Page 31 of Fear for Her Life

Suddenly afraid of the men leering at her, Maya turned and ran. The men were blocking her way back to the trail, so she zigzagged through the forest. A gunshot rang out and a thump hit her leg. Searing agony shot through her thigh, and staggering a few steps, she fell flat on her face. Unimaginable pain streaked through her in red-hot waves. Pine needles filled her mouth and she spat them out, panting through the agony.They shot me.

Terrified and trembling, she scanned the forest searching for the men, but no one followed her. Lying as still as possible, she waited and listened. The forest had fallen silent after the shot as if everything was holding its breath. She looked all around again and breathed a sigh of relief. She’d lost them. Struggling to sit up, she gaped at the groove cut through one side of her thigh. Shrugging out of her backpack, she found the first aid kit she always carried with her and bandaged her leg. Unsure if she could walk, she pulled out her phone. She needed help and dialed 911. She gave her details and approximate coordinates to the woman who answered the phone. She needed to get back on the trail where she could be easily found by the deputies and paramedics who would be on their way. Using the trunk of a pine to pull herself to her feet, she moved slowly from tree to tree in an arc to avoid the men’s camp. Maybe they didn’t know that they’d hit her and only shot to scare her away. Surely if they meant her harm, they would have come after her? A rustling came from the left, and gripped by panic, she hobbled faster, trying to make out the trail through the trees. If she made it there, the deputies would find her.

Pine needles crunched, and a soft laugh came so close behind her terror shattered through her. She didn’t have time to run before a hand clamped on her forearm and closed like steel, crushing her bone. She screamed and lashed out, punching the man in the throat. When he gasped and let go of her arm, she tried to run, but a second man stepped out from behind a tree and scooped her up as if she weighed nothing. “Let go of me.”

“That’s never gonna happen.” The man carried her to the trail and body-slammed her to the ground.

Air rushed from Maya’s lungs and it hurt to breathe. The man stood over her laughing. Trembling, she stared at him and held up her hands. “Please let me go. I won’t tell anyone you shot me.”

The man ignored her and looked into the forest as the man with the gun came crunching through the underbrush.

“See, I told you if you wait long enough, they’ll come to you. You don’t need to risk going into town.” He pulled a knife from his belt and handed it to the other man. “You can have this one. If I start killing now, I’ll never stop and there are plenty more where she came from, but don’t shoot her. It’s too quick.”

“I’ve waited twenty years to smell a woman like that, all hot and sweaty after running.” A third man crunched out of the forest, bent over her, and inhaled. “The kitty kittys at the prison smell like antiseptic but they scream the same—if you can catch one.” He snorted with laughter. “Even her blood smells sweet.” He grinned at the man holding the knife. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Maya gaped at the men, discussing her as if she weren’t human. Tears ran over her cheeks in hot streams. “Please don’t hurt me. I won’t tell anyone.”

“They always say that, sweetheart.” The man with the gun stared at her with cold dark eyes. “It turns on guys like us and makes us want to hear you plead and moan for a long time. It takes skill to slice and dice.”

“I can never make it last long enough.” The man with the knife chuckled and looked from one man to the other. “You sure had it right when you said once you kill again, it’s hard to stop. I sure like being free. You guys can do what you like, but I’m gonna head back into town and have me some fun.” He stood over her smiling. “Run.”

Terrified but not beaten, Maya rolled onto her knees determined to run away. She crawled, dragging her injured leg behind her.I must get away.She had escaped these men before and could do it again. Deep laughter filled the suddenly silent forest, and the next second, someone grabbed her hair, wrenching her head back. Cold steel crossed her throat, stinging her flesh. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. She fell forward into the well-worn dirt path and then the beautiful magical forest spiraled into darkness.

THIRTY-SIX

“What?”

Jenna hurried from the kitchen and went into her bedroom, pressing her phone to her ear. “Are you saying that this woman called in her own murder?”

