CHAPTER Nineteen
Shane sat in his motel room in Hot Springs, Arkansas, feeling his hatred for Camille Hargrove boiling to a pitch.
That bitch just had to run the fucking story about my truck. I was living life, and no one was the wiser, and she put her big nose into it. Now I’m on the run.
Trying to lie low, Shane had a lot of time to think, and his mind often went to the recent controversy surrounding his truck.
He wondered where that information came from and how it reached Camille Hargrove.
Recalling as much detail as he could about that fateful night back in May, he remembered some kind of work truck pulling up and surprising him after he’d dumped Kelcee’s body in the muddy field outside Eldon.
Knowing someone spotted him, Shane worried that his truck would be a problem then.
That’s why he took measures to deflect attention away from it by anonymously reporting the black truck at the scene to Sam Jenkins.
This lie did exactly what he needed—further incriminated Ross Paine and kept eyes off himself.
Remembering more about that night, Shane recalled the work truck driving up behind him as he returned from dumping Kelcee’s body in the field. And when he thought about it more, he remembered smelling the distinctive odor of insect repellent.
That truck must have belonged to the guy who sprays for the Eldon area. He had to be her informant. And that must have been the reason she was in Eldon that day I followed her back to the lake.
Shane was satisfied with his conclusions, and now his revenge included not only Camille Hargrove but also her nosy informant from Eldon.
If I was still at the lake, I’d find that motherfucker and pay him a visit.
Shane knew he had to put thoughts of revenge aside for now because he was in survival mode, and there would be plenty of time for revenge later. Now that he had been exposed, he had to keep a low profile and let the public outrage die down, just like it did with Kelcee Meyer.
People stop giving a shit after a month or so. I can surely stay out of the way that long. Shit! I’ve done it before.
Shane knew that the future would bring a perfect time to deal with Camille Hargrove and her informant, and he couldn’t get too far ahead of himself.
Even though he knew that keeping his mind straight and focused was a matter of survival, Shane’s thoughts began to wander again, and this time it wasn’t Camille Hargrove he was obsessing over.
Shane knew he had once charmed the fuck out of Janelle, but just as his feelings had changed, he sensed that her fire for him had also cooled.
Still, never in a million years did he think Janelle would turn on him.
When Shane realized Nolan had failed to plant the clothes and that very same night, Janelle never came home, he feared the worst. Sure enough, by morning, there was an all-out manhunt for him, and Shane had to flee the lake for his own safety.
It’s too bad. I really liked her at first. I guess I’m just not the settling-down type. This thought made him smile and then laugh. Yeah, definitely not the type to settle down. Still, I thought I had that bitch right where I wanted her. I can’t believe she turned on me.
That thought still rocked him a little. Shane was used to being in control, and at one time, he controlled Janelle. Realizing he had lost that power was sobering, and his feelings turned dark.
Oh well, she tried to fuck me over. She’s gonna pay for that someday.
At first, getting out of the lake area without getting picked up was Shane’s goal, so he just kept heading south.
Once he felt a little safer, Shane thought that survival mode could quickly turn into revenge mode.
He had not expected such a smooth departure from the lake, but now he had put a couple of hundred miles between him and his dirty deeds.
Maybe it was foolish, but this unexpected success gave Shane new confidence.
When he got a chance, he did some digging, and it wasn’t hard to find Camille’s phone number.
Even though he knew he was listed with the FBI’s Most Wanted and that the people looking for him went far beyond the lake area, Shane couldn’t control his vengeful thoughts about the people who had wronged him.
He didn’t know why he was so hell-bent on revenge, since making a clean break was much safer.
He had run the scenario through his mind time and again.
But Shane wasn’t choosing the safe path.
For a man controlled by his obsessions, Shane knew he couldn’t tear his mind away from planning his reunion with all the people who had betrayed him.
Getting his revenge was his new focus—his new obsession—and like any other obsession, it controlled his mind.
Shane had nothing to do but think as he fled south, and he figured he’d get some satisfaction and just fuck with Camille’s mind.
He decided to buy a burner phone, put a few bucks on it, and give Camille Hargrove the scare of her life.
Little did he know he had given her mother a scare, but the effect was the same.
Camille got the message loud and clear that she was not safe.
That call, however, didn’t frighten her as much as Simpson hoped.
Instead, it put Camille back in the investigation, full force, and the short vacation she and Ross had planned back home was cut short.
Shane knew his most pressing problem was his truck. The whole country had lost its mind looking for red, king cab pickups, so he had to dump his as soon as possible. But it wasn’t like he could just go to the dealership and trade it in. Shane would have to leave it somewhere and steal another one.
This task became his most pressing order of business.
Shane spent the night in his truck in the Best For You office supply store parking lot in Hot Springs and began watching the employees’ patterns as they came and went.
He noticed that the second shifters who closed the store at 9 p.m. came in a little before one o’clock and never returned to their cars until about ten minutes after closing.
Shane felt that stealing a vehicle from this store’s parking lot would be a piece of cake for the same reasons he chose to park and sleep there.
First, he noticed that it was all by itself in an otherwise deserted strip mall.
Next, he noticed that several of the outside lights were burnt out, not only making it dark, but also making video footage extremely difficult to see.
Now, Shane just hoped his hot-wiring abilities were still intact.
He hadn’t used them for quite a while, but he imagined it was kind of like riding a bike.
It was to his advantage, though, that the employees parked on the far side of the building.
This way, no one would see him, so if getting the car started took longer than he planned, at least he was hidden from view.
Now that he knew where to get his new vehicle, Shane had the chore of dumping the infamous red king cab.
He thought about just leaving it in the Best For You parking lot, but felt a more remote location might give him more time to get away.
Therefore, Shane’s plan was to park his truck in a remote lot at the far end of Central Avenue.
It would be about a two-mile walk back to the strip mall where he would help himself to someone’s car, drive off, and go several miles in the dark of night before the owner even knew their car was stolen.
Shane had gotten used to doing things at night to avoid detection, so that night, he headed to the deserted lot beyond Central Avenue, did one last check for items he needed to get out of the truck, stepped out of it for the last time, and began walking toward Best For You.
Once there, Shane was careful how he approached the building to remain undetected.
Right away, he spotted a silver Jeep Wrangler he liked in the employee lot.
Sweet Wrangler! That would be nice, Shane thought. But I need something
plain and popular. I need something that gets lost in the crowd.
And after another look, he found it—a white Chevy Malibu without any stickers or identifiable markings.
Plain Jane—perfect!
Shane took his time approaching the car, walking way out into the field beside the building to avoid the cameras as best he could. Once at his target, getting inside and starting the car took less than thirty seconds.
“Atta girl,” Shane praised.
It would have been a perfect grab if Shane had figured out where he was going prior to stealing the car.
But as it turned out, he was merely driving into the night, trying to put some distance between himself and Hot Springs.
Shane knew where he wanted to go, and his thoughts were taking him there.
It wasn’t long before his mind was heading the car there as well.
That’s it! I’m going to settle this mess once and for all. I won’t be able to move on and do anything else until I teach a few people a lesson.
And as he finished this thought, a menacing grin formed on his face, exposing his sick and desperate need for closure.
He wanted nothing less than to look into Camille Hargrove’s and Janelle Paine’s eyes and watch them die, scared and helpless, the same way he watched Marny Weathers and so many others.
Ruled by revenge, Shane would return to the place where thousands of people wanted to lock him up and see him rot in jail. He was going back to the lake.