Silence: The Faces of Evil Christmas Prequel

by Webb, Debra

  Potter shook her head. “I think I’ll just stay.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “If you help me,” Jess said, trying another tactic, “your actions could help your case. Could make things easier on you.”

  “I’m not spending the rest of my life in prison. I’d rather stay put and hear you scream when the flames devour you.”

  To hell with her. “You can come or not. Makes no difference to me.”

  Jess knelt at the door to the sisters’ cage once more. “Marie, we have to go now. I need you to let go of your sister and climb out.”

  “Please.” She shook her head. “I can’t leave her. She’s all I have in the world.”

  Jess battled back the emotions ramming at her. “Maybe we can do this together.”

  Marie helped Jess get her sister through the small opening, then she crawled out. She tried to stand. Couldn’t. Her legs were too weak.

  Jess started to place Bonita’s body on the floor.

  “No!” Marie shook her head. “Carry her. I’ll crawl.”

  They made it as far as the stairs, Potter’s taunts playing like a bad musical score to low-budget horror flick.

  Marie couldn’t manage the stairs. Jess squatted next to her. “Put your arms around my neck and hang on.”

  As the frail woman wrapped her arms around her, Jess did something she hadn’t done in a very long time. She prayed. She prayed for the strength to make it up the stairs with Marie hanging onto her back and a dead woman in her arms.

  The first step was the most difficult. The rest were a blur.

  When they reached the kitchen the smoke was so thick Jess could hardly breathe. Her throat and eyes burned. How the hell was she going to do this? The room was engulfed in flames. Holding Bonita close to her chest, she dropped to the floor.

  “Marie, I want you to crawl now. Stay right behind me. Don’t let go of my coat.”

  Throat and lungs burning, they made it to the backdoor. Thank God she’d left it open otherwise she might never have found it, confusion was already wreaking havoc with her judgment.

  No sooner than she was knee deep in snow, something inside the house collapsed.

  With Marie hanging onto her neck once more, Jess trudged through the snow until they were almost to her car. Exhausted, she dropped to her knees. Couldn’t carry both women any farther. She coughed until she lost her breath.

  When she could breathe again, she stared up at the moon. Every part of her was drained and aching. The sound of the flames and the crackling of the wood resonated in the night.

  “See I told you,” Marie whispered as she reached out to her sister, “we’re free and we’re going home.”

  Somehow Jess got up. Her eyes were stinging. Had to be the smoke. Rather than argue with Marie again, she carried Bonita to her car first. Then she helped Marie into the back seat next to her. Thankfully her keys were still in the ignition. Jess opened the trunk and got her blanket to cover the two women.

  She collapsed behind the wheel and started the engine. Her feet were numb. Behind her, Marie was singing softly to her sister. Jess understood she was operating on adrenaline. She hoped it held out until she could get her to a hospital. Marie was in far worse condition than she realized.

  The digital clock on the radio showed ten minutes before midnight. Almost Christmas Eve.

  Eyes and throat burning like hell, Jess turned her car around and drove away. In her rearview mirror she saw the sparks fly as the house started to collapse in onto itself. They’d barely made it. She had no idea if Potter had run out or if she’d died in that basement. Something for local law enforcement to figure out.

  At the main road, two SUVs skidded to a stop in front of Jess’s car.

  Even in the moonlight she recognized Gant and Taylor as they emerged from one of the vehicles and rushed toward her. Jess put her car into park and collapsed against the seat. Thank God.

  Gant jerked her door open. “What the hell happened? You okay?”

  “Marie and Bonita Duncan are in the backseat,” Jess reported. “Marie’s alive. The others are dead.” She closed her eyes against the images.

  She could hear Taylor calling for backup. Someone was in the backseat checking on Marie. Like the devoted sister she was, Marie insisted Bonita needed attention first.

  “You hurt, Harris?” Gant demanded.

  Jess nodded. “I’m okay.”

