Chapter 33
KAYLA
“I—I don’t know if I can tell you,” Cammie whimpers, clutching my hand so tight, it feels like my bones are going to shatter. “What if he—”
“We promise to protect you,” I attempt to convince her. “Anything you say will be kept between us.”
“You don’t understand,” she cries. “If I tell you, he’ll know it was me, and he’ll come after me!”
“No, he won’t.” A stares down at her. “We can keep you safe. Believe me.”
“Come on, Cammie. You can do this.” I peer at her as tears swim in her eyes.
I can just imagine how afraid she is. Giving up the one who hurt you, someone dangerous, someone still out there, is terrifying. But she has to do this. We have to know who it was so we can torture him. Then we can find out who his accomplice is and destroy them both.
“I couldn’t believe it.” She drags in a heaving breath, unable to stop her hands from shaking. “He was so nice to me. He was helping me. How? How could he?”
“Tell me.” I search her gaze, fearing her next few words even when I ache to hear them. “Who was it?”
“It’s…it’s… It’s Doctor Collins.”
An icy shiver races through my entire body.
No. It can’t be.
My chest rises and falls with pummeling exhales. “Are…are you sure?”
How can he be the one doing all of this? How? It makes no sense! Or maybe it does, and I don’t want to see it.
“It was him, and he knows I saw him, Kayla. He knows!” She wraps her arms around herself.
A is already on his phone. “I’m going to his place. You two stay here.”
“Wait! What if he knows you’re coming?” Concern tramples through me. “He knows you’re looking for him.”
“I’ll be fine.” He nods sternly. “Call Jade. Find out his work schedule. Then let me know. I want to see what I can find at his place. And if he’s there, I’ll end him.” He grabs the back of my neck. “I’ll be back, I promise.”
“You better,” I whisper. “Don’t you dare die.”
“Never, babe.” He drops his lips to my forehead before he heads out the door, and I can’t help but worry about him even as my own rage finally registers.
The man who’s been pretending to help me all this time has been the one who hurt me, hurt so many. But he won’t do it anymore. Now that we know, his time will come.
I retrieve my phone and quickly call Jade. She answers immediately.
“Kayla, hey!”
“Jade, listen, can you check if Dr. Collins is at the office?”
“Why? What happened?”
“Just please check now. It’s important.”
“He actually left early. Said he had an emergency. Should be back tomorrow. What happened? Talk to me.”
“I can’t say anything right now, but I promise I will. If you see him, don’t let him leave. Make security keep him in the office.”
“Kayla, you’re really scaring me.”
“I wish I could tell you, but I can’t right now.”
Then I hang up and tend to Cammie, who’s even more shaken up than she already was.
ADRIEL
As soon as I arrive at the good doctor’s place, I know instantly he isn’t here. But the evidence is. He didn’t do much to hide it; his basement was covered with it. Newspaper clippings of the dead girls, every instance the killer was mentioned he attached to the wall, like a shrine to himself.
But the most damning evidence was the photos. All the girls who have been killed were in a photo album he kept in his desk. A snapshot of his brutality. And on the last page was Kayla, Cammie’s photo not yet entered into his memory book.
My muscles and veins strain against my skin as I clutch her photo in my fist while I take snapshots of the wall, the album already in my trunk.
Now all I have to do is find him. Tracking his phone should be easy enough. Once I get to my house, I will do just that.
Kayla texted me, letting me know she spoke to Jade, but didn’t tell her anything. She didn’t want Jade telling Elsie or anyone else. That would mean my brothers would be here with an army of people, discovering that Chris is in fact not with his dying mother after all.
But tomorrow, I’ll have to face them. No choice in the matter. Maybe I’ll plant some evidence about the doctor so they can look for him too. The more eyes, the better. I can’t do it alone. He needs to be stopped before he comes after Kayla again to finish what he started.
But I’ll never let that happen. I failed her once. I won’t do it again.