by Regan, Lisa
“I’m sorry. A what?”
“A platform or a small structure up in a tree that he could sit in and hunt from,” Josie explained.
“Oh, I don’t know, but we had a recent survey of the land the last time we applied for a grant. There might be something on those maps.”
It took a half hour to find what they were looking for. On the maps that had been prepared in the last year, the surveyor had marked a “tree platform of unknown origin” at the southernmost point of the preserve property. His notes indicated that there was some uncertainty as to whether the platform was actually part of the preserve premises or if it was part of the privately-owned land adjacent.
Josie didn’t care.
It took them another half hour to find the elevated deer blind which looked like a small shed affixed to the side of a tall tree. Wooden footholds had been nailed into the tree from the ground to the hatch on the bottom of the structure. Before anyone could stop her, Josie started climbing.
“Josie,” Noah called. “We should get you a harness.”
She was already halfway up. She stopped and looked down. From this height, a fall wouldn’t kill her or break any of her bones, but at the height of the stand, she’d definitely die if she fell. “Too late,” she called. Without looking back, she scrambled to the hatch and pushed it open. Her head swiveled around, taking in the Bone Artist’s final creation. She nearly fell as her brain processed what she was seeing. The entire inside had been painted in a psychedelic swirl of pinks and reds. Hundreds of bones had been affixed to the floor and walls, and there, along the right-hand wall, cocooned in some kind of netting and tied to a square post that Alex had obviously installed, was Trinity, her body limp, head lolling on her chest. Her black hair hung across her face. He had screwed eyehooks into the ceiling and woven several threads of fishing line through them. He had looped the bottom of the fishing line around Trinity’s wrists, extending her arms from her sides. Behind her, on the wall, were thousands of different kinds of feathers.
She was spreading her wings.
Tears streamed down Josie’s face as she climbed into the small blind, careful not to disturb any of the remains at her feet. She heard someone below, climbing up the tree. She looked down to see Drake halfway there.
“Not yet,” she said.
“Is she alive?” he shouted.
“Please,” Josie muttered.
She walked over to Trinity, afraid to touch her and find her cold and completely still. “Trin,” she said, voice cracking.
No movement.
Josie’s hand shook as she reached out and pushed a shank of Trinity’s hair out of her face and behind her ear. She touched Trinity’s cheek, alarmed by the icy feel of it. Then Trinity’s body jerked, her head lifted, and she howled. Josie was so startled, she fell backward, landing flat on her back, and knocking bones everywhere. She heard the floor beneath her splinter and give way. As she went into freefall, her hands reached out, searching for anything to hold onto. A jagged piece of wood shredded her palms, but she held on.
“Josie?” Trinity hollered.
Josie looked up to see that she had fallen through a rotted piece of wood at Trinity’s feet. Trinity had broken the fishing line on one of her arms. She tugged hard with the other arm, trying to free it. After several tries, it broke loose, but her lower body was wrapped tightly in netting, immobile. Josie was aware of shouting from below and Drake hollering nearby. As her legs dangled, she craned her neck to look behind her, but he was too far down to help her.
Trinity said, “Can you climb up? Grab my hand.”
Josie grabbed onto Trinity’s feet, clawing until she lifted her upper body far enough to wrap her arms around Trinity’s calves and the post behind them. Trinity’s hands scrabbled in the air, trying to reach her. Josie shimmied up a little more until Trinity was able to slip her hands under Josie’s armpits and into an awkward embrace. Above the cacophony below, Josie could hear Noah’s voice telling her to hang on. She closed her eyes and released some of the tension in her upper body for a few precious seconds, letting Trinity take the weight. Then she pulled herself up further until they were face to face.
“Hold on to me,” Trinity said.
They wrapped their arms around one another. Trinity’s cheek was freezing against Josie’s. She felt sobs wracking Trinity’s body. Her own body responded in kind until they were both weeping.
From somewhere below, Drake hollered, “Quinn! Stay where you are. This whole thing is unstable. Don’t move. We’re getting ladders. Just hold on.”
Into Trinity’s ear, Josie said, “I’m sorry for the way we left things when you walked out of my house.”
“Me too,” Trinity said.
“I know what the worst thing that ever happened to you was—it was me being taken as a child.”
Trinity’s arms tightened around her. “Yes,” she breathed.
“I know what the best thing that ever happened to you was—it was when we were reunited.”
Trinity laughed. “You’re wrong,” she said.
Josie heard the clang of an aluminum ladder against the tree and felt its vibration near her feet.
Trinity said, “You rescuing me from a serial killer is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Sixty-Four
One Week Later
Trout chased a tennis ball across Josie and Noah’s yard. Once he retrieved it, he weaved through the crush of bodies on the patio and found Patrick, depositing the ball into Patrick’s lap. Laughing, Patrick tossed it again. This time, after he caught it, he searched out Josie, sitting in a folding chair at one of the card tables that Noah had set up in their backyard. He put the ball between her feet and nudged one of her hands with his head. Josie scratched between his ears. Across from her, Trinity raised a brow. “I don’t think Trout likes me. He hasn’t brought that ball over to me once.”