  “We’ve got one deceased and one alive. She needs a hospital now,” a male voice said from the backseat.

  Before Jess could tell him Marie had a name, another man she didn’t recognize was suddenly helping to lift Marie from the backseat. The woman cried for them to take her sister first. They ignored her.

  “Tell them to take the sister too.” Jess closed her eyes and fought the tears as images of Lily played through her thoughts. Life was too short. No one had the promise of tomorrow. Not going home for so long was wrong.

  “The sister’s dead,” Gant said as if she didn’t know that already.

  “Please.” Jess opened her eyes, swiped at the tears. “Marie needs her sister with her.”

  Gant pulled back from the door and shouted the order to the men loading Marie into one of the SUVs. Whatever they thought about his order, they obeyed.

  With the Duncan sisters secured inside, the SUV tore out into the night, headed for the nearest hospital.

  Jess said another swift prayer for Marie. Funny how she was suddenly doing all this praying.

  “Come on, Harris,” Gant said, tugging at her arm. “I’m taking you to the hospital just to be sure.” He glanced at the SUV roaring away, then at the old farmhouse now totally engulfed in flames. “Jesus Christ. I think it’s time you took that vacation you keep putting off.”

  Jess stared up at him. For about three seconds she couldn’t speak. The emotions expanded so fast inside her she thought she might die right there in her almost new car with her new boss staring at her. “I don’t need medical attention. I just want to go home.”

  To Birmingham.

  13

  Christmas Day

  Birmingham, 6:15 a.m.

  Jess opened her eyes. Her heart beat faster as Dan’s face came into focus. She’d been dreaming about the farmhouse... and the fire. Remembered fear quaked through her.

  Dan was still asleep. She should go before he woke. She realized this but her body refused to obey. She wanted to look at him for just a minute more. She knew every single detail... but there were small changes since the last time she’d seen him. A line or two here or there. Mostly he was just as handsome as before, maybe more so.

  Memories flooded her and tears brimmed on her lashes. They had been inseparable in high school and in college. Had made so many plans. They’d had their whole lives mapped out.

  But those dreams had died as surely as those women had died in that farmhouse. No one had come to rescue them in time.

  Marie Duncan had survived. Gant had called Jess on the way here to let her know Marie would recover. Marie hadn’t cared whether she survived or not, only that her sister got the help she needed. If you had a sister you would understand... I can’t leave her... I won’t leave her.

  When had Jess forgotten how important family was? When had work become her only priority? She’d sacrificed too much.

  Even him.

  She resisted the urge to reach out and touch Dan. Just looking at him made her yearn for things that would never be.

  More memories washed over her. The shouting. Him telling her he was leaving. Her daring him to go. If you don’t love me any more than that, just go!

  She’d come home from work the next day and he was gone. Part of her had refused to believe he would stay away... but she’d been wrong.

  For months after that she had argued with herself about who did what and who was right. The truth was she and Dan had fallen apart while they weren’t looking. Both of them had been so busy with school and work, there just hadn’t been time to notice the slow, steady disintegra
tion. Their future plans had continued as if simply saying they were moving ahead with the wedding would somehow hold them together.

  Pretending hadn’t been enough.

  He had left her. Anguish twisted her heart. Dan had left her all alone to the life they had planned together for years.

  What in the world was she doing here?

  There was no going back for either of them. She couldn’t undo the past any more than he could.

  She had achieved the position she’d hoped for... the one she’d spent her entire career to date striving toward. That was her life now. His life was here. He wouldn’t want to change his life anymore than she would.

  But there were some mistakes she could make sure she never repeated. She was never going to take her sister for granted again. Not for a second.

  Moving carefully so as not to wake him, she eased out of the bed. She gathered her scattered clothes and hastily dressed. The bruises on her knees and abdomen, not to mention her throat, were an even uglier shade of blue and green today. Her wrists were scraped and burned from struggling with the ropes. She glanced in the mirror and winced. She looked a fright. But she was alive. Maybe more so than she had been in a long time.

