Chapter 27
J oel sped toward Bloom, a bad feeling burning in his gut.
Polly wasn’t answering his calls. Why? She always answered.
He shot a glance in his rearview mirror to see Ryan not far behind.
The frantic beats of his heart knocked against his ribs. He’d always held the belief that this wasn’t Jonah. But what if he was wrong? What if the guy was exactly who Polly had thought he was?
He pressed his foot harder to the gas, the car surging forward.
The second he pulled over in front of Bloom, he was out of the car and running. Not only was the door unlocked, it was ajar. He crashed inside, Ryan right behind him.
“Polly?” he yelled.
Silence. Complete fucking silence.
He sprinted into the kitchen, then the office, searching. Scanning every inch of space.
Nothing. She wasn’t here. She wasn’t fucking here.
He tried the back door but it was locked. When he stepped back into the dining area, he saw what he’d missed the first time. Her phone. It sat on the counter.
“She wouldn’t have left without this.”
The door to Bloom suddenly opened and Deputy Cox walked in, in full uniform.
“What are you doing here?” Joel growled, past the point of calm.
“A neighbor called.” His brows pulled together as he scanned the shop. “Reported seeing Polly forced outside by Jonah Goodwill.”
Blood drained from Joel’s face. “What?”
Cox held up his hands. “We’ve put a BOLO out on his car. We’re looking for her. I’m just here to check the scene.”
No. It wasn’t enough.
He pulled out his phone and called Olivia Mack.
She answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Olivia. This is Joel Dawson. Do you know where Jonah Goodwill is?”
“Um, no. We had a fight about Polly about an hour ago, and he stormed out saying something about fixing it. Why? Is something wrong?”
“Polly’s missing.”
Olivia gasped. “No.”
“Yes. And a neighbor reported your husband dragging her out of her shop.”
“He wouldn’t do that?—”
“According to a witness, he did. So if you have any idea where he might have taken her, you need to tell me.”
“I-I’m sorry.” Her voice broke. “I don’t know.”
Dammit.
He hung up and turned to Ryan. “She doesn’t know.”
“We’ll organize the team, search his house and the forest. We’ll find her.”
Air hissed through his teeth. The forest was huge. And five minutes too late could mean?—
“Joel.” Ryan gripped his shoulder. “We’re good at what we do. And we’re not stopping until we have her. Got it?”
He nodded, even though there wasn’t a single part of him that had anything. Confidence. Sanity. It was all gone.
Cox tilted his head toward the door. “Come on. I’ll go with you to search his home.”
Ryan headed to base, where the guys would meet him, while Joel followed Cox to Jonah’s house.
The drive wasn’t long, but every second felt like ten. It was torture. All he could think was that she was out there, alone with a killer…and he couldn’t protect her.
When they reached Jonah’s ranch-style home, Ward also pulled up with another deputy.
Cox dipped his head at Ward when he was out of the vehicle. “Thanks for coming, Sheriff.”
Ward looked at Joel. “What are you doing here?”
The fuck kind of a question was that?
Cox got in before he could. “I told him he could come.”
“He’s not?—”
“He can help,” Cox interrupted Ward. “We need help. Every second counts.”
Ward blew out a long breath before crossing to the door and knocking. “Jonah Goodwill? This is Ward. We need you to open up.”
Joel’s hands fisted, trying to stop himself from barging past everyone.
Ward knocked again. “Jonah?”
Silence.
“He’s not in there,” Joel growled. “We need to enter, now .”
Ward sighed. “Fine. Am I calling a locksmith or?—”
Joel stepped forward and tried the handle…
Unlocked.
He pulled his Glock from his concealed holster before pushing the door open and inching inside. He stepped into the living room first and scanned the space. Ward, Cox, and the other deputy scattered throughout the house.
He was checking the walk-in pantry in the kitchen when Cox called from down the hall.
Joel raced into an office—only to stop dead.
There, on the wall, were photos of all the recent women who’d been taken and killed.
Nikki Bishop. Zoe Ewin. Priya Tan. And even more recently, Jenna Hampstead and Teagan Kimm.
His eyes narrowed on the sixth photo.
Polly.
Cox lifted a notepad from the desk. There were two dates scribbled down.
“What do they mean?” Joel asked.
Ward shook his head. “No idea.”
“The first is the date that the old mansion on the hill was cordoned off.” Cox pointed to the bottom date. “And this is the day we got all our stuff out of there.” He frowned. “He must have been waiting for the opportunity to take her there.”
It wasn’t much, but the best information they had.
Joel raced out of the house and toward his truck. On the way, he messaged the team.
Joel: I need backup at the deserted mansion on the hill.
Breathe. In and out.
She repeated those words again and again. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. Every second had trickled by slowly, stretching and thickening. Making the band around her chest tighten.
And she was cold. The kind of cold that soaked into her skin and trickled through every part of her body. But that might also be shock.
She closed her eyes, shutting out the dark and the cold and the feeling of being trapped. And she pictured herself somewhere else. With Joel. In his home. With Saint and the smell of takeout. Pictured herself wrapped in Joel’s arms.
If she concentrated hard enough, she could almost feel the heat of his body seep into her own. She could almost hear his words as he whispered that everything would be okay.
And it would be okay. Eventually, someone would realize she was missing. They’d check the cellar and let her out. She just needed to wait.
The walls started to close in on her again, suffocating her.
No. She was in control of how she felt, and she was not going to let this become bigger than her.
