"I agree," Max said. "We also need to warn the other two women in the club-Emily Kelly and Madison Benson."
"We know Madison is still in town, but Emily and Jocelyn Pruett are in hiding," Anson pointed out. "Are you sure they'll be checking for messages?"
"They're running and they're scared," Max said. "Benson is on edge, too. Trust me, the Internet is their lifeline. One way or another, all three of them will be clinging to it."
CHAPTER 54
"Jocelyn Pruett. After all these years, we meet again. Wake up, bitch."
She knew that voice. It had haunted her for over a decade. It was the charming voice of a man who could sell flamethrowers in hell. It sent a jolt of fear and adrenaline through her, arousing nightmares and rage.
She used the energy of fury and fear to push through the oppressive weight of an unnatural drowsiness. She fought to open her eyes and succeeded, only to shut them immediately against the glare of a powerful flashlight.
He slapped her face, hard.
"I said, wake up."
She opened her eyes again, cautiously this time, looking down and off to the side in a bid to avoid the dazzling light. She realized she was lying on a cold, hard surface. Concrete, she decided. Instinctively she tried to get to her feet-and discovered that her wrists were secured in front of her.
She managed to sit up against an ice-cold concrete wall.
"You certainly complicated things," the man said. "I'll give you credit for that. But you never stood a chance. I've been in control from the beginning. It was just a matter of time. You see, I've kept an eye on you all these years. You were my first, after all. And you were very nearly my last. I admit I was worried for a while after you went to the cops and I found out you'd made them take you to the hospital to prepare a rape kit. I'd always heard that most girls-smart girls-kept quiet afterward. But you weren't smart, were you? Luckily the evidence disappeared."
"Wasn't that a curious turn of events?"
He slapped her again, harder this time. "Unfortunately for you, that evidence box has reappeared, but the evidence seems to have disappeared. And you're going to help me find it."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You really don't know what's going on, do you? Stupid woman."
She tried to look past the flashlight, but she could not make out his face.
"Who-?" she managed.
"You never knew, did you? All these years you've wondered. I'll bet you've thought about me every day since then. It's never been as good with any other man, has it?"
"You are one sick bastard."
He slapped her again. The side of her head came up hard against the wall. She tasted blood in her mouth.
"Want to know a little secret?" He was almost crooning now. "Until recently it's never been as good for me with anyone else, either. They say you never forget your first. But I finally found a way to recapture the magic."
"By murdering the last two women you raped."
"The game had become boring. It was just so damn easy. I decided to try to inject a little more excitement into it. But it was the deaths of those two whores that caught your attention, wasn't it?"
"Yes," she said. "I realized you were escalating, you see. For years you were able to maintain control, weren't you? But a few months ago you really lost it. You went over the edge. Now you're a flat-out crazy killer. That means you're making mistakes. I realized there was a connection between the murders and the serial rapist who attacked those other women. It's just a matter of time before the cops figure it out, too. Because you can't stop, can you?"
He struck her again, with a closed fist this time. She had braced herself for the blow, but the pain exploded through her, leaving her light-headed and sick to her stomach.
"I'm in control," he hissed. "Don't doubt it for a minute. I am always in control."
"Good for you. I'm not. I think I'm going to throw up."
He jumped to his feet and retreated hurriedly.
"Oh, wow. You're afraid of a little vomit," she said. "Good to know."
She managed to suppress the nausea. She made a note of his alarm and promised herself that, in the end, if vomiting was her only weapon, she would use it.
"Where is the evidence?" he raged.
"Ah. So that's what this is about. It really has come back to haunt you. Where's it been all this time?"
"Briggs hid it. He used it to blackmail my father."
"So it was your father who paid off Briggs to make sure the evidence disappeared."
"I didn't know, myself, not until recently. My old man never told me about the arrangement he had with Briggs. Probably afraid that I'd do something drastic like kill Briggs to make sure he kept quiet. Dear old Dad didn't want me getting arrested for murder, you see. Bad for the family name. Bad for Loring-Greenslade. And really, really bad for Gordon Greenslade's personal reputation."
"Well, damn. You're Trey Greenslade."
"You never figured it out, did you?"
"Don't worry, you're on my list. After I'm gone that list will go to the cops, by the way."
Okay, she was mostly bluffing now-yes, his name was on her list, along with three hundred other men-but, no, that list would probably never end up in the hands of the cops. Even if it did, they wouldn't do anything with it. But she had nothing left to lose.
"What list?" Trey said.
She managed a cold smile and did not respond.
"You're lying, bitch."
"You bet," she said.
"You're lying. Admit it."
"Right. I'm lying."
He hit her again. Her ears rang.
"You shouldn't have come looking for me," he said hoarsely. "You should have just continued to savor the memory of the real-life fantasy we had all those years ago."
"Hard to forget a guy who can't get off unless he's got a knife to a woman's throat. How did you know I was searching for you?"
"I didn't. Not at first. I didn't realize that you were building a fucking file on me until I paid some hacker on the other side of the world to get into your computer and your phone and give me the keys. I've been watching your every move online for a couple of months now. And through you, I discovered that little investment club you and your friends set up."
"When I went dark, you realized that I knew I'd been hacked. But why did you murder Louise?"
"Because she went to Loring, and we both know that there is only one reason she would have done that."
Jocelyn stopped breathing. "What reason?"
"She went there to buy the evidence box from Briggs."
"You really are crazy."
"You say that one more time, I'll slit your throat and be done with it. I'm telling you, Flint bought the damned evidence. But she hid it. I searched her condo, her car, her storage locker-everywhere I could think of-but I couldn't find it. Next thing I know I get a call from Briggs offering to sell the box to me. I thought maybe I'd been wrong about Flint. Maybe Briggs had scammed her. So I met Briggs. He had that old evidence box, all right. But it was filled with garbage. I'm the one he cheated."
"He tricked you."
"Which means I was right the first time-Louise Flint did get that box the day she went to Loring. Briggs sold her the contents and then, because he was a stupid bastard and a bad con man, he tried to sell the box of trash to me. But he paid for that."
"Maybe he cheated Louise, too. Did you ever think of that? The bottom line seems to be that you don't have the evidence box."
"No," Trey said through his teeth, "the bottom line is that you're going to help me find the contents of that damn evidence box. Because someone you know has it. It's the only explanation. Flint gave it to someone to hide. Maybe one of the other members of the investment club. Maybe your stepsister. Doesn't matter. You and I are going to find it."
"Leave Charlotte out of this. She has nothing to do with any of it."
"That might have been true back at the beginning, but she's in it up to her ears now," he said.
"No, I'm telling you the truth. Charlotte doesn't know anything about the things in that box."
"Let's hope she does-for your sake and hers as well. See, here's the deal-if I get what was in that box and destroy it, I can let you go. You're no threat to me without it, just as you've never been a threat. My lawyers can make your claims go away. But if I can't find the evidence, I'll have no choice but to get rid of you and your interfering stepsister. It will be the only way I can make certain you never use the evidence against me."
He was lying. She knew it in her bones. He intended to kill her. But for now it seemed best to let him think that she at least wanted to believe him.
"I might be able to help you figure out what Louise Flint did with the contents of the box," she said.
It wasn't difficult to keep her voice tremulous. She had never been so afraid in her life, with the exception of the night that he had attacked her. But this was even worse because now she had put Charlotte in danger.
"As a matter of fact, that's exactly what you're going to do," he said.
She heard him rustling around in his clothing. A second later there was a blinding flash of light and the unmistakable click of a cell phone camera.
"Why?" she gasped.