Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
I’m flooringit through town as I hang up with Evie and call Francine. Her phone rings and rings, but she never picks up. I try her a few more times before growling and slamming my hand into the dashboard.
Finally, I call Dylan. He picks up on the first ring. “Please tell me you have eyes on my daughter?” I demand, knowing I sound exactly how I feel.
“What? No, I had eyes on Evie like we planned. I was just about to call you.”
Shit shit shit. I pinch my eyes closed but only for a second. I need to concentrate on driving and getting to the campground. I rush to catch Dylan up with everything Evie and I talked about, finishing just as I pull into the parking lot.
“Hmm,” Dylan says, sounding distracted. “Evie and Patrick Vaughn just left Firefly. It looked like they were in a hurry.”
“Wait.” I replay what he just said. “Patrick Vaughn is back?”
“Yeah, just arrived tonight. He went straight to Firefly to see your girl.”
Well, that’s interesting. “Haven’t we been tracking Patrick? How did we not know he was coming home today?”
“Must have been planned. He doesn’t have any more campground reservations for another week.”
What the fuck is going on tonight? Everything feels like it’s unraveling. Billy is missing. Francine took Lucy to Deep Creek Campground to see the fireflies without even telling me. Patrick Vaughn is mysteriously back in town. Jenkins is going rogue while on house arrest.
And I’m about to lose my damn mind.
“What’s the plan?” I ask. Dylan is always the one with the plan—I’ve just been helping him narrow down his suspect list. But now that my daughter is involved, I need him to tell me the fucking plan.
“I’ll follow them, see what they’re up to, then I’ll meet you at Deep Creek to help you find your daughter.” He pauses, and silence lingers on the line. “She’s going to be okay, Linc.”
Nothing seems to be working right—my brain, my heart, my senses. I’m blindly following the only information I have on the whereabouts of my daughter and hoping it’s enough.
“Hey,” Dylan adds gently. “Wait for me before you do anything reckless. I’ll call Gabe and get us some backup. Call me if you find Lucy.”
I take in the deepest breath I can manage, trying to control my heart rate. “Thanks, man. I will.”
After we hang up the phone, I reach over to retrieve my gun from the glove compartment then call Francine one more time, just in case.
“Hello?”
I want to cry with relief when Francine’s voice comes on the line. My head falls back against the seat. “Thank god, Francine.”
She laughs like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “Oh my, I’ve never known you to be so happy to hear from me.”
Gritting my teeth, I try to hold back my anger. She has no idea what’s going on. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you. Why didn’t you tell me you were taking Lucy to Deep Creek?”
“Oh,” she tsks. “That’s what this is about. You forgot to sign her permission slip, and the daycare called me telling me she was sobbing because all her friends were on the field trip except for her. So I took her.”
Again, being angry at Francine is completely wrong. She doesn’t know. She loves Lucy. She’s only trying to do the right thing by Lucy.
“And I didn’t think I had to tell you. Lilith said she’d call you.”
I freeze, my relief short-lived as horror washes through me. “Lilith hasn’t called me, Francine. Why would she call me?”
“Because Lucy wanted to stay at the campground with Willow. She wanted to go on that firefly walk tonight. The bugs were biting me like crazy, so Lilith offered to watch Lucy. She was going to call you and see if you wanted to join them.”
My chest constricts, and I’m not sure I’m capable of breathing right away. My worst nightmare has just come true—my daughter will be among the fireflies in the same place where my sister was killed. With a killer on the loose.
“Lincoln, are you okay?”
I don’t respond. I’m not sure how to. Instead, I hang up the phone and call Lilith next. It rings, but no one picks up, so I try one more time, already mapping out my search route in my head as I wait for her to pick up the phone. When it goes to voicemail again, I grab the gun and shove it in the back pocket of my jeans.
Just then, a loud banging comes from the passenger window. I jump and look over to find a completely disheveled Lilith. Her hair is wild like she’s been running a marathon in a windstorm, her eye makeup is smeared in black streaks around her face, and her eyes are bloodshot like she’s been crying.
“I’m so sorry,” she shouts. “I’m so so sorry.”
Anxiety winds through me. Somehow, I already know why she’s sorry. Yanking open my door, I step out of the car and come around it to face her. “Where’s my daughter, Lilith?” I don’t even try to hide my accusatory tone.
Her eyes plead with mine for forgiveness. “I don’t know.”
“What?” I boom, causing her to jump.
She shakes her head. “The girls ran off when I went to the restroom, and I’ve been searching for them ever since. I was about to check the trail, but I saw you coming. I thought I could find them before you got here.”
I narrow my eyes, wondering if I should remind her that she was supposed to call me and tell me Lucy stayed at camp with her. “How do you know they went into the woods?”
“They kept trying to dart off in that direction earlier, but I was able to stop them.” She covers her face with her hands and begins to tremble. “I’m so sorry. If he has them, I will never forgive myself.”
My worst nightmare is coming to fruition. “What do you mean if he has them?” I ask through gritted teeth. “Who?”
“The Firefly Man.” She looks up, seemingly terrified. “He’s back, isn’t he? That’s what everyone is saying. I just heard Billy went missing.” Her whole body starts to shake. “I would have never brought the kids here today if I thought the killer would come back here to this camp.”
