CHAPTER Twenty Three
Janelle was definitely lucky to get away from Shane unharmed.
As she suspected, once he was finished with her, he was going to kill her.
Her narrow escape, however, only reinforced the fact that Shane wasn’t going to stop until she was dead.
This fact was not only concerning for her safety.
She worried about Ross and Camille as well.
After being escorted home by the police and interviewed by a detective, Janelle wanted nothing to do with living in the house where she was attacked. After getting cleared to leave, she mustered up all the courage she had to go inside, pack a few things, and then she got the hell out of there.
Janelle really wanted to head out to Ross’s and tell them all about her incident, but she worried that Camille and even Ross would think she had ulterior motives.
She understood completely that Ross had moved on, and when she thought she wanted to rekindle their relationship, she realized she was just scared of being alone.
Over the past several weeks, Janelle had come to like her independence and had accepted that her life with Ross was completely over.
But Camille may not understand things that way if she just showed up at the Point.
As an alternative, Janelle decided to text Camille a simple message.
JANELLE: Hey, can you and Ross meet me at Jack’s Grill for dinner? I need to talk to both of you.
Janelle tried to sound casual so she wouldn’t cause too much concern. But when Camille showed Ross the text, his instincts told him something awful had happened.
“What do you think this is about?” Camille asked.
“I have no idea, but I think we should go.” “Me too,” Camille agreed.
When Ross and Camille pulled up to the bar, he noticed Janelle’s car, and she was waiting for them right inside the door. “Hey, thanks for coming,” she said, still visibly shaken.
“No problem,” Ross answered, making a concerned face. “Let’s get a table, and then we can talk.”
Once seated, Janelle seemed to relax a bit, but both Ross and Camille were now super curious.
“What’s up, Janelle? You look a bit freaked out,” Camille said.
“When I woke up to go to the bathroom really early yesterday morning, Shane was sitting in the chair across from me.”
“What!” Ross interrupted.
“I don’t know how long he’d been there, but he was obviously just waiting for me to wake up.”
Camille had no words. She had no idea how Janelle was sitting there so calmly after such a horrifying ordeal. Ross reached across the table and grabbed her hands and held them tightly.
“What happened?” Ross asked. He was about to discover that he was sorely unprepared for the awful truth.
“He had a big hunting knife, and I’m certain he was going to eventually kill me.”
Ross and Camille were wide-eyed, captivated by her story.
“How did you get away?” Camille asked.
Janelle felt awkward sharing the details of the attack, but she knew she had to, so that Ross and Camille would have the information they needed to stay safe.
Besides, she set up this meeting. Keeping information from them just didn’t make sense, so she took a deep breath and told them the terrifying details.
“Shane raped me,” she began.
“Goddamn it!” Ross yelled, slamming his fist down on the table and making several customers jump and look their way. “I knew it! I knew it! Here you do the right thing by talking to the police, and this happens,” he said, clinching his teeth.
“Janelle, you’re so lucky! Are you okay?” Camille asked.
“Yes, but I’m worried about both of you.
I stabbed him in the shoulder, but that wound wasn’t enough to stop him from trying again.
It’s only a matter of time before Shane is strong enough to come after me.
If he’s after me for betraying him, he’s most likely after Camille for exposing him in her news story. ”
Ross and Camille glanced at one another with a knowing look. Janelle had bared her soul and told them all the painful details of her encounter. Now they needed to reveal that Shane had already marked Camille for revenge.
“Actually, Shane called my phone with all kinds of nasty threats and comments several days ago. We’ve put up some extra security out at the lake,” Camille replied.
“Good! He’s a dangerous man,” Janelle added, and then she felt compelled to repeat herself. “Very dangerous.” “You’re okay, right?” Camille asked.
“Yes, but I’m not staying at that house. I’ve told the police I’m available if they need me any further, but I’m checking into a hotel.”
Janelle hoped neither of them thought she was hinting for an invite to stay out at the Point with them.
That was the furthest thing from her mind before she said it.
But once it came out of her mouth, she worried about them misinterpreting her intentions.
