I nodded, not sure what else to say.
Damien pushed the needle into a vial and measured out the medicine. Then he started to hum. A sweat broke out along my spine as the tune for Johnny Cash’sRing of Firefilled the room.
My vision went hazy as memories battered at the walls of my mind.
Damien looked up from his work. “I always knew you were special, Halston.”
And then he lunged.
47
LAWSON
Anson tappedhis pen on the edge of a file as the snow fell harder around us, already accumulating on the ground. “I want to compile a list of all the men aged thirty through fifty-five who’ve had contact with Hallie since she’s been back in Cedar Ridge.”
That sick feeling was back in my gut. “You think he’s in contact with her now?”
Anson looked up, reading the edge to my tone. “Five years ago, the area the women went missing from was much more spread out. The body dump sites, too. Now, everything is more and more zeroed in on Cedar Ridge.”
“Because she’s here.”
He nodded. “I don’t think he’d be able to resist having some contact with her. It’s too tempting. The note proves it.”
My jaw worked back and forth. “Hallie sticks pretty close to home, but even so, there’s everyone at the kids’ schools, the businesses she frequents in town. It’s going to be a long list.”
“A long list is better than no list. We slowly whittle it down, person by person.”
I knew Anson was right. We had to start somewhere. It just felt like we had nothing. Less than nothing. And people were dying.
The door to the vet’s office flew open, and Susan hurried out, Thor in her arms. Her face was pale, her eyes wide.
I was out of my SUV before a single word left my lips. “What happened? Where’s Hallie?”
Susan’s head jerked one way and then the other. “I-I don’t know. I thought I heard a noise. Almost like a scream but not. Then Thor was barking like crazy. I went back to make sure everything was okay. But they were gone.”
“Who was gone?” Anson clipped.
“Hallie and Dr. Miller. I can’t find them anywhere.”
Everything around me slowed. The blood coursing through me felt heavy and cold. Hallie. My Little Minx. She’d trusted me to keep her safe.
“Show us,” Anson barked.
His voice snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts, and I strode after Susan into the vet’s office. She led us down the hall and into the exam room. Nothing looked out of sorts. But there was a syringe and a vial on the counter.
Anson bent, his eyes tracking the vial’s label. Then he turned, looking up at me. “Ketamine.”
“That can’t be,” Susan argued. “We use that for sedation. Thor just needed some shots.”
Blood roared in my ears. The steady pulse of my heart sounded like an explosion every couple of seconds.
“Where does Miller park?” My voice didn’t sound like mine. No emotion. Empty. Dead.
“Th-through here,” Susan said quickly, leading us through the second door into a back area for treatment. There were a couple of dogs and cats in medical crates but nothing out of place. She headed for a back door. “This is always locked. Alarmed, too, since we have prescription drugs on-site. I don’t know how someone could’ve gotten in. Did they take them? Hallie and Dr. Miller?”
Everything in me twisted as I shared a look with Anson.
He glanced away, scanning the space. “Does anyone else work here? A vet tech? Another doctor?”
