Scream for Me (39 page)

Both men appeared completely confident she would back up their stories.

“Keep digging,” Cadence ordered. She knew if anyone could uncover Susannah’s past, it would be Dani. “I need to know exactly who that woman was
before
she became Susannah Jane Evers.” She glanced back at the screen. “We’re going to need those images refined. The guys at Quantico can do some amazing things with
their digital equipment.” The only problem was that refinement took
time
. Time that they didn’t have. “Make sure they know this is a priority for them.”

Cadence hurried out of the room. Rushed right past Kyle and Ben.

“What did you—” Ben began.

She didn’t stop.

Cadence twisted the doorknob for that conference room and marched inside. “Susannah Jane.”

Captain Anniston blinked at her. “What about her?” Then his eyes widened in worry. “No, don’t tell me…not another—”

“She’s missing.”

He swallowed. His hands trembled.

“When did she first arrive in town?”

“About five years ago. She moved in, started working at Striker’s.”

“Did she have any family?”

“No.” He frowned. “What’s this—”

Frustrated, she waved away his question. “Was she ever in any trouble with the law?”

“No. She was like Lily.” His lips twisted. “Never even so much as a traffic ticket.”

“Where did she come from?”

Anniston shook his head. Kyle and Ben had filed into the room. They were standing back. Watching. Waiting. “I think she might have said she was from Orlando. Seems like she mentioned going to Disney World when she was a kid.”

Orlando. That would be a starting point for them. “One of our missing women was from Orlando.” Dani had pulled her up earlier. Nina. Nina Jones. She’d been missing for eight years.

Could Susannah be another victim?

“I want to see her car.” It had just been abandoned at Striker’s. Abandoned, as if Susannah were a victim.

“Dammit, let me help!” Anniston said, but he didn’t lunge out of his chair. Didn’t slam his fist into the table. Just sat there, with frustration stamped on his face. “Susannah is good. Just like Lily. I can help!”

“We need to start searching for her,” Cadence said as she looked at Kyle and Ben. Searching. “We’re going to need cadaver dogs.” If her hunch was right, if Susannah truly had once been a victim, she might now be someone the killer wanted to eliminate.

Susannah could identify him. She could bring his entire game crashing down in flames.

The Jeep sat, rain and mud splattered near its tires, in the back of the Striker’s parking lot. Cadence searched in the vehicle. Found nothing out of the ordinary.

Except for the fact the keys were on the floorboard.

Kyle lifted the keys. Put them in the ignition. The car sputtered to instant life.

“Plenty of gas,” he said. “Battery seems fine.” He turned on the Jeep’s wipers. They flew over the grimy windshield.

Cadence stared at the car. She was missing something. She
knew
she was. When they’d first talked to Susannah, the woman had seemed so worried, so heartbroken about what had happened to Lily.

Lily
.

“Who is she?” Kyle shook his head as he turned off the Jeep. “Is it even fucking possible she was a victim? One he let go? Why wouldn’t she go to the authorities?”

“She knew he was watching her.” A man that controlling would never let her go, not completely. “She knew he was watching.” She thought of the police station. Their suspects. “Or she knew he
was
the authorities.”

Jason Marsh.

James Anniston?

Anniston’s voice whispered through her mind.
Susannah is good. Just like Lily
.

“I want to talk with Lily Adams again.”

Kyle rubbed a hand over his face. “You think I haven’t been checking in with the marshal you sent to protect her?
Every day
. Lily still doesn’t remember anything.”

She shoved out a frustrated breath. “Not about the abduction, but she might remember plenty about Susannah.” The women had been friends for years. Lily
should
be able to tell them about Susannah. About Susannah’s past?

Despite the heat, Cadence felt cold as she stood in the parking lot. The heat surrounded her, but the ice came from within.

Susannah Jane had vanished of her own volition, running away? Or had someone made
sure
that Susannah vanished, because she knew too much?

And…after what she’d seen Fiona do, Cadence realized that there was another option in play. A dark possibility that twisted Cadence’s guts into knots.
Could Susannah Jane be helping the killer?

The little girl with the big, blue eyes watched Cadence with worry as she hurried to her mother’s side.

Lily Adams shook her head. “I already told you both.” Her gaze dipped from Cadence to Kyle. “I don’t remember what
happened to me.” She bent and pressed a quick kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “Sweetie, why don’t you go play in your room? I’ll be there in a few moments.”

Boxes were stacked in the house. Moving boxes. Cadence glanced over at US Marshal Malcolm Williams. He stood near the door, the bulge of his weapon barely noticeable beneath his jacket.

“When are you moving?” Cadence asked.

Lily exhaled softly. “As soon as I can. I just don’t want to stay here anymore. I can’t.” Her knuckles were white. “I don’t feel safe. Malcolm can’t stay here forever.” A broken laugh escaped her. “I’m afraid to go out by myself. I don’t remember anything about what happened. Nothing at all. But I’m terrified.”

