Page 17 of Seeking Evil

A small sofa and a couple of chairs and end tables were positioned into one corner along with a floor lamp. Sierra dropped into one of the chairs and immediately regretted her choice because it provided a clear view of the barrel girls.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” Henry followed her line of sight. “Each one special in their own way. I enjoyed our conversations so much.” He hesitated. “It was a shame they had to die the way they did.”

When he referred to the girls’ murders, it was as if he believed someone else had killed them. Henry appeared to see the women as his friends. Not the victims of a crazed killer who wanted them for trophies. He was definitely one of the strangest killers she’d dealt with.

Sierra focused on the barrels and noticed something she hadn’t before. Hers and Dawn’s barrels were empty. Dawn Collins wasn’t dead yet.

Chapter Seven

Sheriff Taylor wasn’t what Zeke had been expecting when he met them at the small regional airport outside of town. Well over six feet and broad-chested, Taylor looked like a cross between Denzel Washington and a linebacker for a professional football team.

“Glad to have you all here.” Taylor told them. “Call me Patrick.”

“Thanks for picking us up.”

Patrick helped them stow their gear in the back of his cruiser.

“I took the liberty of renting you a couple of vehicles. They’ll be waiting for you at the station. I booked you all cabins at the Wind River Cabins.”

“Thanks for that.” Jack got in front while the rest of the team piled into the two rows of seats behind the driver’s.

“You’re welcome. I appreciate the help.” Patrick seemed to mean it. A lot of times when the FBI stepped into a case they were met with resistance from locals. “I had Inez, the woman who runs the Wind River Cabins along with her husband, check on your agent’s room. She said there was no sign of anyone being there recently. Her bed hadn’t been slept in. She didn’t come back here last night. Inez said she and Sierra spoke yesterday morning, which means she went missing sometime between then and now.”

Zeke’s iPhone announced the time as five a.m. That was an awful long time Sierra had been missing. They’d be playing catchup. “What about Dawn Collins?”

Patrick’s dark eyes met him in the rearview mirror. “She’s been missing for more than a week. No sign of her car. Her room was how she left it. It’s as if she simply disappeared into thin air.”

But people didn’t just disappear. Zeke believed someone from the past had taken her, and there was a ticking clock on Sierra’s and Dawn’s lives. “We’d like to see everything you have on this case and the past ones from twenty-five years ago.”

“Of course.” Patrick made a series of turns. “I can take you to the cabins to get settled, or we can go straight to the station.”

In Zeke’s mind there was no question. “Let’s get a look at those files.”

Jack shot Zeke a look to remind Zeke he was still the leader.

“Alright. Your people were involved in the cases before. I’ll show you what we have, but you’ll need to get the records from the FBI.”

“I’m on it.” Megan, seated beside Zeke, went to work on her laptop.

“Here we are.” Patrick parked and got out. “This time of morning it’s quiet. Just me and the dispatcher, who subs as a deputy. I have an additional deputy who works the day shift. We’re grossly short-staffed,” he said in way of an answer to Zeke’s quirked brow.

Patrick held the door open for them. “Deb? You here?” he called out. A Black woman who appeared to be around the same age as Patrick came into the room wearing a deputy’s uniform. Her raven hair was secured in a bun.

“Here, Sheriff.” She came over to where they stood.

“Deb is my wife. She and I moved here from Washington.” Patrick introduced them.

“Nice to meet you all. I have coffee ready. Want me to call the diner’s owner? They’ll be opening soon. We can have food delivered.” She glanced around at the faces of the team.

“That would be much appreciated, Deb,” Hannah told them. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Sure can. I could use a hand with the coffee.”

The two left.

“I’ve got the conference room set up for you. All the files we have on the cases are in there.” Patrick led them down the hall and opened the first door on the right. “Make yourselves at home.”

Zeke dropped his overnight bag out of the way and looked around. Typical conference room that could be found in any police station around the country. He’d spent enough time in them as a BAU agent.

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