Page 132 of Another Girl Lost

Tiffany’s smile crumpled into confusion. “What?”

“Run! Tanner’s going to kill you.”

I’m sorry, Della.

Tanner’s smile melted, and he lunged for Tiffany. But she was thin and fast and quickly angled out of his grip. Tanner howled his frustration. “I’m not going to hurt you!”

As she vanished inside the diner, he immediately charged me and grabbed my arm. Calloused fingers bit into my flesh, drawing my startled expression to the white-hot rage tightening his face. I tried to pull free, but he was a strong man, and he easily jerked me hard toward the van’s open side door.

I thought about Della running through the woods toward the main road. I thought about the basement room. I’d likely die there. My chest constricted. Who was I kidding? Della wasn’t running anywhere. She was as trapped as I was. She hadn’t saved the Other Girl, but maybe I could save her.

Balling up my fingers into fists, I struck Tanner in the face. I quickly drew back my arm again and hit him over and over.

Rage darkened his eyes, and he punched me so hard across the face. My teeth felt as if they’d rattled in my head as I fell to the ground.

As he hoisted my body, he said, “I’m going to enjoy cutting you and Della into pieces. It might take me days to finish the job before you die.” He threw me in the back of the van, and my shoulder hit the metal floor hard. The door slammed.

He was behind the wheel and jerking the car into drive. “Fuck you. Fuck you.”

Tanner punched the gas, and the tires spit up rock as the van lurched forward. I held on to the door as I tried to steady myself. My head pounded and my shoulder throbbed, but I knew Tanner was a man of his word. He would make me suffer.

He took a corner hard, throwing me off-balance, tossing me against the other door. My head struck the metal floor.

“I’ll start with your fingers,” he said. “The thumb or maybe the pinkie. Which finger will hurt the most?”

I tasted blood, coppery and bitter. “I’m sorry, Tanner. I’m sorry.” My voice sounded hollow and distant. I’d just trashed what was left of my life for a stranger.

“Oh, you’re not sorry yet. But when we get home, a few obedience lessons will redefinesorryfor you and Della.” He punched the accelerator.

Rage, fury, and fear fused into my belly as the van hurtled down the road. Panic scraped my insides as I rose on my knees. If I accepted this now, I feared Della and I would die. My heart hammered in my chest as I wrapped my hands around his face and pressed my index fingers into his eyes.

Chapter Forty

DAWSON

Friday, July 19, 2024

4:00 p.m.

Dawson drove to the house where Sandra’s body had been found. He ducked under the crime scene tape and paused at the front door. The seal was broken. Someone had been in the house. Drawing his weapon, he walked inside.

His footsteps echoing in the empty house, he moved toward the kitchen. The bricks still lay in the haphazard pile fanning around the fireplace. He tried to imagine Tanner standing here a decade ago. He’d taken the time to wrap Sandra’s body tight and carried her lifeless form here. How hard had it been to shove the body into the small place? He peered into the narrow space.

He pictured Sandra suffering in that basement while he was at this construction site interviewing Tanner. Shit. He’d known Tanner was slick. The smile was too easy. He was so helpful.

Tiffany’s body hadn’t been wrapped in plastic, but her purse and identification had been with her remains. Two victims had died a decade apart. Notes from the forensic techs told him Tiffany had also beenstruck on the back of the head like Sandra. The cases were connected. Lynn. Scarlett. The mysterious Della.

His phone rang, the sound echoing in the house. “Dawson.”

“You’re going to owe me,” Dr. Malone said.

“My favorite medical examiner. I’m so far in debt to you, I’ll never dig out,” he said, smiling.

“Thank your partner. She can be very persuasive.”

He was only just realizing that. “What do you have?”

“As you know, I extracted DNA from Sandra Taylor’s back molar. I was able to match Taylor’s DNA to her biological mother’s, which was still in the penal system. I can confirm her identity.”

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