by Paris Morgan
“We’re going to see what kind of detective you really are when the sun goes down. That should give you enough time to sleep off the dart and make this a fun game.”
The ground didn’t give me much to go on in regards to where he was taking me, but I forced my eyes to stay open, hoping to find some clue as to where we were going.
Ten minutes later, we’d hiked a ways into the forest. While this man was a killer, I had to admire his stamina. I wasn’t a light, petite girl, and carrying me through the woods in the twilight wasn’t an easy task. Which meant that I would have to be smarter than his last victims. He would be able to chase me through the woods for hours without a problem. Even though I ran on a regular basis, it was on a treadmill or city street that didn’t have obstacles that could reach out and trip you in the dark. This was going to be a life or death race, and I was determined to live.
A small cabin, hidden by overgrown brush, alerted me to the fact that we had arrived wherever our destination was. I just hoped that when they realized I was missing, they would look for my car. I didn’t expect there to be cell service out here, and he was smart enough to turn it off so they couldn’t track me.
“Home sweet home,” he announced as he put me on a small mattress inside a cage. “I’ve got a friend for you, honey. Tonight’s the night for your birthday surprise.”
I tried to process his words, when I noticed another cage next to mine with another girl inside. He wasn’t speaking to me, but to her.
Crap. Now I was going to have to get her to safety too.
He turned a small lamp on before opening the door. “I’ll be back. I’ve got to go throw your friends off the trail or they’ll mess up my hunting grounds.” He grinned, holding up my phone for me to see before he closed the door, leaving us alone.
I still couldn’t move, and the girl next to me just whimpered. She had already been through more than I could imagine. I just hoped that he hadn’t broken her yet.
My eyes closed against my will. “Flora, tell Ryan I’m sorry,” I whispered.
***
A quiet whimper woke me up. “He’s gone again.”
“Who’s there?” I asked into the dark room.
“My name is Carol. He told me to count to five hundred and wake you up.”
I tried to move, and found my arms and legs were becoming mobile again, but were still sluggish. It was completely dark, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust while I carefully reached out to touch the cage.
Six inches separated the two cages, and Carol grabbed my hand through the metal wires. “I think he left the doors open this time.”
Letting go of her hand, I pushed on the wire door and it swung open. I crawled out, feeling my way to where he’d left the lamp. Then I realized that if he’d left the doors open, he was expecting us to come running out of the light, giving him a heads up. Our eyes would have to adjust to the dark again, and right now, we were on a level playing field if I didn’t turn on the lamp.
“Shouldn’t we stay here and hope he doesn’t come back?” Carol hung back when I opened the door to her cage.
“No. He’s going to kill us one way or another. The only chance we have is to run. He’s waiting for us, and wants us to give him a good hunt. I’m a detective, and my goal is going to be for you to get back to the main roads.”
I pulled on her hand, urging her out of the cage. “Do you have shoes on?”
“Yes. He left all of my clothes on, and didn’t try to hurt me.”
I gave her trembling body a hug. “Honey, that’s because he’s going to do that now. His job is to kill us. We just have to evade him and beat him at his own game.”
“I’ll trust you. I don’t want to die.”
“Honey, I couldn’t agree more. Just do exactly what I say and stay behind me.”
The door swung in when I pulled on the knob and we stayed low to the ground, making ourselves smaller targets. The moon was barely visible through the trees, but it gave me a direction to start in.
Keeping her behind me, I hooked her finger through my belt loop. “Don’t let go.”
I didn’t want to go straight toward the mill, but I had no idea how long we had before he would take our options away. The right was the best direction, and the mill would be the last resort.
Even though I’d known this was coming, I didn’t want to run around blindly, but it was difficult to move in a crouch.
Scratched and exhausted, we finally heard the sounds of a highway.
“Carol, do you think that you can make it to the road?” I felt more than saw her nod. “I need you to call the sheriff’s office and tell them where I’m at. The FBI is here and they’ll get you back to safety. I’m going to go back after this bastard so he can’t hurt anyone else.”
“You’re going to leave me?” Carol whispered loudly.
“Just until I can get this guy. He has to be stopped, and one of us has a much better chance at escape if the other is taking all of his attention.”
“Okay.” She huddled behind the bush.
“Go. I’m going to make sure that he’s not following you.” I shoved her forward.
A branch snapped, and I knew that he did it purposely to let us know he was watching. My decision was made and I took off running back the way we’d just came. He would be expecting me to head to the sounds he’d made or back to the mill.
The sounds of him moving to catch up motivated me, and I pulled out some extra energy. I’d managed to stay ahead of him for a while, but I didn’t know which was better: head back toward people, or the cabin where he had possible weapons I could use against him.
An arrow hit the tree next to my head and I took off toward the cabin, until a scream rang out through the woods. He’d found Carol. Stopping in my tracks, I turned and ran straight back the way I’d just come.
The pounding of my heart rang in my ears, but everything else around me was completely silent. I had to be close to where I’d left Carol.