Josie laughed. “He’s food-motivated. Give him some of that hamburger you’ve got there, and you won’t be able to get rid of him.”
Trinity used a fork to carve out a small piece of her hamburger which she dangled beneath the table. Trout ran over and swallowed it without even chewing, making Trinity laugh. Trinity looked down at him. “Oh you’re right. He’s looking at me like he wants to get married.”
“Told you,” Josie said.
They sat in silence, looking around at their friends, family, and colleagues eating, drinking, and celebrating Trinity’s safe return. They’d been lucky to get warm weather. Noah manned the barbecue, doling out food. Nearby, Gretchen and Mettner ribbed one another. Even Bob Chitwood had come. He stood listening to something Lisette said. In another corner of the yard, Drake held Shannon and Christian’s attention.
Trinity said, “This is nice.”
“Yes,” Josie agreed. “It is.”
“I’m going to ruin it by talking about the case but I have to know—did the DNA from the combs match any of the known victims?”
Josie nodded. “Yes, both were from mirror victims. All of the mirror victims’ remains were found in the tree blind where he had tied you up.”
Trinity hugged herself. “Were there any more victims? Any no one knew about?”
“No. The arboretum property as well as the hundred acres that Hanna Cahill left Alex were searched very thoroughly. We don’t believe there are any other victims. All of them are accounted for; the identities of the mirror victims have been confirmed; and soon their remains will be returned to their families.”
“That’s good,” Trinity whispered. “I’m glad that their families will have closure, at least.”
“Did you know about the mirror victims when he took you?” Josie asked.
“Yes, I’d figured it out. I had handwritten notes on them. They were in the boxes. I was hoping he’d leave them so you’d see the trail that led to him, but he took all my notes, all my materials on his case.”
“When did you know that the Bone Artist was the boy you met at the nature preserve when y
ou were fourteen?”
“I didn’t truly know until he drove up the driveway to the cabin and got out. When I saw his face—his scar—I knew immediately it was Max.”
“But you suspected,” Josie said. “Is that why you became so obsessed with the case?”
Trinity looked away for a moment, her gaze drifting over toward Drake, a flash of regret sweeping across her features. “It was dumb luck. I had an argument on air with a correspondent about the Bone Artist. She said he was dead and that’s why he stopped killing. I didn’t believe that. I was venting to Drake about the whole thing over dinner later that night. That’s when he told me it was his case. It wasn’t hard to get him to discuss it. Pretty soon, I convinced him to show me photos of the crime scenes. Photos no member of the public had seen before.”
“The way the bones were arranged made you remember Max?” Josie suggested.
Trinity looked back at her. “It wasn’t that simple. Not exactly. It wasn’t like I had this big epiphany. There was just something about the way the bones were displayed that got under my skin. I felt like there was something important that I was missing, something I should remember. I had no idea what it was or why I would feel that way about a serial killer case I knew so little about.”
“So you started digging through Drake’s files.”
Trinity frowned. “I know I shouldn’t have done it. It was so wrong on so many levels, the least of which the fact that we were lovers and I betrayed his trust.” Again, her gaze shifted to Drake, a wistful look on her face. He must have felt her eyes on him because he looked up at her. A grin broke across his face.
“I think he’s forgiven you,” Josie said.
Trinity sighed. “He’s too good for me.”
Josie reached across and touched her sister’s arm lightly, drawing her focus back. “Or maybe he’s just right. Once you had the files, then what?”
“I followed the path: the killer’s need for symmetry; the male/female symbols; the Codie Lash connection; the Bobbi/Robert Ingram clue; then the mirror victims. When I read the report about the avian scavengers, it all clicked into place for me. That day in the woods when I saw Max messing with the bones—he’d been trying them out in different arrangements. I’d seen him make those symbols. And I realized he might be the Bone Artist. On the one hand, it seemed like such a long shot, but on the other, if I was right, it could be the biggest story of my career.”
“So you tried to make contact with him by wearing Codie Lash’s comb in your hair? How did you know he’d be watching?”
“I didn’t. It was a shot in the dark. I thought it was a lost cause. I wore the comb in that piece on the missing girls case, a week went by, and nothing happened.”
“That was why you told Patrick that your big lead had fallen through.”
“Yes,” Trinity agreed. “But then the comb arrived here at your house. I had to get out of here. I couldn’t put you and Noah in jeopardy. So I left and rented the cabin.”
“You could have told us,” Josie said. “We would have helped you.”
“By taking over. You would never have let me try to make contact again.”
“By keeping you safe, Trinity. You don’t always have to put your life on the line for a big story.” Before Trinity could protest, Josie continued, “The comb arrived here. You left and rented the cabin. You stayed there for a week, and then you decided to go back to New York? Why?”
