Page 72 of Dark Love

“Within shouting distance. I don’t know exactly where. He never lets us see him take another woman out.”

The other woman… Joan has to be nearby. “Is there anyone else?” Why did I stop once we found this one woman?

“Jane was our third… I don’t… I don’t think she’s alive. There’s never more than three… and we heard him digging a new hole.”

Jane was the body in the bedroom. “I’m going to look for Joan now.” It doesn’t take long for me to find another tarp. The edge is barely an inch from the ground when the scent of death hits me. There’s no saving her. If I had arrived… Don’t go there. You can’t change the past and there’s no point in second-guessing your choices.

I took care of Dahlia yesterday. And that’s something I’ll never regret.

“Got it.” Payne rushes over. “Is there another—”

I sharply shake my head at him. “Let’s get set up for me to repel down.”

“I’m going to do it.”

“You?” Payne knows how to do it, but I’m more experienced.

“It only makes sense. You outweigh me by more than fifty pounds. If need be, you can pull me out. There’s no way I’m pulling you out of there.”

He’s right. “Fine. But can you handle what you may see down there?”

“Whatever happened to that woman, she’s alive. And we’re going to do whatever we can to save her.”

Payne’s solid. “Get out of there as fast as you can. I’m ready to leave this place.”

“It should be burned to the ground.”

He’s not wrong. But it won’t be. In a few days, this is going to be the biggest crime scene of the decade.

Together we set up the equipment, and Payne steps over the edge of the pit. “Watch out below.” He starts to rappel down. A few seconds later, his boots hit the dirt with a soft thud. “Throw me down a blanket!”

“It’s not safe with the ropes.” Payne should know that. He’s flustered.

“All right. We’ll figure it out.” His voice gets whisper soft.

If I leaned down and focused hard, I could probably hear what he’s saying, but whatever it is he either doesn’t want me to hear or he’s trying to comfort her before he pulls her up. Either way, I don’t need to know the details.

Dahlia was going to be in one of these pits…

STOP! You can’t lose focus. You can’t let rage rule. Now isn’t the time.

Later, you can let your mind process what almost happened, but now it’s all about the task at hand. I surveil the area and wait for Payne’s cue to pull her, or them, up depending on her condition.

Graveyards don’t bother me. I’ve hidden a body or two in them when other options weren’t available. But this place is eerie. In any other situation, a person would just see the lush grass, tall trees surrounding us, and the mountain in the distance and think how beautiful it is here.

“Pull us up!” Payne gives the rope a single tug, which we chose as a code for no issues down here.

Not that we expected any, but you never know how someone who has been confined and tortured is going to react.

“Next time we go out, you’re getting a salad.” The woman with him has to be pretty light.

“Complain. Complain. Complain. You know you’re just going to add another weight onto the bar.”

“Can’t add many more without it bending.” Hand over hand, I hoist them out of the bleakness into the light. The request for the blanket makes sense when a shirtless Payne comes into view.

Maybe an exception can be made to the rule. Killing the filth that hurt this woman would be too kind.

“That’s what you keep saying.”

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