Nothing moved as I scanned the trees behind me for some sign that he’d followed.
Lights suddenly lit the forest, and before I could get behind the tree, an arrow pierced my flesh. He hadn’t hit my heart, but I couldn’t do anything except lie there on the ground, groaning.
“Leslie?” Ryan’s voice rang out through the trees.
“Here!” I screamed, but it came out more of a whimper. I had to hold on. They needed to know about the cabin.
“She’s here!” someone yelled, and I was suddenly surrounded by agents, as well as Ryan.
“The cabin.”
“Shh, they’ll get you fixed up and we’ll go get him. We’ve got you.” Ryan took my hand as the paramedics wrapped the arrow that was sticking out of right my shoulder, making it secure to move me.
“The cabin and Carol. Did you find Carol?” I whispered as the blackness closed in on me.
Chapter 13
Ryan
When a girl showed up wandering through the woods, we knew we’d found the right spot. She mumbled something about a woman distracting him so that she could get away.
All I could think about was Leslie making herself a target for this guy to take out. He would want one last kill before he was caught, if we could even do that.
A cry rang out, and I raced over to find Leslie on the ground with an arrow piercing her shoulder.
She kept trying to tell me something, but passed out before I could make out more than the word ‘cabin.’ What cabin?
“Agent Perez, I think he might have a cabin farther up in the woods. Can I take a few agents with me and see if we can get this guy?”
“By all means, and I’m going with you.”
Five other agents joined us as we trekked through the woods.
“Is that it up ahead?” I whispered to her as a black blob appeared.
Everyone spread out, while she and I approached, guns drawn. We weren’t about to let someone else capture him.
The door opened at my touch as I crouched low
, scanning the room.
Empty cages were on the right, and a bed sat on the left. It wasn’t a large setup, and appeared empty.
The lamp that was sitting on the floor came on when I turned the knob, and I stifled a gasp.
Pinned to the back of the wall behind the door was Sebastian Spring, an arrow through his heart with a note hanging down in front of him.
“Having fun yet?” Agent Perez read the note out loud.
“How did we miss someone coming out of the woods?” I slammed the cages against the wall. “He’s always one step ahead of us.”
“At least this killer is dead.” Agent Perez tried to console me.
I turned my fury on her. “You’re not getting it. He’s controlling the narrative, not us. He’s recruiting killers, then tying up his loose ends when the month is over. He doesn’t have to worry about them talking to us because they’re dead.”
“We were much closer this time and we saved your partner, as well as an innocent. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“It does, but this isn’t over.”
The cabin flooded with techs and agents ready to process the scene.
“I’m going to go to the hospital with Leslie and make sure that she’s okay.”
“Hey, Agent Perez. We found some graves back here like the others,” an agents called out as I turned to walk through the darkness.
“Go. I’ll catch up to you at the hospital once we finish everything here.” She seemed sympathetic to my frustration.
I ignored all of it and walked past the teeming groups of people that just kept coming from the mill to see what it was all about.
Spring Mill was overrun with law enforcement personnel. I walked straight to the ambulance where Carol was sitting on the back step.
“Are you going to the hospital where they took the injured police officer?” I questioned the paramedics.
“Yeah, we were about to pull out. Do you need a ride?” he offered as they helped Carol sit on the gurney in the back.
“Sure. I need to get there, but the other agents are going to be tied up here for a while and I don’t have a vehicle.”
“Do you know the lady cop that was injured?” Carol seemed to come out of her fog and notice me.
“I do. She’s my partner.” I’d finally accepted the fact that we weren’t just going to be doing a case or two together. We were partners for better or worse.
“She saved my life. He was going to kill me. He’d taken a different girl out each day, but none of them ever came back. I’m alive because she distracted him,” Carol sniffled.
“He’s dead. You won’t have to worry about him anymore. I’m sure they’ll need to interview you, but you’re safe now.” I walked to the front and got into the passenger seat.
“Got an update for you. They’ve arrived with your partner and should have her in surgery by the time we get there,” the driver informed me as we pulled away from another crime scene that would haunt me forever.
Chapter 14
Leslie
My whole body felt sore all over. My eyelids were heavy as I pushed to open them.
A blurry figure in scrubs stood at the foot of my bed. Noticing that I was trying to wake up, they came to stand next me.
“Glad to see your back among the living.” He had a mask over his face to keep germs out, and he touched my hand in a loving gesture.
“Sebastian didn’t follow orders. He wasn’t supposed to hurt you. How can we play this game if you’re injured? I’ve taken care of him. I don’t have long, dearie, but I just wanted to see for myself that you were going to make it. Get well soon, because you’ll need your strength for next month’s puzzle.” The figure messed with my IV and started to leave. “Oh, I brought you your favorite flowers to remember me by.”
Even in my confusion, I tried to keep my eyes open, but within seconds, I felt myself drifting off.
***
Opening my eyes, I found myself staring into the worried faces of Ryan, Jerome, and my sister Karen.
“When did all of you get here?” I croaked out, my voice sounding horrible.
