Watching Whitney

by Jerri Drennen

  He squeezed her hand and returned her smile. “I love you too, Kylie.”

  Before things got too out of control and Steve just about lost his composure, Patsy came over and led Kylie away, leaving him with a clogged throat. He needed to wrap this case up and soon or he’d not have any heart to take back to Denver.

  Bryan came over to him, looking over his shoulder the whole time.

  “What’s wrong?” Steve glanced in the direction Bryan pointed. A pretty blond stood smiling next to Patsy.

  “Mrs. Fry seems to think me and this Shelly what’s-her-name have a lot in common. She’s the local psychic. Has a New Age shop in town. What does profiling have to do with mind reading?”

  Steve laughed.

  “This is not funny, Morgan. This gal seems to think we’re soul mates or something.”

  Steve glanced at the blond again. “She’s pretty enough. What’s the problem?”

  Bryan glared at him. “What’s the problem? For one thing, I don’t believe in this New Age crap. She asked if she could examine my chakras. What the hell is a chakra? It is some kind of sexual thing I don’t know about?”

  Steve laughed again. “I think it has something to do with the areas of energy in your body.”

  Bryan frowned. “Why would she want to examine those? What is Patsy thinking trying to set me up with her anyway? I live in Washington. The woman lives here. How would that work?”

  Suddenly Steve wasn’t laughing.

  Steve glanced at Whitney again. She stood talking with Mason.

  “So what does it feel like to be married?” Flint came up to him and Bryan, slapping Steve on the back.

  “Cut the crap. I think we both know this is no marriage.”

  “It could be, you know. I see the way you look at those girls, Steve. Marble’s a nice little town. A great place to raise a family.”

  “I live in Denver, Flint. Have most of my life. I’m used to the crazy hustle and bustle there. I don’t think I could live without that.”

  “You’d be surprised how all that seems trivial when you fall in love. I was willing to do anything for Dray. Since we had Seeley, I don’t find any thrill in risking my life anymore. Not like before. I have two ladies who need me around.”

  Steve was about to deny his feelings for Whitney when he cell phone went off. “Excuse me.” He answered the call.

  “Detective Morgan. This is Sheriff Gable. We have an ID on the woman in the lake.”

  Steve sucked in a staggering breath. “Who was she?”

  “Her name was Carol Matlock. She lived in Glenwood.”

  “What about children? Did she have any?”

  “Yes, she did. How did you know?”

  “It’s a long story. Are you still in Marble?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Didn’t you meet with Mason about the robbery out at Crane Lodge?”

  “What robbery?” the man asked, sounding completely surprised by the news.

  “Someone broke into the café and hit Harold Huntley over the head. The owner said money was stolen.”

  “I haven’t heard a thing about it.”

  This confused Steve. Mason said he’d contacted the sheriff. He glanced over to where he’d stood with Whitney. They were both gone. He glanced around the hall, but couldn’t see either of them.

  “Are you still there, detective?”

  “Maybe I was mistaken.” A sick sense of foreboding settled in on him.

  “I’ll come by in the morning and talk to you, if that’d be all right?”

  “I’ll expect you then.”

  Steve closed his phone, his eyes darting around the room for Whitney. She had to be here. He turned and signaled for Flint and Bryan.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Where’s Whitney?”

  The men glanced around and both frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s in the ladies room,” Flint suggested.

  Steve stalked toward the restrooms, his heart thudding wildly in his chest. He hadn’t given it any thought before now, but Mason had medium brown hair.

  At the ladies’ room, he knocked. When no one answered, he shoved the door open and stepped inside. “Whitney! Are you in here?”

  Steve slammed into all the stalls, his adrenaline pumping at a dangerous rate.

  “God dammit.”

  He raced from the bathroom, running into Flint outside the door. “Did you find her?”

  Flint shook his head. “Maybe she went outside for some fresh air.”

  “I think he’s got her.” Steve took off toward the front entrance. “Who?”

  “Mason Crane. He was the last person I saw talking to her. Have a background check run on him. I’ll bet he was in Idaho nine years ago.”

  Steve pushed through the doors and rushed to his SUV. Flint followed him outside. He looked around the parking lot and failed to see Mason’s Trailblazer. “See if you can’t get a home address on him. I’m going out to the lodge. I’ll call you if I find anything.”

  The engine turned over and Steve peeled out of the parking lot. He had to find Whitney. Her life depended on it.

  Kylie’s face materialized before his mind’s eye and he almost lost his composure. The little girl needed her mother, so she needed him to keep his shit together and find Whitney or she’d be left alone. He could never let that happen.

  Steve stomped on the gas pedal and kept his eyes on the road.

  As the seconds ticked by, he could imagine what Mason was doing to Whitney. If he even touched one hair on her head, Steve was going to strangle him like he did all those women.

  The café sign came into view and he slowed the vehicle to make the turn into the parking area, almost losing control on the loose gravel.

  He’d barely come to a stop as he jumped from the cab and raced up the walkway to the door, only to find it locked.

