Chapter 21

TWENTY-ONE

WEDNESDAY

After spending a very pleasant hour with Josie in Aunt Betty’s Café, Marissa purchased a few groceries and climbed into her truck. Before she had time to start the engine her burner phone chimed. She had no idea who was calling her and nervously pressed the phone to her ear. “This is Marissa.”

“We’ve called an urgent meeting out at the Old Mitcham Ranch in half an hour. Same place as before. Drive into the barn and we won’t get wet. We’re staggering the arrivals or someone will notice a convoy heading there. You leave now and you’ll get there second.” The male voice at the other end was muffled by the noise of the rain. “Josie has voiced her concern about what’s happening with the medical examiner’s office. We need to know where everyone stands. She mentioned that you’re worried as well and she suggested maybe we should all take ourselves down to the sheriff’s office and explain what really happened that night. If we plan on doing this, we need to make sure that we all have the same story because the moment we get into the sheriff’s office they’ll split us up and start asking us questions. If we make a mistake, rather than one of us trying to prove it was self-defense, we’ll all end up going to court for murder.”

Swallowing the bile crawling up the back of her throat, Marissa stared into space. This was what she wanted, and surely, they would all be cleared if they came clean about what really happened that night. “Yeah, I figure we should go and speak to the sheriff. She seems to be a very levelheaded woman. I honestly believe she’ll listen to what we’ve got to say and be sympathetic. We were just frightened college kids.”

“So your vote would be to go to the sheriff and give ourselves up?”

Marissa nodded. “Yes, I figure it would solve the problem and maybe put our minds at rest.”

“I guess we’ll see what everyone else has to say. I’ll see you in a few.” He disconnected.

Marissa checked her watch. She’d need to leave now to get to the Old Mitcham Ranch. It would be slow going with the flooding hampering most of the roads. Perhaps she would see Josie along the way. If she did, she’d hang back some and keep distance between them. She waited for a few vehicles to pass by and then turned her truck and headed along Main. Nerves cramped her belly, but the idea of lifting this terrible burden from her mind once and for all made her a little lightheaded. She wanted to be able to convince the others that it was the right thing to do and went over a few ideas to persuade them. Satisfied, she turned on the radio and tried to calm the rising panic by singing along to the tunes.

Traveling out of town in the rain with so much water across the roads disturbed her more than she’d like to admit. In truth, she rarely went out, preferring to stay home and tend her garden when she wasn’t working. The lonely drive to the Old Mitcham Ranch made her wish that she had called Josie and asked her to go with her. She must still be in town and it would have been safer if the two of them had traveled together. She glanced around at the wide-open spaces. Everything was so wet, with large brown expanses of water spreading out as far as the eye could see. She couldn’t imagine why they wanted to meet up at the Old Mitcham Ranch again, other than the fact it was so remote that nobody came by. It became a tourist attraction over Halloween but the rest of the time it didn’t attract any interest.

Marissa turned onto the driveway of the Old Mitcham Ranch and crawled her truck along the overgrown track. The gate was hanging open at a jaunty angle, leaving just enough room for her to squeeze through. She eased her truck inside and drove past the old ranch house and headed for the barn. She spotted a truck and pulled up a short distance away, leaving plenty of space for everyone else to park. The barn didn’t creep her out in the daylight. It just resembled any old barn, but rain had blown through the open doors, wetting the floor. Cobwebs hung from rafters piled high with bird droppings and the ground was littered with tumbleweeds. It was hard to believe so many people had died here. The wife of the original owner had been murdered in the house. Her husband had hung himself from the rafters in this barn. That had been many years ago, but since then, more murders had occurred inside the house. A massacre of a group of people less than four years ago had made world news. She recalled reading that there was so much blood it was running down the steps.

A shiver skittered down her back as she scanned the overgrown yard. It just looked like an old ranch house. Dilapidated and uncared for, with plants growing out of the gutters. Most of the windows were broken. She imagined that at one time it had been a beautiful place to live, with views of the mountains and lowlands.

In her peripheral, something moved and the door to the vehicle beside her opened slowly and a familiar face smiled at her. She clambered out of her truck and walked around to meet him. “It’s just you and me right now. I figured I’d see someone following me along the way, but I guess it’s slow going with the weather being so bad and all.”

“They’re not coming.” He leaned inside his truck and pulled out an ax. “They sent me to talk to you. Nobody wants to go to the sheriff and we’ve all decided that you need to be silenced.”

