Obsession (25 page)

“Don’t mistake a lesser ranking when it comes to depravity with a lack of proclivity toward violence. Even a simple obsession can turn deadly. Particularly if the plan goes wrong.”

Burnett had insisted Andrea was strong and smart. Jess hoped he was right. “If, as I suspect, these people have planned this for a long time, then, in their minds, their entire existence depends on this—whatever it is—going as planned. Failure would destroy the world they’ve built to escape reality.”

“We have to approach with caution.”

“We do.” Speaking of caution, Jess dared to check her cell. Two missed calls from Burnett, one from Lily.  “Damn.” She’d set it to vibrate. Good thing.

“Me, too,” Lori said. “Two calls from the chief, three from Harper.”

“The reception isn’t very good out here.” The woods, the mountains. They were miles and miles off the main road.

“Not very good at all,” Lori agreed.

They rode in silence for a few minutes, anticipation thumping inside Jess. It had to mean something that the Murray family kept popping back into the mix. She needed just one suspicious word or deed out of the father. He’d been happy to talk when she and Burnett stopped by. All she had to do was keep Lori cooperative. 

“You and Harper serious?” Jess asked. Time to lower the tension. Calm. Focus. By the time they reached the Murray place, they both needed to be at the very top of their game.

Lori sent her a questioning glance. “About work, yes.”

Jess laughed. “I see the way he looks at you.” She also saw the way Lori looked at him.

“He doesn’t fit into my plan outside work.” She didn’t sound convinced.

“Sometimes we have to revise our plans.” Jess relaxed into the headrest. Sleep had eluded her last night. With them no closer to finding the girls and her professional reputation being ripped to shreds on the news, it was no wonder. Being stuck under the same roof with Burnett hadn’t helped.

“What about you and the chief?”

“What about us?”

“I see the way he looks at you.”

She’d asked for that. Jess shook her head. “What you’re seeing is familiarity. Our relationship was over a long time ago.”

“If you say so.”

Before Jess could set her straight, Lori asked, “You mind if I stop at that convenience store on 31? I need a restroom.”

“I could use something to drink.” They had skipped lunch and the lack of fuel was catching up with her now.

Jess watched the wooded landscape evolve into the small town of Warrior. It still rattled her that evil could happen in such a serene natural setting. But it did. Every minute of every day.

“Did you restore this yourself?” Jess didn’t know that much about cars but she had been raised in the south. A Shelby Cobra Mustang of this era was a highly sought after vehicle. 

“It was my father’s.” Lori smiled as her hands caressed the steering wheel. “When I turned sixteen, my mother gave it to me.” She released a big breath. “He died when I was a kid. She’d kept it in the garage for me all that time.”

“Sorry.” Something else they had in common. “I lost my parents when I was a kid, too.”

“That’s one reason my career is so important.” Lori glanced at her. “My mother and younger sister depend on me financially.”

That was a heavy burden. “I have a sister, too.  She’s older. Married. Kids. The whole nine yards.”

“Does that make us the bad guys?” Lori eased into the turning lane. “Because we don’t want it all right now? That we’re more focused on ourselves?”

“Maybe.” Jess attempted a laugh. “Or maybe we’re just the smart guys.”

There were always two sides to every coin.

At the convenience store, Lori hit the ladies’ room and Jess grabbed a couple of Pepsis. She paid and returned to the car. She’d just settled into the passenger seat when her phone vibrated again. No doubt Burnett burning up the towers.

Text message.

Tormenter
.

Ice slowed her blood.

I like your friend
.

Son of a bitch!

Movement snatched Jess’s gaze forward. Lori bounded from the store. She jerked her door open and dropped behind the steering wheel

“We have to get back downtown.” She sounded breathless…upset. She couldn’t know about the text Jess had just received.

Jess shook off the distraction. “Has another girl gone missing?”

Wells backed up the Mustang, pulled forward but braked before pulling out onto the road. “The chief got a text asking him why he wasn’t watching you more closely.”

Jess’s throat tightened.

Spears was here
. 

Chapter Eighteen

Andrea fought to stay focused.

She didn’t want to be carried out of the kitchen by that man.

Callie and Macy were gone now. To wherever he had taken Reanne.