“A fresh start could be very good for you.” Cadence didn’t blame the woman for running. Getting out of a nightmare was hard.

“I’m sorry I can’t help you,” Lily said, voice shaking. “I wish I could. I watched the news. I heard about…” Her voice dropped as she cast a worried glance toward her daughter’s bedroom door. “About the others. I want to help them, their families, but I just
can’t
.”

Kyle eased into the chair beside Lily. “Can you tell us when you first met Susannah Jane?”

“Susannah?” Lily blinked, then she smiled, a real smile that lifted her lips and chased some of the fear from her eyes. “She was here a few hours ago. Ever since she came to town, she’s always been such a good friend to me.”

Cadence kept her expression neutral. “Susannah came by to see you?”

“Yes, she…” Lily pointed to Malcolm. “She told me I was lucky to have my own guard, but I told her he wouldn’t always be here.” Her voice dropped. “I wish he could be.”

Malcolm’s face tensed. “I told you, Lily, I’m not going anywhere yet.” Malcolm “Mac” Williams had once been an Army Ranger, before he’d traded his military life for marshal service. He might be pulling protective duty right then, but Malcolm’s true talent lay in hunting. He never gave up his hunt.

Lily gave him a weak smile, then she looked back at Cadence and Kyle. “Susannah said she was sorry for what happened to me.”

I’m sure she was
.

“Did she say anything else?” Kyle asked her.

Lily rubbed the back of her neck. “She told me that if she could, she’d stop something like this from ever happening again.” Lily glanced once more at her daughter’s bedroom door. “I told her the only way to do that was to stop the SOB who did this to me.”

Dani stared at the gritty image. She’d frozen the video on the woman’s face. Cadence had sure been looking at the video closely enough, and now that she’d finally found pictures of the woman calling herself Susannah Jane Evers, Dani knew why.

Is that you?

Her eyes narrowed as she leaned toward the computer screen.

Had the woman who begged for death been Susannah Jane? It was possible. There were some similarities, but it in the darkness, it was just too hard to tell for certain.

She leaned closer…

A gunshot rang out, the blast deafening.

Dani shot to her feet, her hands automatically going to the holster at her side. She always kept her gun with her, after what had happened to her.

Always keep your weapon close
.

She opened the door a crack and inched carefully down the hallway.

“
Where is he?
” a woman’s voice screamed.

Then she saw the woman. The woman who looked just like the image she’d scanned a few moments before for Susannah Jane.

Susannah stood just a few feet inside the police station. She had a gun in her hand. A gun now shoved beneath her own chin.

Ben advanced toward Susannah. The female officer, Heather, closed in on Susannah’s other side. Heather had her own gun drawn and her face was deathly white.

“Stop!” Susannah screamed. “Stop right there, or I’ll shoot.”

Dani pulled out her phone. Called Cadence. “Get your butt back to the station,” she said when her friend answered. “Your missing girl is here, and she’s about to shoot herself.”

“You don’t want to shoot,” Heather said. The woman lifted her own weapon. Put it down on a nearby desk.

Oh, hell.
Don’t do that. Don’t play hero
.

Heather was confidently heading toward the other woman. “Susannah, it’s me. We’re friends.”

Susannah moved faster than a striking snake. “That’s not my name!” She grabbed Heather. Held her tight with a wild strength even as the cop twisted in her grasp. Desperation was giving her power. Susannah put the gun against the cop’s head. “I’m Shelly! I was
Shelly
!”

Shelly Summers. The name clicked immediately. A home in Florida. Parents who’d filed the missing-persons report when their daughter had never made it back to them.

“It’s too bright in here,” Susannah muttered. “I like the dark. It used to scare me. Not anymore.”

I’m tired of the darkness. Kill me!

Dani swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Bring him out to me or I’ll kill her.”

“Bring who?” Ben asked her quietly. Unlike Heather, he hadn’t advanced toward the other woman. He also hadn’t put down his gun. It was up, and aimed right at Susannah.

“What happened to me?” Susannah—Shelly?—whispered with a shake of her head. “Why did I become like this?” She shook her head once more and seemed so lost that Dani hurt for her in that moment.

“Let me go,” Heather said but she didn’t fight against the other woman. Maybe she was afraid the gun would go off.

Susannah’s hold tightened on Heather. “Bring him out, and I will.”

Him
.

Dani whirled away from the scene and ran back toward the interrogation room. She threw open the first door. Aaron Peters jumped. His eyes doubled when he saw her gun. “What’s happening?”

“Come with me,” she demanded.

He hurried to his feet. Rushed outside with her.

“Susannah!” She shouted for the other woman, trying to get her attention. If she could distract her, then Dani knew Ben could make a grab for her weapon.

They needed to take Susannah in alive because she was the key to so much.

The key to everything.

Susannah turned her head at Dani’s call. She stared at Aaron, frowning. Then she gave a negative shake of her head. “That’s not him. I told you I need
him
!”