Page 73 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)

SEVENTY-TWO

Somewhere on the AT

He traced his finger over the red cowboy boot, remembering the way it felt to slide it off Jacey’s slender foot. While she lay still on the ground, he’d gently kissed her toes, admiring how delicate she was and reveling in his power over her.

The red scarf around her throat looked like a river of blood as he’d draped it over her neck and small breasts. Her fingernails were painted with alternating red and black, the UGA colors, although she would never be a student at the university.

Her time had come to an end.

Watching her take her last breath brought back the thrill of the kill and took him back to his mother. He had power over these girls. He’d had no power over his mother and her sick twisted boyfriends. Had been forced to watch through the crack in the closet doorway.

Time slipped away as the world blurred and he was five years old, huddled in the darkness.

A pair of his mother’s red high heels were tucked in the closet. The heel of the red stilettos dug into his back.

He snagged the shoe, then gently touched the feathers with his fingers.

Closing his eyes, he rubbed the soft feathers against his cheek, sniffing the shiny ribbon on the heel.

He shut out the grunting sounds outside the closet, then threw off his sneakers and socks and slid the right shoe onto his foot.

Next he slipped on the left one, then tried to stand.

Laughter bubbled inside him as he stood, teetering on the three-inch tiny heel and he wobbled and hit the wall. Pretending he was his mother, he righted himself and turned in a slow arc, smiling as the shoes clicked on the floor.

Suddenly the closet door swung open, and his mother stared down at him.

She was half-naked, her eyes fuming, her breath puffing out like fire.

“You sick little pervert!” She slapped him so hard his ears rang and tears stung his eyes, then she shoved him down and yanked off the shoes. “Don’t ever touch my things again.”

Then she closed the door and locked it and left him there for two days in the dark.

He jerked himself from the memory, his hand sweating as he walked to his trophy case and added Jacey’s red boot to his collection. “You can’t take them away from me now, Mama. No one can.”