The Dead Woman

Matt ducked back into the office. Abbey had someone with her? Who? It couldn't be Dale.

The tiny bell at the front door rang, and Abbey's voice followed it.

'...coming. I feel safer having someone with me,' she said.

'I understand,' came a second voice. A female voice. Matt thought it sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. 'I'm glad to help.'

'He seemed like such a nice guy,' Abbey said.

'He sure did,' came the reply. 'It must have been terrifying to learn you had a murderer at your very own house.'

They were talking about him, Matt realized. His heart sank. Abbey wouldn't be giving him a ride tonight, or any other. Damn. He needed that ax. He couldn't bring himself to leave it behind.

'I should have known,' Abbey said. 'The way he stared at me when I asked him to chop some firewood. Gave me the creeps. I thought I was imagining things, but now I wonder.'

'No use second-guessing yourself now,' her guest said. She sounded younger, like a woman in her late teens or early twenties. 'You're safe, and he's gone.'

'Yes,' Abbey said. 'But I'd still appreciate it if you came home with me. You know, safety in numbers...'

The soft, sultry tone of her voice sent a shiver up Matt's spine. So Abbey played for both teams... interesting. He supposed it shouldn't come as such a surprise, but he hadn't really expected that. There would be more going on at Abbey's tonight than making sure it was safe. Poor Dale. He was right. Abbey was quite a vixen.

'Of course I will,' the voice said.

'I just need to grab a few things first,' Abbey said. 'Will you wait here for a second?'

'Sure.'

Footsteps approached from the front of the store. Matt looked around for a hiding place, not sure how she would react if she found him in her store waiting for her. He ducked behind a shelf full of old clocks and waited.

Abbey walked by, wearing her tight jeans and thin T-shirt. Her tennis shoes made almost no sound as she walked by Matt's hiding spot and into her office. She passed close enough so that Matt could almost have touched her, but she wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were focused ahead, not to the side, and Matt got a good look at her face as she passed.

Damn, she was gorgeous.

The memory of her face between his legs the night before came unbidden to his mind, and he found himself getting aroused. He shut his eyes and forced the image away. This would definitely be a bad time.

While she rattled around in her office, Matt poked his head around the back of the shelf and caught sight of the person with her. It was the young woman from McDonald's. Annie. She couldn't be more than twenty years old. Abbey was really robbing the cradle tonight.

Matt couldn't help but smile. Young Annie was in for quite a workout.

The sound of footsteps brought his mind back to the present. Abbey was leaving her office. The light clicked off, casting the whole building in darkness again, and Matt ducked back down behind the shelf.

Wait, he thought. It's just Annie. Matt knew he could handle the skinny girl from McDonald's. He was more worried about Abbey. She was solid and strong and could no doubt pack a good punch. With him already weak and reeling from his stint as a pinata, he didn't think he could fight off both of them. Still, he needed to get his ax. Maybe he would try to talk to her, after all.

He was just about to stand up when she walked by him again, and Matt's breath caught in his throat. He'd seen her right side as she walked into her office. Now, as she was walking out, he caught sight of the left side of her face.

And the large green sore on her left cheek.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Matt dialed the Crawford Police Department from a pay phone. It had taken him twenty minutes to find one, but he didn't have a cell phone and doubted anyone would let him in to use theirs. Word had spread around town that Matt might be a killer, and every person he passed shied away from him. As it was, he had to look up the number in the phone book. He'd almost called 911, but didn't know what he would tell them. He didn't even know Abbey's address. How could he inform them of what was going on?

No, he needed Dale.

The operator came on the line. 'Crawford Police Department. Can I help you?'

'I need to speak to Dale Everett, please. It's an emergency.'

'If this is an emergency, sir, you should call 9-1-1.'

'No. I need Dale. Could you just get him on the line, please?'

There was a long pause. Then she said, 'I'll see if I can get him on the line. I believe he's out patrolling.'

'Thank you,' Matt replied. He could have kicked himself for not seeing it sooner. Abbey's van, her big garage, the house way out in the country, and her addiction. Dale hadn't known what the drug was called, but Matt would have bet anything those bottles Dale talked about were labeled ketamine. What was it all the Blake County Killer's victims had in common? They were all young, attractive brunettes.

Just like Annie.

There was a crackle on the other end of the line, and then Dale's voice came though.

'This is Dale, can I help you?'

'Dale, it's Matt.'

Another long pause. Then, 'I thought you were leaving town. It says here you're at the pay phone by Walton and Fitch.'

'I was going to leave. I still am, but something's come up. Something important. I need to meet with you. Now.'

'What's this about, Matt?'

In the background, Matt heard the receptionist ask if Dale was talking to 'that Cahill fella.'

'I can't tell you everything because there isn't time, but it's about Abbey.'

'I told you I'm done with her.'

You might be done with her, but she isn't done with the people of Crawford, Matt thought. 'It's not Abbey I'm worried about. It's Annie.'

'Annie? Jordan? The kid from McDonald's? What's she got to—'

'Can you just come here and get me? Please? It's an emergency, Dale. We don't have much time.'

It's only halftime. The game isn't over yet, Matt.

'It might already be too late,' Matt said.

'All right, I'm coming. But if this is some sort of—'

'Thanks, Dale. See you soon.' Matt hung up the phone.

Abbey was the Blake County Killer. It all added up. He should have seen it. But she didn't have any sores on her face when he met her, and she seemed so nice. Plus he'd been taken in by her similar ability to see evil, and her story was almost as sad as his own. No wonder he couldn't put the pieces together until now.

Plus, she was one hell of a wild fuck, he admitted.

Matt shook his head. Focus! He needed to figure out how to get Dale to believe him.

One thing at a time, Matt, he thought. One thing at a time. Let him get here, first. Then worry about how to get him to believe you.

The street was dark and eerie but not entirely silent. A faint wisp of laughter rolled up the sidewalk. If he didn't know better, Matt would have sworn it was Mr. Dark. He looked behind him but saw no one. To his right was an empty building that looked like it had once housed a Burger King but now just stood silent sentinel on the sidewalk. To his left the empty street yawned, lifeless and black, with not a car in sight.

Must be my imagination. He tried to convince himself that was the case as he looked up and down the street. All the streetlights in this section of town seemed to be out, and Matt waited in