  Now what?

  The rec center. He took off down the concrete trail to the lodge’s main building. He grasped the door handle and yanked. Again, he found the door secured.

  He’d about run out of options. Where would he take her?

  The lake? Would he be brazen enough to repeat a dumping ground? Steve wished he knew. He had no choice but to go see. He’d need a flashlight first. He raced to his SUV and reached under the seat and pulled out a large light.

  Steve closed the door as quietly as he could. He didn’t want to alert the killer. The element of surprise was all he had going for him right now.

  At a sprint, he took off down the trail, aiming the flashlight’s beam on the path to keep from getting lost. Before heading down to the lake, he entered his cabin and grabbed his Glock from the kitchen cabinet. He didn’t want to use it, but he would if Mason gave him no choice.

  Steve raced from the cabin and took off through the trees, trying to listen past the pounding of his heart. This whole thing was his fault.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Whitney struggled to open her eyes. Her head felt as if it were splitting in half.

  What happened? Where was she? Why couldn’t she remember a darn thing?

  Something sharp dug into her back. She tried to move but found her hands and feet tied securely.

  Her heart stopped for a second, then restarted. Whitney blinked and glanced around her, shocked to see the lake off to her left. How had she gotten out here? Why was it so hard to remember anything?

  A twig snapped from behind and had her rolling to her other side to see what had caused the noise. Mason walked toward her. Now she recalled he’d been the last thing she had seen before everything went black. She’d been talking to him at the hall after she and Steve shared their dance. Mason had asked to speak with her outside and then everything became a blur.

  “What’s goin
g on, Mason? Why are my hands and feet tied?”

  He didn’t bother to answer, just moved around her like a caged animal.

  “Please, Mason. Something’s cutting into my side.”

  He looked her way, his eyes completely void of emotion.

  Whitney swallowed hard. Something was wrong. Why would Mason refuse to release her? What did he plan to do with her tied up like this? Thoughts of the woman from the lake came to mind. Mason owned this resort. It would have been fairly easy for him to have killed her and dumped her body in the lake.

  So why had he looked like he had in his office the day Steve came to tell him about the woman? Maybe because he’d been unhappy that someone had found her. He’d hoped that her body would never be discovered — like those other six missing women.

  Oh. My. God.

  Where was Steve?

  Her eyes darted around the wooded area. Did he even know she was missing from the hall? The last time she’d seen him, he’d been speaking to Bryan. Had he even noticed her with Mason?

  “Why?” she asked, trying to work the ropes on her hands free.

  Mason stopped his pacing to look at her. “Why what?” The man standing before her wasn’t the same man she’d come to know in the months she’d worked for him. How could he appear to be one person and yet be this man — frightening and clearly insane?

  “Why are you doing this?”

  Mason snorted. “Because you’re a bad mother, Whitney. Do you have any idea what Bethany does when she’s watching Kylie? Do you even care?”

  “What are you talking about?” The question shocked Whitney. Did he know something she didn’t?

  “Right. I didn’t think so.” He scowled at her. “You’re just like the woman who gave birth to me. I can hardly call her mother. She didn’t give a flip who she left me with.”

  Whitney shook her head. “That’s not true, Mason. Bethany takes good care of Kylie. You know that.”

  He laughed. “The town slut? How do you know she’s not entertaining men while you’re working?”

  “Because she has her own son to think about. She’d never do that.”

  His dark eyes narrowed. “But you don’t know that for sure, do you?”

  “I guess not. But I think my daughter would tell me if she wasn’t being cared for.”

  He laughed again, even louder than before. “Would you listen if she did? My mother certainly hadn’t. She just kept on leaving me with the sick pervert that destroyed my childhood. Do you want to know what he did to me? How the minute my mother left he would make me do disgusting things to him, and then he’d raped me over and over while I screamed?”

  Whitney winced at his confession. She almost felt sorry for the man holding her hostage. What a horrible thing to happen to such a young child — to a child of any age.

  He looked her square in the eye. “I fancied you. Did you know that? I wasn’t going to hurt you the night I broke into your house. I just wanted to touch you while you slept. But you weren’t in your bed. My feelings changed when you screwed Morgan. That was when I knew you were like her and you needed to be taught a lesson.”

  “I didn’t know, Mason. You have to let me go. Kylie needs me. You know that. Wyatt would never take care of her. She’d end up in a bad situation. Maybe like yours had been.” Whitney prayed by using his own plight that he’d see what he was doing was wrong.

  Instead, he sneered at her. “You should have thought of that before you spread your legs for a perfect stranger.”

  “He’s not a stranger, Mason. He’s my husband.”

  “Do you really think he’ll stay here? The man’s used to city life. He’ll get bored with Marble and you before the ink on your marriage license dries.”

  Whitney wanted to deny his claims but she couldn’t. She’d had the same thoughts. Steve wouldn’t be content in a small tourist town. What would he do? Become a fishing instructor? He couldn’t stand to fish. He wouldn’t be happy for long. Whitney was positive of that. Then he’d start to resent her and she couldn’t do that to him.

