Dedication 

To:      My parents, who have always believed in me and supported me in everything I do.

            My friends, the Femailers, without whom I would never have put fingers to keyboard.

Nita Wick, an author who believed in me and the Magnolia State Romance Writers Chapter of RWA for their support and critiques. 

            And in memory of “Toby” Tobias Pritchard, I will miss you always.

Prologue

 He was methodical in his work, making sure the knots were secure despite the rotting ropes he used.   Each metal hook was carefully driven into the floor in a precise location.   He pulled the rope tight so the girl’s arm stretched out away from her body and above her head.   This last knot left her spread eagle like a giant letter X.   The fear in her eyes, punctuated by her whimpers, didn’t bother him while he worked.   He rather enjoyed them.  

She was to be his perfect angel but she’d fallen from grace when she touched the boy.  The rage built again as he thought of her betrayal.  His gold necklace glinted around her neck with the locket hidden against her breasts, yet she’d chosen to defile herself with the heathen next to her.  He would make it right, and cleanse them both of their sins with the ceremony. 

The boy beside her remained unconscious.  It had been necessary to subdue him in order to prepare him for the ceremony.  The girl fainted, giving him time to secure the boy before turning his attention to her.  Once he had the girl’s ankles tied, it hadn’t mattered when she came to again.  He wanted them both awake.  Their screams couldn’t be heard from the remote cabin in the woods.  After all, that’s why they’d chosen it for their first night together, so no one would know.

Pleased with his results, he smiled down at the two teenagers then pulled a hunting knife from his bag.  Anticipation built within him.  Briefly, the excitement broke through his control as with quivering hands, he bent over the girl to begin his task.  The knife glinted in the dim light, its reflection sparking new terror in the girl’s eyes.  She struggled desperately, her screams turning shrill as he slipped the knife beneath the hem of her dress and ripped upward in one long, steady movement until he reached the band of her bra.  He let it rest briefly against the soft flesh between her trembling young breasts before jerking upward in one quick movement.  The severed bra slid to either side.  She screamed until he stopped her. 

Chapter One

            Rhiannon woke up screaming, her body wet with sweat and her breath coming in quick gasps.  Another dream, this one more vivid than the last.  He’d killed them.  She knew instinctively they were dead.  It was too late for them.  She was always too late to save them.

She threw back the covers, sliding out of bed till her bare toes found the rug.  She’d known they would die a week ago when the dreams first started, but she didn’t know who they were or where they lived.  Only that they were connected to her somehow.  Despite her desperate efforts to avoid physical contact with anyone, she’d still managed to create a bond that connected her with one or both of these victims.  The connection forced her to watch them die over and over again.  Rhi was helpless to prevent their deaths despite her best efforts.  Nothing she’d tried in the past had been successful and she never knew when or why the dreams would suddenly stop. 

Intent on a hot shower to wash away the stale sweat and tense muscles from the nightmares, she thought she caught the faint twinge of something different about the dream this time.  Unable to grasp what it was, she allowed it to slip away and concentrated on allowing the pulsing jets to work out the tension in her muscles. 

*****

Flashing red and blue lights of the Izard County Sheriff’s Department and local ambulance service bounced off the dark tree trunks that hugged the edges of the clearing surrounding the cabin.  Artificial lights shining from within the cabin pierced the night’s thick blackness.  Nothing penetrated beyond the inner circle of the clearing.  The sounds generated by the click of the revolving lights and the low whispers of the shocked men became trapped there, echoing inside the clearing, trapped by the solid night.  The reluctant audience balked at stepping beyond the circle and into the night, yet also unwilling to cross the cabin threshold to view the scene on the other side.

Doc Landers’ beat up Dodge Ram and Buddy Holden’s Ford were the only civilian trucks in sight.  The ageing physician handled coroner calls for the county investigating all questionable deaths.  Buddy Holden and Darrell Kelly were the two poor souls who had found them.  Something neither of the men would ever be able to forget.

Buddy and Darrell, along with two other local hunters owned the cabin, using it as their deer camp and general getaway spot.  Only now it had been used for something much worse than their suspicious wives could ever have imagined.  The cabin was now a theater complete with lights, actors, and a supporting cast, forming a grizzly opening act. 

Darrell’s first view of the carnage had stopped him in the door, causing Buddy to run into him.  His mind couldn’t get around what his eyes told him.  The two bodies lying on the floor in front of the fireplace couldn’t be real, could they? Blood congealed around each body almost black in the weaning light.  It was the smell that finally got through to them.

Neither remembered backing out nor running for the truck.  How could this have happened in their community? Who could be so twisted, so evil, yet hide it so well that no one saw him for the monster he was? Now they would look at their neighbors and friends wondering if they really knew them. 