The only girl left besides her was the new girl, Dana. The one the woman had said she didn’t like. The man liked her though. Andrea watched the way he cheered her on and smiled when the woman wasn’t looking.

Andrea didn’t know what happened to the winner in this competition but she knew one thing for certain, she didn’t want to be one of the losers. She already knew what happened to them…yet if she won, all the others would die like the girl in the basement.

“Answer the question, Dana!” the woman screamed.

Andrea jumped.

Dana sat perfectly still. She didn’t even blink, like she was in a coma even without the pills.

The woman stuck her face close to Dana’s ear and shouted, “Who will you love and respect most besides your Lord and your husband?”

Dana turned slowly, lifted her face to the woman glaring at her.

Andrea held her breath.

“You…are…insane,” Dana said in a voice so low, so terrifyingly anger-filled that Andrea flinched.

The fury that erupted across the woman’s face almost made Andrea’s heart stop. She tried to control the trembling but it would not be stopped.

Her eyes still bulging with anger, the woman hurried around the table to Andrea. She stared down at her. Andrea was afraid to look up or to say anything.

“Andrea, can you answer the question?”

The woman asked so sweetly and softly that the difference was as startling as it was stunning. Andrea feared anything she said would turn the woman back into that raging monster. 

But if she didn’t answer…

“You.” The word was rusty and shaky. Andrea prayed that was the right answer. She was pretty sure it was. But there had been so many lessons. So many rules and Bible verses.

“Who else?” the woman prompted in that same sweet tone.

Andrea struggled to drag in a breath. She managed a brittle smile. “Him.” She looked to the man. Something the woman had said to her climbed out of the fog in Andrea’s brain. “I like it here. I want to be your daughter.”

“We have a winner!” The woman threw her arms up in the air and skipped around the table. “Andrea’s a winner!” she repeated over and over.

Andrea’s gaze locked with Dana’s. There was something in her eyes…
relief
. Tears burned Andrea’s eyes. What was wrong with these people? Why were they doing this?

The man lifted Dana from her chair and hoisted her over his shoulder. Andrea thought his cheeks looked wet as he glanced back at the dancing woman, then turned and carried Dana out of the kitchen.

Andrea felt the hot tears slipping down her own cheeks. She didn’t want to cry for fear of angering the woman. She wanted to be strong. The woman stopped long enough to kiss Andrea on the head.

Please, God
, she prayed.
Help me!

“Come on,” the woman urged. “It’s almost time.”

She dragged Andrea out of the chair. 

“Come on, come on.” She ushered her from the room. “I think you’ll like the dress I bought you. I knew it would be you. Mothers know these things.”

At the stairs, she gestured for Andrea to go first. Lightheaded and her knees weak, Andrea climbed the first step, then the next. She couldn’t hold onto the bannister since her hands were still tied behind her back.

At the top of the stairs, the woman led Andrea to a door on the right. She opened the door and motioned inside. “Do you like it?”

Unable to breathe much less speak, Andrea nodded.

“Oh good!” She pulled her into the room. “I picked out everything myself. You told me you like pink. So I painted it pink. I didn’t care if the others liked it or not. I wanted you to win and you did!”

When had Andrea told her that? She couldn’t remember. All those Bible verses and rules and names kept rolling through her mind.

“I watched you for a long time before we bumped into each other at the store.” She smiled. “You’re so pretty and smart. Not like the other girls.” She nodded knowingly. “I had watched them too and they weren’t good girls like you.” She laughed. “Daddy wanted Dana to win but I knew she didn’t deserve to win.” She leaned close to Andrea. “I played a trick on her. Made her think she was losing her mind.” The woman snorted. “She deserved it. She broke his heart. But that’s behind us now. Come on!”

She guided Andrea to the bed to sit down. Then she went over to the closet and pulled out a white dress with small pink flowers on the sash. “You like it?”

Andrea licked her dry lips and nodded. “It’s very pretty.” Say something else, Andrea! Be smart! “Thank you.”

The woman carefully laid the dress across the bed next to Andrea. Then she rushed to the chest of drawers and gathered up panties and a bra. She placed them on the bed, too.

