Derrick rushed into the hospital, where he found Ellie standing beside Shondra’s bedside. The deputy looked in shock, bruised and battered, a young blonde sat slumped in the chair beside her, sobbing into her hands.
Ellie looked like hell herself. But at least she was alive, and the Weekday Killer was done.
Tears swam in Ellie’s eyes as she turned to him. “I know who the impostor therapist is,” she said quietly.
Derrick narrowed his eyes. “Who?”
The blonde looked up with a tormented expression, and Ellie cleared her throat. “Special Agent Fox, meet Melissa. She’s the woman who posed as Kennedy Sledge.”
Stunned, Derrick tried to assimilate what was going on.
“She claims Burton forced her,” Ellie explained.
This case just got more complicated. They’d have to take Melissa into custody, arrange for a psychologist to talk to her. Get to the truth. Either the woman was a great actress or she was telling the truth.
Heading over, he took Melissa’s arm. Shondra watched from the bed, shock, anger and confusion streaking her swollen face.
Ellie moved over to comfort her as he escorted Melissa from the room.
One Hundred Forty-Eight
Ellie called for a nurse, then soothed Shondra as best she could. It would take time to sort out Melissa’s story, to figure out whether she would be charged for the crime or treated as a victim. It would take even longer for Shondra to overcome the trauma of what she’d endured.
“You’re going to be okay,” Ellie murmured. “I’ll be here for you, Shondra.”
“I… loved her,” Shondra said softly. “I… thought we were a couple. We are––were––in love.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Ellie said. “Right now, you just need to rest.”
The nurse slipped in and gave Shondra a sedative to calm her, and Ellie sat beside her until she fell asleep. Wiping away tears, she returned to the waiting room. Her father was standing there, the grooves beside his eyes deep with worry.
“Honey, are you okay?” He rushed to her, starting to hug her, but Ellie stiffened. After everything, she couldn’t bear being touched right now.
“I will be,” Ellie said. She just needed time. “How’s Mom?”
“She’s refusing the surgery.”
“Why?”
“She seems to have lost the will to live.”
With a thud, Ellie realized she had to talk to her.
Derrick appeared, his jaw snapping tight as he took in the scene. He cleared his throat.
“Melissa is being admitted to the psych ward for evaluation. Deputy Landrum is going to stand guard.”
As Ellie thanked him, the sheriff strode in, his green eyes glittering with a myriad of emotions. He raked over Ellie with a grimace as he noted her injuries. Angelica Gomez and her cameraman were close behind.
Anger at Bryce railed through Ellie. Damn him for blabbing to Burton. She didn’t know if she could ever forgive him.
“How’s Deputy Eastwood?” he asked gruffly.
“She’s in a bad way, but she’s tough.” Ellie crossed her arms. “You told Burton about the therapist. That’s how he found out everything about his victims.”
A muscle ticked in Bryce’s jaw. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I am. I… didn’t know.”
She shook her head in disgust, walking past him. Burton would have found another way to get to her, but it galled her that the man who’d replaced her father as sheriff had fed a serial killer crucial information.
She’d never trust him again.
Angelica Gomez cornered her father. “Mr. Reeves, is it true that Detective Ellie Reeves is not your biological daughter? That you adopted her?”
Ellie pressed a hand to her mouth––so the truth was out. It could only have been a matter of time, she guessed.
“Ellie is my daughter,” he said gruffly. “That’s all anyone needs to know.”
Angelica didn’t miss a beat, sweeping across the room to Ellie.
Bryce stepped up to intervene, but Angelica elbowed him aside. “I want to hear from Detective Reeves.”
Ellie had been running from the press for weeks, hiding from her problems.
She was tired of running. Head high, and ignoring the pain in her body, she stepped over to make a statement. “Ms. Gomez,” Ellie said. “I can confirm that that information is correct. But my family’s personal life is not important. What is important is that we caught the Weekday Killer.”
Angelica’s eyes glimmered as she aimed the mic toward Ellie. “Please fill us in on the details, Detective.”
Running a hand over her disheveled hair, Ellie looked into the camera and described the hunt for Hugh Burton, and how it had ended with his death.
As her father slipped back down the hall to see her mother, Ellie decided to follow.
“I’ll let Special Agent Fox fill you in on the details,” she said. “Right now, I need to visit my mother.”
Her phone buzzed just as she reached the elevator. A quick glance revealed it was an unknown number, making the hair on the back of her neck prickle.
Her finger shook as she answered the call. “Detective Reeves.”
“Hey, Ellie.”
At the sound of Hiram’s voice, she went completely still.
“First you took Mama, and now Vinny,” he said in a low sinister voice. “You take everyone from me, don’t you?”
“You sent him to kill me.”
“Oh, he offered to do that for me,” Hiram said. “I have other followers now, Ellie. Friends who’ll do anything for me.”
One Hundred Forty-Nine
Rose Hill
Eula Ann stared at the image of Detective Ellie Reeves on the TV, her knitting needles clacking together furiously as she worked off her nerves.
There was something about that girl that got under her skin. Something about the way she tilted her head when she spoke, or was it the tiny little birthmark on her neck?
She hadn’t noticed it before. But when she’d pushed her hair back tonight, there it was. Three tiny little dots below her ear lobe. For a minute she thought they were freckles. And maybe they were.
But the pattern of them was odd. Like something she’d seen before. But no… it couldn’t be…
The storm had died down outside now, the wind settling into a calm.
She looked out at the emerging moon, and spotted the three crows on the power line silhouetted against it. Lord have mercy. Their beady eyes bore holes into her, a sign they knew what she’d done.
And that death was not done on the trail.
Ellie Reeves was doing her darned best to fight it, though. The bruises on her face and hands attested to the fact that she was tough.
But evil had a way of growing and feeding on itself. And Eula feared it would get Ellie in the end.
One Hundred Fifty
Bluff County Hospital
Ellie was still shaken from Hiram’s call as she entered her mother’s hospital room. Machines whined, and her mother’s breathing was so shallow that Ellie had to lean forward to tell she was alive.