Page 63 of Secret Stalker

Chapter Twenty

Rain whipped at Max’s face like dozens of icy-cold needles pricking his flesh. The ground was turning to mud, making the field treacherous and hard going. Lightning flashed overhead. He instinctively ducked down, not that it would have done him much good if the lightning had been close enough to hit him.

“Stop stalling. The cabin’s straight ahead. Move.”

He looked over his shoulder. The long bore of the rifle pointed steadily at him, but too far away for him to have any chance of knocking it down.

“Move,” Marcia repeated, shouting to be heard above the storm.

“Drop the gun,” he called out to her. “You haven’t shot anyone yet. You can still get off without much jail time, maybe only probation.”

She laughed bitterly. “I’m not going to jail. And if you want your girlfriend to live, you’d better get moving.”

He clenched his fists but started forward again. Just ahead, the silhouette of a familiar cabin loomed in the dark. The same cabin he’d seen in dozens of crime-scene photographs, the one at the edge of the Caldwell property where it joined his father’s, and now his, as well. The cabin where Bobby Caldwell had been killed ten years ago.

And now Max knew who’d killed him.

He stopped at the door and glanced back. “Now what?”

Marcia motioned with her rifle. “Go inside and shut the door behind you.”

Something metallic flashed in the moonlight just over Marcia’s shoulder. She stiffened, then very slowly raised her hands in the air. The person behind her yanked the rifle away and shoved her toward Max. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the man behind her.

Deacon Caldwell, holding a wicked-looking knife.

He shoved the knife into the top of his boot and straightened, the rifle pointed at Marcia now.

“You okay, Detective?” he called out.

Max looked at Marcia, who was glaring at Deacon.

“I’m fine,” Max yelled back. “Thanks to you. Follow me back to my house and I can handcuff her and check on Bex.” He grabbed Marcia’s arm and yanked her toward Deacon.

When they reached him, Deacon was shaking his head. “Too far. This lightning’s getting too dangerous to be outside. My house is much closer, and I’ve got a generator. We can call the police from there.”

Another bolt of lightning struck close by, the thunder boom almost right on top of it. Sparks showered down from a nearby tree.

Max swore, the hairs on his arms standing up from the electricity in the air. “That was close. Where’s your house? I thought you lived with your father?”

He motioned toward the trees on the other side of the cabin. “Straight through there. I had it built for when I got out of the military. Close enough to help my dad when he needs me but not so close that I give in to the urge to strangle him.” He grinned. “You know how families can be.” He waved at the cabin. “The roof’s gone on that, no shelter there. My house is the only place that makes sense. Let’s go.”

He headed past Max, going at a fast clip toward the trees.

Max hesitated, looking up the hill that would lead him back to his house. He hated leaving Bex alone. If she woke up and saw the charred wood on the deck and his bloody handprint on the glass—both courtesy of Marcia’s sick plan—she’d think the worst. What would she do then? Especially since Marcia had forced Max to take his and Bex’s cell phones and toss them into the lake?

“He’s waving at us,” Marcia grumbled beside him, tugging at her arm to get him to let her go.

He tightened his grip. “Come on.” He hurried after Deacon, pulling Marcia with him.

As soon as they rounded the copse, the lights from a two-story house came into view. Deacon was right, his house was much closer. He was standing on the porch already, waiting for them.

Max bounded up the steps, pulling Marcia with him. When he reached the top, he shook his head. “It’s a monsoon. Can’t believe we were out there in that.”

Lightning flashed again, thunder cracking overhead.

“It’ll play itself out soon if you believe the weatherman. Come on in. The mudroom’s on the right. We can dry off there.”

The three of them sloughed off the rain with a handful of towels as best they could, then they headed into the main room of the house.

---