The Burning Girls: A completely gripping crime thriller packed with heart-pounding twists (Detective Ellie Reeves Book 3)

by Rita Herron

  “Judging from her injuries, she was a fighter,” Laney murmured.

  “What about the fire?” Ellie asked. “Postmortem or did he set the fire while she was alive?”

  Laney’s gaze locked with hers, her brow furrowed, silent understanding passing between them. “I’ll let you know once I finish the autopsy.” She gestured toward a silver chain necklace the victim was wearing. The letters KLC were engraved on the oval pendant.

  Footsteps echoed from the woods and a minute later the recovery team arrived, along with an evidence response team.

  Ellie pointed out the area where she wanted them to search, then the ridge above. “Look for anything to tell us what happened here. Also search for footprints, skid marks or drag marks to indicate whether she jumped or was pushed.”

  One of the investigators began roping off the area while the other tech started combing the brush and snapping pictures of the girl. Ellie walked over to Cord who gestured toward a backpack tossed into the weeds. “I haven’t touched it, but the kids said it’s not theirs.”

  Pulling on gloves, Ellie picked it up, then checked the tag on the outside. The name said Katie Lee Curtis. She unzipped it and found a hairbrush and rain jacket along with a small wallet. Flipping it open, she found a photograph of Katie Lee, a pretty dark-haired girl. Her ID put her at eighteen years old. KLC—Katie Lee Curtis.

  Bag in hand, she approached the teens, identified herself and asked their names.

  The blond kid consoling the girl was Jerry Otterman. The black-haired kid was Will Huntington. Will smelled like cigarette smoke and looked at her warily, as if he thought he was in trouble.

  The girl looked up at her with swollen eyes, shivering as if in shock. Burned victims were always the worst.

  Ellie gave her a sympathetic expression, then stooped beside her and patted her back. “I know this is bad. Can you tell me what happened?”

  The girl dropped her head into her hands and began sobbing again.

  “Will and I camped out last night and were on the way to the falls when I heard a scream,” said Jerry, straightening and clearing his throat. “I looked downhill and saw Jaylee. She was hysterical. I knew something was wrong, so I took off running. I saw smoke, and… then when I got here, I… saw the… body.”

  Ellie gestured toward the wallet and ID. They’d need to verify her ID but judging from the photograph she was pretty sure it was her. “Do you know the girl?”

  “It’s Katie Lee.” Will leaned over, head in his hands, as if he might be sick.

  Ellie patted Jaylee’s back again. “Jaylee, were you friends with her?”

  Jaylee shook her head, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Not really, but she goes to my school.” Jaylee accepted the tissue Ellie pushed into her hand and blew her nose. “Why would someone do this to her?”

  “I don’t know,” Ellie answered softly. “But I promise you I’m going to find out. Did you see what happened to Katie Lee? Was someone else here?”

  “No, I found her just like that,” Jaylee said on a whimper.

  She darted a look at Jerry and Ellie raised a brow. “Let me guess. Were you meeting these guys?”

  The girl swiped at her tears with the tissue. “Just Jerry,” she admitted.

  Jerry straightened, his expression defensive. “We were just going to hang out and go swimming.”

  “Listen to me,” said Ellie, “we need to know what happened here, so if you’re holding back something, speak up. Did any of you see her on the ridge? Or did you see anyone else out here?”

  Jerry and Will shook their heads in unison.

  Jaylee gulped. “Do you think she fell from up there?”

  “Maybe,” Ellie said. “But we’re going to need to talk to her parents and everyone who knew her. Did she have trouble at home or at school with anybody?”

  “I didn’t really know her that well,” Jaylee said. “We had trig class together last year, but she was really quiet and kept to herself.”

  “Who were her friends?” Ellie asked.

  Jaylee scrunched her nose in thought. “I don’t know. I never saw her hanging out with anyone.”

  “She was kind of a loner,” Jerry interjected.

  Will hunched his shoulders and rubbed his hand over his pocket as if in search of a cigarette.

  “Will?” Ellie asked.

  “She went to the same church as my folks,” he admitted.

