Page 64 of The Sleeping Girls

The moment she saw Ellie, Mrs. Tiller lurched to a sitting position, and her husband sank down to her side.

“You found her?” Mr. Tiller asked, his voice a choked whisper.

Ellie nodded. “I’m so sorry.”

Mrs. Tiller doubled over, her husband catching her in his arms, and they both began to sob, great heart-wrenching loud cries that made Ellie want to drop to her knees.

God help her, she had to find this sick monster before another girl died.

SIXTY-NINE

LAST CHANCE MOTEL

The flashing orange neon sign for the Last Chance Motel mocked Digger as he watched the news again. Apparently, there had been a break in the missing girl case. He hoped to hell it would clear him of suspicion.

The reporter introduced herself and handed the mic to Detective Ellie Reeves with the Crooked Creek Police Department. Digger had done his homework. The woman was Heath’s boss.

“Unfortunately, this afternoon, we found Kelsey Tiller’s body in an abandoned house on Red Clay Mountain where it appears she was murdered. At this point, the search for fifteen-year-old Ruby Pruitt remains active.” She paused, then continued, “We’re also looking for a man named Darnell Woodruff for questioning. If you have any information regarding this murder, Ruby Pruitt’s disappearance or Darnell Woodruff’s whereabouts, please contact the Crooked Creek Police Department.”

Digger scrubbed his hands over his face with a groan as his photo flashed on the screen. Shit, shit, shit.

The girl was dead.

Furious, he kicked the side of the bed then paced across the dingy motel room to the window. Nerves clawing at him, he pushed the curtain aside and peeked into the parking lot.

What the hell was going on? His memory of the night he’d killed Anna Marie was foggy, but he hadn’t killed Kelsey Tiller. That much he knew.

Desperate, he snatched his burner phone and called Caitlin O’Connor. The phone rang and rang.

By the time the voicemail picked up, he wanted to scream. “Ms. O’Connor, we need to talk. I know the police are looking for me. But I didn’t kill that girl. I swear.”

Maybe she’d figure out a way to get to the truth. Talk to the police. Find out why they were looking at him as a suspect.

Fear crawled through him. Maybe someone was setting him up. That had to be the answer. But who would go to that much trouble?

He wracked his brain for names of enemies he’d made in the pen.

Had one of them decided to get revenge on him by framing him for murder?

SEVENTY

KUDZU HOLLER

June pressed one fist to her mouth to keep from screaming as her grandmother turned off the news. “No, no, no…” June cried. “Kelsey can’t be dead. She can’t be…”

Her grandmother’s gnarled hand shook as she hugged June to her side. June fell against her on a sob and her grandmother rocked her back and forth, stroking her hair.

“Oh, hon,” her grandmother whispered. “I’m so sorry, so sorry…”

“I can’t believe it.” June’s lungs felt like they were on fire as she tried to breathe. “Why would someone kill her?”

“I don’t know,” her grandma murmured. “There are just bad people in the world.”

June’s chest ached. “And if she’s dead, what about Ruby? She might be, too.” She had looked dead in the picture Ruby’s mother received.

Her grandmother didn’t seem to know what to say to that. She just tightened her hold and together they cried for Kelsey.

“We pray for her family now,” Grandma said. “And we pray hard for Ruby now.”

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