Jerome moved a glass of water with a straw to my lips and gave me a sip.
“You’ve been out for three days.”
“Three days? Did we catch Sebastian?” I tried to sit up, but it hurt too much.
“He’s dead. You took an arrow to the shoulder, but the doctors said if you woke up, you’d be on the road to recovery.” Ryan stood on the opposite side of the bed from Jerome.
“Where’s the man?” I mumbled, taking another sip of water.
“What man?” all three of them echoed in unison.
“When I woke up last time, there was a man here that told me he’d killed Sebastian, and that I’d need my strength so we could play the game again. He put something in my IV and I went back to sleep.”
My eyes widened as I saw the Buttercup flowers sitting on the table. “The Zodiac Master was here, in my room.” I would have shrieked, but my voice was too hoarse. It sounded like a frog was lodged in my throat.
Ryan grimaced. “I’ve hardly left you alone since it happened. I didn’t want a repeat of Jesse. How did he get in here without me knowing it?”
“You left when I got here. You had to come verify that I was her boyfriend before they would let me past the visitor’s desk. But you weren’t gone but ten minutes,” Jerome offered.
“If there wasn’t a verified nurse or doctor in here, then I didn’t leave until your sister got here.”
“We could look through the surveillance feeds and see if we could identify him.” Karen moved toward the door.
“Don’t. He was wearing a mask, like the kind you’d see if someone had the flu to keep it from spreading. He’s not going to make a mistake like that,” I groaned, trying not to move, but my antsy instinct to fidget was making it difficult to stay still.
“Between the three of us, no one is getting past us into this room with you,” Ryan vowed.
“He wants me alive. He can’t play the game with someone new. He’s invested time in me. Even if he did try to visit again, he won’t kill me, but this shoulder might. Can we get a nurse in here to give me some Advil?”
Jerome reached to push the button on the side of the bed.
A nurse appeared quickly compared to what I was expecting, but I guess being a cop might be a perk in the speed department.
“Aw, she’s awake. I’ll get the doctor. He’s going to want to make sure everything is okay. When I get back with him, the three of you need to leave. She needs rest,” the nurse announced, shooing at them.
“One of us will be here with her to make sure no one tries to hurt her,” Ryan decreed emphatically.
She eyed us all. “I know how cops like to watch their own, but just remember that whatever the doctor says goes.”
“I’m the only one who can make medical decisions for her, so I’ll let you to go get some food while I stay. If the doctor says she’s okay, then you can catch her up on the case, but not before.” Karen stood at the foot of my bed, ready to defend me against anyone who tried to mess with me.
“It’s okay, guys. Karen’s right. Now would be a good time to take a walk and get some fresh air.” I gave them all a thin smile. Dammit, that nurse hadn’t given me anything to relieve this pain before she left.
Jerome kissed my head and turned to go, but stopped when Ryan didn’t follow him.
Ryan patted my hand. “Take care of my partner or I’ll have your badge,” he threatened my sister, half joking.
“I’ve got it. She’s my sister, so anyone who wants to hurt her is going to have to go through me.”
Jerome waited until Ryan had left the room before he followed with a smile and a wave.
“Oh, do I sense a little tension there?” Karen licked her lips. “You sure do know how to pick out the hotties, don’t you?”
“Well, I picked Jerome, but Ryan, I kind of got put with him. His fiancée is really nice.”
“Ah, but how do the two boys get along?” Karen grinned, making me uncomfortable.
“Not well, obviously. But that was better than I could have expected,” I groaned. “Why didn’t that nurse give me something for this headache?”
“Because she was waiting for me to check on you. How are you feeling besides the headache?” An older gentleman came in with the nurse following behind him.
“I’m sore all over and it hurts to move.”
“That’s to be expected. You had an arrow pierce your body. You were dehydrated from all the running you did, and from what your partner told me, you hadn’t actually gotten much rest for most of the month.”
“Ryan’s a tattletale. I wasn’t awake to defend myself.” I pouted.
“Ha, that’s the sass I was looking for.” He checked my eyes and pulse. “You’re doing as well as could be expected. I’m going to let you stay overnight. If you don’t have any complications, then I’ll let them take you home.”
Oh, great. My boyfriend, partner, and sister all on a road trip across country for three days?”
“If you have all three of them, then they should be able to drive non-stop. You could be home in your own bed in forty-eight hours.” He patted my leg. “I’ll have the nurse give you something for your head. You can also eat lightly, which if everything stays down, then that’ll be another plus for getting you out of here tomorrow.”
“Doc, before you go, how long before I’ll be able to use a gun and get back to regular duty?” I needed to get well and start tracking the next killer. If I had immunity, then I was going to use and find this guy.
“I’d say at least six weeks, but when you can retest with your weapon and you don’t open up your stitches, that would be a good way to measure. When you get back to Texas, go see a doctor, and I’ll send over all of your records.” He shook his head. “I don’t envy that doctor in the least because he’ll have to release you early, or you might just throw him in jail.”