Deadly Dozen: 12 Mysteries/Thrillers (328 page)

Don’t do it, Campbell. Put the gun down. We can talk about this. Just you and me.

Joshua would never forget the smile that crossed Campbell’s face. Relief, understanding, conviction.

He says I have to kill you.

Don’t do it. Don’t listen to him.

He’s in my fucking head.

Memory of the anguished scream still sent shivers down Joshua’s spine. The sound of the gun going off in the small room. The splattering of blood, flying through the air in slow motion.

Joshua shook his head, clearing the vision. What was it Gavin had said?

I don’t know if I’m connecting with the killer or the victim. It’s like the son-of-a-bitch is inside my head, playing games
.

Ella Mae.
He likes to play games. Sometimes he gets rough.

“Oh, God.” Joshua slammed his fist against the steering wheel and grabbed for the cell phone, dialing Sarah’s number. “Answer the phone, Sarah. Please, answer the goddamn phone.”

Laughter echoed in the cab.
Too late, Joshua. You’re too late.

#

Sarah parked the car and cut the engine. A curtain fluttered back into place. The bastard was watching them. There were no vehicles in the drive, and Sarah wondered where Ella Mae was. Surely she couldn’t be part of this.

“Mommy?”

Sarah smiled bravely at Nikki. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I need you to listen to me carefully, though, okay?”

Nikki nodded, her face pale, eyes huge.

“If you get a chance to run, you take it. Don’t look back and don’t worry. I’ll find you. I promise.”

Nikki nodded again, her bottom lip quivering.

Taking a deep breath, Sarah opened the door and stepped out. The door to the house slowly creaked open. “Let’s go, sweetheart.” Sarah picked Nikki up, needing to hold her close. There was no turning back now. She had reached the eleventh hour.

Sarah stopped on the first step, the sound of an approaching car creating a sense of hope. She turned as Ella Mae parked and stepped from her car, smiling nervously.

“Why, Sheriff, I mean… what are you doing here?”

“You’ll have to ask your husband,” Sarah answered, noting the paling of Ella Mae’s features. The way her eyes darkened, gaze darting toward the house, then to Sarah and Nikki.

Closing her eyes, Sarah prayed silently and climbed the steps. She could see nothing inside the house. Darkness. Where had the rain gone? The lightning? If she’d ever needed God, she needed him now.

Sarah found herself propelled forward, Nikki jerked from her arms.

“Mommy!”

Sarah righted herself, her eyes meeting the cold black gaze of Todd Williams. “Leave her alone,” she begged, arms reaching for Nikki.

He laughed. “Oh, I will. At least until I’m finished with you.” Glancing out the door he yelled, “Ella Mae, get your ass in here!”

Never taking her eyes off Williams, Sarah listened to the sound of Ella Mae’s scurrying footsteps.

“Philip, what’s going on? What’s the sheriff doing here?”

The slap was quick, vicious. “What have I told you about questioning me? Now shut up and take the kid upstairs. Lock her in the bedroom and join us in the basement.” He thrust Nikki into Ella Mae’s arms.

Seeing her opportunity, Sarah took it. She rushed Williams, her only hope to catch him off guard. She’d forgotten. Forgotten those damn eyes in the back of his head. How quick he could move. The fist caught her on the left temple, spinning her around.

“Mommy!” Nikki screamed, squirming in Ella Mae’s arms.

Williams grabbed Sarah by the arm, his smile cruel, fingers digging in. “See, Sarah, you’re upsetting the kid.” He looked at Ella Mae, his eyes fierce, deadly. “I told you to take her upstairs.”

Ella Mae scurried up the stairs, shushing Nikki.

Sarah could taste blood, her head still spinning. Fear gripped her, but she wasn’t going to show it. Meeting his gaze, she spit in his face.

Williams laughed, wiping the spittle from his face. “Still the same old Sarah.”

Grasping her hair, he pulled her up and pushed her toward the stairs. “Let’s go see your lover.”