  At the bedroom door she paused. She shouldn’t look back. It wasn’t smart. Still she looked. The white pillowcase looked stark beneath his dark hair. She closed her eyes and savored the smell of him one last time... and the lingering scent of their lovemaking.

  Time to go.

  She turned away.

  Lily and her family were waiting.

  It was Christmas.

  The sound of the door closing woke Dan. He sat up, stared at the empty place on the bed next to him.

  She was gone.

  His heart sank and all the hope he’d dared to feel died, taking a piece of him with it. He picked up the pillow she’d slept on and hugged it to his chest, closed his eyes and inhaled her sweet scent.

  He wished he had known the right words to make her stay. He’d been wrong to leave the way he had all those years ago. The truth was he’d been terrified. No matter how hard he tried he never measured up to her. Not that she kept score, but he did.

  His ego had caused him to make the biggest mistake of his life.

  But she had kept moving forward without him. She’d achieved her dreams. Something he hadn’t been able to do, not entirely anyway. Two failed marriages attested to that sad fact.

  Ultimately that was the trouble between him and Jess. He opened his eyes and exhaled a big breath. There was no keeping her here. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her she’d informed him that she had a plan.

  No force on earth was going to stop her from following her dream and making it a reality.

  Nothing wrong with that... except it didn’t include him.

  Or maybe he just hadn’t been able to keep up.

  Lakefront Trail, Bessemer, 8:15 a.m.

  As promised, Lil had left the front door unlocked for Jess. She slipped in, gifts for the kids under each arm. Lil, Blake, and their children were in the family room gathered around the Christmas tree. Torn wrapping paper and bows were scattered all over the floor.

  Jess grinned. “Merry Christmas!”

  Lil looked up. The happiness that beamed from her face squeezed Jess’s heart.

  “Jess!” Lil jumped up and rushed to hug her. “You’re here! I can’t believe it!”

  Alice and Blake junior ran over to get their gifts and to welcome their Aunt Jess. Blake senior got a hug in too.

  Jess tried her best not to cry but after what happened in Ruckersville and then last night with Dan it was difficult. She joined the family around the tree. Watching made her breath catch. They were so happy. Lil was such a good mother.

  Some errant brain cell had Jess wondering if she had come back with Dan ten years ago, would they have all this by now? The house, the kids?

  No looking back.

  “Hey!” Blake junior shouted. “It’s snowing!”

  They all hurried to the window and watched the falling snow. The white stuff was no novelty in Virginia, but here it was a special treat.

  It was good to be with family for Christmas.

  Jess wondered if Dan was watching the falling snow too. For just one second she wished he were here.

  Only because it was Christmas.

  -o0o-

  Read on for a special sneak peek at VICIOUS, book 7 of the Faces of Evil series!

  VICIOUS

  FACES OF EVIL

  Debra Webb

  “The age of our fathers, which was worse than that of our ancestors,

  produced us, who are about to raise a progeny

  more vicious than ourselves.”

  ~Horace

  1

  Monday, August 23, 1:00 a.m.

  “Do you know who I am?”

  His guest moved her head side to side in swift, frantic little shakes. Her dark eyes were round with fear and every desperate breath echoed that same fear in the quiet room.

  Satisfaction made him smile. She was unaware of his name or his reputation, yet she instinctively understood that her life as she knew it was at an end.

  Rory Stinnett was going to die.

  How fortunate she was to be the first chosen to join him in this final round of the game. Before the last ounce of life drained from her, she would know the name Eric Spears intimately. And he would know every sweet, luscious part of her, inside and out.

  This one was truly beautiful. Long, silky hair as black as the deepest part of the night. He traced the length of her throat with his eyes. She shivered as if he’d stroked his fingers there. Her extraordinarily sculpted body lay naked before him. The restraints at her wrists, waist, and ankles, chaffed her smooth, tanned skin.