*****

Sheriff Matthew ‘Matt’ Brady shook his head as he rose from a crouch to his full height of six feet.  This was not something he had expected to deal with here in Arkansas.  He’d chosen this state for its serenity and beauty.  He never expected this type of brutality when he’d moved his wife here five years earlier.  Matt had experienced enough violence and blood lust when he was in the Army.  He figured backwoods life would suit him just fine.  But reality had a way of finding you even when you thought you had all the bases covered.  This would bring him right back to the horror he’d left behind nearly eight years ago.  A place he’d never wanted to go to begin with and sure as hell didn’t want to revisit. 

When Matt first arrived on scene, he’d entered the cabin before anyone else and before the auxiliary lights were set up, so he could get a feel for the crime scene as the murderer had left it.  Dim light shining from a solitary lamp across the room had dampened his initial shock when his gaze first landed on the macabre display in front of the fireplace.  The odor of death made light unnecessary.  The metallic twang that clung inside his nose and on his tongue spoke of spilled blood.  Its sickening smell mixed with the putrid odor of bowel, hung heavy in the air along with the scent of fear.  Fear too raw and primal to dissipate in such a short time.

Now he stood looking at the same crime scene with the harsh lights brought in to expose every gory detail, attempting to illuminate darkness far blacker than the blackest of nights.  Signaling the Crime Scene Investigation team hovering just outside the cabin door, Matt shoved his pen and pad back into his shirt pocket.  He would leave them to start their job of gathering evidence and clues.  God let there be clues.

Matt clearing his throat as he crossed the porch, and Doc Landers turned toward him, his hands deep in the pockets of his denim jacket.  The lines on his face seemed deeper tonight.  Matt wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light or the result of the bloody scene inside the cabin.  Maybe both.

“Doc, I know this isn’t what you normally deal with, but is there anything you can tell me at first look?” Matt followed the older man’s lead and stared out toward the edge of the woods where color bled from grey to black, avoiding eye contact.  As long as he didn’t see the horror reflected in the other’s eyes, he could handle it.

“Son, right now, about all I can tell you is that they are well and truly dead.” Shifting his feet he leaned against the rough wood post of the porch.

“I ain’t ever seen something like this that wasn’t from an act of God like that tornado we had back in ’02.  We lost a couple of trailers full of people.  I nearly gave it up over that one.  This might just do the trick.  I delivered both those kids in there.  Now I got to put 'em back together for their mommas to bury.”

“Yeah, Doc, I know.  I left the Army looking for a spot where I wouldn’t have to see something like this again.  But here it is and we both have jobs to do.” Looking down at his scarred boots, Matt frowned before continuing.  “I need some help on this and I don’t mind saying it.”

Doc Landers didn’t answer right away, but ran a shaking hand over his face.  “I’m gonna call Little Rock and ask for a hand, Matt.  I’m not the man to work this one.” He turned to face Matt.  “You need the State boys, someone who knows more about what to look for than this old country doctor.  I expect they’ll want ‘em transported there.  If they do, I’ll set it up myself and ride with 'em to be sure protocol is followed.  I sure hope they can send someone down though since there are two of them, at least for the prelims.”  He shoved his shaking hands deeper into his pockets.  “Matt, what killed those two kids wasn’t human.  Not on the inside he wasn’t.”

Matt watched the country doc climb down the porch steps to bark directions to the EMTs who would transport the bodies once the crime scene techs were finished.  He quietly agreed with him.  “No sir, that’s not what was in that cabin, not nearly.” Thinking back to what he’d witnessed inside not twenty feet from where he stood, he added almost to himself, “not even close.”

Matt’s cell phone rang as they started loading the bodies into the ambulance.  He checked the number and seeing it was Gail at the sheriff’s office, answered it.

“Yeah.”

“Sheriff, just thought you might want to know about this since you have that situation out there.  Dorothy and Pete Reynolds reported their daughter, Carol Ann, missing.  She was a no show for school today and didn’t come home this afternoon.  They notified city and city passed the info on to us.”

Matt bit back a curse before asking the obvious, “It’s nearly six at night.  Why are they just now reporting her missing?”

“She normally has play practice after school from three to four-thirty so they weren’t worried till she didn’t show up after five.” Gail’s voice was steady despite the message.

“Gail, the school calls when a kid doesn’t show up for class.  My wife talks about that all the time.  Parents sometimes forget to notify the school when the kid is sick or going to be late from a dentist’s appointment.  Drives her crazy.”  Matt cradled the phone to his ear pulling out his pad and pen to take notes as Gail talked.

“The school called Carl Ann’s mom at work when she didn’t show up for her second period class.  Dorothy was working at the branch bank today instead of the main one and didn’t get the message left on her machine.”

“City knows what’s going on out here?”

“Yeah, that’s why they called here when you didn’t answer your cell.  Figured you were busy.  They didn’t say anything to the Reynolds but said it would only be a matter of time 'til someone leaks what you got to the press.  You might want to rule Carol Ann out and let them know before someone beats you to it.” When Matt didn’t say anything right off, Gail whispered “shit” under her breath.

“Thanks, Gail.  Keep a lid on this out here as long as you can while we tie things up so we don’t get the news hounds mucking up the area.” He shoved the pen and pad back into his pocket once again before running his hand through his hair.  He needed a haircut.

