Before He Harms Read online

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The rest of the day was spent of the Fellsburg PD and out at the intersection where the crash and murders had occurred the night before. Crime scene investigators had not come up with anything of note. They were taking samples from the clothes of Bethany Hollister and Felicia Rodham, but they weren’t expecting results for several more hours.

  The car had been looked over meticulously and it was all but confirmed that the killer had never gone inside it. There was nothing to be found at the crash scene, leaving Mackenzie and Ellington to dig deeper into the scant bit of information the police department had on the Community. Sadly, there was more to be found online, though it was tricky to determine which articles were legitimate and factual.

  Mackenzie still held firm to the plan she had come up with while sitting in Amy’s living room. Several times throughout the day, she’d called Burke to get a report from the officer parked in front of Amy’s house. The only activity the entire day had been when Amy went outside to check the mail.

  During all of this, she and Ellington remained glued to any information they could find on the Community and Marshall Cole. This included having one of the officers in the station work with the city of Fellsburg to get them topographical maps of the area the Community sat on.

  By the time dusk arrived, Mackenzie felt like she knew all there was to know about the Community. And, more than that, it was also time to start working on her plan. She’d shared it with Ellington and while he’d had some reservations, he agreed that it was the best shot they had. As they closed up the files and laptops at their little workstation, Ellington leaned over and snuck a quick kiss.

  “This could get interesting,” he said.

  “It could. But maybe it won’t. Maybe it’ll be a waste of time.”

  He smirked at her, as if he knew this was not true at all. “Okay,” he said. “Then let’s get to it.”

  Mackenzie picked up her cell phone and placed a call to Sheriff Burke. When he answered, she wasted no time and got right to the point.

  “Sheriff Burke, I need you to pull the officer you have stationed at Amy’s house. We’re going to try something a little different.”

  ***

  Mackenzie was driving an unmarked police car down one of the back roads that led out to the Community. Night had officially fallen, so she had to take the roads carefully. These small rural back roads were tricky when night fell; if you didn’t know them like the back of your hand, you had to keep your speed to a minimum.

  She had, however, taken scans of the topographical maps and knew exactly what she was looking for. When she came to the gravel road on the right that would then take her to the dirt track that led to the Community’s gate, she came to a stop. She double-checked the map, noting a spot that had been circled by one of the other officers. It would be the closest she could get to the Community without being seen—a pull-over spot used by police and the occasional hunter during deer season. She’d still be about a mile away from the Community, but that was fine. At that point in the road, anyone leaving the Community would have to pass by her, as there were no alternate roads leading out.

  Mackenzie dimmed her lights as a precaution. There was plenty of land and trees separating her from the gate, but she didn’t want to take the chance. She crept along the gravel road and nearly missed the pull-over spot. It was shrouded in shadow and night, a half-circle strip of mostly dead grass off to the left of the gravel road. She pulled in, backed up, and situated herself to that she could see the gravel road from an angle, and killed the engine. She was parked far enough to the right side of the little clearing so that she was well-hidden. If someone saw her, it would be because they were making a point to find someone out there.

  It was 9:50 by the time she was settled and staring out into the night. It was a lonely feeling, totally isolated and in the dark. It was actually borderline creepy, especially knowing the sort of people who lived in a gated community a little less than a mile to the east.

  She called up Ellington, leaving the phone in the passenger’s seat and tilted toward the console as to hide the glow from the screen. She placed the call on speaker and his thin voice filled the car moments later.

  “You there?” he asked.

  “I’m here. It’s dark and uneventful. You?”

  “I’ve been parked outside of Amy’s house for the past hour. The living room light is on and I’ve seen her walk by the windows twice. Exciting stuff.”

  “Been a while since I’ve done anything like this,” she said.

  “Same here. It’s pretty boring. We could have phone sex to liven things up.”

  “Maybe some other time,” she said, snickering.

  “How do you think Kevin is holding up?”

  “He’s probably the most responsible person that has been in our apartment for the last few days.”

  “Still no word from your mom?” he asked.

  “No. And I’m trying to just push that out of my head for now. If I let that bog me down on top of this case, things are going to get nasty.”

  “Nastier than your interaction with Marshall Cole this morning? Yikes.”

  “I think I’m done talking to you,” she said playfully. “Call me if anything changes. Love you.”

  “Will do. Love you, too.”

  Mackenzie was left in the car to stare back out into the darkness. Curious, she put the window down a bit to see if there was anything worth hearing. It was killing her to not walk right up to the fences and do some sneaking around. But that could potentially ruin the entire plan, so she had to resist.

  She listened to the night for a moment but heard nothing aside from crickets and a few frogs somewhere in the forest. There were no engines running, no cars sweeping by down the back road below her, no signs of life anywhere. She supposed it made this the perfect sort of location for the Community.

  She thought about the kind of people who might find solace out here, under the guidance of a man who found it perfectly fine to have multiple wives and to treat women like lesser objects. She wondered how many wives Cole had and how often they were abused. She thought of his calm cadence, his sense of confidence and authority in the interrogation room, and could see how he’d make a suitable leader for a place like the Community. He was stern and sure of himself, something that would likely be seen as stellar leadership qualities in a cult.

