by Katie Reus
As she ran, the memory of the last couple hours replayed over in her mind on a loop, soothing the voice in her head, the one that wouldn’t let up, telling her to hurt more people. To take more victims.
She’d been invisible, lonely, her entire life. No one ever noticed her unless she dressed up, changed her appearance. Now everyone was taking notice even if they didn’t know she was behind everything.
Everyone was scared, terrified. They were all talking about Serenity and what was going on when they came into her shop. A thrill shot through her every time someone brought up the case.
Even in college she’d been invisible, passed over for extra assignments by her teachers for other students. Usually stupid males or whores who flirted mercilessly to get what they wanted. She’d graduated at the top of her class, but she’d been asked to leave her internship early because she’d pushed back on ideas that had been stupid.
And she’d had no problem saying so. People just didn’t want to hear the truth.
Now everyone was hearing her truth.
Her heart raced as she sprinted through the forest, only slowing when she reached the edge of the clearing. She’d parked her car down a ways on the side of the highway, in a hidden little turnoff impossible to see from the road.
The overgrown underbrush covered the little car for the most part, especially this early in the morning. It wasn’t hunting season so no one would be out anyway.
She hadn’t had any hits on her security system or the cameras at home, so no one had approached the house. And she knew the Feds were watching the front of the house.
Not just hers, or she might have packed up and left town. No, the Feds were watching a lot of people they considered suspects, waiting for one of them to make a mistake. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. She’d already made one mistake by killing Paisley by accident. She’d thought she’d had the dosage perfect but she must’ve given her too much. Maybe Paisley’s metabolism had been too slow, who knew. Next time she would just stick with bashing her victims in the head or tasing them. It was easy enough.
When she reached her car, she popped the trunk, stripped off her boots and pants, and slid on her dry jeans and sneakers. Then she headed home, though she wouldn’t be parking in her driveway.
Since she was keeping an eye on the house of a neighbor who was out of town for the month, she’d been using their vehicle. It had provided the perfect place to stash all her things and then use her neighbors’ backyards to move in and out of her house by entering through her back door. The Feds were so stupid—and understaffed. If they’d had someone watching the back of her house, she couldn’t have moved around so freely.
She’d even set a few of her interior lights to go off using a timer. That way it looked as if she’d been home, and got up to go to the bathroom a couple times over the last few hours. It was child’s play for her. She wasn’t sure how that agent had ever caught her father. Maybe her father really was inept. A stupid, stupid fool. She wanted to write him a letter, to tell him what she thought of him, but she was done with him.
He’d gotten a message to her, telling her to stop. Begging her to. Telling her to just live her life and stop killing. That the Feds would eventually catch her. He’d used code, of course, so the message had been benign, but it didn’t matter. She hadn’t responded. She didn’t care what he thought. She might as well have been invisible to him too. He’d used her for what he wanted, but he’d never truly seen her. Never appreciated how smart she was.
Power had flooded through her as she’d read then burned his letter. He didn’t get to tell her what to do. He was nothing but a rotting bag of bones.
The drive home was quick and it didn’t take long to hide the neighbor’s car in their garage then make her way through backyards, knowing exactly where to avoid floodlights. She had half an hour until sunrise. Still, she couldn’t stop the racing of her heart. She should have been home hours ago, not pushing it so close to dawn.
She didn’t like how much time had gotten away from her. As she slipped in the back door of her house, she quickly disarmed her security system. She was back. Safe.
Now she had to figure out how to kill Serenity. No more taunting. It was time to take her prize.
As she ran over scenarios in her mind, she headed to the bathroom. She needed a shower, to wash off everything from the last few hours. It didn’t matter that she’d changed clothes. When she heard her doorbell ring, followed quickly by the alert on her phone that someone had set off the motion sensor of the security camera out front, she froze.
She pulled up the live view and saw that two federal agents were on her doorstep. Oh shit.
Did they know? Sweat rolled down her spine. She could try to run but she didn’t have anything ready to go. No, they couldn’t know what she’d done or they’d have rammed the door down.
The doorbell sounded again, followed by someone’s fist pounding on her door.
Despite the fear lancing through her, she quickly looked herself over. She stripped off her jeans, tossed them into the hamper and grabbed a robe from her bathroom door and put it on. Hoping she looked as if she’d been about to get in the shower, she cracked open the door. “Yes?” she rasped out, staring at them in what she hoped looked like confusion.
“We have a warrant to search your house,” the woman she recognized as Agent Amy Lin said. “Here it is. You have the right to read it over and understand its contents. You are not under arrest. We are simply doing a search of your property and we’ll also be searching your place of business. We would ask that you get changed and come down with us to the sheriff’s station so we can ask you some questions.”
“Do I have to answer your questions?” She stepped back, letting the small team of agents in her house. They wouldn’t find anything here.
“You don’t have to say anything. But you are entitled to a lawyer.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand why you’re here but I don’t need a lawyer. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
The woman eyed her for a long moment and simply nodded. “That is your prerogative. Please get changed and come with me.”
