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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

W ade followed John past a corn crib and a barn. A door was built into the side of a hill about thirty yards from the house. Before they could take another step, Emily hauled herself out of the hole in the ground. She seemed dazed, but quickly regained her wits and ran as fast as she could away from him. Wade called after her, and she turned. He covered the distance in seconds and wrapped her in his arms. Then held her away from him a moment to inspect her for injuries.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” She laughed, but it was a broken sound. “I’m alive.”

“You are. Thank the good Lord above, you are.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone else exit the root cellar.

She dropped to her knees. “Pete’s following me.”

“You stay here. John will get you to safety.” Wade took off after the park ranger who made a beeline for the trees when he spotted them. It would be challenging to find the other man when he knew the area better than Wade. When he reached the tree line, he took a chance and glanced back to find John running toward him.

“You’re supposed to be with Emily,” Wade shouted.

“The paramedics have her. She’s fine,” John said when he reached him. “You’ll never find him on your own.”

Wade snapped. “He needs to be caught.”

“Let me help.” John shrugged. “I played in these woods with him as a kid. If anyone can find him, it’s me.”

“Mac would have my head if he knew I sent you in after your own cousin.”

“I have the best chance of catching him.”

“But do you have the motive?”

“He butchered women for amusement! You think I want his crimes to be my family’s legacy?”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

“Let me get him. The news can report how I worked on the team to bring him down.”

“You have my full support.” Wade rubbed his temples. “I’m staying with you though.”

Pete slid into the crevice on the side of the hill overlooking the creek. He’d used it to hunt deer. Now it would serve him just as well for hunting state cops. They thought they were better than law-enforcement rangers. Their job was no different than his except he had the added responsibility of protecting wildlife and park resources.

Those guys thought they were so smart. They might’ve figured out he was behind the killings, but they wouldn’t catch him. He’d start over someplace new. Get a new name and find more women. Until that summer, he’d never taken a woman home against her will. They’d always come willingly. Easy women who didn’t think they needed a man to offer them security. The women whose lives he took were on some kind of power trip. They took jobs that should’ve been held by men. Then they prowled the internet or the bars looking for men who could satisfy their cravings. They were looking for one-night stands or week-long flings. They weren’t good girls with values.

Jamie and Emily weren’t much different than the harlots he brought home. He met the rest of them at his mother’s galas. It was his way of getting even with her for his father’s suicide. He’d meet a pretty girl, get her number and meet her for dinner and drinks. He’d ask her to come home with him. If she did, she got to stay for a week. Then he disposed of her and started over the following year.

Everything had gone smoothly until that irksome hiker got lost in the woods, and Emily discovered the skull. It all began to unravel with the finding of the skull, and when they brought in the cadaver dogs, he knew it was all over. It had been a huge risk to take Jamie Strauss, but the temptation was great. Brunner kept Emily out of his reach, so he’d gone for Brunner’s friend. The fact that she was a cop added excitement. He’d known he wouldn’t be able to convince the newlywed to go home with him willingly, so he’d had to change his methodology, but he didn’t regret it.

His mistake had been taking Emily. He’d tried to cover his tracks and make it look as if Emily had left on her own. Once he’d secured her in the root cellar, he’d delivered the owl to the wildlife rehabber. Then he’d tossed Emily’s service weapon into Sandy Lake. It turned out Emily was too conscientious. Nobody believed she left the park without reporting in.

If only he had a rifle he could use to shoot the state cops. Preferably one with a scope. Unfortunately, they were locked in the gun cabinet inside the house. All he had on him was his service weapon.

The shadows grew longer, and darkness descended on him.

“Why haven’t we found him?” Wade whispered the words so as not to be heard by the man they sought.

“The property is 300 acres bordering the creek, and we’re surrounded by similar properties. He could hunker down in the meadow or hide in a tree. You can’t expect finding him to be simple,” John said.

“Let’s regroup for a minute.” Wade sighed. “See if you can come up with a list of likely spots and we’ll check those.”

“We’ve checked most of them already.”

“There must be more.”

“I can only think of one more, but I’m not even sure Pete knows it exists. When I was young, I would hide there when Pete’s parents were fighting. The last time I hid there was the day my uncle took his own life.”

“Show me.”

“There are no trails. We’ll have to follow the creek.”

“Will he see us before we see him?”