“Why are you so sure Billy went missing because of the Firefly Man?”
She stares at me, eyes wide. “I’m not, but that night I came back here with him and his buddies, he was drunk and making fun of the Firefly Man story. Just to prove it was all one big joke, he went out into the woods and brought back a jar of dead fireflies.” She lets out a breath. “And now he’s missing.” Her eyes snap to mine.
I glare back at her, unable to hide how delusional I think she is. “Yet there have been murders nearby recently, and you still wanted to bring the kids here?”
She flinches, and I wonder if she just realized her lies don’t add up. “But I thought he was long gone, Lincoln. I swear. I would never put our girls in danger.”
I don’t waste another breath talking to Lilith before sprinting toward the campground, heading straight for the same entrance to the woods that Evie, Carley, and I entered fourteen years ago.
“Lucy!” I yell as I slow to a walk and head down the trail, trying to keep my voice calm even though I feel anything but. “Lucy, it’s Daddy! Time to go home, sweetie.”
My feet pound the path as I continue calling for my daughter, desperate to hear her voice in return. Too many minutes go by, but I’m losing track of time as I strain to pick up any sign of my daughter.
“Wait up, Lincoln. You’re too fast.”
I grit my teeth when I hear Lilith’s voice behind me. The woman has some nerve to take my kid and lose her in the one place I would have never allowed her to go. Then to try and fail to keep up with me as I desperately search the woods?
I’ll deal with her later.
“Lincoln,” Lilith calls again. “I think I see them.”
Slowing to a walk, I spin around and sprint in her direction, just in time to see Lilith dart into the woods. I hesitate for only a moment before taking off after her, knowing I have no other choice.
“Lucy!” My voice has become a deep croak after straining for so long. “Yell if you can hear me, sweetie!”
While Lilith takes over calling for the girls, I slip my phone out of my pocket to see if anyone has tried to get ahold of me. When I tap my screen a few times, I realize my phone is completely dead. Shit.
Anger snakes its way through me as I’m forced to continue on a mission to find my daughter and nothing is sitting right with me. Everything about the trip into the woods to find two little girls, who must be scared out of their minds, seems like a flashlight illuminating a new piece of the puzzle, one I’ve been missing.
Now I’m almost too focused on Lilith and her every move, my distrust chaining me to her like a prisoner. Lilith is leading me on a wild goose chase, I just know it. But why? What’s in it for her other than to get me alone?
It’s not like she’s hidden the fact that she’s interested in me. Even Doreen has noticed the frequency of her visits to the office once I took over for Jenkins. And I’m still not sure what troubles Lilith, when all she’s doing is brag about her perfect life, her perfect daughter, and her endless charitable contributions, despite her husband’s death.
“Maybe we should try to call the park ranger or Gabe. The more people out here helping us search, the better. Can I use your phone?” I ask her.
Lilith stops and reaches for her back pocket, but she just pats around the area. “Shit. I forgot my phone. Can we use yours?”
I want to fucking scream. “It’s dead.”
Something flickers in her eyes—a hint of amusement? Again, nothing is making sense.
“Tell me the truth, Lilith,” I suddenly demand. “Did you really lose the girls? Or are we out here for a different reason?”
Her eyes go wide. “What? No, Lincoln. I told you, I don’t?—”
A loud crunch of leaves steals our attention. We both turn toward the noise just in time to see Jenkins spring out of a thick of branches. There’s no time to react before he raises a gold cane in the air then swings it, full force, into the side of Lilith’s head.
The crack reverberates through the air, and Lilith falls to the ground, her hand immediately moving to the site of impact as her face contorts in pain.
I’m stunned for a second as Jenkins looms over Lilith like a predator, staring her down like he’s daring her to make a move. When he lifts his cane over his head again, I don’t think before reacting. I rush toward him, leaping over Lilith’s body and body-slamming him to the ground.
He half yells, half moans at the impact, and I know I must have done some damage to his already brittle, aging bones. I’m too angry to care. I keep my hold on him as he tries to fight back.
Jenkins is the Firefly Man.
Jenkins, who’s been helping Dylan and me put together profiles of suspects.
Jenkins, whom Evie and Lilith have trusted for years. A man they both considered to be a friend.
After he began complying with us, he plummeted to the bottom of our suspect list. With all the evidence gathered, we had no reason to suspect him, especially since his age didn’t match the pattern of the other victims. Jenkins is an older man but strong, seeing as he’s wrestling with me now and putting up a good fight. Still, I’m stronger.
“Let go of me, you idiot,” Jenkins sputters. “I’m not the bad guy here. She’s going to kill us both.”
A multitude of feelings come over me next—anger, confusion, shock. Then I turn to see Lilith slowly getting to her feet, an evil gleam in her eyes.
Blood runs down the side of her face, and a large rock is raised above her head.
I’ve had it all wrong.
In fact, I’m not sure I ever had it right.
The Firefly Man isn’t a man at all. It’s Lilith.
But the realization comes too late, and there’s no time to stop her before she’s bringing her arms down and smashing the rock onto Jenkins’s skull.