Page 110 of Her Last Whisper
“Katie?”
Her thoughts turned back to the killer. His motivations. His fantasies.
“Katie, what do you want to do now?” he asked.
“I thought we would find something here. I was overcompensating and just basically hoping to find something here, but…”
“We have to keep looking,” he interrupted.
“You’re right—you’re absolutely right. This place seems perfect for a killer to use as his own private prison for his victims, but he’s clever and no doubt there are other places that would suit his needs. We have to keep searching. It might be just one house—somewhere. It could be some property that he inherited.”
“I’m going to move the car closer and take a look around at the land and a few of the burnt-out sections,” he said. “Meet you there.”
“I’m checking this place too—no stone unturned,” she said and smiled as she headed toward the house.
Her phone buzzed, there was an incoming text from her uncle which read:
Small electrical fire at abandoned house crime scene at Basin Woods Project—fire department en route. Much of the evidence will probably be destroyed.
Katie was disappointed. She answered:
Thanks for update. We are checking leads at the Humanity Project—update soon.
She heard a car engine roar to life and drive around to the other street. McGaven had moved the police car to a better area near the fields.
Katie put the phone back in her pocket and didn’t expect to hear any more from her uncle. The thought of losing crucial evidence made her almost nauseous. Her phone buzzed again and she didn’t want to read the text, knowing that her uncle was going to give her a lecture about how impetuous she was and she needed to be careful. She wasn’t disobeying an order; she was just ignoring it for now.
Her phone chimed once again. This time she glanced at it to find it was Chad calling her. She ignored it, hoping he would understand.
Katie entered the last house; staying at the doorway, just as with the other houses, she swung her flashlight beam slowly in a one-hundred-eighty-degree sweep. The house was different in the layout and condition. She didn’t detect smoke. There was a new rug placed over the yellowing linoleum in the kitchen along with a roll of paper towels and some used napkins. She didn’t see any evidence of food or wrappers or containers lying around.
That wasn’t what stopped Katie abruptly and made her draw her weapon.
Spray-painted along the upper living room wall was the single word: “TRUTH.”
Sixty-Five
After parking the car on the next street, McGaven felt drained and definitely in need of some rest—or at least a large cup of strong coffee before investigating the large wide-open field. Sitting in the front seat, he grabbed one of the water bottles he had packed in the car, twisted the cap off, and immediately downed half of it. The cool water helped to revive some of his waning energy and gave him a lift—but it still wasn’t as satisfying as a double cappuccino.
Cisco put his nose up against the side of McGaven’s face, sniffing and snorting, until the officer gave him some attention.
“Hey, buddy, you thirsty?”
He smiled as he poured some water into a leftover plastic cup. The dog happily lapped it up with half of the water dribbling out the sides of his mouth.
“Nice going, Cisco. I guess Katie hasn’t taught you proper water etiquette.” He laughed and scratched the dog behind the ears. “Sorry, I need to get back to work, buddy.”
The black dog whined and paced back and forth in the back seat.
McGaven got out of the car and took a moment to stretch his back. He hadn’t been to the gym for more than a week and could feel the tenseness in his lower back and hamstrings building.
He stood in the middle of the street, completely still, watching and listening. If he stood long enough, the dark shadows began to play tricks with his eyes. One could imagine a couple of bad guys hiding behind a tree, or a dinosaur monster ready to attack—especially if you stood and stared long enough.
A pair of yellow eyes appeared on what was left of a wooden fence; he pointed the flashlight directly at a startled yellow-striped feral cat, causing it to cower and then dart off the fence, disappearing into the darkness.
His flashlight flickered.
“Crap,” he said, trying to shake it back to full charge. There were extra batteries and another flashlight in the car.