Thankfully, it appeared that neither Ross nor Camille planned to offer her some space at their place.
“Which hotel are you at?” Ross asked.
“For now, the Village, but for peace of mind, I’m changing locations frequently. Apparently, Shane is pretty good at stalking. If I stay in one place too long, I know he’ll find me.”
“That’s a really good idea. And try to park somewhere that would be hard for him to see your car if he was just driving by,” Camille added.
“When Shane ransacked my hotel room at the Nest, I planned on parking at the Village since it was so close, but then …” And Camille realized that finishing her story might sound insensitive.
“It’s okay, Camille. I know. You just moved out to the house with Ross. It’s okay, really. I’m actually very happy for Ross. You’re really a good person. He deserves this.”
Both Ross and Camille were shocked.
Not quite knowing what to say, Camille smiled and grabbed Janelle’s hands and gave them a squeeze.
Ross was also caught off guard, but was able to find his words. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
Janelle felt so much better clearing the air regarding her feelings and letting Ross and Camille know about her episode with Shane. But the tension among the trio was still high.
“We’re not together anymore, Janelle, but I still care about you, and I’m so sorry this happened. I want you to be careful, alright?”
“I will,” she said, smiling at them both. “Now, let’s eat. I’m starved.”
Before they could even finish their dinner, Camille’s phone rang. It was Sam Jenkins.
“Camille, I have some bad news.”
“What?” she said, wondering if she would ever get good news again. “Nolan Mosser is dead. His throat was cut, right in his own bathroom.” “Let me guess,” Camille replied. “Suspect number one is Shane Simpson?”
“That would be my guess, but there’s not much evidence gathered yet.
His wife just found him a few hours ago.”
“Just one minute, Sam.” Camille needed to run something past Janelle. “Nolan Mosser’s throat was cut. He’s dead. Do you mind sharing your incident with Sam?”
“No, not at all if it helps find Shane and stop him.”
When Camille leaked a few tidbits of Janelle’s incident, Sam hightailed it over to Jack’s Grill. After Janelle told him all the details, he was convinced Shane was most likely on a killing spree, targeting everyone responsible for exposing his crimes against Kelcee Meyer and Marny Weathers.
“We all need to be careful,” Sam said softly. “Yeah, we need a plan,” Ross added.
“I can’t stay and do it now, but let’s get together in a nice, neutral place tonight, and we’ll all get on the same page. I have the key to my friend’s houseboat. It’s docked, of course, this time of year, but we can go aboard.”
“That sounds good,” Ross confirmed.
“We have to make sure we aren’t followed,” Camille added. “Shane surely isn’t still driving his red truck. We don’t know what kind of vehicle he has.”
“My neighbor saw him fleeing my house in a light-colored midsize,” Janelle added.
“That helps a little bit. Just be hypersensitive to anyone tailing you. If you’re the least bit suspicious, drive to the police station. That’s what I did when Shane tailed me before,” Camille said.
“Geez, I didn’t realize you’d had so many run-ins with Shane,” Janelle said.
“Yeah, I’m not exactly his favorite.”
“I’ll text the address to everyone. Let’s meet at the houseboat in an hour. I’m getting my notes in order back at the office, and then I’ll head that way to unlock.”
Everyone was pleased with the anonymity of the neutral location. If Shane was going to strike again that night, all his targets would be somewhere unknown and safe.
Shane spent the day sleeping off the effects of the painkillers he’d gotten from Nolan, and the antibiotics also seemed to be working.
He was no longer bleeding and sweating, and overall, he felt much better.
Janelle had done a number on him with that knife, and he had limited motion in his right arm and shoulder.
It would be a while before he was back to normal.
The ham and cheese sandwich from earlier was long gone, so Shane started his car and drove back up the desolate lake road where he had parked to sleep.
He was leery about going to eat anywhere in Lake Ozark, so he decided he would head to a small community on the outskirts where he would be safe from detection.
Shane was on pins and needles driving through town on old Route 54 to get to Camdenton. Even though he didn’t have his red king cab anymore, he worried about being detected and had a knot in his stomach the size of his fist.
