I have to wonder…
I just have to…
What if Clover was dating him too?
My head spins at that thought, not only because she could’ve been dating him, but because it’d also mean Jason would have a connection to all these murdered girls. And I was married to him for all of those years. It makes my stomach lurch with guilt for not seeing it, for not going to the police the first time he hit me. Maybe then he’d have been put in prison and not been able to hurt anyone else.
Then again, it would’ve been his word against mine, and people usually believed him because he had a way of charming people. It’s a mask he wore to hide the darkness inside him, and he was damn good at keeping it on during the right moments.
“I found it,” Ellis suddenly declares, startling me so badly I jump.
My attention snaps to him, and the look on his face conveys a silent warning that whatever he’s about to tell me is bad.
I close the diary. “It belongs to my family, doesn’t it?”
He shakes his head, his gaze returning to the screen. “I honestly don’t know. It all depends on who’s the owner of the business listed on the deed.”
“It belongs to a business?” That wasn’t what I was expecting. I get up, cross the room, and sit down on the bed beside him. “What kind of business would have a location out in the middle of the woods?”
He rubs his lips together. “The Star Meadows Hunting Guide.”
“It’s a hunting guide place?” I swallow hard as he nods.
Cold cement presses against my cheek, and the air reeks of rust.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
My vision is blurry as I scan my surroundings. It smells like when my father shoots a deer and leaves it tied in a tree so the blood will drain out. It smells like rot, death, and blood. Where is it coming from, though?
Where am I?—
“Ava.” Ellis' voice tugs me away from the memory.
I blink, his face coming into focus.
“Where’d your head go?” he asks cautiously, his eyes carrying nothing but kindness.
“To dark and horrible places,” I whisper. “That smell of death.” Tears burn in my eyes, but I suck them back because if I let them out, I might not be able to ever get them to stop. “Are there any photos of the house online?”
He doesn’t respond immediately. “I think we should take a break.”
“What? No, I can’t—I need to know if that’s the place I was taken that day in the woods.”
His reluctant silence is enough for me to be put on edge.
“Show me them,” I demand, my voice shaking.
With a grave amount of reluctance, he hands me the laptop, sliding it from his lap and onto mine. On the screen is a photo of trees bordering the landscape that’s dotted with daisies. In the center of it is a concrete house with boarded-up windows, and surrounding the area is a fence that leads to a gate. That’s what triggers the memory, like I’ve slipped a key into a lock andclick, the gate opens.
I run through the snow, tripping and falling, but I keep going until I see the fence. The gate is open, and no one is around. If I can make it there, I can escape.
“Ava!” a man shouts.
I move faster, throwing a glance over my shoulder at the house in the distance. A figure is in front of it, rushing at me through the snow.
