Foxfire (22 page)

He parked the truck, jogged to her front door
and knocked. He called out and knocked again, then walked around to
the back when he didn't get a response. Funny, her lights were on.
She should be inside. He put his hands on the window and peered
inside. He didn't see or hear anything.

Harri had said Grace left with Tyler. Maybe
she was still with him. He'd better just drive on down and forget
about catching the killer by himself.

Disheartened, he walked back to his truck and
opened the door. As he slipped behind the wheel, he noticed a light
bobbing through the trees beside the path.

The only people who lived on this section of
the mountain were Brad, Grace, Tyler and himself. Who could be
walking through the woods this time of night?

A chill crept across his scalp, making it
feel as if his hair stood on end beneath the ball cap. Maybe the
Knoxville Knifer was out there. He couldn't take a chance on
letting him get away. He couldn't waste time driving down to the
clinic.

He quietly shut the truck door and started
the engine. He had to get his rifle. And he'd call Tyler. But he'd
be the first one to catch up with the perp. He liked that term. TV
cops used it all the time.

Tonight he'd become a hero.

****

Tyler went down to the clinic to close up and
turn off the lights. This time Jake accompanied him.

“So this is where you plan to spend your time
from now on, huh?”

“Yes. And I think I can convince Dad to join
me.”

Jake clapped him on the shoulder. “I hope so.
You deserve a new start. Natalie would want that.”

“You're right. She would. You know I loved
her with all my heart.”

“I know. She loved you back. But she's gone.
Nothing can change that. All we can do is bring her killer to
justice. Then I'll be able to sleep at night.”

“Me, too.”

“I don't think you'll get much sleep if Grace
has anything to do with it,” Jake quipped.

“I sure hope not.”

They laughed. Jake tilted his head. “Is that
a phone ringing?”

Tyler listened but didn't hear anything. “It
might have been my cell. I left it upstairs.”

They climbed the stairs to the apartment and
Tyler checked his phone. He had one message.

****

Adam knew the killer was headed for Hannah
Falls, since the light kept moving in that direction. The secluded
cabin would make a perfect hiding place. When Tyler asked if Adam
knew a vacant house, he'd immediately thought of his family cabin,
long-ago abandoned. He'd planned to show Tyler and his friend where
it was, but now Adam would have to go on his own. He'd left a
message on Tyler's answering machine, but catching this guy would
be up to Adam.

Once he caught the killer, he'd be hailed a
hero. No one would call him “weird” Adam again. Oh, they didn't
think he knew what they said behind his back, but he did. All his
life, he'd been different. People laughed because he took
responsibility for looking out for their welfare. Over the years,
he'd been forced to sell off his family property, but he'd made
sure he sold only to good people. Like Grace.

Grace would look at him differently after he
captured this guy, too. She might even regret turning him down when
he'd asked her out. He'd always have a soft spot for her, but
Lainey was the best woman for him. Just knowing Grace would think
of him as an equal would be enough to make him happy.

Yes, after tonight, he'd be a hero in
everyone's eyes.

He shifted the heavy rifle, hoping it would
be enough of a threat to capture the bad guy, because Adam didn't
think he could actually fire the gun.

The last time he'd fired it, he'd been a
teenager. His dad took him hunting. They spent hours in the cold
damp morning air waiting for an unsuspecting deer. Adam hadn't
wanted to go, but he didn't want to disappoint his dad. Unlike his
grandfather, his dad thought Adam was a sissy. Adam hoped to prove
him wrong by bringing home the biggest buck ever.

Finally, they were rewarded for their
patience. A huge antlered buck came into the clearing. Adam took
aim. The rifle butt jammed against his shoulder, bruising his bone.
He looked down the barrel through the sight, focusing on his
target.

“Careful,” his dad whispered. “Steady does
it.”

Adam's lungs ached from the short shallow
breaths he managed to take. Fear traveled through his veins. He and
the buck stared at each other, into each other, and Adam's body
quivered. He focused on keeping his rifle steady and not giving in
to his niggling conscience.

He tightened his finger on the trigger.

“Now,” his dad whispered. “Do it.”

