It was so silent outside on the winding country road that it reminded him of the quiet before a storm. The fucking idiots in this town had no idea they were going to lose another member of their community tonight, that there would be one less young girl around.
That tomorrow he’d go about his business like he always did and no one would suspect him of anything.
They didn’t know about his hideout or his trophies yet.
Hopefully they never would.
He pulled the red scarf from the console and wrapped it around his gloved hand. Dammit, he wanted to feel the silk with his fingers but that would leave prints or DNA from his sweat and he couldn’t risk that.
Just as he’d planned, about four miles from the graveyard her rear tire had leaked to the point that her car began to rumble and was off balance. She slowed, fighting the steering until she reached a turn off to a side road around a bend. His breath quickened as she rolled to a stop.
He slowed and watched as she got out to assess the damage. He hoped she didn’t call her parents for help but had banked on the fact that if she did, she’d have to tell them where she’d been and what she was doing. Before she had the chance to pull her phone, he rolled to a stop behind her.
For a moment, she looked panicked then relief stretched across her face when she recognized him.
“Looks like you’ve got car trouble.” He glanced around the deserted area. “Let me give you a ride and get you home safely.”
She hesitated but finally nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate it. My folks will kill me if they wake up and I’m not home.” She grabbed her backpack and slid from her vehicle and locked the door.
He could barely contain his laughter as she settled in the front seat.
He was tempted to do her right here on the spot. But he headed down the side road she’d turned onto.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Down here a bit so I can turn around.”
She nodded, chewed on her bottom lip and fidgeted. But he had a feeling she wasn’t afraid of him. She was planning how she’d explain where her car was to her parents. Making up some story. Going to sneak in tonight and wait until the dope wore off and she wasn’t high.
Only she wouldn’t be there in the morning to tell her story because her story was about to end.
ONE HUNDRED THREE
No Man’s Land
Kat’s head spun in circles. They should call the police. Let them know they found a body.
But if she did, her parents would know she’d been in the woods and they’d go ape shit that she’d been out there at night. Especially with a killer targeting teenage girls.
A killer who might be her grandfather.
Would he kill her if he knew she was here and might have exposed Ruth Higgins’ body?
Brush crackled and twigs and branches snapped, brittle in the silence, as her friends raced back to camp. A chill whipped through her, and she shivered then ran back to talk to the others. Shadows seemed to lurk everywhere in the woods. A wild animal howled somewhere in the distance, odd since wildlife and vegetation rarely survived in the area.
She picked up her pace. Her sneakers pounded the dry ground and she paused every few feet to check over her shoulder. At one point, she thought she saw eyes peering at her and heard someone whispering her name.
Terrified, she ran faster. She stumbled over a rotten tree stump, fell on her knees and pine cones stabbed at her legs. Gasping for a breath, she peered all around her, then pushed up, determined to reach their camp.
But as she rounded the corner to the pit Raphael had dug in the ground, the fire was out and the others were digging a hole to hide the weed.
“We have to tell someone,” she rasped.
“No way,” Woody screeched. “We’ll get arrested.”
“My parents would freaking ground me for life,” Bebe said on a sob.
Raphael touched her arm. “They’re right, Kat. We’d get in so much trouble.”