Sarah walked in front of him, down the stairs into the dimly lit basement. She glanced around the room, her mind racing. The room was bare except for a cot along one wall and two chairs in the center. Her eyes filled with tears as her gaze fell on Gavin. He sat slumped in the chair, face swollen, bloody.

Williams pushed her, laughing as she fell down the last three steps, landing hard, scraping her hands on the concrete floor.

“Crawl to him, Sarah. I want to see you crawl.”

Sarah crawled the remaining distance between her and Gavin. She tried to smile, convey her love. At least if they were going to die, they would die together.

Sarah felt the hands in her hair again, biting her lip against the pain as he jerked her up, pushing her into the second chair.

“What should I do first, Sarah? Rape you? Or should I tie you up and let you watch while I rape the kid?”

Rage boiled inside Sarah. She wanted to claw his eyes out. Beat him until there was nothing left but bloody pulp. Torture him like he’d tortured her for the past six years.

“Do whatever you want,” she spat at him.

He turned away from her as Ella Mae descended the stairs. “Good.” Tossing the rope he’d been holding to Ella Mae, he laughed again. “Tie her up.”

“Philip, what are you going to do?” Ella Mae whimpered.

He slapped her hard, the sound echoing in the room. “See what you’ve reduced me to, Sarah? A mousy little piece of shit for a wife.”

He drew back his hand to hit her again, but Ella Mae shied away from him, taking the rope and approaching Sarah.

“Tie her tight,” he ordered, taking a long thin blade from the scabbard on his waist.

Grabbing Gavin by the hair, he pulled his head back, exposing the neck. His black eyes focused on Sarah’s face, as he laid the blade against Gavin’s throat. “You’re gonna scream for me, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Nikki.

Nikki glanced away from the door she’d been tugging and kicking on. Cory stood in the shadows, motioning to the window.

“The bad man?” Nikki whispered, her voice quivering.

Cory nodded.
It’s time to hide.

Nikki didn’t want to hide. She wanted to find her Mommy and Gavin. Mommy’s radio was in the truck. She could call for help. Pushing aside the curtains, she pushed upward on the window. It wouldn’t budge.

“I can’t do it!” she cried.

Yes, you can. Push harder.

Nikki’s face screwed up in concentration as she studied the window. Mommy always locked their windows. Reaching up as far as she could on tiptoes, she felt along the top of the window, finding the clasp and turning it. “Shew,” she breathed out hard and pushed again. She felt the window move. She pushed again and again until the window was wide open. She glanced down at the ground. It was a long way off.

You’ll have to jump to the tree and climb down.

Nikki glanced at the tree growing a few feet away, to the right of the window.

“I wish I was a ghost like you; then I could just go through the walls.”

Cory smiled, her eyes sad as she shook her head.
It’s not your time.

“It wasn’t your time either,” Nikki cried. “He did it, didn’t he? Just like he’s going to kill Mommy and Gavin.” Her tiny face screwed up, tears flowing from her eyes.

It’s time to go. Time to hide.

Nikki wiped the tears from her face. She climbed up on the window sill, steadying herself. She could do this. She had to. Taking a deep breath, she jumped for the huge branch a few feet away. Her fingers clutched and held. Moving slowly, she swung herself up onto the branch and quickly climbed down. Cory was waiting for her at the bottom of the tree.

Come on.
Cory motioned for Nikki to follow and headed toward the woods.

Nikki shook her head. “I have to help Mommy and Gavin.” Not waiting for an answer, Nikki raced around the house, headed for the car. Her eyes were darting toward the house as she opened the car door slowly, quietly closing it behind her. Mommy had never let her use the radio before, but she’d watched her. Taking the microphone, she hit the button on the left panel and whispered, “Help! Mommy needs help.”

Joshua heard the crackle of the radio, the quivering whisper, and grabbed the microphone.

“Nikki, honey, is that you?”

“Mommy and Gavin need help.”

Joshua tried to steady his voice, calm the fear that gripped him. “It’s gonna be okay, honey. Tell me where you are.”

“Ella Mae’s.”

“Nikki, honey, listen to me. I want you to hide. I’m on my way, sweetheart.”

