Stop. Please stop, you are killing her. Trapped in a filthy cage beneath the bed, she pressed both hands against her ears and curled into a ball. Nothing would muffle their crude comments or the stink of their rancid sweat burning the inside of her nose. As she grasped the thin blanket, her elbows dug into the cold wooden floor. The unpolished planks scraped against her naked flesh, forming sore patches on knees and hips. She trembled in terror as Jodie’s screams penetrated through the gaps in her fingers.
She would be next.
The bed above her head squeaked, dropping dust into her eyes and suffocating her. The ritual was the same. The men barked orders then the click, click, click and flashes of a camera. Each time they visited, Bobby-Joe took her from the barred enclosure in the cellar and stuffed her in the cage under the bed. After they tired with Jodie, she would suffer the same humiliation.
The men owned her.
Silence followed an uttering of curses. The next moment, Jodie hit the floor; her head rolled toward her and she stared at her with wide, fixed gray eyes. The chain of the gold locket Jodie treasured had left an ugly red pattern on her neck. She stared at her in horror. The girl she had known no longer existed. Her open mouth was set in a horrific grin and the purple hue of her lips resembled one of the clowns who had brought her to this terrible place. Gripped with fear she pressed a fist to her mouth to muffle the shriek threatening to spill from her lips. Bad things happened to girls who screamed.
“Jeeze, Bobby-Joe, you’ve gone and killed her.”
“Shut your face, Ely. Dammit, now I’ll have to find me another blonde.”
“Pick her up, Ely.”
“I ain’t touching no dead girl.”
“Amos. Grab her feet. We’ll put her over there.” Bobby-Joe’s sweat-soaked face came into view as he lifted Jodie.
Ely bent and looked at her. “You’d better be a good girl. Shut your mouth and do as I say.”
“She will unless she wants me to take my knife and pay her mom a visit.” Bobby-Joe chuckled, sank to his knees, and grinned at her. “You’ve just become our star attraction.”
“What you gonna do with the other one?” Chris peered at her friend with a concerned expression then looked away. “We can’t leave her here to stink up the place.”
“Wrap her in plastic and we’ll bury her over at Craig’s Rock like the others. I’ll get Stu to pick up a replacement as soon as he can find one.”
“The critters are getting into them at Craig’s Rock.” Ely dropped a roll of plastic on the floor with a grunt. “We’ll need a new place for the next one. What about Old Corkey’s place? It’s downhill from here and it will be easier. There’s plenty of room under the floorboards for at least six or more.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Bobby-Joe reached one long arm inside the cage, snagged her around the waist and dragged her out. She did not struggle or try to run. Legs weak, she fell face first on the bed. Panic caught her breath. She wanted to scream but pushed her mouth against the pillow and closed her eyes.
I will survive. Determined to make it through another day, she bit down hard on her lip and chanted in her head. I am thirteen years old, my mother’s name is Daisy and my father’s name is Luke. I live in Black Rock Falls, Montana. I have been here 140 days.
“Forget her. It’s getting late.” Amos grabbed Bobby-Joe by the shoulder. “We’ll need to bury the other one tonight. We can start fresh tomorrow.”
“She is all wrapped up and ready to be planted.” Ely chuckled. “Anyway, I’m plum tuckered out already and after diggin’ I’ll need a rest.”
“I guess. We’ll need tools. You carry her and I’ll bring my the spades.” Bobby-Joe yanked her from the bed and stuffed her back into the cage. “Come on then, let’s get this over with. Grab your flashlights and one of you bring a rifle. I don’t fancy meetin’ up with a bear.”
As their footsteps and voices faded, the house fell silent and she gaped in astonishment at the cage door. The lock and chain lay on the floor. Terrified of one of them catching her, she pushed on the bars and the entrance opened with a familiar squeak. With her heart in her mouth, she crawled out and peered around the cellar.
The room was empty.
Gasping with panic, she stared at the cellar steps, surprised to see the door slightly ajar and light streaming in from the room above. She froze then moved her head from side to side listening for any noise, any creak of floorboards.
She heard nothing.
