Page 91 of The Ice Sisters

Shadows plagued every corner, making the road ahead appear as if it ended in the forest. She plowed through and climbed the mountain until they reached Modelle’s farm.

The house and outbuildings looked just as eerie as they had the first time they’d been here. She cut the lights as she approached then pulled the Jeep beneath an overhang of trees and killed the engine. She paused to send Cord a text:

We’re here. Modelle?

Cord:In the woods. A mile east on the trail.

Ellie:Stay put. Headed your way now.

She and Derrick pulled their weapons as they crept into the woods. She followed her compass, stepping carefully so as not to alert Modelle they were coming. Three-quarters of a mile in, she heard the sound of a shovel hitting ground.

The wind swirled wet leaves around them and the soggy ground sucked at her boots. As they grew nearer, loud breathing and grunting filled the air.

A tiny movement to the right made her twist her head. Cord.

Modelle must have heard the brush parting and suddenly spun around, raised his shotgun and fired in Cord’s direction. The brush shifted again, and she thought he’d been hit as he dropped to the ground.

Ellie’s pulse jumped and Derrick aimed his weapon. She searched for Cord but didn’t see him. Modelle started toward Cord, and she pointed her weapon toward the bastard.

“Police, stop! Drop the weapon,” she shouted.

Instead, he swung around and fired in her direction. Ellie released a bullet and Derrick darted through the bushes to approach Modelle from behind.

“It’s over, Modelle,” Ellie shouted. “I said drop it.”

Modelle fired another shot at her, but she dodged it and ducked behind a tree. Seconds later, she spotted Cord sneaking toward Modelle from the right. Modelle pivoted toward him and fired at Cord, but Derrick attacked Modelle from behind and knocked him down. Modelle’s gun slid from his hand, and she ran and kicked it aside while Modelle fought Derrick.

“Cord, are you hit?” Ellie yelled.

Cord stood slowly, holding his arm awkwardly. “Just a graze,” he growled.

Derrick punched Modelle who was fighting like a wild man, but Ellie pointed her gun at the man and stepped closer. Taylor and Heidi’s little faces flashed behind her eyes. Their young lives snuffed out.

She wanted to kill the bastard who’d murdered them. Wanted to watch him bleed out.

Modelle managed to knock Derrick’s gun from his hand, flipped him over and straddled him. Ellie took another step closer, jammed the barrel of her gun at the back of Modelle’s head.

“Go ahead, give me a reason,” she snarled.

Modelle went totally still, heaving for a breath.

“Do it,” she snapped, her temper red hot.

She felt Cord suddenly behind her, his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t, El. He’s not worth it.”

But he was a cruel, heartless child abuser and killer.

Still, a second of rationale stormed her. If she killed him, she might never know where Mazie and Ivy were.

And saving them was her priority.

ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN

Modelle cursed and struggled against the handcuffs as Ellie arrested him while Derrick met the ERT and filled them in. Cord expanded his search team to cover Modelle’s property and the trail into the woods for a ten-mile area. If they didn’t find the girls, they’d expand it further. But Modelle seemed to think he’d slipped under the radar. Damn bastard, thought he was safe from scrutiny and had gotten sloppy.

“I want a lawyer, you bitch,” he growled.

She jerked his handcuffed hands and shoved him toward the sheriff’s car. Bryce had taken no time to rush onto the scene.

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