The Devil's Daughter (Hidden Sins #1)(60)
Her mother had done awful things in the past to keep her flock from wandering. She’d turned peer pressure into a weapon, effectively creating an environment where speaking up was policed by the very people she abused. She’d tortured individuals—though God alone knew they didn’t call it torture—in front of her entire flock. She buried a teenage girl alive every single year.
Who’s to say she wouldn’t commit murder?
Eden stopped next to her car and peered inside. There didn’t seem to be any gifts, but her time in Elysia today wasn’t over. She squared her shoulders and headed for the chapel doors again. If they were locked, she’d circle around back and climb in the low window to the ladies’ bathroom. Very little had changed around here if her mother’s house was anything to go by, so she had her doubts that the lock had ever been fixed.
But this time when she yanked on the door, it flew open, almost spilling her onto her ass. Eden cursed, looked around to see if she had an audience, and cursed again. What were the damn odds? She didn’t like this. She didn’t like it one bit. But the only other option was rushing to her car, so she headed inside. “Hello?” With the lights down low and her footsteps echoing from the walls, she felt like she’d mistakenly been cast in a horror movie.
Not so much a mistake as a predestined role.
“Mother?” The word tasted bad in her mouth, but they all had their roles to play. No one had more answers about this cult than Martha, so Eden would jump through whatever hoops the woman set up for her. “Are you here?” She turned the corner, heading deeper into the building, unable to shake the feeling that there was a second set of footsteps echoing in time with her own, though if they were ahead of her or behind her, she couldn’t begin to guess.
The small hairs at the back of her neck rose, and she glanced over her shoulder. The hallway was empty, but she could see a grand total of only ten feet of it. Someone could be standing just on the other side, holding their breath the same way she was, waiting for her to start walking again.
This is crazy. There’s no one there. No one even knows I’m here.
Except you announced yourself the second you walked through the door like an idiot.
Oh, yeah, except for that.
Instinct demanded she run, but if she did, she was little better than prey. She reached for her gun before remembering she didn’t have it on her. It didn’t matter. She’d been trained not to be defenseless while unarmed. Eden moved as silently as possible and then burst around the corner, ready for anything.
It was empty.
Movement farther down the hallway caught her eye, the slightest shift of a door closing. Eden almost let it go, but the very instincts that demanded she flee before now had her rushing down the hallway and through the door. There had been someone there.
Someone who just might be the killer.
It didn’t occur to her that pursuit was a shitty idea until she rounded the corner, got an eyeful of metal, and was knocked onto her back. Blackness sucked her down, taking everything with it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Zach cursed long and hard at the sight of a dozen cars gathered around the spot where Chase’s directions had led him. Despite the police tape—which he never thought he’d have to use while he was sheriff of Clear Springs—cordoning off the crime scene, there was a small crowd of townsfolk gathered, staring avidly at William and Chase where they crouched next to a cloaked form.
Neveah Smith.
He searched the familiar faces, picking out Hakeem and a few others, but no Robert or Julie. He didn’t think for a second they’d gone home to process their loss like he’d instructed—it was only a matter of time before they either showed up here or on Elysia’s front doorstep, demanding answers. He couldn’t help thinking of Eden and what she’d said would happen if they did. Nothing good. Even if he wasn’t motivated by the deaths of two teenagers in his town, the potential of an armed conflict between the Elysians and townspeople was enough to have his blood pressure rising. They needed this case closed and peace restored—sooner rather than later.
Ignoring the questions a few people lobbed at him, he ducked under the police tape and walked over to the two men. “Chase. William.”
William seemed to have aged ten years in the last week, something in common with everyone else involved in the case. “Sheriff.” He nodded to the tarp on the ground. “Chase here took pictures of everything in the area of the body—pictures that will not leak this time. I’ve told my staff in no uncertain terms that a repeat will mean their jobs. Though I still can’t figure out who sent it in the first place.” He glared at the gawkers. “But we couldn’t leave the girl like that with them around. It wasn’t right.”
No, it wasn’t. He didn’t like the potential of mucking up evidence, but Zach didn’t fault his reasoning. This wasn’t some random drifter who’d wandered into town, unconnected to anyone. This was a girl who’d been born here, who’d grown up around them, who’d lost her chance to ever reach adulthood. It was wrong on so many levels that he didn’t know where to start. He crouched down and carefully lifted the edge of the tarp.
Even knowing what he’d find, it still rocked him back on his heels to see her like this. He tried to take a mental step back, to look for evidence, rather than remembering the girl she’d been—trouble, sure, but so full of life.