“You stupid son of a bitch. I hope you get testicular cancer, go through treatment, lose your hair, and the day you find out you’re in remissionyou get run over by a bus!”
Bonk.
This time the blow penetrated Chelsea’s seventeen layers of hairspray, and she slumped to the floor next to Gabe.
Hudson sighed then looked at Riley. “Pick her up and get moving.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“It’s time for the grand finale.”
38
11:44 a.m., Tuesday, August 18
“What’s your problem?” Kellen asked Nick as he slumped in the passenger seat of the cruiser. “You found your missing person. Doesn’t that mean you get to take the rest of the week off and drink beer in your underwear?”
Nick frowned at his phone. “Riley’s not responding to my texts. She should have made it to her parents’ place over an hour ago.”
“Maybe Scary Granny abducted her,” Weber teased.
“GPS says she’s there on her parents’ street.”
Weber snorted. “You’re tracking your girlfriend?”
“It’s consensual tracking. She can digitally stalk me too,” Nick said defensively.
“I’m sure she’s fine. There’s a waiting period after the glitter bomb before this guy makes his move. He wouldn’t move this fast.”
“A. The guy has killed three people that we know of. He’s obviously not right in the head. So if he wants to deviate from his fucking timeline, he will. B. You reminding me that she’s being targeted by a nutcase maniac isn’t helping. Can’t this piece of shit go any faster?”
He hit redial and listened as it rang a few times before going to voicemail.
“Maybe she just left her phone in the car,” Weber said. His voice was calm, but Nick noticed that he was accelerating.
“Drive faster,” Nick insisted, hitting redial again.
His gut was telling him something was off.
Three minutes later, they turned onto Dogwood Street and screeched to a halt. Riley’s Jeep was parked in the middle of the street, doors open, engine on, in front of the neighbor’s house.
The fence between the Thorns and the Strumps lay on the ground. Daisy the cow was taking a gigantic cow crap in the middle of the Strumps’ driveway.
“Is that cow sparkling?” Weber asked.
“Fuck me.” Nick jumped out of the car and pulled his gun. Weber did the same, and together they ran low toward the house. The front door was open. The living room looked like last call at a strip club with a truckload of glitter. There was one spot on the carpet that was completely clear. A large, Gabe-sized spot.
“Goddammit,” Nick muttered.
“What the hell happened in here?” Weber asked grimly.
“Call for backup. Riley!” Nick shouted.
But there was no response. The house was empty. Riley was gone.
They cleared the house and returned to the yard to wait for their backup.
“He’s got her,” Nick said, pacing through a bed of already half-crushed flowers.