Will I have time to escape? A discarded black T-shirt and a pair of socks lay on the floor. She grabbed the shirt and pulled it on then the socks, doubling them over to protect her feet. Trembling with every uncertain step, she inched up the stairs. At the top, she found herself in a pantry and eased inside then peeked out the door. After sucking in a deep breath, she slipped into the kitchen. Beer bottles, water, and candy bars littered the table. She looked nervously around but the small cabin appeared to be empty and a clear path led to a door at the back. I can make it to the back door.
With her stomach knotted in fear, she edged toward the door and turned the knob. The handle turned with ease. She shrank back as anxiety trembled her knees. The moment she opened the door, light would stream out into the darkness, alerting them. Frantic, she searched for the switch and turned off the kitchen light. Waiting until her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she listened again. When no noise came from outside, she snatched up some candy and a bottle of water from the table and opened the door.
Heart pounding hard enough to break her ribs, she ducked low then slipped out the door, closing it gently behind her. Two steps down and into darkness, she could see the men’s flashlights moving into the forest. The roar of water came from her left, and on the breeze, the familiar smell that only comes from a mountain-fed waterfall. Black Rock Falls. I know this place.
She turned away from the forest and ran toward the noise of pounding water. Ignoring the rocks and broken twigs cutting through her socks, she kept moving. Her family had camped close by last summer and the area was familiar to her. If she could reach the narrow track running alongside the falls, she could follow it all the way to the bottom of the mountain. Panic-stricken they would discover her missing at any moment, she gasped at every noise but kept moving. The roar of water guided her and soon the thick pine forest gave way to a narrow path bordered by rocks. The moon offered a ghostly light but rocks littered the trail and a constant spray of water from the falls made it slippery underfoot.
Throwing caution to the wind, she ran. I have to get away. Throat dry and chest heaving, she lost her footing and fell, sliding down the steep incline. She dropped the water and grabbed a large prickly bush. Thank God it stopped her toppling over the edge of the falls. She lay panting, one hand still gripping the candy, and sighed with relief as the bottle of water rolled to her side. It seemed like she had been running for ages and she desperately needed a few moments to catch her breath. Flat on her back, she stared up into the star-filled sky then a sound came over the noise of the falls. She listened and every hair on her flesh stood up at the sound of loud voices and someone crashing through the undergrowth. She scrambled to her feet and tiny rocks rolled down from above her peppering her back. She turned and her heart leaped in her chest. Bobbing flashlights lit up the mountain behind her. They’re coming.
Terrified, she dived under the bush and curled around the woody trunk. So close to the edge of the falls ice-cold water splashed over her legs. Footsteps and heavy breathing heralded the arrival of two men so close she could reach out and touch them. With her pulse throbbing in her ears, she held her breath, too frightened to breathe, and tucked in her head. A light skimmed the top of the bush.
“If she ran this way, I figure she’d fall over the edge.” Bobby-Joe kicked at the loose rocks. “It’s steep and dangerous.”
“Yeah, and we passed a pile of fresh bear scat. I doubt she got this far and if she did, she’ll be his dinner before morning.” Chris turned his flashlight back up the mountain. “We’ll look around your cabin some more. You should send Ely and Amos home in case she drops by their cabins for help.”
“Good thinkin’.”
The footsteps faded and she waited until the lights moved out of sight, then crawled out of her hiding place and moved down the mountainside. As dawn came, she reached a cabin set close to the falls. Frightened one of the men would be inside, she grabbed women’s clothes from the washing line and slid into the hen house to steal some eggs. After changing in the bushes, she headed back to the falls. Too scared to risk the monsters catching her, she kept away from the trail and hid during the day to rest.
Days later, sick and starving, she reached the highway. She waved down a school bus and told the elderly driver she was lost. On the trip back to Black Rock Falls, she chewed on her nails. Bobby-Joe knew where she lived and if she told, he would kill her mother. She would lie and say she ran away, then no one would ever know. As she glanced out of the window at the mountain, she smiled for the first time in a very long while. I’m free.
Amos Price opened the paper sack and checked the items he’d purchased on Monday afternoon. The fourteen-year-old girl he met online insisted he bring a bottle of bourbon and a few other items to their meeting this afternoon. Tuesday had seemed to take a year to arrive but he could not believe his luck and grinned. Excitement rippled through him. Her parents worked and she had played hooky from school to be alone with him. It had taken weeks to convince her to meet him and they had spent hours online in a games chat room. She thought he was eighteen and was so keen to meet him. Last night, after he’d given her the number of his burner phone, she had called. How sweet her voice sounded, so young and innocent.