Horrified as light sparkled on the sharp blade, Marissa backed away from him. She needed to get away and turned to run to her truck, but a strong hand grabbed her by the back of her jacket and spun her around. She stared into ice-cold eyes and swallowed hard. “I won’t say anything. I’ve kept the secret all these years. Why should I say something now?”

“We can’t trust you to keep your mouth shut.” He shoved her hard against the hood of her truck. “This is the only way.”

Unable to believe what was happening, Marissa gaped at him. “You can’t just kill me in cold blood. People will report me missing and the sheriff will soon find out you’re to blame. They’ll find my body. There’ll be evidence and you’ll be in more trouble than you are already. It will be much better for us to all go to the sheriff and explain what happened that night. Think what you’re doing. Killing me will get you nowhere.”

“Killing you will be something I’ll enjoy.” He rolled his shoulders and then swung the ax back and forth. His intent expression fixed on her, like a cat watching a mouse.

Allowing his words to resonate in her brain, she gaped at him. “What do you mean, you enjoy killing?”

“Do you believe that Cole and Abby were my first kills?” His lips spread into a grin. “Yeah, for the record, I killed Abby, but she wasn’t my first.”

Aghast and shaky, Marissa shook her head, not believing what he was saying. “You said Cole was killing Abby and then turned on you. We all believed you.”

“I guess I owe you the truth as you’re gonna die.” He shrugged and his eyes darkened. “Cole was my best friend until Abby got her hooks into him and he became her lapdog. I killed him, but I wanted her to watch so she knew it was her fault.” He stared over her shoulder into space. “She just stood there babbling as I hacked into his back.” He swung his emotionless gaze back to her. “She was no fun at all. I wanted her to run but she just stood there beating on my chest. I pushed her away and finished her. Then I dragged Cole’s body over her and went back to camp.” He snickered. “You all believed me. It was incredible.”

Horrified, Marissa took another backward step. “You won’t get away with killing me. The sheriff will find you. It’s not like back then. They have a ton of ways to find killers. Look at their record—no one gets away with murder in Black Rock Falls.”

“Until now. I’m smarter than the others and no one will know I’ve been here. I’m not carrying my regular phone nor driving my own truck. This one is a loner from a friend who is establishing an alibi for where he is right now. In fact, he is at the sheriff’s office giving them information about seeing a mountain man hanging around that night. It’s all lies, of course, but it would only take one of us to collaborate his story.”

Trembling in disbelief, Marissa could only stare into a face she’d trusted for so long. Maybe she could keep him talking and convince him she’d remain silent. She needed to move away and kept taking tiny steps backward, holding up her hands to ward him off. He seemed so relaxed, calm and not angry. To anyone watching, he’d appear normal and almost nice. Could this be some type of sick joke just to frighten her? What if it wasn’t and he fully intended to end her life? Panic tightened her throat, but she must try to reason with him. “Look, this is just a silly mistake. I won’t say anything and what happened here will be our little secret. You don’t want my blood on your hands.”

“Ah, but I do.” His eyes never left her face. “I fantasize about killing. I crave the smell of blood and dream about watching the life leave my victims. The killing never lasts long enough. They always go and die just as I start to enjoy myself.”

Heart racing like a freight train, Marissa stared into the face of a madman. “You’re sick.”

“No, this is me being nice.” He wet his lips. “I can be nasty, but as we’re friends, I’m giving you my good side.”

Gasping for breath as terror seized her lungs, Marissa forced out her words. “If I’m a friend, why kill me?”

“I needed a distraction on a miserable day, is all.” He took a step closer and then laughed as she flinched. “You can’t get away from me, Marissa. I’m bigger and faster than you and no one will hear you scream. This was a perfect place to kill someone years ago and nothing’s changed. You’re gonna die and it’s gonna hurt. I can’t make it fast even for you because that wouldn’t be any fun at all, would it?” He ran his thumb along the blade. “I sharpened this just for you.”

Terrified, Marissa turned and ran, stumbling over the uneven ground and deeper into the dim interior. At one end was a stable containing a bank of old stalls. She ran to the end and ducked down, hoping he couldn’t see her in the gloom, but his footsteps, slow and deliberate, echoed in the barn. Each step louder than the one before, each second closer to finding her. As he came around the corner and smiled at her, she let out a long scream. “Please… don’t. Please .”

“That’s better.” He lifted the ax high and stepped closer. “Screaming is so satisfying and I’m so gonna make you scream.”