Steel met her glance, turned to the road. “Don’t overthink it.”
“How could it be him?” She kept her voice low, but she knew Lily was listening to every word from the back seat. So were Jed and Virginia.
“Focus on right now. We’ve got to get to Liz before it’s too late.”
Luckily they didn’t have far to go. Stella filled in Jed and Virginia. Mountain Rise trailer park was only a few miles away from Runaway Lodge, and they were getting close to it when sirens blared behind them. Stella turned in her seat.
“Silver Falls sheriff’s department.” She couldn’t make out who was in the cruiser, though. “Are they following us?”
His radio kicked on. “Steel? You listening to me?” It was Sheriff Bolton.
“Is that…? Why do you have a sheriff’s department radio?” Stella asked, noting it for the first time.
“I’m here,” Steel said to Bolton. “Because I work for the Silver Falls sheriff’s department,” he told Stella.
Stella’s eyes went wide. “You work for—”
“Got a report here. Hate to think it’s true. You been playing us this whole time?”
“Is that report from Eric Holden?” Steel demanded. He didn’t have time to fuck around. “Is he saying I’ve got Liz Stanton at my trailer?”
There was a silence. “Something like that.”
“It’s Holden who’s been playing you. He’s the one who took her there.”
Another pause. “Holden’s worked for the Chance Creek department for over twenty years, Steel.”
“Yeah, think about that. Twenty years. Long enough to kill the last round of girls, too, back when my father and William Turner were trying to track down the killer.”
“You were around, too. Helping your dad.”
“What’re you saying? You think Dad and William Turner were in on it? You think the three of us went on a killing spree? Or are you just blaming me? There were killings before the Chance Creek ones. Check out Livingston’s records. Eric was practicing out there before he brought his game to Chance Creek. I was a teenager then. I was in school—playing football. Working my dad’s ranch. Don’t tell me I had the time or resources to pull that off.”
Bolton was quiet. “I need you to pull over.”
“Can’t do that, Sheriff. I’ve got to get to Liz before it’s too late.”
“I’ve got backup coming. You pull over and let us sort this out. You let us take you in, I’ll send that backup straight on to your place. Either way, I need you out of this. Pull over—that’s an order.”
“We can’t let them take you in,” Stella protested. “We’ve got to get to Liz.”
Steel thought it through. “You’ve got to get to Liz. I’m going to pull over and get out of the truck. When the coast is clear, you keep going.”
“Why won’t Bolton believe you?”
“Focus,” Steel told her. “Jed, you armed?”
“Sure am.”
“What if they hurt you?” Stella asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Steel said. “Can you do your part? Stella, no heroics, you hear me? You drive. Jed, Virginia—one of you call Cab Johnson and tell him to get the hell out to Mountain Rise trailer park, just in case Bolton doesn’t follow through. Cab was at Runaway Lodge—he can catch up fast. Fill him in on everything. Once you’re there, be careful. If Eric sees you, he’ll know he’s lost control of things. He’ll be even more dangerous.”
“Got it.”
“Okay, here we go.” Steel swerved over to the shoulder of the road, slammed on the brakes, unclasped his seat belt and was out the door faster than Stella could cry out. She watched him race off through the rain. Watched the sheriff’s cruiser skid to a stop behind them, the front doors swing open and two deputies race after him.
“Go,” Jed said. “Hurry up, drive!”
“I’m going!” Stella slithered into the driver’s seat, pulled the door closed, adjusted the seat and shifted into Drive again. She put the pedal to the floor, peeled out and kept going, turning up the windshield wipers another notch. “I hope he’s okay.”
“I’ve got Cab Johnson on the line,” Virginia said. She launched into an explanation, ending with, “Get your ass out here and save that little girl before I take you out myself!”
“Is he coming?” Stella fought to keep control over the truck as she swung around a tight curve in the road.
“He’d better be.”
A few moments later, Stella spotted the sign for the trailer park and slowed down, putting on her turn signal. “I don’t know which one is his.”
“Take it slowly. Keep your eyes open. The killer might spot us before we find him,” Jed said, but it was an elderly lady in a raincoat who leaped out from behind the wooden fence surrounding the park and flagged them down before Stella had even made the turn into the driveway.
“Steel! Hey—you’re not Steel,” the woman said, backing away when she caught sight of Stella and Jed.
“No, but we’re his friends,” Stella said, “and he thinks there’s trouble at his trailer. Do you know which one it is?”
“Where is he?” the woman demanded.
“The Silver Falls sheriff’s department has him,” Stella said. “Someone called in a complaint about him.”
“Silver Falls, but—” The woman straightened. “Never mind. That one is his.” She pointed at a nondescript single wide with white vinyl siding about three-quarters of the way down the row. “See that truck? Pulled up about twenty minutes ago. Guy driving it lugged something into Steel’s place. Never saw him or that car before, and I knew something was up.”
That was Eric’s truck, a dull red in the low light, and any small hope Stella had been holding onto that maybe Lily was wrong disappeared. Eric—the man she’d been dating—was killing teenage girls.
“You’re the one who called Steel?” she asked faintly.
“That’s right. I’m his neighbor. He asked for my help a few weeks ago.”
Stella thought fast. “Eric might recognize Steel’s truck if we pull in there.”
“Eric? Eric Holden? He owns that flashy thing?” The woman gestured to Eric’s vehicle.
“You know Eric Holden?”
“I know everyone. He used
