Page 30 of Craving Sin (Touch of Evil 13)

“Watch where you step.”

Sylvie tossed her flashlight on the bed, stirring up a cloud of dust. He instinctively held his breath as he reached down to help shift the frame.

“Toward me,” Theo instructed, not wanting Sylvie to step back on the weak spot in the floor. With a firm grip on the metal frame, he began to walk backward until the entire space underneath the bed was visible. “Anything?”

Sylvie reached for her flashlight and slowly began guiding the beam over each wooden floor plank, starting from the wall. It wasn’t until she reached the second slat in the fourth row that they noticed a discrepancy.

One of the boards was slightly raised on one end.

Theo reached into the front pocket of his jeans for his pocketknife. He flipped it open, mindful of the sharp blade as he handed it off to Sylvie. She leaned down and inserted the tip of the knife in the crevice, but she couldn’t get enough leverage. She handed Theo the flashlight so she could use both hands. It took some maneuvering, but she finally managed to pry it up enough to reveal an inky black void beneath.

“Here goes nothing.” Sylvie held up her hand for the flashlight, taking it from Theo so she could shine the beam into the gap. “Theo, there’s something inside.”

“Wait,” Theo quickly instructed before retracing his steps toward the exit. “We bought those rubber gloves at the convenience store. Let me grab them.”

It didn’t take Theo long to walk to the ATV, collect the backpack, and retrace his steps. Once inside, he set the bag on the bed and searched for the rubber gloves meant for washing dishes.

“They aren’t much, but at least we won’t contaminate any evidence."

“It’s not a body.” Sylvie once again handed him the flashlight as she donned the yellow gloves. He stepped closer to shine the light into the darkness, allowing her to cautiously reach inside without too much trouble. “It’s solid. I think it’s a book of some sort.”

Theo observed Sylvie twist her wrist enough to pull the book through the thin chasm. Someone—Jacob, presumably—had wrapped the book in plastic. Theo kept the beam trained on the swaddled book while Sylvie carefully removed the protective wrapping.

“Son of a bitch,” Theo muttered when he realized what was in Sylvie’s hands. “That’s a sketchbook.”

“Jacob’s sketchbook,” Sylvie whispered in disbelief as she gently set the plastic aside. She then carefully flipped the front cover to avoid ripping any of the pages. “I remember Brook saying she found it in his bedroom when they were kids. When she went back to get it to show her parents, it was gone.”

A penciled sketch of a woman’s face with the flesh peeled away to reveal the intricate network of muscles and bone beneath stared back at them. The details were painstakingly accurate, as though Jacob had taken time to study an anatomy textbook while sketching.

Unfortunately, they were well aware that Jacob had witnessed such a sight firsthand.

The woman’s eyes were wide open in an expression of terror that bore into Theo’s soul. A name and year were scrawled in the lower right-hand corner of the page—Pamela 1997.

Sylvie had trouble flipping to the next page, and Theo didn’t think it was due to the thick gloves. The tremor in her hands was evident.

Another equally disturbing image stared back at them. The young woman’s skin had been flayed away to expose raw muscle and sinew. Teeth were drawn where beautiful lips would normally cover them, and it was as if she were frozen in a silent scream.

“Sally,” Sylvie whispered in shock. The year on record was 2007. “Theo, this is Sally Pearson. Do you know what this means? Jacob draws his souvenirs.”

Page after page revealed detailed sketches of victims, each more haunting than the last. There were far more than they had accounted for in their investigation, and the realization hit Theo like a punch to the gut.

“God, there are so many,” Sylvie breathed, her voice trembling slightly as she turned the pages. “Lusa’s name isn’t in here. I guess there is a chance he could have killed her and never had time to draw her. Maybe he decided to leave Alaska until the investigation grew cold.”

“Eleven years?” Theo shook his head as he monitored Sylvie close the sketchbook. She took her time securing the evidence into the plastic bag to take back with them. “I don’t buy it. I don’t think Jacob murdered Lusa, and I don’t think he meant to stay away so long. He’s continued to kill over these past eleven years, which means there are other sketch books hidden in places that he has stayed during that time.”

Theo struggled to process the horrifying implications of their discovery. The significance of the sketchbook was apparent, and a sudden realization began to dawn on him.

“This is why Jacob needed to be in Alaska,” Theo murmured in thought. The time between the earlier victims had been at least a year, but the evidence displayed the acceleration throughout Jacob’s life. “He wants the sketchbook.”

“Or needs,” Sylvie said as she handed Theo the plastic-wrapped evidence. “Why now, though? He’s had years to come back to town to collect it.”

“I wish I had the answer, Sylvie.”

She replaced the board so that the area appeared untouched. Granted, if someone were to study the section of boards close enough, it would be easy enough to notice the disruption in the layers of dust.

“I know you’re thinking it’s a waste of time to put the cabin back together, but if there is the slightest chance that Jacob escapes from custody, he’s coming here.” Sylvie used her boots to flatten the board before positioning herself at the top of the bed. “If there is any DNA evidence to be had, it’s going to be on that sketchbook. So, I vote for making it seem like one of the wildlife critters came in here. We can find something to erase our boot prints. Once we get to the bottom of the mountain, we’ll call this in to have people in position. Let’s face it, it would take Jacob hours to reach this place, if not days, given his current location and lack of resources.”

“Jacob isn’t lacking for resources,” Theo pointed out as he clicked off the flashlight. He tossed it on the bed as he wrapped his hands around the metal frame. “Someone killed Kate. Whether or not that was on Jacob’s order, it is still proof that he has someone on the ground. It’s a good idea to try and hide the fact that we were here just in case that individual knows about this place.”

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