Page 10 of Cole: Bloodlines
“I… I need to talk to my husband,” he whispered unevenly and moved toward the entrance.
“Dane?”
Angel faltered and looked at the deputy. “How did you know?”
“There are only four men up there,” the man said. “Cole and his husband, Gabe. And Dr. Grant, whose husband is missing. And Dane. Just… deduction.”
“Yeah,” Angel mumbled. “Okay. I-I gotta go.”
“Wait.” The deputy walked closer. “As upset as you seem to be, I assume you’ve been told about your brother, Maddy.”
Angel went still, his skin prickling. “You know where my brother is?”
The man nodded. “Well, not his exact location, but I know who took him.”
Took him?Angel swallowed, his pulse spiking. “Who…?”
The deputy frowned. “You don’t know? Then your husband didn’t tell you…”
“Tell mewhat?”Angel stepped toward him.
Suddenly uncertain, the man cleared his throat. “Maybe I should, uh, let your husband tell you.”
“Maddy ismybrother,” Angel replied tightly. “If you know what happened to him, fuckingtell me.”
“Right, of course,” the deputy murmured. “You have a right to know.”
Angel stared at him almost fiercely.
“A man known as the Mill Creek Mangler took your brother and your friends.”
“What?” Angel breathed, beginning to shake. “Who the fuck is… is theMill Creek Mangler?”But the name said it all, didn’t it?
The deputy hesitated, then said, “He’s a… serial killer… and… Cole’s father.”
A serial killer?
Angel staggered back a couple of steps.
Cole’sfather?
Angel slowly backed away, each step feeling heavy as if the air itself resisted his movement. He entered the hospital, the sterile odor of antiseptic and faint echoes of distant voices surrounding him. A creeping numbness started to spread, beginning from the tips of his fingers and toes, gradually moving up through his limbs. It advanced like a cold, relentless tide, inching toward his core before surging up his spine—a relentless wave of frost—until it reached his brain, wrapping around his thoughts, freezing his mind, and shrouding it in a haze that left him feeling disconnected and disoriented.
CHAPTER 4: DON’T LOOK UP
Even though the smears had long dried,the metallic tang of Maddy’s blood still lingered on her skin, a haunting reminder that clung stubbornly to her arm. She couldn’t stop trembling, as icy tendrils of fear and cold seeped into every fiber of her being, burrowing deep into her bones like relentless invaders. When the man first seized her, he had forcibly removed her jacket, leaving her exposed in just the thin pink T-shirt with the sparkly, rainbow unicorn prancing across the front and a pair of gray denim jeans—clothing that offered little defense against the piercing chill of the cold, dank cage that now confined her. She was left wondering why he hadn’t stripped her bare as he had done with Abel, a mystery that gnawed at her amid the oppressive gloom.
Savannah huddled in the far corner of her cramped prison, spine pressed against cold, brittle iron bars that pushed through her thin shirt. Her bound wrists lay limp in her lap, angry red welts forming beneath the hemp rope that bit into her flesh with every heartbeat. Each time she shifted—even the slightest twitch—the coarse fibers twisted deeper, scraping against already raw skin until tiny crimson beads had begun to well up and trickle between her fingers, leaving rust-colored stains on her jeans.
Wrapping her arms tightly around her legs, she pulled her knees to her chest and lowered her head, her body shaking with sobs. The tears flowed uncontrollably as the tremors coursed through her. Visions of Maddy's face filled her mind, his stunning eyes and gentle smile lingering like vivid memories in the dimness. She recalled the first time she laid eyes on him; Maddy stood in Max’s doorway, clad in a simple black T-shirt and jeans. His longish brown hair fell partly over his face ashe gazed at her with a shy, endearing look. He was the most adorable boy she had ever seen, and now, looking back, she realized—though she might not have understood it then—that it was love at first sight. Deep within her heart, she had always believed that he was the boy she would one day marry.
“Maddy...”Savannah whispered, her voice barely audible as she clung to her legs with a desperate grip, her body racked by deep, wrenching sobs. Her heart felt as if it were shattering into a thousand jagged pieces, each fragment ripped away with unbearable agony. Tears streamed down her face, soaking into her knees as she wept, her world collapsing inward until all she could perceive was the overwhelming, consuming anguish that threatened to pull her under like a relentless tide, drowning her in a sea of fear and despair.
The door to the room shoved open, and Savannah's body convulsed violently, her heart hammering so brutally against her ribs she thought they might crack. The air vanished from her lungs as if sucked out by a vacuum. Her throat closed to a pinhole, each desperate gasp producing only a thin, reedy wheeze that clawed uselessly at the suffocating pressure crushing her chest. Black spots swarmed her vision like insects.
“Easy, darling.” The man opened the cage, seized her by the armpits, and dragged her limp body across the concrete, skin scraping raw, before dumping her into a metal chair. He forced her head between her knees, his fingers gripping the back of her neck. “Breathe,” he commanded, his breath hot against her ear. “Now.”
Savannah hung there, suspended between consciousness and darkness, each breath a serrated knife in her chest. Tears splashed onto the filthy floor beneath her, each drop hitting with the sound of a gunshot in her ears.