  She noted that he didn’t say it was the same church he attended. She had a feeling that Will was the rebellious type. “And what church was that?” Ellie asked.

  “Ole Glory,” Will mumbled. “But she hated it as much as I did. Bunch of holier than thou judgmental assholes.”

  One of the Weekday Killer’s victims had been found in the graveyard at Ole Glory. The Pentecostal church had primitive beliefs, with rumors of snake handling and exorcisms being performed behind closed doors. Others whispered that it was a cult, and there was talk of a Manson-type leader and that they had plans to move to a more remote location, totally isolated and closed off from outsiders.

  Then it suddenly struck her—that was where she’d first seen the standing stones. Several of the graves in the Ole Glory cemetery had monuments of stones exactly like this. Was the killer someone who belonged to that church?

  “So, you did know Katie Lee, Will?” Ellie asked, the hair on the back of her neck prickling.

  His jaw clenched. “Not like that,” he said with a shrug of his thin shoulders. “I just saw her at one of the revivals. But her old man was mean to her. Heard some ladies whispering one time that he might be hitting her.”

  Questions mounted in Ellie’s mind. “I’m going to need your parents’ names and phone numbers,” she told the teens.

  “Do you have to tell my father I was here?” Jaylee asked, panic flaring in her teary eyes.

  “I’m sorry, honey, but I do. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

  “You don’t know him.” Jaylee began to cry again, seeming to fold within herself.

  Ellie would feel him out when she talked to him, make sure the girl’s fear wasn’t founded on some kind of abuse. Either way, the kids were minors, and she had to speak to their parents. Nightmares had a way of sneaking up on you once the initial shock wore off.

  Laney stood, gesturing that she wanted to speak to Ellie. Leaving Cord to take down the kids’ contact information, Ellie joined Laney by the body.

  Laney’s dark eyes looked serious. “We’re ready to move her. But I thought you’d want to know. It looks like there’s some kind of fiber or skin beneath her fingernails. I’ll scrape and send to the lab.”

  “Dirt? Tree bark? Resin?” Those would mean the girl might have grabbed at a tree root or branch to keep from falling. “Or maybe skin cells from her attacker?”

  “I won’t know until I get the lab results,” Laney said. “But I think she was killed last night… or at least in the night.”

  Ellie glanced back at the teens who were fidgeting and looking at each other warily. What exactly had happened here?

  12

  As much as Ellie despised working with Sheriff Bryce Waters, he was head of the county. But she still didn’t trust him. He drank too much, had a big mouth and had unwittingly fed the last killer information about her and Shondra.

  But finding two bodies in two days warranted extra manpower. It was necessary that they work together.

  Still, she was edgy. During the last investigation, it was obvious that Bryce wanted to push her into leaving the force, but Ellie Reeves was no quitter.

  She escorted the teens to the parking lot, where Bryce was waiting.

  “I’m going to drive the girl home,” Ellie said. “She’s anxious about her father finding out she was here, and I want to make sure she’s okay. Then I’ll notify Katie Lee’s parents.”

  “I’ll follow the boys home and speak to their folks,” Bryce said with a nod.

  Ellie turned to the kids. “Let me see your phones.”

&
nbsp; “Why do you want them?” Will asked as the teens traded wary looks.

  “To make sure you didn’t take pictures of the scene.” It would be a shitshow if the Curtises learned of their daughter’s death from someone else or social media. “We don’t want you telling anyone about this or posting anything online. When we drive you home, we’ll explain that to your folks, too. We have to respect how difficult this will be for Katie Lee’s family.”

  Jaylee hunched inside herself, and Jerry put his arm around her as if he needed to hold her up.

  “You aren’t going to keep them, are you?” Will asked, his tone anxious.

  “Do we need to, or can we trust you not to get on the phone with this news the minute we give them back?”

  The boy kicked at a clump of dirt. “You said not to talk, so I won’t. But my mom will be pissed if she thinks I lost that phone. I have to check in or I get in trouble.”

  “We’ll return them. But if you leak this before we have a chance to talk to Katie Lee’s folks, I’ll haul you in for interfering with a police investigation.” She hoped to hell she put the fear of God in them.