“Will do, Matt.  Detective Dawson of the city police department is primary if you need to contact him.”  She passed on the phone number before hanging up.

Matt headed in the direction of where Buddy still sat slumped on the bumper of his truck, the rubber tailgate supporting his weight by the looks of it.  Sitting next to the man, Matt leaned against the rubber gate as well. 

“Buddy, I know you’ve gone over and over this, but I need to ask a few more questions, okay?” When Buddy only nodded in agreement, he continued.  “What was the first thing you noticed when you drove up?”

Buddy drew in a deep breath before clearing his throat, “Um, I guess it was the light in the window.  Darrell and I were talking and we both noticed it about the same time.” He rubbed his hand up and down his left leg, the movement eliciting a squeak from the clasps holding the rubber gate in place.

“Darrell made it to the door before I did since he was on that side of the truck but I was right behind him.  He just stopped all of a sudden like, inside the door and I ran right into him.”

Matt nodded quietly and after Buddy didn’t continue, prompted him.  “When you stepped inside, do you remember hearing anything?  Maybe even before you opened the door?”

Buddy just shook his head, never shifting his eyes from some distant spot ahead of him.  When he didn’t stop shaking his head, Matt knew he wouldn’t be able to get anything more out of the man tonight.

“Buddy, why don’t you find Darrell and you two go on home.  I don’t want you talking to anyone about this, you hear?” Matt touched his arm lightly drawing his attention.  “We have two families we still have to notify and I’d like it if we can do that in a quiet way and not have them hear about this from some reporter.  Okay?” Matt stood up, moving in front of Buddy to be sure the man registered what he was saying.

“Yeah, Matt, I understand.” Looking Matt in the eyes for the first time, he continued, “You know, my son Ricky was Tommy’s best friend.  I don’t know what…”  He all but choked on the last word as it finally hit him.  Lurching to the side of the truck, Buddy slid off the bumper vomiting in the grass as the rubber tailgate snapped back with a muted thump.  Matt turned his head looking in the other direction, his mouth a tight line holding back his emotions, understanding the grim realization that had finally hit Buddy.  It could have been his son he’d walked in and found mutilated in that cabin. 

Matt waited until he was basically alone at the scene to pull his phone out.  He hesitated to punch in the number but knew if he wanted to catch the killer he was going to need help.  Someone who knew more about reading into a crime scene what went on in the head of the killer.  He needed Gavin.  The question wasn’t if he’d come, because Matt knew he’d be come without a doubt.  The question was could Matt deal with seeing him again?  Could he handle remembering the life he left behind?

Gavin 'Ghost' Farinelli was the only person Matt knew he could trust with his life.  Gavin had kept his ass out of hot water and a cold grave on more than one occasion during their ten years of Army hell.  The last five of those years was spent in Special Forces, Green Berets.  They’d been part of the 75^th Ranger Regiment and the two were known to get things done when anything less was not an option. 

“Damn!”  Before he changed his mind, Matt angrily punched in the number he knew like his own but hadn’t called in the five years he’d been out of the service.  The phone rang six times before a canned recording with the voice of a surly girl asked him to leave his name and number so the “dude” could get back to him "when he damn well felt like it".

Smiling at how Gavin-like it was, Matt left his message.  “Ghost, Snake here.  You have my numbers.  Call me.”

Snapping the phone closed a little too hard, he shoved it back in his pocket to survey the innocent looking cabin dark and nearly consumed by shadows.  The carnage behind that door would haunt him for the rest of his life.  Unless they found the bastard and stopped him soon, there’d be more and he knew it.  Shaking his head, Matt turned to head for his truck, his jaw already aching with the pressure he’d exerted on it to maintain control.  Before he reached the truck, his phone rang.  Checking the number, it was Gavin.  Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he answered it. 

“Yeah?”

“Snake?” The deep voice from his past asked on the other end.  “Didn’t realize the temperature dropped that low in hell, man.”

Matt smiled despite his reservations and leaned back against the truck door feeling the immediate tensing in his muscles.  “Yeah, looks like snow any day now.” Running a hand through his hair, he sighed and plowed right in. 

“I know I don’t have a right to ask, Gavin,” he hesitated, reluctant to continue, “but I could use some help here.” It was quiet on the other end for almost a full thirty seconds.  Matt realized he was holding his breath, wondering if he’d been wrong about Gavin after all.

“Don’t ever think you owe me anything, Matt.  You don’t.”  Gavin’s dark voice admonished him.  “What we used to do was killing you.  There just wasn’t anything inside of me to kill, is all.”  Matt didn’t respond, couldn’t respond to this.  Gavin’s sigh echoed over the phone. 

“How do you get to this backwoods town of yours, anyway?”

Matt gave him directions to Casper and the Sheriff’s office before hanging up.  Despite his misgivings over bringing Gavin in, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders.  He could count on Gavin to do whatever needed doing.  Now he just had to figure out how to deal with his own demons.