Page 80 of Keeping Collette

The police and ambulance arrived at that moment, and the next hour was taken up with dealing with the police, and their connection to the dead woman, and how Collette was missing.

Because of who they were and their dealings with the police in the past, they put out an APB on Hound’s brother. Finally, they were able to head back to Collette’s apartment. The second they walked in, he noticed the atmosphere had changed.

“What’s going on?”

“I think I’ve got a lock on her location,” Cass said, tiredly. Her face was pale, and the circles beneath her eyes were purple. She looked exhausted, and he hated being the cause of it. But he was also grateful for her, because without her skills, they’d be no closer to knowing where Collette was.

“Where is she? Have you seen her? Is she okay?” He fired the questions off when he knew he should’ve kept them locked down, but it was impossible. The woman he loved was in danger, and after seeing what had happened to the girl who’d enticed Collette out, he was struggling not to superimpose Collette’s face on her dead body.

“I haven’t seen her. But I was able to track Jim’s car on the freeway. I ran the plates and found that it was stolen a few months ago. Not sure if it was stolen by Jim, or if he stole it off those people, but the owner had one of those tracking devices installed on it. Whether Jim is aware of that or not, is anyone’s guess, but it worked in our favor.” Cass paused to take a sip of water. “It’s still active, which means I was able to track it. They’re out on a property not far from the convenience store where Courtney disappeared.”

Deal processed all the information Cass had given. They knew where Collette was. They could go and rescue her. Given what they’d seen that night, and the history of Jim’s past victims, he didn’t want to make assumptions, but he couldn’t help thinking it.

Jim had had a gun, they’d been able to see it pressed to Collette’s side. Why hadn’t he used that on the girl? Why had he stabbed her?

“Fuck, Jim is responsible for everything,” Hound said. “I can’t believe it.”

“What do you mean?” Fox asked.

“Jim is the serial killer. Why else would he take Collette to a property near the store? The place where multiple people have disappeared from. He may have freaked out when I mentioned Koznovič’s name, but the information he gave us was exact. He had a gun, but he’d stabbed the girl who had been here. He likes knives. He could’ve shot her, but he didn’t.”

It didn’t surprise Deal that Hound had come to the same conclusion. They’d been trained to think about all angles, and even though it was his brother, Hound had thought it logically.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Deal said. “We may be off base, but we have to consider this is the case, and we will have to proceed with caution. We don’t know what we’re going to find.”

“I’ve been able to get satellite images up around the area, and there is a lot of forest around where the car is located. It’s secluded—the perfect place for taking someone and making them disappear if that’s what they want,” Cass said quietly.

Deal’s stomach turned at the very idea that there could be more bodies buried around the house, and that there might be a grave earmarked for Collette.

“We need a plan,” Fox said. “Any chance you can get a satellite or something that will give us some heat signatures, so we can see what we’re dealing with?”

“I can. The good thing is, the property is about forty minutes from here.” Cass tapped away at the keyboard.

“Right, let’s get there. Time is of the essence, so we’ll discuss plans on the way. Deal and Hound, I’m going to need you both to keep your emotions in check with this,” Fox directed at them.

“No issues from me,” Deal said. He may feel like he was going to throw up. And he may want to pound Jim’s face, but he would wait until Collette was safe in his arms before he let the chains off the anger bubbling inside of him.

All that mattered was Collette.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Collette had no idea how long she’d been hiding beneath the burnt-out tree trunk. She could hear Jim and Mal calling out to her. Their anger evident in their every word. Mal had tripped past her, and she thought for sure he was going to double back and look under the tree and find her. Perhaps if it was Jim, he might have done that, but Mal wasn’t quite as savvy as his cousin. But she wasn’t going to think she was totally safe. There was every chance that Jim wouldn’t trust Mal to do the job right, and go back over the area he’d covered; they’d been arguing along with hurling abuse at her.

Her muscles screamed from being cramped in the one place for so long, but it was a pain she was happy to bear. Perhaps she should move and try and see if she could find the road. Or someone to help her. Given the fact Jim and Mal were yelling, if anyone was nearby, they’d likely hear them.

Footsteps sounded close by and she tensed, praying that whoever it was would walk past. It could only be either Mal or Jim. There was no one else out there.

The person stopped right by her hiding spot. She jammed her fist in her mouth to stop the whimper from escaping.

“I know you’re close,” Jim taunted. “I can smell you.”

She curled in on herself even more than she had before. It was only a matter of time before he found her. Before he did all the awful things he’d done to Courtney.

Unless she put him off somehow. Could she move a little so she could throw a stone far enough away for him to think that she was in a different direction from where she was?

Or would that be a too-stupid-to-live move, because surely he’d see the stone in the air, and if she threw it behind her, he’d come around the side of the tree and see her hiding spot.

As if she had a guardian angel looking after her, something scuttled through the bush, and a couple of twigs snapped to the left of her.