Adam sent a silent warning. Run.

The deer lunged off into the deep cover of
the woods. Adam pulled the trigger. The bullet sped harmlessly into
the treetops.

The force of the recoil knocked him to the
ground. He pushed himself to his feet, waiting for his father's
wrath. Instead of the anticipated anger, Adam read pity in his
eyes. That stung him more fiercely than any words could have
done.

His dad never invited him to go hunting
again.

Adam hadn't considered using the rifle again
until tonight. He didn't even know if it would fire, but he'd
stuffed a cartridge in, just in case.

In the distance he heard a muffled shout. He
swallowed hard. His destiny awaited him.

****

Adam's voice boomed from the phone. With each
word, Tyler's apprehension grew.

“Tyler, I'm going to the cabin at Hannah
Falls to catch the serial killer. He's heading that way. I saw him.
Well, not him, but his light. That's the only place I know of he
could hole up. I went by Grace's house. That's when I saw him, but
Grace must be with you. When you get this message, she can show you
the back road that goes to the cabin. It's faster. I'll hold him
there until you come to get him.”

“What the...?”

Tyler hit the replay button silencing Jake's
question. They listened to Adam's message again.

Jake's penetrating gaze met Tyler's. “What
the hell is he talking about? Where's Grace? I thought—”

“She lied to me. She didn't go to Harri's at
all. She went home. And now Max has her.”

“You don't know that for sure,” Jake
said.

“Trust me. I know.”

“Do you know what cabin Adam was talking
about?”

“Yeah. I don't know about a back road, but if
it exists, I'll find it.” He dialed the hospital. Just as he'd
suspected Harri was still there.

“But I thought Grace went home with you.
That's what she told me.”

“Listen, Harri. We don't have much time. Max
has her and he's taking her to the cabin at Hannah Falls. Adam says
there's a back road. How do I find it?”

He listened to her directions and hung up the
phone. “Let's go.” Tyler tucked his gun in the waistband of his
jeans. “If we don't beat Adam, Max will kill both of them.”

Jake called for backup before climbing into
the passenger seat of Tyler's pickup. “Let's get this show on the
road,” he said.

Tyler gunned the motor and sped onto the main
road. They couldn't afford to waste any time. Not if he wanted to
save Grace. His gut clenched in fear, fear of losing Grace. He
loved her. He couldn't let history repeat itself. He couldn't lose
her. He pressed his foot to the accelerator.

****

Grace pushed against the nauseating rag with
her tongue, but it remained lodged in her mouth. She and Max had
trekked most of the distance Hannah Falls. She could hear the
waterfall now. What good would it do if she did spit out the vile
cloth? No one could hear her scream. Not that she'd resort to
yelling for help. She had youth, stamina, and determination on her
side. Though he had control at the moment, she'd gain the upper
hand somehow.

All she had to do was free her hands. She'd
tightened her fists before he knotted Tiffany's leather leash
around her wrists. She'd been stretching the thin leather without
Max's knowledge, while he walked beside her, pressing the gun
against her spine. One of her wrists now slipped partially from the
bond. She wiggled her fingers to start the blood flowing.

Max stumbled and righted himself. His heavy
breathing worsened the farther they climbed. Inwardly, she smiled
at his discomfort, while she forged ahead a little faster. He held
the flashlight in one hand, lighting the trail, but she didn't need
it to guide her. She'd hiked to Hannah Falls many times.

Max lurched sideways and let out a loud
curse. He took a few limping steps and ordered her to stop. She
considered running off the well-worn path into the dense woods. Max
would never catch her. She could lead him aimlessly through the
mountain for hours. But if he didn't chase her, he might escape.
She couldn't risk it. This had to end this tonight.

She turned to face him, watching him rub his
ankle. He kept the gun pointed in her direction, but he placed the
light on the ground. Grace moved her wrist a little further from
the leather knot and suddenly she was free.

Not wasting a moment, she kicked out,
catching Max by surprise and knocking the gun from his hand. Her
next well-placed kick connected with his nose, sending him
sprawling backwards.

