answer, there came a loud, unfamiliar sound from outside. The girls stared at each other in shock, jumping to their feet. Adrenaline pulsed through Jordyn’s body.
“Was that—” Kate started, but the sound rang out again, interrupting her.
“Gunshots,” Jordyn confirmed, pulling the nursery door open and rushing toward the front door.
“Wait, Jor, wait up.” She heard Kate yelling behind her, but Jordyn couldn’t stop. She met her front door, slinging it wide open and bursting out into the darkness of the night. Around her, the night was surprisingly still. She heard Kate’s footsteps catching up to her. She turned in circles, trying to determine which way the sound had come from. A few neighbors had stepped out onto their porches, looking around for the source of the sound. She spied a few peeking out of their blinds, too afraid to come out. No one dared leave their own yard.
Jordyn and Kate rushed into the street. Out of the corner of her eye, Jordyn saw something dark moving behind Henry’s house. She turned. In the dark it was hard to be sure of anything. She ran toward where she’d seen the shadow move, without regards to her own safety, but they were too quick. The dark figure disappeared into the patch of woods behind their houses and Jordyn stopped, panting.
Kate was close behind. “Did you see who it was?”
Jordyn shook her head, too out of breath to answer.
“Was it a man or a woman? Could you tell?”
“No. I couldn’t see. It’s way too dark.” Jordyn stared into the tree line, willing the stranger to come out again.
Suddenly, she heard Henry cry out from the inside of his house, his wails blood curling, and it hit her. Lauren. She turned on her heel, rushing toward the house. “Call an ambulance,” she screamed at the worried onlookers gathered on their porches. A few people turned and headed inside, but she couldn’t be sure of what they were doing. “Please! Please call for help,” she shouted again, though no one answered.
She rushed onto Henry’s porch, twisting the handle of the front door back and forth quickly. She pounded on the wood. “Henry? Henry, it’s me. It’s Jordyn. Let me in,” she screamed. The door
was locked, but she slammed her body into it with all of her force anyway, until she felt as though either she or the wood were sure to break soon. The door finally swung open and Henry stood in front of her. His face was pale and ghastly, a bright contrast to the dark red coating his arms and shirt.
“Oh God,” Jordyn spit out, her stomach churning.
He pointed his bloody finger toward the stairs and opened his mouth, shaking his head when no words would form. Jordyn shoved past him, running up the stairs two and three at a time. There were two doors at the top of the stairs, both shut. Taking a gamble, they both pushed the doors open. Jordyn stared into a small guest bedroom, but Kate gasped beside of her.
Jordyn turned, hurrying to Kate’s side. The room was small. A purple bedspread had been tossed into the floor, and Lauren laid twisted in her bed, a deep red hole in the center of her stomach. Her large-framed glasses were strewn on the floor next to a notebook. Blood had spattered onto the wall. “Jor—” Kate whispered beside her.
Jordyn rushed into the room, but Kate remained in the doorway, ghost white. There was a gun lying on the floor, which Jordyn was careful to step over. “Kate, call the police,” she whispered to her sister.
“Jordyn, is she…” Her sister’s voice was soft, childlike.
“The police, Kate. Now,” she said over her shoulder. She reached onto the bed and rolled Lauren over gently. Blood had trailed down her shirt and up onto her neck. Her eyes were bloodshot and glassing, staring open. Her body was still warm, but not quite warm enough. She checked for a pulse, but couldn’t find one. Thinking quickly, she scooped up the comforter from the floor, knocking the gun further away. She pressed the comforter into the wound, trying to stop the steady flow of blood. She heard Kate on the phone outside of the bedroom door, but couldn’t focus on her words. All that mattered to her in that moment was keeping Lauren alive.
She patted Lauren’s face, trying to get her conscious. “Lauren.” She begged for a response, still holding the comforter on her stomach.
The List (The Carolina Killer Files Book 2) Page 15