He pulled his vehicle up some distance from the address she had given him and grabbed the bag. Seeing the street empty and no other houses for some distance, he strolled to the front door. Finding it open just as she had said, he slipped inside. “It’s me, Pete.”
“I’m here.” A glimpse of the back of a girl with pigtails tied in pink ribbons rounded the top of the stairs. “I’ll be down in a moment.”
Desperate to have her, he headed for the steps. “I’ll come to you.”
“No, I want my outfit to be a surprise. Go into the kitchen, I’ve made you a drink – cola and ice. You did bring the liquor, I hope?”
He nodded and smiled at her. “Yeah, I have everything you asked me to bring.”
“Great. Have a drink. I’ll be right down.”
Amos strolled reluctantly into the huge kitchen and dropped his bag onto the counter. Nervous and excited at the same time, he took out the bottle of bourbon, added a splash to the drink, and gulped down half the glass.
The sound of footsteps came on the stairs and she walked into the kitchen carrying a cellphone and wearing sunglasses. She paused in the doorway, and with the afternoon sun streaming through the window behind her he could not make out her face. “Come closer so I can see you properly.”
“I want a photo of you first. You’re not eighteen. Why did you lie to me?” She held up her cellphone and took a shot but remained in the doorway, hesitant.
“You wouldn’t have come if I’d told you my real age but I wanted to meet you so bad. You’re special and we get along so well.” Amos needed another sip of his drink but smiled. “Look at me, I’m harmless. I’ve had tons of girlfriends your age.”
“I guess.”
His hands trembled and his chest felt tight. They often tried to back out but he had ways to subdue them. He could slip some pills into her glass. “Come here and have a drink so we can get to know each other.”
“Finish your drink first.” She moved closer and with the sunlight streaming behind her, it was as if she wore a halo. “Is it good?”
His heart pounded and he pushed on the counter to stand but his twitching legs failed to respond and he sat back down. “What’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m no one.” She moved closer and allowed the light to stream onto her face.
She was no more than five two and had the slim body of a girl but close up he could see she was at least twenty. He pushed into his foggy mind to find a memory. “Do I know you?”
“I’m the Grim Reaper and it’s your time to die. The drink was poisoned. It will be a slow and painful death.”
Fear clutched his pounding heart. He tried to speak but his tongue had swollen, filling his mouth. His throat constricted and he struggled to breathe.
“Having trouble breathing? Is every inch of you screaming in pain? Good. I wish I could make it last for weeks but you’re not worth any more of my time.” She scooped up the glass then headed for the front door. “Goodbye. I’ll see you in hell.”
Agony spread through his shaking limbs and he slid from the chair, falling hard on the floor. An ant scurried across the polished wood toward him, leading a few of its friends. He tried to move, to brush them aside, but a dark fog was surrounding him. Oh, shit.
It was late afternoon and Sheriff Jenna Alton stepped from her vehicle and took in the intense colors of fall. Shades of green through to golden brown bathed the entire landscape and the air carried the sweet smell of wildflowers. She loved this time of year, but plans to take a few days of her long overdue vacation to spend away from town had been shattered. It’s like I’m cursed. She stared into the blue sky and sighed. The moment life returned to normal in Black Rock Falls, something else happened to spoil her plans. Although, in truth, nothing in her life would ever be normal again. Under threat of death, she had left her life as DEA Agent Avril Parker and assumed a new identity as the sheriff of Black Rock Falls. Her experience in the Drug Enforcement Administration was of little use in the spate of murders she had encountered in her time here, and at first, she had coped with two inexperienced rookies and her old deputy Duke Walters. She had to admit after losing Daniels, Deputy Rowley had become an asset but the sun had certainly been shining the day two ex-marines joined the team.
After a harrowing start, she discovered her second in command, Dave Kane, was a slightly damaged, off the grid DC’s Special Forces Investigation Command agent with incredible profiling skills, and a sharpshooter. The next bonus came in the guise of Shane Wolfe, a widower with three daughters and not only the town’s ME but a man with incredible computer skills. Wolfe had settled well into life in Black Rock Falls and become a crucial part of her team. These new deputies had her back and sure made life easier.