  Bryce muttered something beneath his breath, but she ignored him as they took the phones. They quickly scrolled through the photo libraries, texts, calls and social media. Thankfully none of them had posted, a sign they had been in shock. She thanked them before returning the phones.

  Bryce gestured toward the sheriff’s car. “Do you have cars here?”

  “That’s my Honda,” said Jerry. “Will rode with me.”

  Bryce nodded. “I’ll follow you to your house, then drive your friend home.”

  The boys’ eyes widened, as if they knew being escorted home by the police would land them in hot water but shuffled silently toward Jerry’s dark green vehicle.

  Ellie addressed Bryce, “Ask the parents if they knew Katie Lee—”

  “I know how to do my job,” Bryce said sharply.

  He also knew how to run his mouth.

  “Just listen, for cripes sake. I was going to suggest you focus on Will.” Ellie glared at him. “He and Katie Lee attended the same church, Ole Glory. Said they both hated it. I want to know just how well they knew each other. Maybe they dated in secret or something.” And if her parents imposed strict rules on the girl, that could have been a problem.

  Bryce glanced over at the boys. He was probably thinking about himself as a teenager. Popular, cocky and eager to get into girls’ pants. Having been on the receiving side of that agenda, Ellie would be less sympathetic to the boys than he would be. But that might prove to be an asset in persuading the teens to talk.

  He walked over to the Honda and asked Will to ride with him, while Ellie turned to Jaylee. “How did you get here, Jaylee?”

  The girl twisted her hands together. Her eyes were practically swollen shut from crying, her face splotchy, her lower lip quivering. “A friend dropped me off.”

  Ellie arched a brow. “And how did you plan to get home?”

  “Jerry was going to drive me.”

  “I’ll take you home,” Ellie said. “Then I have to notify Katie Lee’s parents.”

  Jaylee’s face crumpled. “They’re gonna be so upset.”

  Ellie squeezed the young woman’s shoulder. “Yes, they will. And I’m sorry you had to find her.”

  “It’s awful,” Jaylee whispered. “Just awful.” She climbed in the passenger side of Ellie’s Jeep wiping at more tears. In spite of the unbearable heat outside, the girl shivered the entire ride home.

  13

  Crooked Creek

  “Tell me about your family,” Ellie said as she parked in front of the small brick ranch house where Jaylee lived. The yard was mowed although the flowerbeds were empty, the house void of any character or decorative touches. A jacked-up, dirty white pickup truck was parked beneath the carport, fishing poles propped against the wall, and three lawnmowers that looked in disrepair cluttered the corner. And an old rusted Chevy sat on cinderblocks in the side yard.

  “Daddy is a mechanic,” Jaylee said. “Business has been slow, but we scrape by.”

  “What about your mother?” Ellie asked when the teenager got a faraway look in her eyes.

  “She died last year, cancer,” Jaylee said with a catch to her voice. “Daddy took it hard. I try to cook and keep house for us, but we both miss her.”

  The weight of the world seemed to have landed on that girl’s shoulders. “I’m sorry about your mother,” Ellie said, thinking of Vera and how close she’d come to dying. “That has to be difficult. Come on, I’ll explain things to your father.”

  The girl sucked in a deep breath then the two of them walked up to the house together. As soon as she opened the door, a big burly man with a thick beard came at her. His gray eyes narrowed as he looked at his daughter, then up at Ellie.

  “Where have you been, Jaylee? I’ve been calling your cell phone for an hour.” Although anger sparked in his eyes, his tone sounded more worried than mad.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy,” Jaylee said. “Something’s happened.”

  He folded his beefy arms and glared at Ellie. “Who is this?”

  Ellie flashed her shield. “Hello, Mr. Morris. My name is Detective Ellie Reeves.”

  “What’s going on, Jaylee? Are you in trouble?”

  “No, she’s not,” Ellie cut in.

  He arched a brow towards his daughter. “Jaylee?”

  “I just went to meet some friends at Moody Hollow, Daddy. I’m sorry, I should have called you first. But I don’t have that many friends and I wanted them to like me.”

  Emotions thundered across the man’s face before he softened. “Honey, you have friends.”

