“Well not really but I’m glad Emily dragged me out, I couldn’t stop crying. My parents are here as well for extra safety. Have you noticed the ring of men standing around the dance floor? It looks like the townsfolk are on full alert waiting for someone to make the wrong move.”
“It’s safe, there are deputies everywhere.” Emily tossed her long blonde hair over one shoulder and turned to her father. “I’m going to the bathroom with Julia and then getting a hot dog. We’ll be back soon.”
“I’ll walk over with you.” Wolfe’s cheek twitched.
“Dad, please. I’m seventeen not seven.” Emily’s eyes flashed with anger. “I’ll be fine. I’ll be a few feet away and make sure I’m in a crowd. Okay? Watch my things. I’ll be back in five.” She pulled a bill out of her wallet then dropped it with her cellphone on the table.
“Don’t you think you should take your phone?”
“I’m hardly going to be making calls while I’m peeing and I have my brooch as a backup if anything happens. Stop worrying.” Emily flounced off with her friend and disappeared into the throng of noisy people.
They sat in awkward silence for some time and Jenna noticed the way Wolfe checked his watch then his cellphone every few minutes. She cleared her throat. “Why don’t you ask Rowley if he can see her? He is at the bar to watching Provine. He should be able to see the refreshments stand from there.”
She waited, listening to the conversation in her earbud. Apparently, Rowley had not seen Emily buying hot dogs at all but there was a long line. Her attention fixed on Wolfe, who was drumming his fingers on the table in agitation. “Can’t you locate her via her tracker?”
“Yeah.” Wolfe’s brow furrowed as he held up his cellphone to display the screen. “It gives her location as the fairgrounds. As this area isn’t in the maps, it comes up as a single location. It doesn’t tell me exactly where she is in the area at this moment.”
“Would you like me to check the ladies’ room? No doubt there will be quite a wait there as well.”
“Yeah, thanks. I wish she had taken her phone with her.” Wolfe offered her a weak smile. “I know I’m overprotective but after what’s happened this week, I have cause.”
“Not a problem.” Jenna strolled toward the door.
Fifty
He mingled with the crowd, enjoying a hot dog and commiserating with everyone’s complaints and worries about the murders of the young girls, but deep inside he reveled in their distress. The constant chatter and suspicious glances from everyone brought the reward of the last images of his dead girls. They would never see the pale skin and staring eyes of his girls or watch the life slip away like the snuffing of a candle. Those memories belonged only to him.
After joining a group of parents huddled protectively around their children, he scanned the area. Of course, most young girls had adults protecting them but not all the girls listened to the warnings of their parents. His attention moved to Deputy Wolfe’s daughter, Emily, and her new friend Julia as they made their way, unescorted, from the hall. Arousal hit him in a rush. He wanted Julia. He smiled inwardly, how trusting she was; in fact, he could have plucked her from the street a number of times during the week and not a soul would have known, but the idea of an easy kill had not interested him. Here under the noses of everyone would mean his crimes would be infamous and he would live forever.
He eased his way through the crowd and out the door, nodding congenially at everyone he passed then caught sight of the girls making for the ladies’ room. Thrills ran through him at the idea of killing both of them but doing so would be difficult with so many people strolling the fairgrounds and with more deputies on duty than ever before. One girl will have to do for now.
To avoid anyone seeing him near Julia, he turned away and headed for a suitable hiding place. A cool breeze had dried the slick of sweat on his brow by the time he reached the dark entrance to a hay barn. From his position, he could view the people coming in and out of the dance. He touched the knife at his waist, the leather sheath well concealed by his long shirt. Time would be of the essence; he could not linger to enjoy cutting his girl. He grinned. Although the one in the forest had whet his appetite for more quick kills. The startled look in her eyes and the way she trembled as the life flowed from her would remain with him for a long time.
He stared at the ladies’ room door then checked his pockets to make sure he had everything he needed. His cellphone slipped into his hand and he wet his lips. Excitement curled in his belly. In his dark hiding place, she would not see him. He chuckled and watched the deputies patrolling the other end of the fairgrounds.
None of them could outsmart him.
He would have two more girls before leaving Black Rock Falls. He craved to hold Emily Wolfe’s life in his hands despite her father being a deputy, and then to kill the sheriff slowly—although not the age he preferred, she would fight well and be worth the effort. Cloaked in shadows, he leaned casually against the doorframe, his gaze resting on the wide walkway sloping down toward the promenade.
“I’m waiting for you, Julia.”
Fifty-One
Moving through the mass of hot bodies and inhaling a variety of odors, Jenna made it out the exit and followed the brightly lit pathway to the restrooms. The line of women waiting went halfway back to the hall. She walked to the end of the line, pushed inside the bathroom, and called out Emily’s name. No one answered. Noticing Susie Hartwig on her way out of the building, she caught up and walked beside her. “You haven’t seen Shane Wolfe’s daughter, Emily, have you?”
“Yeah, she was waiting some ways back with Julia. I guess they went to the restrooms over by the main arena. They’re under the stands and I heard a few women saying they were heading over there. We all warned them not to go because the lighting isn’t good but they wouldn’t listen and went off in a group. They thought if they stuck together they’d be okay.”
Worried the two girls might be wandering through the fairgrounds alone, she needed to cover all bases. “Are there any other restrooms close by they might use?”
“Oh yeah, there is another one down by the promenade. Do you know where the souvenir and food stalls are set up during the day?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, I know the place. Thanks.”
She hit her mic button and contacted Wolfe. “She is not at the restrooms outside the hall but people have seen her and Julia. I’m heading to the main arena restrooms now. If she is not there, I will look at the ones by the promenade. Go and check the food and soda lines in case she has returned.”
“Roger that. Wolfe out.”
She hit her mic again. “This is Sheriff Alton, is anyone in the vicinity of the main arena or the promenade?”
One of the Blackwater deputies responded, “Yes, ma’am. I’m at the far end of the promenade near the entrance.”
“Keep your eye out for Deputy Wolfe’s daughter and her friend. Call me if you see them.”
“Yes, ma’am”
Breaking into a jog, she headed toward the main arena. People clumped in small groups, chatting or wandering around, likely cooling off after dancing, but at the main arena, the place looked deserted. The lights were out but the summer sun still offered a bright twilight. A rush of fear hit her in the pit of the stomach the moment she entered the dark walkway under the grandstand. Would two girls be stupid enough to go here alone, especially as Emily knew the current danger? Gathering her wits, she listened intently in the hope of hearing voices over the thumping music belting from the dance hall. Going into a dark corridor with a serial killer on the loose was unnerving, hand-to-hand combat training notwithstanding. Taking out her cellphone, she accessed the flashlight and moved swiftly along the dark corridor toward the sign above the ladies’ restroom. The moment she arrived, the muffled voices coming from inside calmed her nerves. She pushed open the door to find a small line of women waiting to use the facilities. “Emily Wolfe, are you in here?”