Jenna entered the ranch-style house set amidst the shade of maple and pine trees. She covered her nose and peered through the kitchen door at the bloated body of a middle-aged man sprawled on the polished wooden floor. His eyes bulged from a blue-tinged face. She turned to Deputy Kane and raised one eyebrow. “He’s been here for a while.”
“By the smell, I would say so.” Kane’s eyes narrowed. “The real estate agent says he isn’t the owner and the house is listed for sale.”
“Why is it so hot in here?” She turned to Deputy Wolfe, her in-house medical examiner. “What do you think happened to him? There’s no sign of a struggle as far as I can see. If the house wasn’t unoccupied, I would have figured he was unpacking his groceries and dropped dead. I’ll leave this one to you, Wolfe. We’ll check the rest of the house.”
“The thermostat has been set to eighty-five degrees.” Wolfe tapped one gloved finger on the wall control. “Do you want me to turn it down, ma’am?”
“Yeah, and get the windows open.” She turned to Kane. “We’ll do a sweep of the house.”
She picked up her bag of equipment and followed Kane through the meticulously furnished ground floor. They checked the cellar and finding nothing of interest headed upstairs. Three bedrooms, all seemingly undisturbed. The faucet dripped in the main bathroom, leaving small splashes of water inside the basin.
“That’s unusual, seeing as everything else in here is perfect. I’ll dust the vanity for fingerprints.” She pulled the kit from her bag and tossed Kane a sample container. “Remove the trap under the sink and collect the contents.” She waited for him to complete the task.
“It looks clean.” Kane held up a plastic container and frowned. “I don’t think anyone has been here.”
Jenna dusted the vanity and faucet for fingerprints. “Nothing but a few smudged prints. If cleaners had been here, it’s likely they left their prints, but someone left the tap dripping as if the sink was used in a hurry.”
“It could have been an oversight.”
“Maybe.” She led the way downstairs and reported their findings to Wolfe. “I want to know how that man got into the house and what he was doing here. Check his pockets for a key.” She turned away. “With me, Kane. Who found the body?”
“Alison Saunders. She is the realtor working at Mr. Davis’s agency and also the woman Deputy Rowley’s apparently dating.”
Jenna followed Kane outside. “I wondered why she was blubbering all over him.”
“I guess finding a dead body in a house she was planning to sell to a young couple this evening was a little traumatic.” Kane gave a nonchalant shrug. “Maybe she can shed some light on how he got into the house.”
“Maybe he was a potential buyer?” Jenna strolled toward Deputy Rowley and a young woman with dark hair dressed in a neat skirt and blouse under a jacket. “Miss Saunders? I’m Sheriff Alton. Are you up to answering some questions?”
“Okay, but please call me Alison.” She dabbed at her red eyes and gave Rowley a mournful look.
“What time did you find the body?”
“About twenty minutes ago. I called Jake straight away.”
Not 911? Jenna pulled out her notepad and pen. “Do you know the deceased?”
“No, and he wasn’t here on Monday when Mr. Davis did the house inspection. I don’t know how he got inside. The door was locked when I arrived.” Alison blinked her long, wet lashes. “I came to make sure the carpets had been cleaned before I showed the clients.”
“How many people have keys to the house?”
“Let me think.” Alison tapped her bottom lip with a red fingernail. “This house used to be a rental. We have master keys for the houses and we have two extras at the office, and the owner has a set. I have one with me. I gave one to the carpenter, Adam Stickler, and one to the cleaning service. That is the Clean as a Wink housekeeping service, here in Black Rock Falls. We use those people all the time and they are very reliable.”
Jenna made notes. “Did the cleaning service return the key?”
“They keep a master key for their own use but they finished here before Mr. Davis’s inspection on Monday; I think they came after the carpenter left on Friday. He did mention some yard work needing doing.” Alison’s brown eyes fixed on Jenna’s face. “How did the man die? Was it a heart attack?”