“If we approach from this direction, he will. We’ll need to take the long way around and come at him from a different angle.”

“Lead the way.”

Thirty minutes later, John held out an arm to keep Wade from going farther. He pointed to a small opening in a rock edifice. It didn’t look large enough for a man to squeeze through, but he trusted the other man knew more about it than he did. If Pete was in the cleft, he could take a potshot at him. If John wanted to help his cousin, now would be the perfect time. They were alone in the black of night with a sliver of moon to guide their progress. He’d made the decision to trust his fellow officer. It wouldn’t do any good to second guess himself.

John motioned for Wade to follow him, as he kept his back to the rock face and made his way around it. He hadn’t gone far when they arrived at a cave. Wade understood. The cave went through to the tiny opening on the other side. The mouth of the cave was wide, but it narrowed significantly, so a man would need to slither on his belly to reach the other opening. Knowing the other man was armed, it would be suicide for them to attempt to go after him in the dark of night. They would need to hunker down until first light and hope Pete came out on his own. If he was in there at all.

Wade didn’t sleep. He did his best to remain alert, and when the sky began to lighten, he saw the tracks in the dirt leading to the cave. John was sleeping, and Wade left him to it. He pulled out his phone and saw he’d received several frantic texts during the night. His volume was off, a precaution to keep Pete from discovering their presence. It was too early to respond to Emily’s texts. If she’d been able to sleep, he didn’t want to wake her at the crack of dawn, but he sent a text updating Mac.

John stirred and didn’t seem to remember where he was. Wade made a shushing motion. He kept watching for Pete to exit the cave.

Time dragged on as they waited for him to stir. Had the park ranger had stayed in the rock crevice at all? Maybe he’d considered it before finding a better alternative. He might’ve crossed the creek and made his way to safety. The state police were doing frequent patrols up and down the highway, but if he stayed out of sight, he could’ve escaped.

A slight noise reached his ears, so he aimed his weapon toward the mouth of the cave. A snake slithered out of the opening, and he watched it as it made its way to a smooth rock near the creek. It stretched out and stilled.

The sound of coughing filled the air. No doubt, human. He was in there. Their vigil hadn’t been in vain. Feet first, Pete Cunningham exited his hideout to find two service pistols trained on him. He held his hands in the air. “Aren’t you going to read me my rights?”

Trooper Cunningham pulled Pete’s arms behind his back and cuffed him.

“You’re going to arrest me, cuz?” Pete twisted his neck to stare at John. “Shoot Brunner, and we’ll leave here together. I’ve saved some money. How’s Tahiti sound?”

John laughed. “I hope they let you rot.”

“Pennsylvania has the death penalty,” Pete said.

“Walk,” Wade said.

The woods were thick with underbrush and full of thorns, so they marched him through the creek. About halfway across when the water reached his waist, Pete dropped below the surface.

“He can’t swim with his hands secured behind his back,” John said before diving in. Wade kept his service weapon above the creek’s surface as he searched the murky water. Pete emerged twenty feet from Wade. His hands were free. He dove under once more and disappeared from sight.

John surfaced. “I can’t find him.”

“He somehow freed his hands, so you don’t have to worry about him drowning.”

“I think I know where he’ll try to come out. We can beat him there if we take the road.”

“It’s worth a shot.”

Wade and John strode up the highway unhindered by water or forest brush. They arrived at a cutout, and John followed it back toward the creek. “If I know him as well as I think I do, he’ll come out of the water here.”

“We’ll be waiting,” Wade said. A sharp pain radiated through his skull, and he dropped to his knees. His hand instinctively raised to his head. Blood. He felt his service weapon being slipped from its holster, but when he tried to grasp it, he was whacked over the head again.

“He needs to die.” Pete’s voice sounded like it was underwater.

Wade squinted up at him, and saw his service weapon pointed at his head. It would be a kill shot. He heard the explosion as the gun went off, but he was still breathing. Pete fell forward, crashing on top of him.

John pulled Pete’s body off him and helped him rise to his feet. “You need a hospital.”

Wade could see the sheen of tears in the other man’s eyes. Making the split-second choice to shoot Pete was a decision John would be forced to live with for the rest of his life, and Wade didn’t envy him the burden.

“I owe you one, John. Twice now you’ve saved my life.”

“Think nothing of it.” He helped him back to the highway, but darkness crept in around the edges of his consciousness.