Stolen(36)

“No argument here. Which way did she come from, Pandy?”

The ranger pointed, and Spense and Caity took off in that direction. Laura’s heart dropped to her stomach. They were headed toward her. Crouching, she squeezed her eyes shut. If she opened them, she might be tempted to surrender as they passed by.

Laura waited until she could no longer hear their voices, then eased out from behind the trees. Spense’s boots had left muddy tracks over the rocks, easy enough to follow, and by the time the trail disappeared, she’d caught sight of them up ahead.

“Spense!” Caitlin cried out.

Laura hurried forward, barely bothering to conceal herself.

“I’ll radio for help.” He spread his feet wide and pulled a flag from inside his pack. Planted it in the ground.

Laura crept closer. The leaves rustling beneath her feet sounded so loud to her ears it seemed she had a microphone in her boots. But neither Caitlin nor Spense turned. When she got within about ten yards of them, she saw some brush that would provide cover.

She dared go no further.

Spense had his phone out, snapping photos of something near the flag on the ground.

Quietly, Laura positioned herself for a better view. Beneath a pile of leaves and loose debris she saw an arm.

Then a bare leg.

Her hands started to shake.

She blinked hard in disbelief, staring at the leaves until a hank of long black hair came into focus.

No!

Her back arched in a sudden spasm. After the first shock wave passed, she threw her body forward, clasping her hands behind her head, and pulling her face down to her knees to muffle her sobs. She couldn’t bear to open her eyes, couldn’t bear to see the terrible truth.

She gagged, and then wretched up the remnants of her freeze-dried meal.

The gore would’ve made anyone ill, but that wasn’t the only thing that sickened her.

All that blood at the cabin—it couldn’t have been Laura’s. And now she knew the thing she’d feared but hadn’t wanted to believe was really true. This was the woman whose blood soaked the floors.

And Laura knew exactly who she was.

Her friend.





Chapter 21





Thursday, October 24

6:40 P.M.

Eagles Nest Wilderness

Colorado



Laura was alive for a reason, and that reason was to stop the monster. When she’d seen her friend’s body, tossed out into the elements like a piece of meat for the animals, her will had hardened into steel.

Not one more innocent woman would die because Laura failed to act.

This evil had been on the prowl, claiming victims, for years, and no one else had even noticed, much less investigated. Not her family, not her doctors, not law enforcement.

And it wasn’t as though she’d kept quiet about it.

Several times, over the years, she’d mentioned the idea to Dr. Webber. But he hadn’t taken her seriously at all. His response was always the same: get some rest, take another pill—in other words, you’re crazy.

A refrain she’d heard her entire life.

Well, that was one tune she had to get out of her head, because if she kept on listening to it he’d be free to go on killing.

No more.

On Monday night, she’d shared the idea that there were other victims—besides Angelina—with Ronald Saas, the newspaperman. But she hadn’t any real proof, or any names, or any dates. He hadn’t been convinced. He’d said there was no evidence.

Now, she had not just one, but two locks of hair in her possession. And she had an idea about how to get more evidence, too.

She tightened her fists.

She had to stop the monster.

But the first step in completing her mission was getting down off this mountain without getting caught. She had to get back to civilization where she could think and make plans and hunt her prey. The idea of stalking the man who’d killed her friend sent a thrill up her spine, and that gave her pause. It didn’t seem normal to enjoy the idea as much as she did.

Shake it off. You’re not crazy.

The bad news was it was all too easy to go back to that old refrain—she’d have to be vigilant to stop her mind from slipping back into old habits. The good news was that finding the way down would now be simple. She had the others to guide her. They would lead her straight to the road. All she had to do was stay out of sight and hide in the lengthening shadows as darkness fell over the mountain.

The prospect of hiking down the road in the dark was daunting, but she was prepared to do it. She knew how to move noiselessly—she’d been doing it all day. The other lucky thing was they no longer appeared to be searching for her. The cops probably assumed it was her lying dead on the ground. In the flurry of activity that followed the discovery of the body, Laura herself seemed to have been forgotten.