“I don’t know and we won’t have a cause of death until the ME has examined the body.” Jenna replaced her notebook and pen. “You’ll need to cancel the viewing for this evening. We’ll be here most of the day and tomorrow, and when we clear the scene, you’ll need to get the cleaners in again to get rid of the smell.”
“Oh, Lord, nobody will buy the place now. We have to tell buyers about any deaths occurring in the houses.”
“Who owns the property?” Kane’s gaze moved over the house then back to Alison.
“Three Maple Lane is one of the seven properties Mr. Rockford has on our books. I met him recently and so I know the man in the house is not him. Mr. Rockford moved to Texas after his son went to jail. Mr. Davis is acting as his agent for all the sales.” Alison looked as if she carried the world on her shoulders. “That’s why I moved back to Black Rock Falls to work. There are so many properties on the market since those teenagers were murdered last summer.”
Jenna let out a long sigh. She remembered the Rockford case well. “ Did you have any tradesmen in to repair anything after the last inspection?”
“As far as I am aware, all the repairs were finished.” Alison’s dainty fingers trembled on the folder in her hands. “I’ll have to ask Mr. Davis if he sent anyone out.”
“Call me when you find out.” Kane handed her a card with a compassionate smile. “My cellphone number is on the back. You can call anytime.”
Jenna stared at him then turned her gaze back to Alison. “Okay. That’s all I need for now. You had better get back to work.”
“I’m not sure if I can drive.” Alison looked forlorn. “I’m still shaking.”
“You’ve had a nasty shock.” Jenna turned away from her and spoke to Rowley. “Drive her car into town and give me your keys. I’ll drop your car back to the office. While you’re there, find out if Davis sent any tradesmen out to the house.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley’s mouth twitched into a smile as he handed her the keys. “Thank you.” He led Alison to her vehicle.
“Sheriff. I need a word.” Deputy Wolfe came out the house carrying a large evidence bag. “The victim is Amos Price, forty-nine years old, and according to his driver’s license he has a cabin in the mountains on Sunset Ridge. From what I found in his bag, I believe he was here for a romantic interlude, although he was also carrying tranquilizers in his pocket.”
Jenna listened to the list of items found with the body. “I see. Time of death? Cause?”
“Hard to determine the time of death from the body temperature. I’d say approximately forty-eight hours but someone turned up the heat, so I could be off by days. From the artificially heightened body temperature it would be a few hours ago but from the decomposition, it could be Tuesday afternoon. I’ll have to say undetermined. He is bloated so the cause will have to wait for the autopsy. Maybe a heart attack, but right now I’m not sure.” Wolfe pulled down his face mask and scratched his blond stubble. “I can’t rule out homicide at this time, so I’ll dust the entire house for prints and do a complete search. I’ll need the real estate agents’ prints as well as they both had access to the house.”
“Okay.” Jenna stared after the departing car. “I’ll call Rowley and get him to scan Stickler, Saunders and Davis.”
“I wonder if the battered truck parked down the road belongs to the victim.” Kane rolled his shoulders and strolled toward the vehicle. He pulled out his cellphone and ran the plate then turned to look at her. “Yeah, it’s his.”
Jenna turned to Wolfe. “Any keys on the body?”
“Yeah.” Wolfe dug into the evidence bag then held out the keys between two gloved fingers. “I tried these in the front door lock. They don’t belong to the house. Do you have gloves?”
Jenna pulled two pairs out of her pocket and tossed one pair to Kane. “We’d better check the vehicle.” She strolled to the truck.
“Roger that.” As he kept pace beside her, Kane’s attention moved over her face. “I need to ask you something.”
“Sure.”
“You know, I was talking to Rowley about how hard it is to get to some of the more remote places around town. He suggested it would make sense for us to get a horse. You don’t use the stables at your place and the grass in the corral is a foot high.”
She nodded. “Sounds like a plan but the stables are a bit run-down.”
“It won’t take me long to fix them—a couple of new hinges and they’ll be fine. Do you ride?”
Jenna gave him a sideways glance. “I can ride; well, I did the horse-riding thing when I was a kid.”
She liked having Kane living in the cottage on her ranch and spent a lot of downtime with him. He was reliable and smart and always had her back. Often after viewing a nasty crime scene he would change the subject to lighten the mood and his diversions somehow kept her human. “It will. . .
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