Lightning flashed over him.
“I was here, just a few years ago, I should have seen something.” He shook his head. “But I swear, I didn’t. I searched those caverns as much as I could. I searched in the area where you found Lily. There was nothing.” His breath heaved out. “I keep wondering—dammit, did I miss something? Could I have stopped this?”
Rain began to pelt down on them.
Aaron swore.
They both began to jog back to the base, back to the waiting cars.
She knew guilt ate at him.
It ate at her, too.
For her mother.
For all the victims she hadn’t been able to save over the years.
They stopped at the cars. She had an SUV of her own now. She’d picked the rental up on her way out of Maverick. Aaron waved to her once she was at her vehicle, then he headed over to join his group.
“Dr. Peters!” She called out his name over the rising storm. The rain drove down in a hard blast now. Her hair stuck to her; her clothes were already drenched.
He looked back, water streaming down his face.
“It doesn’t do any good,” she called out to him. “To think about the coulds.” On all the things they both could have done differently. On what could have changed. “Just focus on what you can do now.”
He stared at her a moment longer, then gave a hard nod.
Maybe her words would make it easier for him to sleep at night.
Maybe not.
They didn’t usually help her. It seemed all she could ever think about was the coulds in this world. She’d just given him advice she’d never be able to take on her own.
They’d all run away. Leaving the caverns. The woods.
Fleeing the storms that promised to beat so hard and long against the town.
There would be no searches that night. No one stumbling where he or she shouldn’t for the next ten hours or so.
He watched Cadence’s SUV disappear around the bend. She was on her way back to the motel. Back to the little place at the edge of town.
Only McKenzie wasn’t with her. Not yet.
Not. Yet.
It was a terrible mistake for the agent to make.
She’d driven about ten minutes when her windshield wipers stopped working.
Cadence’s hold tightened on the steering wheel. The rain battered down in a torrent that just wouldn’t stop.
She couldn’t see a damn thing.
There were more curves up ahead. Twisting, sharp curves. Drops at the edge of the road.
I can’t see them.
She pushed on the brakes, trying to carefully guide the car to the right-hand shoulder of the pavement. Her heart was pounding in her chest, so very fast. The damn wipers.
The others had pulled out of the parking area first, leaving the base before her. That was what I wanted. I wanted to be prey.
She knew this growing fear churning in her stomach. This was exactly how the others had felt when they’d realized they were stranded.
Only it was still early. Barely past nine. The killer didn’t normally hunt at this time.
He also doesn’t normally shoot his prey, but that’s exactly what he did to Sheriff Coolidge and Christa.
The glow of headlights lit up her vehicle from behind. Cadence checked her weapon. Pulled in a deep, steadying breath.
Had that been a car door slamming? It was so hard to be certain. The rain was so loud.
Cadence turned, trying to see through the driver’s-side window.
Someone rapped against the window.
She jumped. Dammit, she was an FB-freaking-I agent. This was her plan.
And she’d jumped.
She’d also curled her fingers around her weapon. There was a shadow on the other side. She couldn’t tell much about the person.
“You okay?”
She caught the faint words, barely, and realized…That’s a woman’s voice.
Cadence rolled down her window. Rain and wind rushed inside her rented SUV.
A woman stood there, pale, too thin, shaking, in the storm. She had a small umbrella clutched tightly to her. “I saw you pull over,” she said, frowning as she peered into Cadence’s car. “Are you okay?”
Cadence made sure to keep her gun out of sight. “I’m fine. Just some trouble with my wipers.” The rain might ease soon and then she’d be able to drive again.
The Good Samaritan frowned. “Do you…do you want me to call someone for you?”
“No, thank you.” Cadence forced a smile. “I have a phone. I’m fine.” You need to get out of here. Hurry home. Lock your doors.
But the woman wasn’t moving. “I—I saw on the news.” She bit her lip. “It’s not safe for you to be out here. Why don’t you let me give you a ride?”
“I’m good, but thank you.” Cadence turned on the car’s interior light and pulled out her FBI identification. “Thanks for stopping.”
The woman, who had dark-brown hair falling heavily down her back, reached for the ID. She held it a moment, and after a quick scan, handed it back to Cadence.
Then she just turned and walked away. The woman didn’t say another word.
“Okay,” Cadence muttered. Not weird at all. She rolled up her window.
The car’s headlights were still on behind her. But the lights were moving as the woman began to pull away.
She started to put her ID up, then she realized…
There was a piece of paper stuck to the ID. Her interior lights blazed down on the small scrap of paper. And the words that had been written there.
Help me.
Cadence shoved open her car door and leaped out, but the woman was already driving off.
No!
Cadence jumped back in her vehicle and yanked out her cell phone. She had the sheriff’s office on the line instantly. “This is FBI Agent Cadence Hollow. I’m on County Road Four, and I need assistance. I’m in pursuit of a—” Hell, she hadn’t even been able to make out the vehicle in the downpour. “A possible victim” was all she could say. She rolled down her window and shoved her head out. It was the only way she could see. She took off after the woman.
Help me.
Cadence was sure going to try.
She let the phone fall from her fingers as she tried to keep her vehicle on the road, and see what curves waited up ahead.
“Agent Hollow just called!” Heather Crenshaw ran up to Kyle as he entered the Paradox police station. “She said she’s out on County Road Four. There’s a victim who needs help!”
He immediately whirled back toward the front door and out into the rain. The wind was pushing harder now, gushing fiercely and howling.