Page 61 of Dolly

Her scream loses power as she slumps forward on the cross. Blood drips from the wound. She gasps. Another sound, a gurgle, and then, nothing. Held up only by the binds on her arms to the cross, she hangs limp.

“Dolly.”

I drag my gaze away from the mess on the floor.

“It’s easier to breathe now, isn’t it?” I ask Ken.

“It is.” He nods, holds out his hand for me, and pulls me to his chest. I’m covered in her blood and ruining his clothes, but he hugs me tight. “You did good.”

“What about him?” I ask, not wanting to leave his embrace, but we still have to deal with Todd.

“He’s going to help us,” he says, pressing his lips against my head. “Then he’s going to die.”

Twenty-Six

KENDOLL

Todd’s sniffling grates on my nerves, but he hasn’t taken his fingers off the keyboard, so I don’t get on his ass about it.

Yet.

I have him set up at Cathy’s kitchen table with the laptop I swiped from the playhouse and Cathy’s lined up beside it.

“Think he’ll be able to help?” Dolly asks, sipping a glass of water.

“He better,” I say loud enough for him to hear me. I think he’s come to terms with what’s going to happen when he’s done working, but the carrot keeping him on task is he won’t suffer.

“I-I’ve found three so far,” Todd announces.

I check over his shoulder, looking at the face recognition software still running on his screen.

“These girls are reported missing?” I clarify.

“Yes, all three have a report on file. One is from a year ago, one’s only a few months, and the third is five years old.”

Five years she’s been missing.

Dolly puts the glass down on the counter. “Can the FBI track them down? I mean, isn’t there a way to hack into my father’s financial records and cross reference things to find out who took these girls?”

“It’s possible. Yeah,” Todd says, but I hear the underlying current of doubt. Getting her hopes up isn’t fair.

“It could take them years to go through all the data. Especially if your dad was smart enough to keep his personal finances out of this. Shell companies, overseas accounts…it takes time to uncover those,” I tell her. “Once you find out who these girls are, I want you to search the dark web. Find the latest uploads with them involved.”

“I—what? I can’t do that from here. I need to get into my computer at the lab. Cathy’s—” He pauses a moment. “Her computer doesn’t have the login credentials I need.”

“Then do the best you can with what you have, ’cause you’re never seeing the inside of your fucking lab again.” I shove his head and join Dolly near the sink.

Todd’s fingers start clicking the keys again.

“Can he help us? Maybe George Romero can give us better information. He seems to be a top player in all this,” Dolly says.

A droplet of blood has dried on her chin. I wet my finger with my tongue and wipe it from her face. She’s changed out of her clothes into some of Cathy’s yoga attire and cleaned herself up a bit, but she probably could use a long soak in a hot bubble bath.

“Our visit with him needs to be well planned. Right now, I think it’s safe to assume I wasn’t reported missing because of his pull with the department. I want to find out what Pierce was doing at the motel.”

“This girl, I recognize,” Todd announces. His face pales when I line up my gaze with his. I can guess how he knows the girl.

“It’s not like that,” he tries to assure me. “I never—I didn’t do what they did.” He leans away from me as I make my way back to his side.

---