  The night wound on as she tried to put the pieces of the case together in her head. As she thought of Cole, Amy, and the victims, thoughts of her mother tried to sweep in to ruin it all, but she stamped those thoughts down before they could disrupt her. She’d deal with that nightmare later. For now, the Community was enough of a nightmare to contend with.

  Her phone rang at 12:10, shattering her internal musings and exercises. It was Ellington. She answered right away, her heart starting to beat a little harder.

  “Yeah?” she asked.

  “Amy is on the move. She just came out of her garage, driving an older-model Honda Accord. I’m going to let her get a little bit ahead of me and then follow.”

  “Stay on the line with me. Let me know what happens.”

  “Got it. Okay…she’s at the end of the street now, taking a right. And I’m officially tailing her.”

  “Okay. So if she—”

  She stopped here, noticing the slightest of breaks in the darkness all around her. It was light of some kind, getting gradually brighter by the second.

  “You okay over there?” Ellington asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, reaching for the keys but not yet starting the car. “I’ve got movement here, too. A vehicle, coming down the road away from the Community.”

  “Is it the first of the night?”

  “Yeah. It’s been dead quiet out here.”

  “No way it’s a coincidence, then.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Mackenzie said.

  She watched as the vehicle passed by. It was a standard-looking car; hard to tell the make and mo
del in the dark. It passed by her, not slowing at all. She could not make out a driver or any details of the car aside from the shape of the headlights.

  “What’s going on now?” Ellington asked.

  “A car. It just passed by, heading out the other way. This road is a little bumpy and about half a mile off of the paved road. So I need to give him ample distance.”

  “Be careful. As for Amy, she’s heading north. Going the speed limit, being a studious driver.”

  Mackenzie waited until the car’s taillights were out of sight and then counted to twenty. She cranked the car and pulled out of the little pull-over spot, leaving her headlights off. She accelerated until she came to the small cloud of dust left behind by the car crunching along the gravel. Just ahead, she could see the hint of taillights. Mackenzie slowed down, almost coming to a complete stop. She watched as the car ahead of her took a right turn back out onto the unmarked paved road.

  Again, she counted to twenty and ventured ahead. She did not put her headlights on until she came to the end of the gravel road. She then turned right, making sure to keep her distance.

  “You said Amy is headed north?” Mackenzie asked.

  “Yeah. And still headed that way.”

  “Okay. This car is headed south.”

  They let the weight of what that could mean rest between them on the open line. When Mackenzie spotted the red flicker of taillights ahead, she slowed again, making sure to stay out of sight.

  “Amy is turning left now,” Ellington said. “She’s currently on State Road 14. And as I’m sure you know…”

  “The intersection of State Road 14 and Highway 27 is where Bethany’s car was run off the road. And hold on…the car ahead of me is turning now. Another back road. Road sign says it’s called Harbough Road.”

  Again, there was silence. This time it lasted for about thirty seconds, broken by Ellington. “If this is heading the way we think, I wonder if we should call Burke.”

  “Not yet. Right now, we have just one single car that might be worth checking out. It’s not worth making a scene about.”

  “Well, maybe we’ll get there,” Ellington said. “Amy just turned onto Highway 27. I’m about three hundred feet behind her and I don’t think she’s noticed me. I’m about to turn, and…okay, so there’s a gas station up on the left. A BP station. And she’s turning in.”

  More silence. Mackenzie kept her eyes on the road ahead of her, making sure she did not announce herself to the car in front of her. As she waited for more information from Ellington, the car in front of her stopped and turned right. Mackenzie hesitated a moment and then continued on. When she reached the area where Harbough Road ended, she saw that the car had turned onto Highway 27.

  “My guy just turned onto Highway 27,” she announced.

  “I’m creeping along,” Ellington said. “But she’s going to spot me soon enough and…holy shit.”

  “What is it?” Mackenzie asked.

  “Another girl. She just popped up from behind some tank or something on the side of the building and she’s rushing for Amy’s car. I’ve got…I’ve got to get up there.”

  “Get to them and hide them! If this car ahead of me is headed that way, make the driver think there’s no one there.”

  “Yeah, got it. Here we go.”

  And with that, the call was ended.

  Mackenzie gripped the steering wheel, peering ahead of her. She knew she could creep up on the car now. Even if she gave herself away and the guy tried to outrun her, she could pull him over and demand to know where he had been going. But she also knew it would be better to catch him in the act. So she kept her distance, always making sure his taillights were barely visible ahead of her.

  She stayed at this pace until the car veered off of the road. Mackenzie wasn’t sure what he was doing until she saw the faint green glow of the BP station lights coming through the trees on the right.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  Ellington gave up trying to be discreet the moment he got off of the phone with Mackenzie. He sped into the BP parking lot, scraping the underside of the car as he did so. Amy Campbell turned toward him right away, a look of absolute terror in her eyes. Beyond her, the other girl, who had already reached Amy’s passenger’s side door, literally looked like a deer in his headlights.

