Midnight Sacrifice (25 page)

“Shhh.” Ashley chastised. “Maybe it’s a deer.” She pulled her camera out of her fleece vest. None of them moved for several long minutes. The only sound on the windless air was the gentle rush of the river. “Guess it wasn’t anything.” She stood and brushed some dirt off the seat of her khaki pants.

They turned around the started walking single file. As usual, Samantha took the lead. They trudged up the steep slope to the trail. After they mounted the summit, the downward slope was a relief to Victoria’s tired legs. “Maybe next year we could mix it up
and go somewhere warm. Not Florida, though.” She shuddered. “The whole girls-gone-wild deal just doesn’t appeal.”

“How about Mexico?” Ashley suggested. “Or the Bahamas.”

The trail narrowed. Leaves and twigs brushed their legs as they walked. Bringing up the rear, Victoria couldn’t see the trail ahead.

“Spring break at a tropical beach is so cliché,” Samantha chimed in. “And think of it this way. We’ll be the only girls to come back from spring break in better condition.”

Something snapped in the underbrush.

Ashley slowed. “What was that?”

Victoria bumped into her. “Probably just an animal. Move on. There’s nothing to see here.” She gave her friend a playful tap on the shoulder.

Zap.
In front of them, Samantha froze, then dropped to the ground.

Ashley screamed, and Victoria tried to see past her friend on the narrow path. A man blocked the trail. Tall. Blond. Scruffy-looking. He could have been handsome, except for the Unabomber haircut and beard. He held a black-and-yellow gun in his hand. He snapped something into the front of it and pointed it at Ashley.
Zzzap
. Her body went rigid, and she went down like a tipped domino.

Victoria turned to run.
Click. Zzzap.
Something slapped her back. A
zing
snapped through her body as if she’d touched a hot outlet. Every muscle in her body flexed and locked in place. Unable to break her fall, she pitched face-first to the ground. Her chin struck a rock. Pain lanced through her head.

She heard him approach, his footsteps cracking through dead leaves. Her body tingled, but she couldn’t move anything except her head. She turned it to focus up the trail. Ashley sprawled motionless three feet away. Ten feet ahead, the blond creep was
squatting next to Samantha and binding her twitching hands and feet with plastic ties. Samantha groaned. Her eyes were open wide enough to show the whites all the way around. She opened her mouth and inhaled.

He slid a knife from his pocket. “If you scream, I will cut out your tongue.” Impersonal, cold, and steady as the river, the voice held no malice or anger. Its just-the-facts lack of emotion sent Victoria’s racing heart into a fresh sprint.

Samantha stilled. He stuffed something in her mouth, wrapped a bandana around her face, and threaded it through her mouth. A tight knot secured it behind her head.

He moved to Ashley. Kneeling next to her, he touched her face, frowned, and continued to Victoria’s side.

Ashley was too still.

Victoria commanded her body to rise, told her hands to lever her body to her feet, instructed her legs to run. But nothing happened. Her body’s connection to her brain had shorted out. Rough hands closed around her ankles and brought them together. He bound them just above her low boot tops. The plastic tie cut into her skin. He maneuvered her hands behind her back. Her face ground into the dirt.

Just as he finished binding her, tiny pinpricks signaled the return of her muscle control. She wiggled her toes and flexed her feet. Her body responded, the epitome of too little, too late. Pulling another bandana from his pocket, he shoved the fabric into her mouth and fastened it tightly. It tasted of dirt and sweat and pulled painfully at the corners of her mouth. Victoria gagged. He dragged her by the feet through the dirt past Ashley. Her friend’s body remained motionless.

He left Victoria and Samantha on the bank and ducked back into the brush. Victoria turned her head. Fear and hopelessness clouded Samantha’s eyes. Tears glistened on her cheeks. Victoria
couldn’t cry. Numbness spread through her, a self-defense reaction against what her brain knew was coming. Though they were bound, she felt the connection as their eyes met. Mentally, they were holding hands.

They were thinking the same thing. Serial killer.

He returned empty-handed, and clambered down the bank. Victoria couldn’t see what he was doing, but she heard him moving around. Metal banged on rock. Velcro ripped open. When he climbed back up to stand next to them, he held a syringe in his hand. He drew clear liquid from a bottle into the needle.

Samantha tried to worm away. He jabbed the shot into her leg. She stopped squirming. He refilled and moved to Victoria. She braced herself. The needle bit into her leg through her pants.

He pulled her toward the water. Her sight dimmed as the drugged lethargy took command, but she raised her head to look back up at the trail. It was empty. Darkness rolled over her like a blackout shade.

What had he done with Ashley?

CHAPTER TWENTY

Mandy ducked behind the desk.

“Hey, Ray.” Danny’s voice boomed through the closed door. “Can I ask you a few questions?”

Mandy couldn’t hear Ray’s response. She slid the folder into her purse and quietly closed the drawer. She cracked the door a half inch and peeked through the opening. Danny had snagged Ray at the entrance to the hallway. She slipped out, closed the door silently behind her, and ducked into the ladies’ room.

She waited for the door to Ray’s office click open and closed before walking out into the hallway. Danny was leaning on the wall. A fresh cup of coffee steamed in his nonbandaged hand. He smiled. “Find anything interesting?”

“Shhh.” She hurried down the tiled corridor.

Danny fell into step behind her and whispered over her shoulder. “Well?”

She shook her head. “Not much.”

“Let’s go search his house. He probably keeps the good stuff there.”

“Breaking and entering is illegal.”

“What did you just do?” Danny asked.

“The door wasn’t locked. I just entered.”

