Snared (Elemental Assassin #16)(41)

I didn’t respond. Nothing I could say would make the situation any better. And what I had to tell her about the Dollmaker . . . that was another blow that couldn’t be softened.

Jade gestured for me to follow her, and we left the high-tech office behind and walked down a long hallway that opened into a kitchen. Unlike the sleek professionalism of the front of the house, this area was much more lived-in, with bills and junk mail piled on the countertop, a bowl of soggy cereal sitting on the kitchen table, and an enormous cookie jar shaped like a giant chocolate cake perched next to the stove.

Jade caught me staring at the cookie jar, and her face brightened. “That was a Christmas present from Elissa. Going out and getting dessert is one of our traditions. We’ve done it ever since she was a little girl. Every time we go on vacation, we try to find a new dessert to try . . .”

Jade stared at the cookie jar a second longer, then went over to one of the cabinets, yanked it open, and pulled out a large bottle of gin, along with two glasses. She poured a regular amount of liquor into one glass and held it out to me. I took it from her, and she turned her attention to the second glass, which she filled all the way to the brim. Jade downed half of the liquid in one gulp, shuddering a little, as though it burned her throat, before she looked at me again.

“You’ve put it off long enough. Tell me what you found out.” Her fingers curled tightly around the glass. “I want to hear it, no matter how bad it is.”

I downed my own gin, fortifying myself with a bit of liquid courage, and told her everything that Bria and Ryan had told me about the Dollmaker.

Jade’s eyes grew wider and wider, and her face went paler and paler the longer I talked. By the time I finished, her pretty features were twisted into one of the most horrified expressions I’d ever seen. She started to raise her glass to her lips again to down the rest of her drink, but it slipped from her trembling hand and shattered on the floor, spraying shards and liquid everywhere. She clapped her hand over her mouth, whirled around, and ran out of the kitchen. A few seconds later, I heard her retching.

Yeah, I felt sick to my stomach too.

I put my own empty glass down on the counter. I found Jade slumped beside a toilet in a bathroom down the hall. She’d already emptied her stomach and flushed the contents away. Now she just sat there, curled up against the toilet, her body sagging against the cold white porcelain, tears streaming down her face.

“A serial killer,” she said, her voice coming in ragged gasps. “A fucking serial killer has my sister. Why? Why is this happening? Why Elissa? She never hurt anybody. She doesn’t deserve this. No one deserves this.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. I’m sorry, Jade. So sorry.”

She looked up at me, and her face just crumpled. More tears rolled down her cheeks, and she cradled her head in her hands and started sobbing.

I went over and sat down beside her, wedging myself between her and the sink. Jade kept right on crying, so I slung my arm around her shoulders and held her tight, trying to offer what little comfort I could, even though each one of her gasping, heaving, choking sobs ripped at the black threads of my heart, tearing them to shreds.

? ? ?

Jade’s heartbreak and exhaustion finally caught up with her, and her tears slowed and finally stopped—for now.

I helped her to her room, tucked her into bed, and waited until she’d fallen asleep before I slipped back out into the kitchen. By this point, it was after one o’clock in the morning, but I didn’t want to leave her alone, so I called Owen and told him that I was spending the night at Jade’s house. He was waiting up for me and as supportive as always, which warmed my heart despite everything that had happened.

“Do me a favor,” I said.

“Anything.” Owen’s voice rumbled in my ear.

“Go hug Eva for me. And Violet too, if she’s there.”

“You got it,” he said, his tone suddenly thick with emotion. “Do you think . . . do you think that you can find Elissa before it’s too late?”

I closed my eyes and rubbed my aching forehead. “I don’t know. I just don’t know. But I’m going to try my best.”

“Well, I have faith in you,” Owen said. “If anyone can find and stop this guy, it’s you, Gin.”

My throat closed up at his strong, unwavering belief in me, especially since it was a belief that I didn’t have. Not right now. Not with the pictures of all those dead, beaten, strangled women running through my mind, mixed with the blood-red spider runes on the most recent victim’s hands.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you back,” Owen murmured in my ear.

I promised to call with any updates, and we hung up.

I checked on Jade, and she was still sleeping, so I wandered around the house, searching for a place to crash for the night. I opened a closed door down the hall to find another bedroom, Elissa’s bedroom.

I hesitated, my hand on the knob, wondering if I should go inside, but my curiosity got the best of me, the way it always did. So I turned on the light and slipped into the room.

It was your typical college girl’s room. Colorful clothes were strewn all over the unmade bed, while plastic baskets full of fresh, clean laundry sat in front of the open closet, waiting to be hung up and put away. A stuffed brown bear wearing a blue T-shirt with the words Ashland Community College on it perched on the corner of a white vanity table cluttered with textbooks, pens, notepads, jewelry, and nail polish. Photos were stuck in all around the edges of the vanity table mirror, showing Elissa with her friends. I leaned in for a better look.