Page 66 of Seeking Evil

“Faster, Dawn.” Sierra urged, not giving Dawn the chance to slow down.

Another round of gunfire sounded farther away. They were putting distance between themselves and the shooter.

“I can’t breathe,” Dawn whispered.

“We can’t stop. Keep going.”

Over their ragged breaths, Sierra listened. The shooting had ended. Had the shooter given up or was he reloading? It didn’t matter. They had to keep going.

Dawn stumbled over a tree trunk Sierra didn’t see. Both went sprawling onto the damp ground. Dawn screamed as her injured wrist hit the ground.

“Shh.” Sierra hated the need to silence her friend but they couldn’t give away their position. She staggered to her feet and pulled a weeping Dawn up next to her. “I promise we’re making progress. The shots are getting farther away. But we can’t slow down. If he’s tracking us, he’ll keep coming.”

She put her arm around Dawn’s waist and they ran. The woods appeared to thin somewhat.

Was it possible they were about to reach a clearing?

That would certainly make it easier to move, but would present a whole new problem. Openness would make it easier for the shooter to find them.

Sierra had no idea where they were or even if they were close to a road. Civilization. All she knew for certain was they couldn’t keep running blindly like this before their paths met up with the shooter’s, resulting in deadly consequences.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Iknow we’ve gone over the files for the first victims countless times before, but we need to take another look.” Jack brought up the details for their first known victim, Aurora Foster. “I think we’re missing something.”

At the front of the conference room, the woman’s smiling face appeared on the drop-down screen.

“Aurora was thirty when she went missing. She was an only child from Lincoln, Nebraska.” Megan scanned the information on the screen. “All the women were different in appearance. From different parts of the country. Different ages.” She looked to her husband. “Sorry, I think their only connection is that they were climbers and they happened to be at the wrong place when the killer . . . I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be referring to them as deceased, but I think the likelihood of them still being alive after so long is slim.” She glanced Zeke’s way. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean Sierra might be . . . I’m speaking only of the women who disappeared before.”

Zeke nodded. Everyone on the team loved Sierra. They’d been tiptoeing around Zeke since they’d arrived. As an experienced BAU team, they knew the possibility of what might happen. No one wanted to say it aloud.

Zeke studied the photo of Aurora. “Wait, can we blow that photo up?”

Jack enlarged it. “You notice something?”

“I do. That necklace. This photo was taken by someone during one of her final climbs, correct?”

“That’s right.”

Cooper leaned forward. “There was never any mention of it in the report. It wasn’t found in her room. I’m assuming she had it on her when she went missing.” He turned to Zeke. “Why is that so special?”

“I’m not sure.” Zeke brought out the necklace Inez had found outside the cabins and told them about it. “We’ve been assuming our victims went missing on their way back from the climb, but what if they were taken from the cabins?”

“Then where are their vehicles? All are missing with the exception of Lindsey’s,” Hannah asked.

“Maybe he incapacitated them, and then drove them away without being spotted.”

“That wouldn’t be easy with Inez around.” Patrick expressed his doubts.

“Unless he did it when Inez wasn’t around.” Zeke tried to come up with a scenario. “What if he posed as a handyman and claimed there was a gas leak or something along those lines?”

“Wait a second,” Patrick sat up straighter. “Derek Thoreau has worked as the handyman at the cabins for as long as I can remember.”

Finally, a hint of a lead. “Has he been in trouble with the law?”

Patrick shook his head. “He’s strange. Keeps to himself. Derek’s mute, so speaking with him will be difficult. He stays in a cabin near the woods. He’s not married. No family as far as I know.”

Zeke rose. “We need to find him right away.”

---