Soul Possession(33)

“What’s going on?” Rick demanded.

“Kirsten’s worried. She hasn’t heard from Jessie all day and she said she drove by Jessie’s apartment and her car is still there but the door is locked and it looks like she isn’t home.”

“Shit,” Rick said. “It’s after eight and it’s been hours since we last heard from her. I knew I should have gone by to check on her. What if she’s inside the house hurt?”

“Let’s go,” Truitt said as he hurried out of his office.

Several minutes later they roared up to Jessie’s apartment and parked behind her car. Rick was out of the truck before Truitt had come to a full stop. Cursing, Truitt got out and ran to the front door behind Rick.

They tried the door but found it locked. They both put a shoulder to the wood and then rammed forward. On the second attempt, the door burst open and they rushed in.

“Jessie!” Truitt yelled. “Jessie, are you in here?”

Rick nearly tripped on her suitcases. They ran to the bedroom, the only other room besides the bathroom, but the apartment was empty.

“Where the hell is she?” Rick demanded.

“She’s mostly packed. Everything is out of the bedroom and bathroom. Looks like she only had the kitchen. Her suitcases are by the door and her car is out front. Where the hell could she have gone?”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Rick said. “This is going to sound crazy, Tru, but I can’t get the idea out of my head.”

“What? Spit it out, man.”

“The killer called before this time. He’s never done that. But this time he made it a point to call us and say that he’d already chosen his next victim. I know it sounds insane but it’s screaming in my head right now. What if the son of a bitch tagged her from the news story?”

“That’s a hell of a coincidence. What are the odds? Unless this guy is watching us. Then he’d know that we were involved with Jessie, but that’s just crazy.”

“Why does he call me every time?” Rick asked quietly. “Why not someone else. Why not the chief? It’s not about attention. He’s obviously focused on me. And if he’s focused on me, then he’d damn well know about Jessie. Or it could be a raging coincidence. Either way I have a sick feeling that the bastard has his hands on Jessie and if we don’t do something, we’re going to lose her.”

Chapter 14

Jessie woke to throbbing pain in her head. Her entire body hurt. Her muscles were still jittery and she couldn’t make sense of where she was or what had happened.

The first thing she became aware of was rain. The sound of rain, a gentle patter that soothed some of the vicious ache. She started to raise her head, because for some reason, the rest of her body wasn’t cooperating, but as soon as she moved, agonizing pain ripped through her knee.

She screamed and tried to flinch away, but she couldn’t move. She was tied to a wooden table, completely naked.

A face appeared above her. A face she remembered. And it all came back. The cop at her apartment. The bitch had Tased her.

The woman rammed the butt of her pistol into Jessie’s knee again.

The pain was so horrific that Jessie gagged and turned her face to the side, breathing fiercely through her nose so she wouldn’t vomit.

“Glad you’re awake. The hunt is about to begin.”

The words were said with such coolness and calm that they sent a shiver down Jessie’s spine. She lay there panting, frantic to make sense of her situation. What the hell was happening? This woman was a police officer for God’s sake.

“This is the way it’s going to happen,” the woman said.

Her hair was pulled back into a sharp ponytail, so tight that the skin stretched across angular cheekbones. She’d be pretty with makeup. Jessie almost laughed hysterically at the idea that she was contemplating how a maniac would look spiffed up.

She was tall. Even taller than Jessie had first realized. She had an athletic build that Jessie envied and was toned, with not an ounce of fat anywhere on her body.

She had on camo pants and a black tank, but what Jessie’s gaze was drawn to was the wicked-looking hunting knife in her hand. It gleamed in the low light, and as Jessie dragged her gaze from that knife, she realized that she was in what looked to be a hunting camp and God only knew where they were.

The woman leaned in closer until the knife was so close Jessie could see her own reflection in the blade.

“I’m going to let you go and you’re going to run. Then I’m going to hunt you and make the kill. It’s fair. You get a fighting chance. Everyone before you has been too stupid to know what to do with it, but that’s not my fault. I gave it to them.”

“If you wanted to make it fair, you wouldn’t have bashed my knee,” Jessie said through gritted teeth. “You have to know I can’t run.”

The woman shrugged. “I imagine you can do lots of things you don’t think you can when you’re life is on the line.”

She yanked the knife down Jessie’s side and Jessie felt her flesh split open. She screamed in shock and horror as pain assaulted her all over again. The smell of blood rushed through her nostrils and she gagged again.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jessie yelled hoarsely. Oh God, it hurt. It felt like she was on fire. This bitch was crazy. Batshit crazy. And you couldn’t reason with crazy.