She’d hidden the flare gun and extra flares in the kitchen cabinet above the sink—just in case she needed it again. She retrieved the gun and some flares, then stuck them in her purse.
It was tough tearing Mattie away from
Rosie had mentioned where the Prewitt family cabin was, but Susan had forgotten the street name. Driving up Carroll Creek Road, she slowed down at every little avenue and private lane along the way. There was no one behind her, so she could take her time. None of the road signs jogged her memory, and she didn’t notice a black BMW parked along any of those little arteries.
All the while, Mattie was in his safety seat in back with Woody, reciting his favorite lines from
Susan decided to go to the grocery store and ask Rosie for directions to Jordy Prewitt’s cabin.
“Their place is on Cedar Crest Way,” Rosie told her, five minutes later. “It’s really just a long private driveway. The Prewitts’ cabin is the only house there. They’re smack dab halfway between here and where you’re staying on Birch.” She put on her glasses, and on the back of a flier, she sketched out a crude map.
Susan held on to Mattie’s hand. She’d bought him a box of animal crackers.
“I’m awfully sorry your fiance is still M.I.A.,” Rosie said, leaning on the counter to draw her map. “You’re smart to check with Jordan though—just to make sure he didn’t see anything on his way home. Like I told you, he got sick all of a sudden and hurried out of the store while your fiance was still—”
Rosie didn’t finish. She glanced up and squinted at Susan. “Did I tell you earlier that Jordan left before your fiance?”
Susan nodded.
Rosie sighed. “Oh, hon, I feel like the village idiot. Now that I think about it, Jordy left
Susan nodded again. At last, she finally had some kind of lead. Peering over the counter, she studied the map Rosie had drawn. “So—Cedar Crest Way,” she said. “Exactly how do I get there?”
In the basement of the brown-shingle cabin at the end of Cedar Crest Way, Leo was trying his best to comprehend what his friend had done. Jordan still stood between him and the helpless, gagged man facedown across the worktable. The knife ready in his hand, Jordan hadn’t yet dropped that threatening stance. Leo knew his friend wouldn’t ever use that knife on him. But he was almost certain that if he’d tried to pass him by and help the man, Jordan would punch his lights out.
He remained at the bottom of the basement stairs. He couldn’t believe Jordan was capable of this. It didn’t make any sense.
“I thought your mom died in a car accident,” Leo murmured.
“I lied. I was ashamed, okay?”
“Ashamed?” Leo repeated.
Tears welled in Jordan’s eyes. “I was there when he knocked my mother down and dragged her away. I was there, and I couldn’t help her. I was eight years old at the time.”
Baffled, Leo shook his head. The man moaned and whimpered past the gag in his mouth. His eyes kept pleading with him for some kind of intervention.
“Where’s Moira?” Jordan asked. “You can’t let her see this.”
“She’s still in the woods. She wanted to be alone. Listen, Jordan—”
“You need to do something for me,” Jordan interrupted. He was still breathing hard, and his voice had a tremor in it. “Go upstairs, pack all your shit and her shit, and then wait for her outside. She can’t see any of this; she can’t know. I want you guys to go, just drive away. Go home. And you can’t tell her about this, Leo. The biggest favor you can do for me is to forget all about it….”
“C’mon, Jordan, you know I can’t do that.” Leo started to move toward him.
“Goddamn it!” he growled. “Do I have to tie you up, too? Because I will if it looks like you’re going to screw this up for me. I swear to God…”
Leo took a deep breath. He wished his friend would put that stupid knife down. He pointed to the helpless man. “If this guy is a murderer—like you say—then let’s call the police.”
The muted whining from Jordan’s prisoner suddenly escalated. Leo glanced at him, and the man nodded emphatically. Leo realized the poor guy wanted him to call the police.
“I don’t trust the cops around here,” Jordan said. “The sheriff’s a scumbag. He let this son of a bitch get away at least twice—”
“What do you mean?” Leo asked.
“My mother was killed here in Cullen,” Jordan explained. “Her family used to have a vacation house about a mile down the road—by the bay. She and my dad divorced, and I was staying with her for the weekend. The first day I got here,” he turned toward his captive, “this piece of shit was stalking us….”
The man started whimpering louder again, and he shook his head.
“My mom called the cops,” Jordan said, almost yelling to be heard over him. “The sheriff came out and didn’t do a damn thing. He treated my mother like she was crazy. And the next day,
The man was shaking his head adamantly. He tugged at the rope restraining his taped-up wrists; then he finally gave up and dropped his forehead against the worktable. He started crying.
Leo just stared at him—and then at his friend. It was all coming at him too fast. He still couldn’t believe Jordan had been lying to him about his mother’s death for so many years. Now, suddenly, he claimed to have found her killer. Leo couldn’t help thinking his friend had snapped and lost his mind. Jordan didn’t mess around with drugs. So what other explanation was there? Leo had never before been afraid of Jordan, but he was scared of him now.
“The sheriff didn’t take it too seriously,” Jordan continued, a bitterness creeping into his tone. He turned to glare at the man. “You left me a little sailor doll, your Mama’s Boy calling card. The stupid sheriff thought it was mine. He didn’t think to ask. He didn’t think Mama’s Boy would be working so far north of Seattle.” Jordan rubbed his forehead. “The first few hours—the most important hours when we might have gotten to her on time—the damn sheriff hardly did anything. He just recruited a few flunky cops from neighboring communities to form a search party for her. Like I say, he just didn’t take it seriously enough. What he really should have done was call the state police and the FBI….”
“I don’t understand,” Leo murmured. “You said you saw her get abducted. You were an eyewitness. Why didn’t he take it seriously?”
“Because,” Jordan hesitated. “My mom had problems. He thought she’d wandered off with some guy, and I’d exaggerated about it.”
“What do you mean your mom had
“What does it fucking matter?” Jordan screamed. He stabbed his finger in the direction of the man. “What matters is that he beat and strangled my mother to death. Then he came back. He got past the sheriff and all those other idiot cops and dumped her body in the forest by our house.” Jordan swiveled around and grabbed his prisoner by the hair. Yanking his head back, he put the knife to his throat.
“No, Jordan!” Leo yelled, rushing to stop his friend. “Jesus, please, wait…don’t…”
“You probably thought you were being so damn clever,” he growled into the man’s ear. His hand shook as he traced a thin line of blood on his prisoner’s neck with the knifepoint. “Weren’t you the smug bastard? Sneaking past all those police and throwing her in those woods so close to where you took her? I bet that gave you a big rush. Did
