The grip on her wrists loosened. She grabbed the knife, ramming it into his thigh. She ignored his scream, the feel of the blade plunging into his flesh.
Run.
She flew out of the cottage, across the front yard, and straight into the trees.
Her neighbors wouldn’t be home. Caleb wouldn’t be here for at least fifteen minutes.
Run.
Pine needles dug into her bare feet, leaves slapped against her face. She ran faster, dodging fallen trees and branches hanging in midair.
Run.
There was nowhere to go, nothing to keep her safe. Gulping back air, she tried to think, tried to plan what to do next. But nothing made sense—until she saw a log of wood shaped like a bird.
Veering left, she followed the trees around the edge of the lake, found the trail she’d discovered a few weeks ago.
Lowering her head, she kept moving, kept plowing through the undergrowth. She knew where she was going.
* * *
Gabe lookedup when the meeting room door opened.
“I’ve got bad news,” Russell said as he spread the contents of a folder on the desk. “Two bodies have been found. It looks as though Chapman isn’t working on his own.”
The carnage in the photos made Gabe’s stomach turn. Whoever had killed the two women had gone berserk, decapitating one of them and cutting the other’s arms from her torso.
“Do you know who did this?”
Russell pulled two more photos from the pile. “Security cameras caught one of the women being kidnapped. It’s the same guy who was in the Internet café. The FBI is involved. They’re using facial recognition software to identify him, but it could take a few days to find a match.”
“We might not have a few days if he kills again. When were these women murdered?”
“Between two and four days ago. Their bodies were found in New Haven and Stamford.”
Gabe picked up the crime scene photos. “Why do you think Chapman was involved?”
“He told us where to find the bodies. Chapman can’t be in two places at once, and we know for a fact that he was in Polson when at least one of the women was murdered. CSI is doing DNA and fingerprints analysis of each crime scene.”
The meeting room door opened again.
A detective who Gabe had met on his way into the station stood in the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you’ll want to know this. The man in the security footage has been identified. It’s Jaydon Chapman, Leith’s stepbrother.”
Gabe scowled. “The NYPD has already spoken to him. He wasn’t a person of interest.”
Russell opened the folder the detective handed him. “Why wasn’t he identified sooner?”
“The detectives who spoke to him have been in training for the last week. As soon as they opened the file, they recognized him.”
“Where is he now?”
“He flew into Polson yesterday.”
Gabe’s cell phone beeped. He checked the message, frowning when he saw who it was from. “Natalie has a visitor. Who is Special Agent Gareth McDonald?”
Russell and the detective looked at each other.
“I’m onto it,” the detective said as he raced out of the room.