He cursed and grabbed his face. The
flashlight illuminated blood spurting between his fingers. “You
stupid bitch.”

She yanked the gag from her mouth and threw
it to the ground.

He pushed to a sitting position and reached
for the gun.

Grace dove for it. Her fingers closed around
the weapon seconds before his hand gripped hers. They struggled for
a few seconds, and then he wrested the gun from her. She saw the
weapon coming and tried to move away, but she wasn't quick enough.
A sharp pain echoed through her skull. She tasted dirt as his
weight pinned her to the ground and forced the air from her lungs.
Her ears filled with a loud ringing noise. Blinking her eyes caused
an unbearable tightening band around her forehead.. Totally
disoriented, she concentrated on gathering strength to dislodge him
from her back.

“You broke my nose.” His words sounded
muffled and strange.

Light flashed behind her eyes and she gave in
to the pressure that cracked her head like a fallen coconut.

Then everything turned black.

****

“Wake up, bitch.”

A stinging slap made Grace lift her heavy
eyelids. Where was she? A blinding light played across her face.
She closed her eyes against the intrusion.

“Get up.”

Someone tugged at her shoulders. She pushed
at the offending hands.

He kicked her. “I told you to get up.”

An open palm connected loudly with her cheek,
and everything came rushing back in a swirling barrage. Max had hit
her with the gun. She pushed at the fog in her brain and tried to
lift her eyelids.

Through shuttered eyes, she struggled to
focus on Max's bloody face. Satisfaction crept over her, easing the
throbbing pain in her head. She'd gotten in her licks. His nose job
would need repair, if he lived, which Grace was determined wouldn't
happen. She pushed to a sitting position, weaving drunkenly,
swallowing back the bile rising in her throat.

Max grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet.
“Let's go.”

He pushed her forward, not bothering to bind
her arms. Big mistake for him to think she was too weak to
overpower him.

Max's labored breathing fueled her
confidence, and anger gave her strength, but the thump, thump,
thump in her temples made it hard to concentrate. Why hadn't he
killed her back at the house? Why was he taking her to the
cabin?

She pushed a branch out of her way and
released it.

Max cursed.

Score one for the good guys.

A light blinked through the trees. Had he
left a light on in the cabin? Funny. She didn't remember it having
electricity. She stepped into a clearing overgrown with kudzu. The
ugly vines grew rampant through the mountains, covering everything
in their path with a thick green blanket. She hadn't seen the cabin
in years. It must be covered with the stuff. In the moonlight, she
could see the outline of the rundown cabin. No light glowed behind
the broken windowpanes. Had it been a reflection of the moon she'd
seen, or a result of her head injury?

“Come on. Move.” Max's words wheezed from his
throat. He dug the gun into her spine.

She didn't want to find out what waited for
her in the cabin. Her best chance of survival would be to strike
while Max still struggled to catch his breath.

She threw herself to the ground, rolling to
her back and catching Max by surprise. Drawing her knees to her
chest she kicked out with both feet, landing a blow directly to
Max's groin.

He crumpled, dropping the gun.

Pain slowed her as she looked around for the
gun. Suddenly the clouds shifted and a shaft of moonlight glinted
off the metal. She pushed to her knees and crawled toward it, but
Max closed his hand around her ankle.

“No!” She kicked with her free foot, but his
grip was like an iron cuff. She stretched her fingers toward the
weapon.

“You're not going anywhere,” he snarled,
digging his fingers painfully into her ankle. “Not alive,
anyway.”

“I'm not going to die, Max. You are!” Her
fingers touched the gun.

A soft click sounded.

The switchblade. How could she have forgotten
about that?

“Move your hand away from the gun. Don't
worry, I'm not going to kill you, Gracie Jo. You're going to be the
next victim of the Knoxville Knifer.”

He grabbed her hair. “Get up, Gracie Jo.
Don't you want to look into the face of the notorious serial killer
before you die?”

Max was the Knoxville Knifer? Pain became a
burning inferno. Her scalp seemed to be ripping from her skull. She
rose slowly. The trees and night sky swayed dizzily before she
gained her balance.