Chapter 30
THIRTY
Ellie held her gun at the ready as she inched inside her house. She usually left her hall light on when she was gone but just like the exterior, the interior lights were off and the house was pitched in darkness.
The back of her neck prickled with unease as she surveyed the foyer then her living room and kitchen. Nothing looked out of place. Still, she paused to listen for signs of an intruder.
A faint whiff of some scent she didn’t recognize clogged the air, something like a cloying musky cologne, indicating someone had been inside.
Was he still here now?
She glanced at the back door and saw it was slightly ajar. Dammit. The lock looked busted. Even as the furnace kicked on, cold air swirled around her. She crept down the hall, checked the guest bath and bedroom then inched toward the master.
Perspiration beaded her upper lip as she gripped her gun, scanning the room. She didn’t see anyone inside.
She started to breathe out in relief, but the dead crow in the center of her bed stopped her cold. Blood streaked her white comforter. She almost gagged.
Footsteps echoed from down the hall, and she quickly stepped to her bathroom and glanced inside. Her vanity was just as she’d left it, messy and unkempt.
“Ellie?”
Cord’s voice.
“In my room,” she called. Finally exhaling, she crossed back to her bedroom door and held up a hand. “Don’t touch anything.”
Cord froze in the doorway. His jaw hardened as he glanced first at her, then his gaze fell on the dead animal on her bed. “Sick son of a bitch,” he growled. “Are you okay?”
Ellie nodded, holstered her weapon then pulled herself together.
“If you think I’m scared of that pervert, you’re wrong. I’m pissed as hell that I don’t know where he is right now. I’d like to take a handful of those feathers and shove them down his throat.”
A small grin loosened Cord’s tight jaw. “There’s the hard-ass woman I know.”
Ellie made a low sound in her throat. “He’s not getting away with this.”
“Hell, no,” Cord muttered.
“Did you see anyone or another car when you arrived?”
She shook her head. Then an engine rumbled outside. “That must be backup.”
“Let’s go meet them.”
Cord nodded and followed her through the house.
Deputy Landrum was exiting his squad car. She greeted him and the ERT. “Got here as fast as I could, Detective,” Landrum said.
“Thanks.” She gestured toward the drive. “Looks like our killer wants me to know he was here.”
“Not too subtle, is he?” Lt. Williams muttered with a scowl.
“No. He was in the house, too. Left a present in my bedroom.”
Deputy Landrum’s eyes flashed with rage as he glanced at the feathers on the drive.
“Lt. Williams, please process the house,” Ellie said. “The only evidence I saw inside was in my bedroom but be thorough.”
“Always,” he said. He stepped aside to address the team, and they began to photograph the driveway and search for evidence.
Something crackled to the side of the house. Leaves or twigs? Footsteps? Was that madman still here hiding in the shadows?