  He slammed the car into park and got out quickly. He saw recognition in Amy’s eyes, slowly dissolving the fear.

  “Amy, you and your friend get back behind that tank,” Ellington said. “I don’t have time to explain, but you need to do it now!”

  “Why are you here?” she asked. Oddly enough, she sounded angry.

  Ellington raced toward them, taking Amy by the arm and pulling her to the side of the station, to the storage tank the other girl had been hiding behind. “I just told you I don’t have time to explain. But if you listen to me, we might have our killer in custody in the next five minutes.”

  Amy fought for just a moment but then nodded and started rushing forward with Ellington. She looked back to the other girl and said, “Come on!”

  The girl looked terribly confused, maybe even a little traumatized based on the blank look in her eyes, but followed along. Ellington ushered them both to the hiding spot he’d seen the girl come away from, his eyes turned back to the road. He did not see headlights yet, but just faintly, he could hear the hum of an engine in the distance.

  Ellington hunkered down behind the tank with the girls and drew his weapon. “Don’t make a sound and stay still,” he said.

  He pressed himself against the side of the old rusted storage tank and waited. Within seconds, a set of headlights washed across the parking lot. Some of the light came within just inches of the tank.

  There was a slight screeching of brakes and then the sound of a car door opening. Ellington kept his place behind the tank, gripping his Glock, and waited.

  ***

  The moment Mackenzie saw the car turn into the parking lot, she floored it. The car seemed to leap along the road, enjoying the speed for only ten seconds or so before she had to hit the brakes to turn into the BP parking lot. The back end fishtailed a bit, but she corrected it right away. As she did, a man got out of the car she had been following. He had a crowbar in his hand and was busy looking back and forth between her car and the other two that were already in the parking lot.

  Mackenzie stepped out of the car, drawing her weapon. The man took two steps toward her, raising the crowbar like it was a baseball bat. The man was haggard looking, somewhere in his late forties or early fifties. His shifty eyes could not seem to remain still, looking back and forth between Mackenzie and the road behind her and then to the crowbar in his hands.

  “FBI,” she said. “I suggest you drop that crowbar and stop walking towards me right now.”

  The man looked back behind him, as if he’d expected to find something back there.

  “Eyes on me,” Mackenzie said.

  Still, the man looked behind him, nearly turning fully away from Mackenzie.

  “I said eyes on me!”

  At this, Ellington stood up from behind the tank. His gun was also drawn as he took a step toward the man. “I suggest you do what she says.”

  The man turned back toward Mackenzie. When he dropped the crowbar and it clattered to the asphalt, Mackenzie thought it looked as if the man might start crying at any moment.

  “Hands on your head and very slowly walk towards my car,” Mackenzie said.

  “Let me explain…”

  “You’ll have plenty of time to explain,” Mackenzie said. “First, come over here with your hands over your head and stand directly against the side of my car.”

  The man was openly crying now. Still, he did as Mackenzie asked, shuffling over to her car. When he got there, Ellington fell in behind him. “Hands on the hood, then slowly behind your back,” he said.

  Again, the man did as he was asked. As Ellington slapped a pair of cuffs on him, he asked: “Want to tell me why you’re here at this ho
ur?”

  “Just driving around,” the man said through tears.

  “I’m sure you were,” Mackenzie said. She then looked at Ellington with a wary look on her face. He shrugged, knowing what that looked meant.

  Is it really going to be that easy?

  While Ellington escorted the man into the back of Mackenzie’s car, Mackenzie walked up to the side of the station. She approached it cautiously, not wanting to scare the girls hiding behind the large oil storage tank.

  “Amy, it’s Agent White. You can come out.”

  Amy carefully stepped out of hiding. Her face was filled with confusion and the same peculiar anger Ellington had seen moments before.

  “You followed me,” Amy said. Her tone was accusing, her face growing more and more angry.

  “That’s right. Sorry if you feel betrayed, but we had a killer to catch. And, as it turns out, it seems we’ve done exactly that. Because we followed you.”

  “You don’t understand!”

  At Amy’s yelling, the other girl stepped out of their hiding spot. She looked relieved as she spotted the man who had been wielding the crowbar being placed into the back of Mackenzie’s car in handcuffs.

  “The killer appears to be caught,” Mackenzie said. “Amy, you don’t have to be scared anymore.”

  “You think they’ll just stop? You think they’ll forget about it and move on?”

  “She’s right,” the other girl said, joining them. “If he’s the guy you’ve been looking for, it won’t matter. It’ll just keep happening.”

  “You’re from the Community, too?” Mackenzie asked.

  “Yeah. Got out tonight.”

  “How?”

  “I was helped b—”

  “No,” Amy said. “No, don’t give them a name.”

  Extremely confused, Mackenzie had no other choice but to do what came next. She eyed Amy with as much compassion as she could while also trying to keep a steeled expression on her face.