“Fine,” she muttered. “I assume I’ll have a few minutes of privacy to change?”
The agent nodded but still followed her into the house, shutting the door behind her. She could hear the other agents moving around and felt her ire rise. They were touching her things, putting their dirty hands on all her stuff. And she couldn’t stop them. That rage bubbled up again but she pushed it down, ordering herself to remain calm on the outside. If she let her temper show, they would zoom in on her. Stay calm.
Grabbing a change of clothes and her phone, she shut and locked her bathroom door behind her. As she did, her phone buzzed once, twice.
OMG, the FBI is searching my house!
Another similar text quickly followed. Relief surged through her. At least two of her friends were having their houses searched as well. So this was a blanket type of thing, the FBI hadn’t singled her out.
She could get through a stupid interview with them. Because they sure as hell weren’t going to find anything incriminating at her house. She was too smart for them.
And as soon as she was done with the interview, she was going to prepare to run. But only after she’d taken care of her final loose end. She would kill Adeline, then Serenity.
Whatever it took, she was killing that bitch before she left town.
Even if she was done with her father, it was still Serenity’s fault that he’d been caught, taken from her. She had to pay for that.
Chapter 29
Lucas glanced over from the coffee pot as his brothers Easton and Lincoln strode into the kitchen. He hadn’t even realized Lincoln was here. He was still feeling sluggish after the drive back from the prison yesterday and Serenity was still sleeping.
“When did you get here?” he asked Lincoln—he knew Easton had gotten in a few hours ago.
Easton had said he wanted to be here unti
l all the bullshit was taken care of—aka until Serenity and Harper were completely safe. Something Lucas appreciated. His brothers obviously had their own places but they all cared about Serenity and her daughter. And his mother was happy to have all her boys home, even if the circumstances were shitty.
“Just now. The Fed waved me through then Easton let me in.”
Good. Even with the vastness of the estate, no one should be getting past the watchdog out front. “You want coffee?”
At their nods, he poured two more mugs. “Any news?” he asked, knowing his brother would tell him even if he wasn’t supposed to. This entire situation was personal.
“Between us, yeah, looks like the Feds are getting search warrants for some of their suspects. Probably already have them.”
Lucas’s eyebrows rose at the news. Until now it was his understanding that they’d had far too many suspects to narrow things down seriously. Grabbing his coffee cup, he said, “Come on,” motioning for his brothers to follow him. Serenity and Harper were still asleep and he wasn’t going to bother them. Harper had school today but Serenity had decided to keep her home, something he understood. In the long run, it didn’t matter if she missed a day or two of first grade.
“What’s all this?” Easton asked as Lucas flipped on the lights of the office where Serenity had set up all her stuff.
“Damn,” Lincoln said, eyeing the whiteboard. “This is thorough. It looks similar to what the Feds have.”
“Yeah, that’s what Serenity said.”
“Pretty sure she can take the men off the board now.” Lincoln motioned to the pictures of the three males. “All the search warrants are for women.”
Easton snorted as he looked at the board.
Lucas frowned. “What the hell could be funny right now?”
Easton rubbed a hand over his tired-looking face. He’d been out late last night on call. “I was just thinking about a story I heard about Wilson Hart recently, that’s all.”
“What?” Lucas’s gaze strayed to the bottom of the board where the three lone males were posted.
“He thought he was getting lucky at some bar over in Bishop’s Creek and some chick tased him.” Easton snorted. “Dumbass.”
Lincoln straightened slightly. “Tased him?”
“Yeah. He had his dick out and everything. They were in his truck when she shocked him.” Easton kept laughing as he shook his head. “He was so sure he was going to get lucky when some woman he’d never even seen before convinced him to head outside and hook up. Seriously. Dumb. Ass.”
“I’m sure she didn’t have to convince him very hard,” Lucas muttered.
“No doubt. From what I heard, they were getting it on and the next thing he knows, electricity is shooting through his body.” His brother’s grin was huge now. “I kinda wish I’d been there to see it even if I don’t want to see that asshole’s dick.”
Lucas snorted but stopped when he saw Lincoln’s intense expression as he eyed the board. “What?”
His brother lifted a shoulder. “Everyone who has been targeted has had a connection to Serenity. She’s not friends with Wilson but they went to college together. It’s still a connection. Maybe it’s nothing but…I don’t like these odds.”
Lucas straightened and looked at the board again. “Hell.”
“I’m going to talk to him now,” Lincoln said, glancing at his watch. “He should be at work.”
“I’m going with you.” And Lucas wasn’t asking.
Lincoln’s jaw tightened. “It would be pointless to tell you to stop, right?”
“Well, it’s a free country and I know where Wilson works. I’m either going with you or meeting you there. Are you questioning him in an official capacity or just talking to him?”
His younger brother sighed. “Get dressed. I’ll wait.” That was answer enough. This wouldn’t be official, but a social visit—more or less.
“You guys aren’t asking me to go?” Easton asked.
Lucas shook his head at his older brother. “You just got off a long shift. Go get some sleep.”
