Chapter 49
I reached our rendezvous point—an abandoned gas station—ten minutes after leaving the mall, my lungs burning.
The small building's boarded windows and graffiti-covered walls made it invisible to casual observers, perfect for our needs.
Juan had left the rusty back door unlocked as planned.
I slipped inside, checking my burner phone every few seconds for updates from Matt and Juan.
The abandoned store smelled of mildew and old gasoline, its shelves long stripped bare by scavengers.
I positioned myself by a narrow gap in the plywood covering the windows, watching the road for any sign of pursuit while keeping the phone clutched in my hand.
Every minute felt stretched to the breaking point, each passing car making my heart stutter until it proved to be just another commuter on their morning drive.
The burner phone vibrated at last. A text from Matt: "In. But no one here. No Tommy."
Damn it!
The phone vibrated again: "No Sarah either. She must have taken him somewhere. We will gather evidence and take folders with us."
My stomach tightened. The shrine we'd discovered in her basement would be good evidence. “Take everything you can.”
Twelve minutes since they'd entered the house. I checked my watch compulsively, calculating how much longer their window would remain open. The phone remained silent for what felt like an eternity, but was actually only three minutes.
When it finally vibrated, the message chilled me to the bone: "Found something new in her calendar."
Before I could respond, a call came through—Matt breaking protocol, which meant whatever they'd discovered couldn't wait. I answered immediately.
"Eva Rae." His voice was tight with urgency. "Sarah's planning to kill Tommy and herself. "
The world seemed to tilt beneath me. "What?"
"She’s written it all in the calendar. She's taking him to a cabin in the Ocala Forest.”
I pressed my back against the wall, needing its solidity as my mind processed this horror. "When?"
"Today." There was a pause, the sound of pages turning. "She's been preparing the cabin for days. Setting the stage."
A distant siren wailed through the phone connection. Matt's voice dropped lower. "We've got to get out of here. Juan's downloading everything we can from her computer. I'm taking the files, the calendar, and the photos. The maps to the cabin, her detailed plans, everything."
"Where exactly is the cabin?" I asked, already moving toward the back door, calculating routes and travel times.
"Ocala National Forest, eastern edge, near Alexander Springs. There's a service road marked on her map that leads to an isolated cabin. She's labeled it 'Final Scene.'"
I knew the area—remote, heavily wooded, with scattered vacation properties that stood empty most of the year. Perfect for what Sarah had planned. "How long ago did she leave?"
"Who knows? She could have left last night."
The thought of Tommy's confused face as his adoptive mother prepared to make him the final victim in her elaborate performance made my chest constrict with rage and fear.
"I'm sending everything to media contacts now," Matt said, the sound of rapid typing audible in the background. "The calendar pages, photos of her shrine, everything we've found. If we can't stop her, at least the truth will come out."
Another siren wailed, closer this time. "They're coming," Juan's voice came through faintly. "Time's up."
"Go," I urged. "Get out now.”
"What about you?" Matt asked, concern evident despite the urgency of their situation.
"I'm heading to the cabin. Sarah doesn't know we've discovered her plan. I might be able to reach them before—" I couldn't finish the sentence, the words sticking in my throat.
"Eva Rae, wait for us. She's dangerous, more unstable than we realized. The calendar entries from the last few days show complete dissociation from reality. She's writing as if she's already become you."
"That's exactly why I can't wait," I replied, already moving toward the rear exit. "Tommy doesn't have hours left—he might not even have minutes."
The sound of a door closing came through the phone, followed by muffled footsteps. Matt and Juan were leaving the house, hopefully seconds before the police returned.
"We're out," Matt confirmed breathlessly. "Heading to the car now. We'll meet you by the cabin. Don't go in alone, Eva. Please."
"I'll try to wait," I said, both of us knowing it was likely a lie. "Be careful."
I ended the call, tucking the phone into my pocket as I slipped out the back door of the abandoned gas station.
I had spent my career stopping killers before they claimed their next victims. Now I was racing to prevent a twisted mirror version of myself from committing her ultimate crime—a performance designed specifically for my eyes, using Tommy's life as her final, devastating prop.
As I stood outside the building waiting for Matt and Juan, I saw a truck parked in the back of the parking lot. I didn’t even think about it for a minute. I had watched Matt hot-wire enough cars to know exactly how it was done.
There was no time to waste.