Page 65 of Shattered Sanctuary

“After I get my gun, I’m going to look at the generator. Maybe it just needs to be reset. Hopefully, I can figure it out.” She shrugged. “I doubt Allen Dunne is outside in this weather, but I’d feel better if I’m armed.”

“Okay, but bundle up,” Kaely said. “Maybe you should take Chester with you. It’s about time for him to go out again anyway.”

“I don’t think he’s going to like me anymore after this.”

“I think he will.” Kaely frowned. “Look,” she said, “please watch your six. I agree that Mr. Dunne is probably not out in this storm, but... just be careful.” She went into the kitchen and grabbed a flashlight she’d noticed earlier. “Here,” she said, “use this when you go upstairs and outside. I’ll have the lantern ready by the time you get back.”

“I’ll be careful,” Erin said.

Erin took the flashlight and hurried off toward the staircase, with Chester following behind her. Kaely found four battery-powered lanterns. She also discovered a package of batteries in a kitchen drawer. She soon had the lanterns working. It helped a lot. The fire from the fireplace didn’t give them much light. Now they had two lanterns for downstairs and a lantern for each of them for their bedrooms. She was hopeful that Erin would find a way to restart the generator. Being in the dark made her feel vulnerable.

She took the lanterns and went upstairs, where she found Erin with her gun. Kaely got the two holsters and her owngun and gave one of the holsters to Erin. She felt much better armed, although she was counting on the prospect that Allen Dunne was not the kind of man who would venture outside in a snowstorm.

Just then, the old post office creed jumped into her mind.“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”The thought made her shiver, and it wasn’t from the cold.

While Erin prepared to go outside, Kaely found her phone and tried to call Adrian. She wasn’t completely surprised to find that she couldn’t get through, but it made her uncomfortable. She and Erin were cut off from everyone. She sighed in frustration. She was definitely going to tell Steve to put a landline in the cabin so that anyone staying here would have a way to call for help if the cell towers were affected by the weather.

Kaely was relieved that Erin was able to see her weapon as something more than a means to end her life. This was a huge step. Erin had made great progress in the last couple of days. She’d finally released a lot of the pain that had held her life captive.

“God, there’s still more to do. She’s emptied out a lot of the hurt, but now she must fill the vacant places with You. Holy Spirit, touch her heart. She needs to know you. And keep us safe, Lord.” She walked over to the window and looked out. The snow was coming down heavier now. They probably had three or four inches on the ground, and it was still accumulating. It was hard to tell because the wind blew the snow everywhere.

She was worried. She was convinced that Allen Dunne wasthe killer, but she couldn’t reach Adrian to let him know. She wasn’t certain that Erin was his next victim, but what if she was? Was this snowstorm enough to keep them safe? It was true that most serial killers tended to lay low during bad weather because it could make it harder to get away from a crime scene. But there were exceptions. The killer called the Snowman popped into her mind again. But he was an exception. Not the rule. If Allen Dunne was smart, he’d take a break and wait for the storm to pass before striking again. With his level of fastidiousness, it seemed to her that trying to continue his plan would be too complicated and messy right now. But was she willing to stake Erin’s life on that assumption?

Erin pulled her hood a little tighter. It felt even colder than the last time they’d taken Chester out. She was a little nervous after realizing that Allen Dunne was probably the UNSUB. But as she’d told Kaely, she wasn’t completely convinced. He fit the profile, but they’d decided he was a serial killer because he liked things in a certain order? As a police officer, she was taught the importance of evidence—and they had none. That uncomfortable fact was the reason she’d thought Timothy Johnson was a viable suspect. No one else was better suited to hide evidence than the one collecting it. And seeing a truck like his outside the cabin? That was certainly suspicious.

Yet when she’d told Kaely she was convinced the killer was Allen Dunne, she’d been so certain. Was he the man sitting in the chair? Someone was there, she was sure of that. It had spooked her. Really spooked her.

Well, at least by now, Kaely had filled Adrian in. Maybe Sanctuary was a small town, but he appeared to be a very competent police chief. He’d know what to do. Erin just hoped he’d be able to find something solid to connect the killer to his crimes.

Chester tugged on the leash, so she stopped so he could do his business.

“You just went out an hour ago,” she said. “How can you need to go again?” Chester looked at her like he was embarrassed, and it made Erin laugh. “It’s okay. You’re a good boy.”

This time his tail wagged, and he gave her a big doggy grin.

“Come on. Let’s take a look at this generator. Maybe you can figure out how to start it.”

She waded through the snow, Chester behind her. She’d put their handmade leash on him because she worried about him running off. However, he seemed happy to stay by her side.

She saw the generator up ahead. As they approached it, Erin gasped. The side was open. Could the wind have done that? She looked inside. Maybe she didn’t know anything about generators, but it was evident that someone had cut the power cables and rendered the unit unusable. There wasn’t any way she could fix it. It was then that she saw the footprints in the snow. They led back and forth from the generator to the woods.

Suddenly, Chester began to bark, his gaze focused on the line of trees behind the house.

“Come on,” she said, trying to pull him back to the house. He fought her, and she almost lost her grip on the belt. “Chester, no! Stop it!” Finally, he stopped digging his feetinto the snow and let her pull him back toward the house, but she could tell he didn’t want to. He looked back several times and continued to bark. It was hard to see in the snow, but a figure suddenly appeared in front of them. Erin instinctively went for her gun, but as she took it from the holster, she heard Kaely’s voice.

“It’s me!” she called out. “Don’t shoot!”

Erin froze in place. She’d almost shot Kaely. She felt faint.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Kaely said as she came up next to her. “It’s hard to see, and we’re both on edge. What about the generator?”

“Someone sabotaged it,” Erin said. “And it wasn’t that long ago. We need to get inside. Now.”

The color in Kaely’s face drained and her jaw tightened. “Let’s get going.”

Erin started to put her gun back in its holster, but she decided at the last second to keep it in her hand. They moved quickly through the snow toward the back door. Once inside, Kaely locked it immediately.

“When will Adrian be here?” Erin asked.

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