Page 136 of Nowhere to Hide
I nodded. “How bad was the body?”
“Right down to it, huh?” Dom gestured for me to go over to the screens set up. “It was bad enough for Stone to get his captain to finally get the feds involved. They swept in and took over of course, but Nyx hacked the Salem PD and got the files before they locked everything down.”
I fisted my hands at my sides. “Let me see it.”
“It’s vile,” Leo said darkly.
The screens showed a series of crime scene photos. When Leo had warned me that the woman looked just like Priscilla, he wasn’t kidding. From the high cheekbones and dark eyes to the blond hair and height they could have been sisters.
The victim’s dark eyes were wide open and unseeing. The ropes were similar to the ones I remembered from the night I’d saved Cilla, but this time the knots were even more intricate. They marched down her forearms and cinched tight at her wrists with the thick marina rope. She was splayed open with her skirt up.
Even the dress was similar to Cilla’s.
Had he waited that long to find to someone perfect, or had he dressed her up before he killed her?
The pool of blood was in the same spot, and he’d cut the woman’s femoral artery as well.
This time he hadn’t stopped at the binding and murder, he’d also assaulted this girl. Hell, she was barely a woman. She was a bit younger than Cilla even if she was nearly identical.
The bastard had positioned her exactly in the same spot.
Leo tapped the remote he was holding. “They found another woman this afternoon.”
“Jesus.” I scrubbed at my face, the photos burned into my memory. “That’s a helluva acceleration.”
“It’s a different location.” He flicked through the photos. “It was actually on the beach, under the pier so she wasn’t found right away. They think she was actually killed the day before Hillary Thomas.”
The blond hair was evident even with the sand and seaweed marring her head and body. A summery dress, not quite the same as the victim from the wharf but damn close.
He used the piles from the pier to stretch her out.
I shut my eyes, seeing Priscilla there instead of this girl. “Who is she?”
Her name deserved to be remembered.
“Lauren Emory. She was a Boston University student.”
“What was she doing in Salem?” I turned to Leo.
“From what Stone has found, she was actually from Beverly, Mass. It’s not far enough away from Salem to raise a ton of flags, but now that the feds are involved they are building a case.”
“It’s a bit harder for Nyx to dig into the FBI database. I don’t want her to chance it if she doesn’t have to.” Dom took the remote from Leo and darkened the screens.
I paced away. “He brought her there. Posed her to be found.”
“He can’t get to Priscilla so he’s recreating it again and again.” Leo’s voice was even but there was an underlying rage.
I recognized it in myself.
“He’s not getting to her.”
“We’ll make sure of it.” Dom gripped my shoulder. “For now I want you two in one of the tower apartments.” He handed me a key card. “Tenth floor, unit six.”
I took it. “Thanks.” I met his gaze. “And thanks for not showing Cil those photos.”
“She’s got enough trauma to deal with in the attack. She doesn’t need that added to it.”
“No.”
