He laughed.
“No,” Sarah said. “It couldn’t be your mother because you wouldn’t do this to Molly if that had been the case. You wouldn’t make her relive this terror.”
She was profiling him.
And the guy on the line was dead silent.
“You want to be like Murphy, don’t you?” Her words came faster. “You’re the one giving the pain, you’re the one—”
“I am nothing like him!” Those words were a roar. Sarah had definitely succeeded in breaking through that guy’s control.
“Aren’t you?” Sarah threw right back. “Then give me proof of life!”
The phone went dead.
“Dammit,” Sarah whispered.
Jax texted . . . No proof. We lost—
Her phone rang again. Same number. Molly’s number?
Calling again, he texted back.
Sarah didn’t answer the phone. “You told LOST what was happening, right?” Sarah asked Jax quietly. “Those are the texts you’re sending?”
He nodded.
“Then they can try to get a lock on the phone. Tell Gabe I’m answering again, and I’ll keep the guy talking for as long as I can.”
Jax sent the text through to Gabe.
Sarah swiped her index finger over the surface of that phone. Then she hit the button for speaker—
“You bitch!” The guy blasted. “You’re the one who should have died all those years ago! Murphy’s daughter. Blood as tainted . . . just like him!”
“Proof of life,” Sarah said. “Give it to me, or I hang up on you right now.”
Silence. Then . . . the rush of footsteps. The . . . lap of water? Yes, yes, it sounded like water, lapping against a dock. The man was running and Jax could hear water. And . . .
A squeak as a door opened. The thud of footsteps, a bit distorted, as if the guy were rushing up stairs. His breath was shuddering over the line and—
“She wants proof that you’re alive.”
A woman screamed then. Loud and long, and Sarah flinched.
The caller laughed. Why are you laughing, asshole? Because you like hurting women? Ah, now that was just one thing that Jax fucking hated.
Yet another reason to kill this guy.
“I just drove my knife into her, Sarah. Didn’t hit an organ, that way she’ll just bleed and hurt, but not die. Guess who taught me that move?”
Sarah didn’t speak.
“Who taught me that move, Sarah? Who liked to keep his prey alive while they bled and begged?”
“Murphy.”
Another long scream filled the line.
“I stabbed her again, Sarah,” he said, sounding almost gleeful. “I stab—”
“How do I know that’s Molly? Put her on the line. Let me talk to her. Let me know it’s her. Because maybe you’ve got an accomplice who’s just screaming on command. Maybe you’re some dumb dick who—”
“Help me!” That was a woman’s terror-filled voice.
“Molly?” Sarah asked. Again, she was like ice. No emotion at all in her voice. But the phone still trembled in her grasp. “I need proof that it’s you. Tell me something that will—”
“I won’t . . . beg . . . like her.” The words were weak. “Won’t go out . . . like my m-mother . . . won’t beg, no matter what he says . . .”
Sarah’s eyes closed. “No, Molly, don’t beg, do you understand? Whatever he does, don’t beg for death.”
Another scream then . . .
“Happy now?” the man taunted Sarah. “You’re the reason Molly bled. But then, you’re the reason Molly’s mother died, too, aren’t you?”
Sarah sucked in a quick breath of air and her eyes opened. “You think you know my secrets.”
“I know where the bodies are buried.” Laughter. “All of them. And before I’m done, Sarah, you’ll be joining them. Another body, buried in a shallow grave. A grave that the police can’t ever find because they believe the lies—”
“Molly, if you can hear me, I’m coming for you,” Sarah said, cutting over his words. “You’re going to make it out of this alive, just don’t give up. Do you understand me? Don’t give up—”
“Molly can’t talk now,” he murmured. “She’s too busy getting stabbed.”
Molly’s scream filled the air once more.
“Hurry, Sarah. Find her fast. Because if you don’t, she’ll always be one of the lost.”
Once more, the line went dead.
Chapter 8
SARAH DROPPED HER TOWEL. IT HIT THE FLOOR and she lunged for her bag. She grabbed clothes as fast as she could, dressing in a whirlwind. Get the lock on the phone. Get the lock on the phone.
Bra. Panties. Jeans. T-shirt. Shoes—
Jax’s phone rang. He’d been standing there, his hard gaze on her. But when it rang, he answered, saying, “Did you get it?”
Her heart stopped for a moment.
“Fuck, yes,” Jax said. “We’ll meet you there.” Then he shoved the phone into his pocket. He inclined his head toward her. “They got it to within one mile of the location before they lost the signal. Gabe and the cops are heading down to the riverfront’s warehouse district—that’s where he’s got her. They’re going to search—”
“And so are we,” Sarah said. Because this was their break.
They ran from the hotel room.
I’m coming, Molly. I’ll find you.
THE NEW ORLEANS airport was filled with people. So many folks coming and going. Weary passengers. Excited kids.
Victoria held her ticket as she glanced around the terminal. Her flight was going to leave in the next thirty minutes. She’d be back in Atlanta, back in her little house, that night. Then she could lock the doors, shut the blinds, and try to forget what it was like to be sealed up in a body bag.
Her phone rang. Frowning, she glanced down. Gabe’s photo and name flashed across the screen. She answered immediately. “Boss, what’s up?” Not a body. Don’t have found that poor girl’s dead body. This time, this case . . . Victoria just needed a win for LOST. They were supposed to be making a difference in the world. That was why she’d joined them. They weren’t supposed to just be watching the body count rise.
“Okay, first, you need to know that Wade’s all right.”
She nearly dropped the phone. It was never good to begin the conversation with words like that. Because using first sure implied there was going to be a second that might not be so good.
“He’s in the hospital, St. Dominic’s, and he has a concussion, but the guy is tough as nails and he’ll be on his feet in no time.”
That was supposed to reassure her. “What happened?”
“The guy who took Molly set a trap for Sarah and Wade. The building they were searching—it exploded.”
OhmyGod. Her knees were feeling very jellylike. “They were in the building when it exploded?” She turned away from the terminal and began walking toward the exit. Her left hand curled around her bag.
“No, no¸ they hadn’t gone inside yet. It was a damn near thing.”
So Sarah and Wade had both nearly been blown to hell and back?
“But we’ve got a new lead on the perp. The search teams are going in now and we think we’ll find the girl.”
“Alive?” she forced herself to ask.
“She was alive just a few minutes ago,” Gabe said, his voice flat. “And we’re busting ass to get there now.”
She could hear voices talking behind him. Hear the wail of sirens.
The sliding doors at the airport’s exit opened for her.
“Viki, I just wanted to update you. I’ll call again when I think your plane has landed.”
“Forget that,” she told him bluntly. “I’ll be at the hospital with Wade. If you need me, you call.” Because she wasn’t going to run away when all hell was breaking loose on this case. She also wasn’t going to leave Wade on his own. He’d been there for her when she needed him.