“I thought he wouldn’t be able to find me. I thought if I went back to New York, he would know where to find me. But as I was leaving, he pulled up into the driveway. I was already in my car. Ready to drive off. Then he was there. As soon as he got out of the truck, I knew I had been right about him.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No,” Trinity said. “He told me he wanted me to tell his story.”
“He didn’t drug you?” Josie asked.
She shook her head. “Only once… I knew that he always kidnapped a mirror and he had been asking me questions about you during our ‘sessions’. I suspected he was going to take you. I tried to escape…”
“How?”
“I acted really sick. I told him he had to get me help. He told me there was a small veterinarian hospital on the property and it had medicine. He wanted to take me there. I just had to get out of the house. I acted weak, like I had to lean on him just to walk. As soon as we got outside, I ran. I went right for the truck but he caught up with me. He must have known that I might have been faking because he had a needle in his pocket. He stabbed it into my leg and I started to feel woozy. I went right down. There I was lying next to the truck—I wasn’t even on the damn driver’s side—and he was pacing back and forth talking about how he needed me to write his story and how I shouldn’t run because he hadn’t done anything to hurt me. I knew I was going to pass out, and I looked up and saw someone had written Wash Me on the door of the truck. That gave me the idea to write my own message.”
“But you couldn’t write words,” Josie said. “He would have noticed that right away.”
“Yes,” Trinity said. “I had to use shorthand. I had already left you the message to read my diary because I thought if you had his name and age, you’d be able to find him. But I didn’t know if you’d be able to find the diary. I was on the verge of blacking out so I just scrawled the movie name on the door. I hoped that when he came for you, you’d see it somehow. I had no way of knowing if you would or not or if you’d even get away from him. I’m so sorry, Josie.”
Josie smiled at her. “That was smart. You did well.”
“I was an idiot, Josie,” Trinity argued. “I did so many stupid, reckless things. I want you to know that I’m truly sorry. For everything. I shouldn’t have gone off on my own. I should have asked for help. I—”
“Stop,” Josie said. “You don’t need to apologize.”
Trinity’s brows shot up. “Really? Cause what I did was messed up and dangerous and irresponsible and—”
Josie reached across the table and covered one of Trinity’s hands with her own, silencing her. “I will always come for you, do you understand?”
Trinity’s eyes filled with tears. They’d both been crying a lot in the last week. “Josie,” she whispered.
“I will always follow you into any hell that you get yourself into, do you understand?”
Biting her bottom lip, Trinity nodded.
“There’s something I need to tell you. I read your diary.”
“I know,” Trinity said. “You were supposed to. It’s okay.”
Josie smiled. “Yes, but there’s something you need to know. Remember the fight that got you into trouble? The one that landed you in community service?”
“Oh, yes, at the school trip? I know, I sounded crazy, saying that I met you. You have to understand how messed up I was then. My nana had just died. I was getting bullied mercilessly at school. I just needed something to hold onto. The idea of you—it was just—”
“That was me,” Josie said.
Trinity’s face lost two shades of color. “Wh-what?”
“It was me. I dragged Beverly off you and elbowed Melanie in the face.”
“But how?”
“There were schools there from all over, remember? I was there with a bunch of freshmen from Denton East that day. Beverly was a notorious troublemaker in our class. Believe me, it wasn’t the first time or the last time I got into it with her. Lisette can vouch for that. She moved away right before senior year, thank God. In fact… ” Josie stood and wrestled a long piece of fabric from her jacket pocket. She deposited the teal scarf onto the table between them.
“Oh my God, Josie.” Trinity touched it reverently.
Josie said, “Lisette gave it to me shortly after she won custody of me. I used to wear it all the time—even when it didn’t match my clothes. Then, during sophomore year of high school, I spilled something on it and decided to put it away so I didn’t ruin it.”
Trinity looked up at her. “Josie, this is�
�I can’t believe this—this means that—”
Josie smiled. “You did meet me that day.”
Trinity wiped more tears from her eyes. “You were there. You were there when I needed you.”
“I was there.”
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Books by Lisa Regan
Detective Josie Quinn Series
Vanishing Girls
The Girl With No Name
Her Mother’s Grave
Her Final Confession
The Bones She Buried
Her Silent Cry
Cold Heart Creek
Find Her Alive
Available in Audio
Vanishing Girls (Available in the UK and the US)
The Girl With No Name (Available in the UK and the US)
Her Mother’s Grave (Available in the UK and the US)
Her Final Confession (Available in the UK and the US)
The Bones She Buried (Available in the UK and the US)
Her Silent Cry (Available in the UK and the US)
Cold Heart Creek (Available in the UK and the US)
A Letter from Lisa
Thank you so much for choosing to read Find Her Alive. It was such a pleasure to bring you this adventure with Josie, particularly because it explored Trinity’s past and their relationship as sisters. If you enjoyed it and want to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared, and you can unsubscribe at any time.