Jeffrey was a sprinter while Sara was better suited for long-distance running. When she finally passed her parents’ house, her second wind kicked in and in a few minutes, she had caught up with him. They both slowed their pace as they approached the forest, finally coming full stop as a flashlight beam crossed the path in front of them.
Sara felt herself being yanked down by Jeffrey as he crouched out of sight. Her own breathing matched his, and she thought that the noise alone would give them away.
They watched as the flashlight went toward the woods, farther in to the spot where Jeffrey and Sara had found Abigail just three days ago. Sara had a moment of panic. Perhaps the killer came back later for the bodies. Perhaps there was a third box that all their searching had not turned up and the abductor had returned to perform another part of the ritual.
Jeffrey’s mouth was close to her ear. He whispered, “Stay here,” walking off in a crouch before she could stop him. She remembered he was barefoot, and wondered if he was even thinking through his actions. His gun was back at the house. No one knew they were out here.
Sara followed him, keeping well behind, desperately trying not to step on anything that would make a noise. Ahead, she could see the flashlight had stilled, pointing down at the ground, probably at the empty hole where Abby had been.
A high-pitched scream echoed in the woods, and Sara froze.
A laugh- more like a cackle- followed, and she was more frightened by this than the scream.
Jeffrey kept his voice firm, authoritative, as he told the person holding the light, “Stay exactly where you are,” and the girl screamed again. The flashlight went up, and Jeffrey said, “Get that thing out of my face.” Whoever was on the other end obeyed, and Sara took another step forward.
He said, “What the fuck do you two think you’re doing out here?”
Sara could see them all now- a teenage boy and girl standing in front of Jeffrey. Even though he was wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, he looked threatening.
The girl screamed again when Sara accidentally stepped on a twig.
“Jesus,” Jeffrey hissed, still out of breath from the run. He asked the young couple, “Do you know what happened out here?”
The kid was about fifteen and almost as scared as the girl beside him. “I-I was just showing her…” His voice cracked, though he was well beyond that embarrassing stage. “We were just having fun.”
“You think this is fun?” Jeffrey snarled. “A woman died out here. She was buried alive.”
The girl started crying. Sara recognized her immediately. She cried just about every time she was at the clinic, whether she was getting an injection or not.
Sara asked, “Liddy?”
The girl startled, though she had seen Sara standing there seconds ago. “Dr. Linton?”
“It’s okay.”
Jeffrey snapped, “It’s not okay.”
“You’re scaring them to death,” Sara told Jeffrey, then asked the kids, “What are you two doing out here this late?”
“Roger wanted to show me… to show me… the place…” She sniveled, “I’m sorry!”
Roger joined in, “I’m sorry, too. We were just messing around. I’m sorry.” He was speaking fast now, probably realizing Sara had the power to get him out of this. “I’m sorry, Dr. Linton. We didn’t mean anything bad. We were just-”
“It’s late,” Sara interrupted, suppressing the desire to throttle them. Her side ached from the run and she felt the chill in the air. “You both need to go home now.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Roger said. He grabbed Liddy by the arm and practically dragged her toward the road.
“Stupid kids,” Jeffrey muttered.
“Are you okay?”
He sat down on a rock, muttering a low curse, still breathing hard. “I cut my damn foot.”
Sara joined him, aware that she was out of breath herself. “Are you just determined not to get through one day this week without injuring yourself?”
“You’d think,” he allowed. “Christ. They scared the shit out of me.”
“At least it wasn’t…” She didn’t finish the sentence. They both knew what it could have been.
“I’ve got to find out who did this to her,” Jeffrey said. “I owe that to her mother. She needs to know why this happened.”
Sara looked across the lake, trying to find her house- their house. The floodlights had been tripped when they ran outside, and as Sara watched, they blinked off.
She asked, “How’s your foot?”
“Throbbing.” His chest heaved in a sigh. “Jesus, I’m falling apart.”
She rubbed his back. “You’re fine.”
“My knee, my shoulder.” He lifted his leg. “My foot.”
“You left out your eye,” she reminded him, wrapping her arm around his waist, trying to comfort him.
“I’m turning into an old man.”
“There are worse things you can turn into,” she pointed out, though from his silence she could tell he wasn’t in the mood for teasing.
“This case is getting to me.”
All of his cases got to him; it was one of the many things she loved about him. “I know,” she said, admitting, “I’d feel a lot better if we knew where Rebecca was.”
“There’s something I’m missing,” he said. He took her hand in his. “There has to be something I’m missing.”
Sara looked out at the lake, the moon glinting against the waves as they lapped against the shore. Was this the last thing Abby had seen before she’d been buried alive? Was this the last thing Rebecca had seen?
She said, “I need to tell you something.”
“More about your parents?”
“No,” she said, feeling like kicking herself for not telling him this before. “It’s about Cole Connolly. I’m sure it’s nothing, but-”
“Tell me,” he interrupted. “I’ll decide whether it’s nothing or not.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lena sat at the kitchen table, staring at her cell phone. She had to call Terri Stanley. There was no way of getting around it. She had to apologize, to tell her she would do everything she could to help her. What she would do beyo nd that was a mystery. How could she help her? What could she do to save Terri when there was nothing Lena could do to save herself?
In the hall, Nan shut the bathroom door with a click. Lena waited until she heard the shower running, then Nan’s pained rendition of some pop song that was playing on every radio station, before she flipped the phone open and dialed the Stanleys ’ number.
Since the altercation at the gas station, Lena ’s mind had turned the number into a mantra, so that as her fingers worked the buttons, she had a sense of déjà vu.
She put the phone to her ear, counting six rings before the phone was picked up. Her heart stopped midbeat as she prayed that the person on the other end wasn’t Dale.
Obviously, Lena’s name showed up on the Stanleys ’ caller ID. “What do you want?” Terri hissed, her voice little more than a whisper.
“I want to apologize,” Lena said. “I want to help you.”
“You can help me by leaving me alone,” she replied, her voice still low.
“Where’s Dale?”
“He’s outside.” Terri sounded increasingly frightened. “He’ll be back any minute. He’ll see your number on the phone.”
“Tell him I called to thank you for coming in.”
“He’s not going to believe that.”
“Terri, listen to me-”
“It’s not like I’ve got a choice.”
“I shouldn’t have hurt you.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
Lena winced at the implication. “You need to get out of there.”
She was quiet for a beat. “What makes you think I want to?”
“Because I know,” Lena said, tears coming into her eyes. “Jesus, Terri. I know, okay? Trust me.”
Terri was silent for so long that Lena thought she had hung up.