Page 55 of The Graveyard Girls

Laney nodded in understanding.

The three of them followed the coordinates Cord had sent, weaving around bushes and trees until they located the ravine where Cord stood waiting.

Ellie came to a halt and looked down. “Wait here, Laney, and tell the ERT to do the same while we scout out the situation. We’ll call you if we find something, then you can join us.”

“Copy that.”

“I found the scarf in that pile of brush.” Cord indicated the precise spot. “I’ve set up a rappel system for you and Fox to go down.”

“Thanks.” She and Derrick followed Cord’s lead and minutes later, they’d mastered the decline and made it to the brush pile Cord had described. Shining flashlights onto the area, they studied the sight, and Ellie spotted the corner of the scarf. Cord had moved some tree limbs and weeds aside to reveal a mound of dirt that looked as if it could be a grave.

Ellie sighed. “We have to excavate the area.”

She and Cord stepped aside, and she called Laney to send her crew down. Cord hiked up to help them repel down, bringing the ERT with him while Derrick began to comb the ravine for evidence.

Wind moaned and whined as the team worked, and Ellie’s heart pounded as they slowly raked dirt aside and uncovered a body.

“My God,” Ellie said as the face of a young girl appeared, eyes wide open in a death stare. “She hasn’t been dead long.”

“You’re right,” Laney said. “Her body may be out of rigor, but skin and flesh and muscle are intact. We may be able to glean more information from her autopsy and more quickly than the bones we found of the other girl. Time is on our side here for DNA.”

“If that’s true, then it means the killer was here recently,” Cord said.

“Did you see anyone in the woods?” Ellie asked.

“No, if I had, I would have pursued him.”

“Tell Agent Fox and the ERT, and start a grid search, Cord. If the unsub is close by, we might get lucky and catch him hanging around to watch the action.” Some sick SOBs enjoyed watching the police chase their tails and relived the crime as the cops helped them play out their twisted cat and mouse game.

“Copy that.” Cord headed toward Lt. Williams, the head of ERT.

Ellie sucked in a breath, frowning as the odor of death, raw dirt and the charred scent of burning coal beneath the ground filled her nostrils. She covered her nose for a minute and struggled to breathe in fresh air, but it was impossible. The body and the fact that there had been toxins here was a reminder that the land had been robbed of life years ago and so had its residents.

And now with teen bodies piling up…

Dread gnawed at her as she scanned the ravine then the miles of land beyond the graveyard. If the same killer had been dumping bodies here for over a decade, how many more were out here?

Ellie felt the tension radiating from Derrick as he crossed the ravine to her. Laney and her crew were documenting the layout of the body and ERT was snapping photographs before they removed the girl from the ground to transport her to the morgue.

“Another victim was dumped here?” Derrick commented, his brow furrowed as he approached.

Ellie nodded, still poised for sounds the killer was hiding in the woods as she allowed Derrick a visual of the victim. “Yeah, and this one’s fresh.”

The thought that they might have just missed the killer didn’t sit well with Ellie. With the attention the area had received after Bonnie Sylvester’s remains had been discovered, and the memorial drawing outsiders, along with the added law enforcement and tourists’ presence, the killer had been bold to leave another victim in this location.

Derrick’s hiss rent the air. “Dammit, that’s one of the missing girls I told you about. The girl from Athens, Jacey Ward.”

SIXTY-ONE

Shit, shit, shit.

That damn ranger had already found the girl.

He should have covered her better, but he’d heard footsteps and someone thrashing through the woods, and he’d had to get the hell away from her.

Sweat streamed down the back of his neck, soaking his shirt, and dirt still clung to his fingernails. He used his shovel as leverage as he ran through the acres of barren land.

Now he heard tree limbs crackling and brush rustling and knew others had arrived. They were combing the land for him. He had to keep running. Find a hiding place until they passed.