Page 30 of Locked In Ice

***

Her eyes flew open.Ophelia didn’t know what sound had just pulled her from sleep.She just knew that her heart was suddenly trying to gallop out of her chest, and her wild gaze searched her surroundings for a threat.

Her hand flung toward the nightstand so she could grab her gun.

No weapon.Not my room.

The light spilled from the bathroom so that she could see the interior of the hotel room.Lane’s room.Because she’d fallen asleep in Lane’s bed.

Her head turned.The pillow beside hers was empty.

For a moment, she just listened.But there were no sounds from the bathroom.No creaks that would indicate footsteps.No running water.Nothing.

Naked, she slipped from the bed.Ophelia padded to the open bathroom door just to be certain that she wasn’t wrong.Nope.Empty.

Her clothes had been picked up.Carefully folded over the lone chair that sat next to the small desk in the hotel room.She grabbed the cami and tugged it over her head.

Then she glanced toward the main door and pulled up her shorts.Ophelia walked toward the door.Opened it.Let it close.

Snick.

She knew what had woken her.

The bedside clock told her it was 3:23 a.m.

Where had Lane gone?

***

Getting into the rear holding area wasn’t hard.At this time of the night—or the morning, depending on how you looked at it—only a skeleton crew would be on staff.And that crew would be tired.Distracted.

As long as you looked as if you belonged, people didn’t tend to give you a second glance.He had the needed accessories.A badge.A uniform.

He avoided all the security cams.Took his time and made it back to the cells.

And his prey.

No one else was in the cell with Thomas Bass.The guy had the area all to himself.The other cells in the back were also empty.All the other prisoners were in the main holding area in the front of the building.

You’re alone, and that makes things so much easier.Maybe the cops had thought they were protecting Thomas when they put him in isolation.

They were just helping me.

The bastard was spread out on a cot.Snoring.Sleeping like he didn’t have a care in the world.

That man had murdered so many women.No, girls.They hadn’t reached their eighteenth birthday.Thomas had seen to that.Now the prick thought he’d make a deal with the DA.Tell him all about his vics in exchange for less time locked away.

Hell, no.

There weren’t going to be any deals.

Unlocking the cell was as easy as entering the holding area had been.He made no sound as he headed toward his prey.For a moment, he stood over the sleeping assistant principal.

The bastard’s chest rose up and down.Up and down.

Thomas was on the lower bunk in the cell.No one rested on the top bunk.But a mattress was up there.Threadbare.Old.A stained pillow.

He grabbed the pillow.Bent over his prey.

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