  Whitney again worked the ropes at her hands. She had to get free or she might as well roll over and die. Because she knew how this was going to end. The lady in the lake could attest to that.

  Mason chose that moment to kneel next to her and run his hand down her neck.

  Whitney struggled to turn away, only to receive a hard slap to the side of her face.

  “Things could have been so different for us, Whitney. I would have taken care of you and Kylie. Then you wouldn’t have had to work. You could have stayed home with her. Been the kind of mother you should be.”

  The sting of the slap made Whitney’s eyes water. No man had ever laid a hand on her like this before. Not even Wyatt.

  “What did you want me to do, Mason? I didn’t have a choice in leaving Kylie with a sitter. Wyatt left me. I have no idea where he is. I can hardly get him to pay child support if I have no way of finding him. Would you have let me bring her to work with me?”

  “I don’t know, Whitney. Maybe you should have asked.”

  Now what? She’d tried to reason with him. But nothing was getting through. She had to get loose and escape or she was going to die.

  She frantically worked her hand up and down, the rope cutting into the delicate flesh at her wrists as she did. Keep trying. This pain is nothing compared to what he intends for you. Now work harder.

  Whitney struggled with her restraints, envisioning what Mason had planned. Maybe she should have asked Steve more about the woman in the lake — how she was murdered, what she’d endured before he’d ended her life.

  Heightening terror clogged her throat and she forced herself to swallow past the emotion. When she’d about given up hope of getting loose, one of her hands slid out of the rope and her heart started to thud wildly in her chest. How was she going to get the ropes at her ankles undone? She had to think. One wrong move could be her last.

  An intense desire to live overtook her. She had to find something to hit him with. It might give her a few seconds to get her feet untied.

  Behind her, she felt around, trying not to draw attention to herself. When Whitney was about ready to give up, her hand connected with a good-sized rock. It felt solid enough to inflict some damage if she was able to land a shot to his head. With enough force, the stone could very well knock him out.

  He turned and looked at her, his eyes turning darker. What was he thinking? How was he going to kill her? His hand snaked out and grasped her legs to draw them up to his side.

  Whitney tightened her hold on the rock and was about to swing when he started to untie the ropes at her ankle. He was making it easier for her to get away and he didn’t even know it.

  When the feet were free, he pulled her closer to him.

  Whitney sucked in a breath. What the hell had he planned on doing?

  His palm slid up her thigh and Whitney screamed. God. He intended to rape her before he killed her.

  She held the rock firmly in her hand, but she had to wait for the perfect opportunity to hit him.

  “Scream all you want, Whitney. No one’s going to hear you out here.”

  “Why don’t you just kill the person you want to really kill, Mason? I had nothing to do with your pain. Why do I have to pay for it?”

  “Because she died before I could. The stupid bitch drank herself to death.”

  “Can’t you see that what you’re doing isn’t working? How many women are you going to have to kill before you’re satisfied?”

  “I don’t know, Whitney, but I hope you’re the last. I don’t like what I’ve become. Every time I kill a woman, I hope it’ll be enough to quench my hatred of her.”

  “If you felt bad about what you were doing, why didn’t you seek some kind of help or end your torment by taking your own lif
e.”

  “And end up in hell with my mother? Are you crazy?”

  “No, but you are,” Whitney said without thinking how far it’d push him.

  Mason slapped her again, this time so hard it echoed in her ears.

  Tears of pain filled her eyes. She’d gone too far and now she could hardly see to hit him when the time came.

  He yanked her toward him, prying her legs apart to get between them.

  Whitney struggled to get away, not wanting him to see that her hands were free. With his overpowering strength, she’d need every advantage of the element of surprise.

  Whitney screamed at the top of her lungs when his hand went under her dress and connected with her panties. She wiggled frantically, her skin crawling with disgust at the intimate touch.

  It was time. She had to get away or he’d force himself on her and she’d never be able to forget it.

  As he fought to hold her in place, Whitney brought the rock up and smashed it as hard as she could against his temple. He yelped and rolled away, giving her a chance to scramble to her knees. She quickly jumped to her feet and took off running, not sure which direction she was headed. She didn’t care as long as she got away from Mason.

  Her heart hammered in her chest and her side hurt but she couldn’t risk slowing down. Her life depended on her endurance — her ability to keep moving no matter what. Tree limbs slapped at her face but she kept running until she collided with something solid, someone who grabbed her and held her tight. She fought to get away until Steve’s voice calling to her registered in her brain. She looked up and sucked in some much-needed air.

  “Where’s Mason?” He held her steady.

  “Behind me. At the lake. We have to get away. Hurry. We have to go now.” She grabbed his arm and tried to drag him with her.

  “No. I can’t let him get away, Whitney. He could do this to another woman somewhere else. This has to end. He needs to be put away.”

  Whitney shook her head. “No, Steve. You could get hurt.” At that moment, she knew she cared more for Steve than she did for herself.

  “Does he have a gun?”