  “Not really,” Jaylee said in a broken voice.

  The man ran his hand over his thinning muddy-colored hair. “I don’t understand,” he said.

  Ellie gently squeezed Jaylee’s arm as another onslaught of tears flowed from the teen. “Mr. Morris, another girl from your daughter’s school died at Moody Hollow today. I’m sorry to say that Jaylee was the one who found her.” She curved her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “It was pretty traumatic for her, so I drove her home.”

  “What? Who was the girl?”

  “Katie Lee Curtis,” Jaylee said in a whisper. “I was heading toward the waterfall when I saw her. She was just lying down in the dirt, her body all twisted up and bloody. And… she was burned.”

  Shock turned the man’s eyes glassy. “Good lord. How did that happen?”

  “I don’t have those answers yet,” Ellie said. “In fact, when I leave, I have to inform the family.” Dread curled in her gut. “I’ve asked Jaylee and the other kids not to talk to anyone about this until we have a chance to notify the family.”

  “Of course, of course,” he mumbled. “God, I’m so sorry for them.”

  Jaylee’s body began to shake with emotions, and her father reached for her, wrapping his arms around his daughter. Relief filled Ellie.

  “Aww, honey,” he said, his own veneer cracking. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

  Ellie swallowed against the lump in her throat. “If you think of anything else or remember seeing someone around the area, please call me, Jaylee.” She pushed her business card toward the father, and he took it, hugging his child harder and rubbing circles over her back.

  Ellie could just imagine what was going on inside his head. He’d lost his wife. He didn’t want to lose his daughter.

  14

  North Georgia State Hospital

  Her baby was crying. The precious little one needed her.

  Mabel could feel the child in her arms, the soft weight of her pressed against her chest. She heard the whispery sound of her breathing, inhaled the scent of baby powder and sweetness and knew she’d never love anything more than she loved her daughter.

  But her eyes felt so heavy, her dreams pulling her so deep into the darkness that she couldn’t open them.

  The anguished cry broke through the haze again. Her heart began to
pound, the need to comfort her baby intensifying.

  Where was she?

  She’d rocked her to sleep the night before, sang “Rock-a-bye Baby” to her until her tiny eyelids slipped shut and her cries quieted.

  But something was wrong. She was too quiet now.

  Mabel had to wake up. Get to her daughter. Feed her, soothe her and tell her how much she loved her. But her limbs were so heavy it was hard to move, and her head felt fuzzy.

  Confused, she shoved the covers off her, raking her hands across the bed in case she’d fallen asleep with her child in her arms.

  But there was nothing there.

  The crying again… except it sounded far away, faded. Panic built inside her chest, and she forced her legs over the side of the bed.

  Her legs buckled, and she grabbed the bedrail to keep from falling. Get it together. Your daughter needs you.

  Motherly determination fueled her strength, and she pushed away from the bed and staggered across the floor, towards the bassinet in the corner… One step. Two. Another and she swayed, so dizzy she didn’t think she’d make it.

  The soft wail again, growing louder this time. A hungry cry. How long had it been since she’d fed her?

  She would feed her now. Hold her and soothe her and never let her go…

  Another step, and she grabbed the wall and fumbled toward the bassinet. One more step and she reached it. Hands shaking, she leaned over to pick up her child, but the bassinet was empty.

  A scream lodged in her throat and she lifted her head and searched the room. But she was alone, the room blurry and gloomy.

  Tears flooded her eyes, and she staggered toward the door and banged on it. “Help me!” she cried. “I want my baby! What did you do with her?”

  Footsteps echoed outside the door. Then the lock turned, and two nurses appeared.

  “It’s okay, Mabel,” the gray-haired woman said softly. “Your baby’s right here. We just took her to give her a bath.”

  Tears clogged Mabel’s throat as the other nurse helped her back to bed and then the nurse carrying her infant placed her in Mabel’s arms. Her daughter was swaddled in a pale pink blanket, and Mabel inhaled the fresh scent of baby shampoo. Her heart swelled with love, and she traced her finger over the little one’s pudgy pink cheek, cradling her close and looking into her daughter’s trusting eyes.