Breathe, Polly.
She tucked her head down between her knees again.
In and out.
Suddenly, the door at the top of the stairs rattled.
Her heart stuttered. The door cracked. Light blinded her, but in a good way.
It was open! She wasn’t trapped! And the fresh air—God, it filled her lungs, clear and crisp.
The relief was so intense, black dots started to haze her vision.
“Polly?” A calm familiar voice called from the top. Footsteps sounded on the stairs. “Hey. You’re okay.” Someone crouched in front of her, then warm hands touched her arms. “Thank God I found you. Everyone’s so worried.”
“Deputy Cox?”
“Yeah. We’re all looking for you. Especially Joel. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
Relief thickened her throat to the point she could only nod.
The deputy helped her up. She was shaky, and she allowed him to shoulder a lot of her weight up the stairs.
“Easy,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”
“Someone pushed me.” Her voice trembled. “They locked me down there.”
“I’ve got you now.”
When they reached the top, instead of walking through Bloom, he took her around the back of the shop to his waiting patrol car.
The second she was in the passenger seat, she closed her eyes, finally letting the panic ease from her body.
She was okay. She was safe. And soon, she’d be back with Joel.
The driver’s door opened and closed.
“You okay?” Cox asked.
“Just ready to get home. Can you take me to Joel?”
“Going now.”
“Did you message him and let him know you found me?” If he thought she was missing, he’d be losing his mind.
“Everything’s under control.”
Was that a yes?
It couldn’t be. If Cox had texted to say he’d found her, wouldn’t Joel call? Wouldn’t he want to hear her voice? “Have you seen my phone? I’d like to call him.”
“I’m not sure where it is, sorry.”
She sat up a little straighter, trying to force her muddy mind to focus. “How did you know to check the cellar?”
“When we couldn’t locate you or Jonah, I decided to loop back to Bloom and do another check. It’s just lucky I remembered there was a cellar.” He took a right turn.
She frowned. “This isn’t the way to Joel’s house.”
Cox’s fingers tightened on the wheel.
“Cox…what’s going on?”
“I take my faith very seriously, Polly.”
Some of that chill from the cellar returned to her skin. “Okay.”
“And when I became a deputy, I started seeing things I couldn’t unsee. Sin drenched everything . I watched it. I felt it. Every day, everywhere. On the streets. In my congregation. In women who forgot modesty and humility and the path they’re supposed to be on.”
“What are you talking about?”
“They flaunt themselves,” he said, almost to himself. “They tempt. They ignore the teachings meant to keep them pure. And when I try to help them find righteousness, they just mock me. They laugh at me.”
“Cox—”
“I couldn’t change anything with my badge. I had no way to implement the kind of change the world needed. I couldn’t fix it with the law.”
“Stop the car.”
“Then one night, just over a year ago, I was going through old cases. I found these women—two drowned and three missing. At first they didn’t appear connected…
but they were all young, promiscuous women.
One had a child without being married. Another, Eileen Baker, was sleeping with a string of different men. It was all in their case files.”
She tried the handle but the door wouldn’t open.
“But this person who was doing the Lord’s work, they stopped.” Cox shook his head. “They hadn’t taken another woman in over five years. And that’s when I realized that God had led me to those cases. So I could continue his work.”
“His work?”
“I took over and became God’s hands. His warning.”
“You’re a copycat killer,” she hissed.
“No. I’m God’s reminder of what happens when women parade their bodies like banners of rebellion.”
“Were you dating Jenna before you killed her?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “She was getting drugs from her pharmacy for me. I told her they were for a good cause. To help. And I wasn’t lying about that.
But when she overheard your little conversation, she realized the truth.
She went to the mansion while I was there.
She saw them. She ran. I followed and did what I had to do. ”
“You killed her!”
“It was that or be arrested. Then I would’ve had to stop all the good I was doing.”
He really believed that hurting, killing , was good? “What about Teagan?”
“Every week she flaunted herself at church. The way she dressed. The way she cozied up to men—even married men. And those tourists…you should have seen the way they were dressed. The men they had flings with in this town.”
Polly swallowed. “What about me ? I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You think I didn’t hear that little conversation in The Pancake Bar? Joel’s mother told the entire town the truth—that you started dating a man who was promised to another.”
“No. He was never?—”
“ Don’t lie to me, Polly!”
He slammed a fist against the wheel, making her flinch. There was no talking him around. In his head, he was doing God’s work, and that’s all there was to it.
“I’m sorry, Polly.” He swallowed. “I really liked you. But I’ve been put on this path for a reason, and I can’t stop now.”
His eyes gleamed, but not with the righteousness she was sure he felt—with obsession.
No one was going to save her. She had to save herself. She had to get out.
Her heart started to race as she realized she only had one option. It was risky and dangerous and stupid. So stupid. But doing nothing was certain death.
Three…two…one…
She lunged, grabbed the wheel, and yanked it to the side.
Cox cried out and attempted to pull it back, but it was too late. The wheel turned. The car swerved and the tires squealed, the car hurtling straight toward a tree. Polly tried to brace, but her head hit the glass of the side window on impact, pain immediately shooting through her skull.
Black dots edged her vision and a buzz roared in her ears, competing with Cox’s muttering.
The click of a door opening and closing sounded.
When her own door opened, she tried to fight, but the dizziness made her weak and lethargic. Her ribs screamed as she was thrown over Cox’s hard shoulder. Then they were moving. Away from the road. Into the trees.