  His gaze lingered on her breasts, nipples erect from the low temperature in the room or from the terror coursing through her veins, either way they begged for attention. Anticipation stirred inside him. Not yet, it wasn’t time to play. Her role in the game was immensely important, far more so than she could possibly comprehend.

  “You will know me in time.” His promise prompted another delicious shiver of her exquisite body.

  “But not until the perfect moment,” he explained. “Not until the others are here.”

  Not until she was here.

  His body tightened with excitement as the image of the guest of honor for the upcoming coup de grâce filled his mind.

  Once Jess was here, the final game would begin.

  He could hardly wait.

  2

  UT Medical Center, Knoxville, Tennessee, 3:00 p.m.

  Deputy Chief Jess Harris waited in the austere private room for the patient to decide she was ready to continue. The uncomfortable plastic chair squeaked each time Jess shifted. She crossed her legs to stop her knee from bouncing with impatience and frustration. Didn’t help. Her worst nightmare was coming true and she couldn’t just sit here and pretend she wasn’t worried.

  Eric Spears, the sociopathic serial killer who haunted her every waking hour, had taken his first victim. Equal measures of fury and fear erupted inside her all over again. She struggled to hold back the emotions welling up in her throat. Breaking down at this point wouldn’t help anyone, least of all the woman he’d chosen to use in his sadistic scheme.

  As soon as Jess received word from the Bureau that two of the three missing women had been found, she and Chief of Police Dan Burnett were on their way. With no nonstop flights out of Birmingham, Alabama, they’d had to endure a plane change in Atlanta. Every wasted minute had cranked Jess’s tension a little higher. By the time they arrived in Knoxville, the Bureau and local law enforcement had already finished their interviews and Jess had felt ready to snap with mounting tension.

  Unless the two survivors of this perverted reality game could provide some additional insight into where Spears had held them or why he hadn’t freed the third victim or what he intended next, they had nothing. Nothing at all.

  Spears had made his
choice from the three women abducted from Alabama ten days ago and he’d vanished with her. Not one shred of evidence had been left behind. None they had discovered at any rate.

  Nausea roiled in Jess’s belly. She had to find a way to stop him.

  Since her interview with Claudia Brown, the first of the two rescued victims, hadn’t provided any additional information, Jess’s only remaining hope was that Melaney Lands, the woman lying in the hospital bed a few feet away, would remember something useful. Jess shifted again in the uncomfortable chair. So far, she hadn’t said anything at all.

  Melaney, born and raised in Mobile and a nursing student at the University of South Alabama, adjusted her bendable straw with a shaky hand. She took a long draw of water from the plastic cup.

  Enough time passed to have Jess’s already strained nerves frayed completely. Melaney placed the cup on the tray-table extended across her lap. She clasped her hands on the white sheet tucked against the faded blue hospital gown she wore, but still she didn’t speak. Jess wondered if she understood how very lucky she was to have survived a close encounter with Spears, the Player, a vicious serial killer who loved torturing his victims before ending their lives.

  Of the thirty some odd cases of abducted women attributed to him by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there had never been a survivor. Not one. Detective Lori Wells of Birmingham PD had met the monster and lived to tell but then he hadn’t abducted her. One of his reckless minions, Matthew Reed, had taken her. That was the last mistake Reed would ever make and, in all likelihood, the only reason Lori was still alive.

  It seemed impossible that Lori’s abduction had been scarcely more than a month ago.

  The air stalled in Jess’s lungs as her heart flailed like a fish swept onto the bank and then deserted by the tide. Everything about her life had changed and gotten far more complicated in those few short weeks.

  God Almighty, what was she going to do?

  She adjusted her glasses as well as her attention. Right now, she couldn’t think about the other troubles stewing in her private life. There just wasn’t time to linger and she couldn’t afford the distraction.