“The bad man’s here.”

The fear turned to terror. “I know, sweetie. But I’m the sheriff, remember. The sheriff always puts the bad men away.”

Nikki dropped the microphone and crawled behind the seats, hunching down on the floorboard. She shivered at the night sounds, the darkness. What if Joshua was too late? Her fingers touched a holster, and Nikki pulled out the small .22 pistol her mother kept hidden for emergencies. Mommy had told her she could never touch the guns. That was a grown up thing, and guns were only used when lives were in danger. The bad man had killed Cory. He probably killed Marisa, too. Now he was going to kill Mommy and Gavin. She’d be all alone. Nikki didn’t want to be all alone. Taking the gun, she climbed out of the car and started toward the house.

#

“Thomas, get everybody you can out to the old Sampson place. Sarah’s in trouble.” Joshua closed the cell phone, maneuvering another sharp curve. He cursed himself for missing the signs. It had been there right in front of him all the time.

“Damn.” Joshua swerved to miss the 1947 Cadillac headed straight at him. The Jeep careened off the road, plowing into a tree.

“Oh, God, Clarence, that’s Joshua!” Millie screamed as Clarence slammed on the brakes, the car skidding into a spin. Clarence fought the wheel, letting off the brake and allowing the car to right itself. He tapped the brakes lightly as the car turned 180 degrees, headed in the opposite direction, before coming to a stop.

Clarence pushed open the car door and ran to the steaming truck. He jerked its door open, Millie right at his heels.

“Joshua, are you all right?”

Joshua stared at them blankly, blood oozing from the knot swelling on his forehead. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“No time,” Clarence stated, pulling him out of the truck.

“Sarah’s in trouble,” Millie added, grabbing one arm and helping Clarence load him in the back seat next to Carl.

Clarence climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. He whipped the car around.

“You’re going the wrong way!” Joshua yelled.

Slamming on the brakes, Clarence stopped the car.

“He’s already got them. Old Sampson place.”

Clarence nodded, not bothering to ask questions. He spun the car around and floored it.

Joshua glanced at Carl. “You don’t look so good, partner.”

“Shit,” Carl groaned, “look in a fucking mirror. Ain’t no sleeping beauty yourself.”

“He’s just mad because I told him he couldn’t smoke in the car!” Millie yelled over the screeching wheels, as Clarence took another curve.

Carl lit a cigarette and blew smoke into the front seat. “Hell, way Clarence’s driving, I figure he’s gonna kill us all anyway. Dying man gets one last request.”

#

Standing at the top of the porch steps, Nikki held tightly to the pistol, holding it out in front of her with both hands, the way she’d seen her mother do. She studied the pistol, trying to remember what it was Mommy always did. Something about safety. Turning the pistol over, she found the small lever and pushed it. Slipping off her shoes, she crept silently into the house and over to the basement door. She stood for a moment, listening to the sound of the evil man’s voice.

Don’t do it, Nikki. Come with me.

Cory stood in the shadows near the front door. Nikki shook her head, biting her lip to control the trembling. She wiped the tears from her face and steadied the gun. Mommy needed her.

Sarah’s eyes widened in fear at the sight of Nikki descending the stairs. She shook her head no, straining against the ropes.

“Get away from my mommy!” Nikki’s voice rang out in the room, loud, clear.

Williams stepped away from Sarah, edging toward Nikki.

“Nikki, run!” Sarah screamed.

“Get the gun, Ella Mae.”

Ella Mae reached for the gun, grabbing it from the child’s shaking hands.

“She’s got spirit, Sarah. Just like you. I like that. Yeah, I like that,” he growled, reaching out and grabbing the strawberry curls, jerking Nikki toward him. “I’ll bet you scream real good, don’t you, sweetie?” He flung her across the room towards Sarah.

Gavin strained against the ropes as Nikki buried her face in Sarah’s lap, her sobs echoing off the basement walls.

“I’m going to kill you, Williams,” Gavin stated in a voice harder than steel.

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Williams smiled sardonically.