“Nice. Getting off on a technicality.” Danny grinned. “Except for the file you stole.” His gaze flickered to her purse and back.

Mandy looked down. The edge of the manila folder was peeking out. She zipped her bag completely closed and walked away.

Danny was right on her heels. “Is the Realtor always so weird?”

“Carolyn has a lot on her plate.”

“Does she?” Danny drank his coffee.

“Her husband isn’t well.” Mandy skirted the chin-high bookshelves and headed toward the front door.

Danny opened the glass door and stepped aside. “Ray seems to have a man crush on Nathan.”

Mandy blinked at the late morning sunshine and skirted a few pedestrians. “You noticed? Most of the town is ready to order Nathan’s tombstone and bulldoze the diner, but Ray is still entrenched in his bromance. Kind of ironic, don’t you think? His business has probably picked up since the diner closed. Why would he want it to reopen?” Why was she talking to Danny about this? She was supposed to get rid of him, not conspire.

“Strange.” Danny’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Going to share what you lifted from Ray’s office?”

Mandy raised her chin. God help her. She wasn’t just attracted to his physical attributes, though they were plentiful. She glanced sideways. Worn jeans and a sweatshirt showcased his lean-as-sin body. She liked the whole man, from his courage to his wicked sense of humor. “Maybe.”

“Promising.” Danny’s quick grin turned thoughtful. “So the diner that Nathan owned is still sitting just the way he left it?”

“Other than the things the police took, yes.”

“What about his house?”

“The same, I guess.”

He was quiet for a minute. Thinking, no doubt. “Do you have his home address?”

“I know where he lives, sure.” Though she’d never been inside Nathan’s house, a fact that still pricked her conscience. Father abandonment issues aside, how had she let him charm her? She
glanced at Danny. What would he think? How would he respect her if he knew she was the most naive woman in the state?

“Is it far?”

“No. Two miles outside town. Big cedar and stone house on Route Twelve. You can’t miss it. It’s the nicest place for miles. Kind of stands out.”

Danny turned and walked briskly across the entryway. Mandy jogged to catch up. “Where are you going?”

Key in hand, he paused at the curb. “You should probably go back to the inn.”

“No way.”

His gaze pierced. “Go home, Mandy.”

She propped a hand on her hip. “No. I know what you’re going to do.” She winced. She hadn’t intended to sound like a petulant teenager.

Danny glared, but Mandy didn’t back down. She had to know what he discovered, what he was planning to do, so she could react.

“Suit yourself.” He got into his car and drove off, but she’d caught the quirk of his mouth. She scrambled to start her little wagon. Pulling out onto the street, she followed him through town and out onto Route Twelve. He stopped at the circular driveway. Nathan’s house was modern with a stone facade and landscape that was still ornate despite the lack of maintenance. Another month of spring growth and the property was going to go downhill fast.

Danny parked behind a clump of ornamental evergreens. She pulled in behind him, making sure her car wasn’t visible from the road either, and joined him on the walk.

He glanced up the road in both directions. “How busy is this street?”

“Not very.” Was he going to break in? “What are you doing?”

He shrugged and went up to the front door. A ribbon of torn yellow tape dangled from the doorframe. With a subtle movement, Danny produced a pair of gloves and a small tool from his pockets. A few deft twists and turns unlocked the door. It swung inward with a creak of unused hinges and swollen wood.

“That was fast.” Alarmingly so.

“Like stealing a bike.” Danny tucked her behind him as he walked into the house.

“You can’t do this.” Panic pulsed through Mandy’s veins. Clammy sweat gathered between her breasts as she stepped into Nathan’s foyer. This felt creepy and wrong in a hundred different ways.

“Why not? You just searched Ray’s office.”

“This is illegal, big-time.” Though it wasn’t the law that Mandy feared. What would her blackmailer think of them snooping through the house? She was supposed to be getting rid of Danny, not aiding and abetting him in illegal entry, and certainly not helping him find Nathan.

Danny closed the door behind them and faced her. His glare was a mix of challenge and disbelief. “Are you going to call a cop?”

She should. Doug could arrest him and then boot him out of town. Mandy’s problems would be solved.

“Well, are you?” Danny tried to read Mandy’s expression, but she dropped her eyes to the stone floor. Guilt gave him a quick jab in the ribs.
Here we go again, corrupting an otherwise good girl.
His sister had a juvie record because he’d talked her into stealing a car with him. Slippery as usual, he hadn’t even been caught, but someone had ID’d Jaynie by her bright-red hair.

“No.”

“Then let’s see what’s here.” He told his conscience to suck it and checked out the house. Despite the warm spring day outside, the chill in the house seeped through the soles of his shoes. No heat. No surprise. As Danny and his siblings knew firsthand, it didn’t take long for utility companies to act on unpaid bills.

“The police have already taken everything connected with the case.” Mandy’s eyes skittered around the room as if she was afraid of what she might see.

“I’m looking for more general information.” Danny wanted to know what made Nathan tick. In the few days he’d been here, all he’d learned was that the family was close-knit, something he didn’t particularly want to dwell on. Danny understood how tightly tragedy and suffering could cement a family bond.

He’d do anything for his sister.

The interior was bachelor spiffy, heavy on overstuffed leather furniture, light on knickknacks. They did a slow tour of the formal living and dining rooms. Under the dust, the furniture had an unused look to it. He followed the hall to the back of the house. A kitchen opened into a family room. Danny paused at the mantle. Empty frames lined up like soldiers. The police must have taken the photos. Oddly empty shelves indicated they’d taken other things as well. “What happened to Nathan’s wife?”