They’d found the remains of one woman there. If there were others, then the killer would feel compelled to go back…
And he’d find me.
Since the FBI team suspected the killer was closely monitoring the investigation, Cadence had made a point of informing all the local officials that if they needed her, she’d be back at the caves. She’d even told a local reporter that she was focusing most of her attention on the dark caverns to learn more about the killer.
She’d put out the bait, now the killer just had to act.
“It’s not exactly easy to move several tons of rocks.” Dr. Aaron Peters gazed at the entrance to the caverns. He didn’t look like a buttoned-up professor anymore. Dirt stained his cheeks and hands, and his jeans were ripped in a half-dozen places. He shook his head. “Every time we advance, it seems like we wind up taking five feet back. The place is too unstable. Those detonations—hell, we’re lucky the explosions didn’t create a fifty-mile sinkhole. The bastard could have destroyed everything.”
Dark clouds swirled in the air above Cadence and Aaron, blocking out the evening sun. Wind pushed against her cheeks.
“My team can’t stay down there during storms like the ones coming. It’d be too dangerous.”
She knew they couldn’t. The local weatherman had been predicting the severe surge of storms for days. Now the storms were almost on them.
“I heard about what happened in Maverick.” Aaron’s voice was lower now. Sympathetic. “Is the sheriff gonna make it?”
“I think so. He was stable when I left.” She’d never forget the gurgles he’d made as he lay on the sidewalk, drowning in his own blood.
Aaron turned away from the caverns. Focused totally on her. “What makes somebody do this? I mean, how do you get so messed up that you keep women as your prisoners in caves? That you shoot sheriffs and kill without hesitation? Why do you do that? How do you do it?”
Her gaze slanted toward him. Cautiously, she began to explain, “There are lots of different theories.” The wind had kicked up even more, tossing her hair. “Some folks think serials are born bad. That’s the nature idea. You’re born evil, and no matter what happens, you’re meant to grow up and kill.”
It sounded like the wind had started to howl.
“Others say it’s all in the environment. Events that shape people into becoming who they are. Things happen. They twist good people and turn them into—” Monsters. “Killers.” She paused, intent on gauging what sort of reaction he might have at her words.
Aaron just shook his head, as if he couldn’t understand how a person could be so twisted. “But becoming someone like this?” His lips twisted in a grimace. “Why?”
A flash of lightning lit up the sky behind him. “We believe this individual is a collector, of sorts.”
“When I was a kid, I collected rocks, not people.”
But their killer did collect people. “He’s not quite like you.” Their perp wasn’t like anyone she’d ever met or profiled before. For most of the serials she encountered, the kill was the end goal for them. They received satisfaction—fulfillment—from the act of killing their prey. But this guy actually kept his victims alive. Multiple victims, seemingly alive at the same time. Death wasn’t the end goal for him.
Control was.
“How do you do it?” Aaron wanted to know as he narrowed his eyes. “How do you go after these guys without the nightmares driving you crazy?”
Behind him, Aaron’s team and the authorities on hand were leaving the caverns. Securing the area.
How do you do it?
Late at night, she wondered the same thing. “I put them in cages. I lock them up. When I know the killers are off the streets, I sleep much better.” Not the total truth, but Aaron didn’t need to know about her nightmares.
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Aaron turned away. “All right, guys!” His voice rose. “I’m calling it for today! Let’s get out of here before the first storm comes through!”
The local weatherman had predicted the line of thunderstorms would roll in just before sunset. They were supposed to last all night.
The storms would slowly make their way up to Maverick, Tennessee.
The wind and rain would wash away any recent evidence the killer had left behind. Now they even had Mother Nature working against them.
She glanced toward their makeshift parking lot. Search teams who’d been in the woods were already piling into their vehicles. Getting ready to go home.
She headed for the line of trees. Voices floated behind her. Aaron, talking to his team.
She knew the path led back to Death Falls—the falls that had offered her freedom before, when she’d been trapped in the darkness.
Her steps were fast as she hurried toward them. The woods were silent, the voices of the men soon disappearing behind her. The trees swayed. Lightning lit up the sky in hot flashes every few moments.
Then the thunder of the falls reached her. It seemed louder, stronger than it had been before.
She stopped and stared at the water. It was beautiful, but when she saw it, Cadence could only think of death.
The name of the falls was damn fitting. Swallowing, she glanced away from the thundering water. Cadence looked to the left. The right. She was sure the killer had used this exit from the caverns. Sure he’d come here, over and over.
Awareness pushed through Cadence. There had been no sound to alert her to someone else’s presence. But…
I’m not alone.
Cadence spun around, her gun out and aimed in an instant.
The gun was pointed just a few inches from Aaron’s face.
He blinked. “I was just making sure you were okay.” His cheeks flushed. Even in the weak light, there was no missing the bright red. “I saw you come over here by yourself. You don’t want to get trapped up here during a storm. The water there”—Aaron inclined his head—“it gets rough pretty quick. One misstep, and you could be in trouble.”
She lowered the weapon. Lowered it, but didn’t holster it. “Sorry.”
He took a few quick steps back, putting some distance between them. “The crew’s leaving. You heading back with us?”
For now, she was.
More thunder rumbled.
Or was it just the falls?
She stepped toward Aaron.
His hands had clenched into fists.
Her own body tensed.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “What you’re all thinking.”