“I guess she did.”Rowley’s footsteps echoed on tile as he walked into the morgue.“She called to say she’d been shot in the thigh by one of the three men she found camping in the forest during her usual morning run. At the time, no one was pursuing her. She had bandaged her leg and was trying to make it back to the trail. She gave her name and her approximate coordinates. I contacted the paramedics and Rio right away, and we headed for the forest. It took us forty minutes from the time the call was logged until we found her on the trail with her throat cut. We secured the scene, called out the forensics team, and searched the forest. We found the firepit but there was nothing there. We did locate the woman’s backpack. It was empty. So her phone and any other items she had with her are missing. In the phone call to Maggie, she mentioned she had driven to the parking lot, so the prisoners will likely be in a silver GMC. I’ll text you the plate number. Rio has notified everyone in the search and put out a BOLO. Like I said, I’m at the morgue to fill out the paperwork. Norrell and Emily have already processed the scene and collected evidence. I’ve uploaded a video onto the server.”

Shaking her head, Jenna stared at her reflection in the mirror. Dark circles ringed both eyes and she appeared pale and drawn. “Why didn’t you notify me the moment the call came in?”

“At the time we didn’t know it was a homicide.”Rowley cleared his throat.“If we’d known, we would have called you right away. It wasn’t until we found the body that we knew it was a homicide. We figured we were investigating a stray bullet. Rio did everything by the book. He figured, after you’d been out all night handling the other case, he’d take the lead in this one.”

The indignation of not being told about a murder dissipated as Rowley explained. Being so close to her confinement, the thought of leaving her team without a leader had concerned her, but now she had confidence her team could handle any situation in her absence. “It seems you have everything under control. I’ll be coming into the office. Styles, Raven, and Beth will be coming with me. Carter and Jo are staying at the ranch to ensure that Tauri is safe. Catch you later.” She heaved in a deep sigh and rubbed her belly. “I hope your daddy will be home soon.”

“Is something wrong?” Beth appeared in the doorway and looked at her with raised eyebrows.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, we have another murder. This one is very strange. From what Rowley just told me, the victim called it in. We know she was attacked by three men.” She went on to explain the murder in detail.

“The prisoners?” Beth took a step inside Jenna’s bedroom. “So they must be camping in the forest just on the outskirts of town. It sounds like an opportunistic thrill kill. They haven’t been out long enough to have planned her murder.”

Tapping her bottom lip as she ran the scenario through her mind, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, I agree. It does point in that direction, the same as the alleyway murder. The problem is, what if there is a fourth serial killer in town totally unrelated to the prisoners? As both these women did these activities regularly at the same time, they’d make perfect targets.” Jenna pushed her hair behind one ear and leaned against the foot of the bed. “One thing about serial killers is that they come in every variety, and the escaped prisoners are a mixture. Only one of them is a stalker, Callahan, but he strangled and raped his victims. He would have taken his time to plan each murder and pick his target when he knows they are totally alone. It’s a safe and very deadly way of murdering someone.”

“Whereas an opportunistic thrill kill is dangerous because they run a greater risk of being caught.” Beth leaned casually against the nightstand. “Which leaves us Margos and Romero. Neither of them cut throats.”

“Who is cutting throats?” Jo walked into the room and looked from one to the other.

Beth brought her up to date. “We are hoping there isn’t a fourth serial killer in town. It’s possible. After all, this is Serial Killer Central.”

“These men have been locked up in prison for a very long time.” Jo folded her arms across her chest. “They have been exposed to other serial killers and every one of them loves to relive their kills by telling stories to each other. After so long, it wouldn’t be inconceivable to believe that they had changed their MO. They might not be able to change their fantasy because that seems to be part of them, the small thing that drives them to kill, but listening to others’ stories could create new fantasies.” She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “It’s not something I’ve studied in detail as there’s no data to study. We don’t release serial killers. The only one of note who escaped was Ted Bundy and his murders became more heinous and depraved as he escalated.”

Incredulous, Jenna stared at her. “Are you saying that after a long time in prison their triggers could change?”

“With these three, I would say most definitely because they all have fantasies about murdering women and they didn’t kill the prison guard right away. She must have been of some value to them, so raping her was fine but killing her was forbidden.” Jo met Jenna’s gaze. “Up to now, they’ve killed out of necessity.”

“I agree.” Beth shrugged. “Killing the men meant nothing to them. It didn’t give them a thrill. For them, taking those men’s lives was no more than swatting a fly. The three of them have problems with women, so perhaps they shared the recent kills. The biggest problem I can see is they’ve been blooded again and are now escalating.”

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