Easton shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. “Nah. I’ll wait until Harper and Serenity wake up and keep them company. I hate that they’re dealing with this. Maybe I’ll get them out riding horses.”
Lucas clapped his older brother once on the shoulder. “Thank you.” He felt better leaving knowing that Easton was here. Military trained and now a firefighter—no one was getting through him. Even if there was a federal agent outside keeping guard, he trusted his brother more.
Lucas wanted to stay home today with Serenity but he was pretty sure she needed space. And if he was being honest with himself, he needed to be doing something. To be active with this case, even if he had no right to be. He would do anything to find who was hunting Serenity.
* * *
“Help me,” the voice whispered.
Serenity didn’t want to open her eyes. No, she kept them squeezed shut even as icy fingers danced up her spine. She didn’t want to be in the woods again, did not want to see Paisley lying there looking like a zombie. Nope.
“Help me, she’s coming,” the familiar voice whispered.
She opened her eyes and found herself looking at Adeline.
Her friend’s wrists were shackled to the radiator, just like in the video Serenity had been sent. Adeline’s eyes were barely open, her breathing shallow. “I’m so hungry,” she murmured.
Oh God, no. No, no, no. “Where are you?” She tried to take a step forward but her feet were rooted to the spot, her legs leaden.
“Help me,” Adeline said again instead of responding.
“I want to help you! Tell me how. Where are you?” she demanded, even though she knew the request was ridiculous. Adeline couldn’t tell her where she was.
“Help me!” Adeline screamed. Her eyes opened wide, and just like Paisley’s had been, they were rimmed in red as she screamed over and over to Serenity. “Help me!”
“Mommy.” Harper’s soft voice cut through the haze.
Serenity’s eyes flew open and once again she was damp with sweat. She blinked, saw faint light streaming in through the blinds.
“Hey sweetie,” she murmured, willing her heart back into her chest.
Harper frowned at her, still in her princess pajamas. “You said help me. Are you okay?”
Nodding, she lifted Harper up from the ground and pulled her into bed with her. She kissed the top of her head as her daughter settled against her. “Yeah…I was just dreaming about ice cream. I needed help getting it off the top shelf of the freezer.” Okay, as far as lies went, it was pretty lame, but it was all she could come up with on such short notice. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, Daisy woke me up by licking my face. She ran off, to go use the doggy door, I think.”
Serenity laughed lightly, some of that tension coiled in her belly easing. “That seems like a fun way to get woken up.”
“Since we can’t keep Daisy, I want to get another dog. I’m ready.”
Nightmare pushed to the side for now, Serenity tried to find the right words. “We’ll see. Maybe after summer.”
Harper’s expression turned sullen. “I know what maybe means.”
“We’re still getting settled in. Let’s just give it some time.”
“Is this because someone wants to hurt you?” Harper asked, her little voice trembling.
In that moment Serenity wanted to bash in the face of whoever was doing this. For making her daughter scared. “No, baby. I just want to do some research first, to make sure we get the right kind of dog for us. We got lucky with Dolly. I want to look at some rescue dogs and see if one of them might be a good fit for us.”
“Okay. I’m hungry.” Like usual, Harper changed subjects at warp speed.
She gently tickled her tummy. “You’re always hungry.”
Harper giggled and jumped out of bed. “Feed me,” she said in her best Cookie Monster impression.
She laughed even
more. “Give me a second to change.” She needed to get out of her damp pajamas. “Then we’ll go hunt down some food.”
Even as she stripped, the remnants of the nightmare clung to her like kudzu, holding on, spreading everywhere. She had to help Adeline. Had to save her.
She just didn’t know how.
Chapter 30
Lucas glanced around the diner, glad that it was clearing out as he sat down with his brother. They were here to question Wilson Hart who worked as a short-order cook.
“Sheriff, Lucas, it’s good to see you boys in here. Any news on the case?” Janice asked as she stopped at the table, already pouring both of them coffee since she knew what they liked.
“We’re working on some leads. Is Wilson busy right now?” he asked.
Lucas put some sugar in his coffee as she said, “Yeah, he’s in the back. You need to talk to him?” Her accent was pure Georgia, which fit since she’d moved down here from Athens a decade ago.
“Whenever he gets a chance, if you wouldn’t mind sending him out here I’d appreciate it.” His brother smiled politely but even that smile made Janice blush slightly.
She nodded and then gave a little wink to Lucas before heading into the back.
“So…now that it’s just the two of us, what’s going on with you and Serenity?” Lincoln asked bluntly.
Lucas had been wondering when his brother would ask. The tension between him and Serenity was palpable. If he’d ridden here in the same vehicle with Lincoln, he had no doubt he’d have already been questioned about this. “I have no idea.” And he didn’t. He might have to live with the fact that she could never give him what he wanted. The thought created a hole in his chest but he ignored the pain. He could live with it as long as she was still in his life.
Lincoln simply grunted, not looking convinced. “Have you eaten?”
“I’ll get something since we’re taking up a table.”