Page 5 of Night Moves
“Think, Nat,” she said. “Think. Think. Think.”
Take more pictures, grab the children, and flee.
She snapped a shot of the top row of polish then opened the remaining drawers. Each bin held a different color of polish all leading to a blatant red. Was he planning to kill twenty-four women?
Hopefully her pictures could stop him. Save lives.
She carefully took them. Checked the quality.
She slid the drawers closed and started for the stairs, turning to make sure she didn’t leave any trace of her visit.
Perfect.Everything looked the same. She tugged on the light string and rushed up the stairs, flipping off the switch at the top. She secured the door and drew in deep breaths.
Now what? The children. She couldn’t leave them with him. No. Never. She had to flee with them. Where to?
She couldn’t go to the police. With Kirk’s inside connection, he could convince someone to hand his children over to him. She couldn’t let that happen.
So what?
Malone. Malone Rice.She dialed her friend and attorney who worked with runaway teens and abused women and children. Malone had given Natalie an emergency number to call if an abusive spouse or father threatened one of her clients.
“It’s Natalie. One of my clients is a serial killer. I’m at his house. With his children. He’s coming home in twenty minutes, but before you tell me to call the police, I can’t.” Natalie quickly relayed her story. “I’ve got to take the children and run. Please tell me you have a place I can go.”
Malone didn’t speak for a moment. “I have a team of investigators who can help you. Nighthawk Security. They’re Sierra’s brothers. You know—my brother Reed’s wife. She’s the evidence expert at the Veritas Center. She has five brothers, and they’re all former law enforcement officers.”
Natalie hated to involve anyone else in this mess. “Why not just send us to one of the shelters you use?”
“No can do. You’ll be illegally taking the children, and I can’t send you to a reputable shelter under those conditions. And if Gentry is indeed a serial killer, it’s too dangerous to mix you with other women and children. Plus, you’ll need special protection from him.”
Right.Natalie hadn’t thought of that. “Protection sounds good. Give me Nighthawk’s phone number, and I’ll call them once I get out of here.”
“I’ll make the call, and I’ll call a detective I can trust to recover the evidence. You get the kids and go. Drive straight to this address and wait for them.” She rattled off a location in Portland. “This’s a safe zone. CCTV camera free. I check it on a regular basis to make sure none have been added. Once you get off the freeway at that location, you can’t be tracked.”
Natalie let out a long sigh and made a mental note to find a way to repay Malone for her help.
“And Natalie,” Malone continued. “Ditch your phone as soon as possible. If you can take out the SIM card, do it. Then smash the phone.”
“But the pictures I took of the evidence—”
“Is your phone set up to upload photos to the cloud as you take them?”
“Oh, yeah. Yeah. It is.”
“Then get out of there and destroy the phone.”
“How will I recognize the guys you’re sending?”
“I’m not sure which brother will respond at this time of night, but he’ll be wearing a red armband. And whatever you do, don’t put this address in your car’s navigation system.”
“Thanks, Malone.”
“Sure thing. The Byrd brothers will have a secure way to contact me when you’re safe. We’ll talk more then. Praying for you.”
They would need all the prayers they could get.
Natalie shoved her phone into her pocket and charged toward the stairway to get three young children ready to go and in her car before this brutal killer of women walked through the front door.
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