But then his luck was about to change. Shane spotted Janelle’s car at Jack’s Grill and also recognized Camille’s Bronco as he was rolling through town.
Looky here! Shane smiled, hit the brakes, and pulled into the parking lot across the highway. He decided his hunger could wait. What he had just discovered was far more satisfying than food.
Shane waited only about fifteen minutes, then spied Camille and the others as they left the restaurant and stood talking on the sidewalk.
Holy fuck! All of the assholes in one place.
He knew that there was only one reason his enemies were all together— to strategize on how to stay safe and how to trap him while doing so.
This incident, he felt, was no coincidence.
He was meant to discover their alliance, and knowing there was such an organized posse after him made him proud and even more determined to carry out his revenge.
Even though he’d planned to lay low for a while, Shane felt this sighting offered the opportunity of a lifetime.
I guess all there is to do is pick the unlucky one.
Shane ruled out Janelle. He had underestimated her and lucked out.
He felt as if he needed more preparation to deal with both her and Camille.
And if Camille was out of the running, so was Ross.
He had always envisioned their deaths as a package deal.
That only left Sam, the meddling reporter, partially responsible for the story about him that rocked the lake area.
Shane watched as the chummy group briefly chatted outside the restaurant before disbanding. His new target was just pulling out, and Shane got in behind him as Janelle’s car and Camille’s Bronco turned out of the parking lot in the opposite direction.
Shane followed Sam back to the Camdenton Star and pulled into the lot undetected.
The rest of the employees were long gone, and Shane couldn’t have planned this any better.
He exited his car and watched Jenkins open his back driver’s side door to grab his bag.
Sam dug around for his office keys, oblivious to the danger that was now directly behind him.
Sam had just put the key into the door and started to open it when Shane shoved him inside, grabbed the keys, and locked the door from the inside.
“Sam, you really must be more aware of your surroundings. Some diabolical killer might be lurking and shove you into a deserted building where you’re defenseless. Yes, yes, you really should be much more careful,” Shane said with a cocky grin.
Sam was too stunned at first. And then he knew he was trapped.
“I suspect you know why I’m here. Am I right, Sam?”
“Shane, I do, and I think I can help you if you just hear me out,” Sam said as calmly as he could muster.
“Oh, you can help me now, huh? That’s interesting. Because not too long ago, you were hell-bent on ruining my life. You know, I liked you much better when you just went with popular opinion and reported a black truck at the Meyer scene.”
“That’s exactly what I mean. I can start running stories that help you, not hurt you.”
“Sam, we both know it’s way too late for that. Your desperation is showing.”
“No, seriously. I can spin this. I can!” Sam was now talking fast, and little beads of sweat began to roll down his temples. How could he be so negligent? Camille stressed being aware of cars that might be tailing him, and he’d stupidly let it go in one ear and out the other.
As Sam mentally reprimanded himself for his carelessness, Shane walked toward him.
Instinctively, Sam backed up with each threatening step until there was no more room.
And when Sam’s eyes took on that terrified look all of Shane’s victims eventually got, Shane was invigorated and even more resolved to kill this man who had done so much to complicate his life. Shane’s logic told him Sam had to die.
“Now I’m conflicted, Sam. Do I squeeze the life out of you, or do I watch the life drain from you like the unfortunate attorney?”
Sam was now pleading desperately, but his groveling only seemed to excite Shane more and help him solve his troubling dilemma.
Without another word, Shane, much larger than the terrified reporter, wrapped his massive hands around Sam’s neck and watched Sam’s eyes bulge with fright.
Sam twisted furiously, trying to gasp even the slightest breath of air.
But his efforts were in vain. Shane saw Sam’s face take on a familiar, panicked glare, then resolve.
That was always Shane’s favorite part—watching the exact moment when his victims gave up and knew they were going to die.
In the next few seconds, Sam Jenkins closed his eyes and went limp in Shane’s massive hands.
Satisfied with his work, Shane dropped Sam’s lifeless body, unlocked the door, and left with only one thought on his mind.
Damn, no sandwich? I’m starved!