Footsteps outside the room drew Andrea’s attention to the door. The man walked in. He wasn’t crying anymore but he looked sad and tired. Why was he letting the woman do this? Why didn’t he stop her?

What had he done to the others?

“Wait outside, Daddy! She has to change. She has to be ready. This is the most important day of her life.”

He stepped outside the room, pulling the door closed.

“Now, I’m going to untie you, but if you do anything stupid you’ll be a loser like the others.” She sighed. “Then we’d have to start over.” She patted Andrea on the shoulder. “So you be good, okay?”

 Andrea nodded.

She held her tears and fear inside and stood while the woman untied her hands. She rubbed her wrists and wrestled back the urge to run. The man was right outside the door.  She didn’t want to be a loser.

“Take off your clothes and I’ll help you with the dress.”

Her hands shaking, Andrea pulled her blouse over her head. She unbuttoned her jeans and peeled them down her legs, kicked them off her bare feet. Her bra and panties came off next. Her arms covering herself, she waited for what the woman would tell her to do next.

One item at a time, the woman helped Andrea dress. The new fabric felt scratchy. Andrea didn’t care. She had to keep this woman happy until she saw a chance to escape.

What if they were dressing her up to put her in one of those boxes like the girl in the basement?

The tears burned her cheeks before she realized she was crying. Why had this happened to her? To the others?

The woman guided her to the mirror over the dresser. “Don’t you look pretty?”

Andrea smiled but her lips trembled.

“Let’s brush your hair and you’ll be ready.”

Andrea closed her eyes while the woman brushed her hair. She prayed again but she wasn’t sure help would come in time. Something big was about to happen and she just wanted to live through it. If she died in this awful place, would they ever find her? No one had found the girl or the baby in the basement.

“You are so pretty, Andrea.”  The woman smiled at her in the mirror. “From the day my son was born, even though they told me I couldn’t have any more children, I knew one day I would have a daughter.” She laid down the brush and squeezed Andrea’s arms. “And now I do.”

Andrea’s heart threatened to burst out of her chest. Since she didn’t know what to say, she stretched her lips into a smile and nodded.

The woman guided Andrea into the hall outside the room. “Doesn’t she look pretty, Daddy?”

“She sure does, Momma.”

“Hold her hand,” the woman ordered.

The two led Andrea to another room, farther down the hall. Outside the door, they hesitated.

“We’ve waited a long time to find the perfect daughter.” The woman reached for the door. “Now you’ll see why we’re so excited.”

The door swung inward. The room was a light blue, trophies stood on the dresser. Sports posters lined the wall. The curtains were closed over the window, but next to it a pale glow from the table lamp spilled over a young man seated in a chair. At first Andrea thought he was asleep since his eyes were closed, maybe drugged like she had been. But he didn’t move at all. His chest didn’t rise and fall. His face was pasty and pale. He wore jeans and a dark blue Polo shirt. His arms and hands rested on the arms of the chair.

Andrea’s heart stumbled, then, pounded erratically.

“Andrea,” the woman said, “this is our son, Tate.’ She smiled at the boy in the chair. “Tate, this is Andrea. The one I’ve been telling you about.” The woman laughed. “Yes, she is beautiful.” She looked at Andrea with approval. “She’s perfect. She passed all the tests.”

Andrea swayed. She tried to steady herself.
Don’t mess up. Don’t mess up!
She had to be strong.

“Tate and Andrea,” the woman sing-songed. “It’s just perfect.”

Andrea fought the blackness trying to drag her down. She had to hold it together. She wasn’t tied up any more. Maybe she would get a chance to run before it was too late.

“Daddy, you help Tate get ready. He can’t get married wearing that lucky Polo shirt of his.”

Andrea’s knees buckled.

The woman steadied her. “You’re all right, hon, it’s normal to be nervous before your wedding.” She hugged Andrea. “I’m so proud of you. You’re the perfect wife for my son.”

But her son was…
dead
.

Chapter Nineteen

BPD, 2:51 p.m.

Dan took another breath in hopes of remaining calm. “I have a unit watching your sister and her family,” he said to Jess. “Lily knows that since the media brought her into public focus, that she and her family may end up in Spears’ crosshairs.”