Scream For Me: A Novel of the Night Hunter (For Me 3)

“Where’s Lily?” Cadence asked once Anniston was done.

The handcuffs clicked as they locked.

“I don’t know!” Curtis shouted.

“She called you last night,” Cadence continued, undeterred. “Did you go and pick her up? Did the two of you fight?”

If he’d been riding high on meth last night, there was no telling what he might have done.

“I already told the cop.” He jerked his head toward Anniston. “I ain’t seen Lily! We ain’t talked since the divorce!”

The woman had left such a fine catch? Hard to imagine. “She called you. We saw the proof on her phone.”

“I didn’t talk to her!”

Maybe. Or maybe it was just another lie. “Is she in your house? Did you hurt her?” Cadence stared right into his wild eyes as she waited for his response.

For an instant, she saw sanity flash. “Hurt Lily? No…never!” He shook his head and his shoulders seemed to slump. “Go look…go look inside…she’s not there.”

They’d definitely be looking. “Take him in,” she directed Anniston.

The captain hauled the guy away.

Cadence turned back to the house.

Kyle was already heading for the rear door, a door that Adams had conveniently left wide open.

“You think she could be in there?” Kyle asked quietly.

Cadence heard no sound from inside. “No. He wouldn’t have told us to go in if he was keeping her here.” Curtis wouldn’t be that stupid, would he?

Cautiously, she entered through the back door. Kyle had his gun out. Cadence took five steps into the kitchen and saw exactly what she’d been looking for.

Tinfoil, bent to look like a bowl. The telltale glittering residue shining on the foil.

Over on the counter, a spoon, its curving base darkened brown.

Meth.

They slipped from the kitchen. Their footsteps creaked against the broken linoleum tile.

The house was in shambles. Trash, old food scattered everywhere. And the stench in the house…Cadence swallowed.

The guy obviously didn’t believe in cleaning, but when you were a meth addict, there was little you believed in, other than the drug.

Her gaze swept what passed for a den. No sign of Lily.

She saw a faint, flickering light on an old end table.

Cadence hurried toward it.

An answering machine. A very old, dusty answering machine that appeared to still work.

The red light indicated Curtis had missed a call.

He’d sworn he hadn’t talked to Lily.

Could it be the guy didn’t even realize his ex had called?

Yes.

“Kyle!”

He was there in an instant.

She pressed the button to hear the message.

A woman’s voice, low, shaking, pulsed from the small machine. “Curtis? Curtis, are you there?” Her breath whispered out, sliding from the machine. “Look, I need your help.”

Cadence glanced up. She found Kyle’s gaze locked on her.

“My car stopped.” Fear trembled in the woman’s voice. Lily’s voice. “I’m out on the highway, just a few miles from home. Please, Curtis. If you’re there, pick up.”

Silence. Lily had waited for Curtis to pick up. He hadn’t.

“Someone’s here!” More fear. Her voice was higher. “There are lights behind me. Curtis, please, pick up!”

Curtis had been busy. Curtis had never even heard the phone ring.

There was a rasp in the background. Someone else talking.

“I’m fine!” Lily’s voice shouted.

Cadence saw Kyle’s jaw harden.

“Help is coming,” Lily said, her voice still a little too loud. Why?

Because she’d been talking through her window. And that was why they couldn’t hear the perp’s voice.

Cadence’s heart beat faster. Were they going to hear Lily die on this recording? There had been no blood at the scene.

And no Lily.

There was another rasp, a murmur. Whoever was there was talking to Lily.

Silence. Then…

A grinding sound.

No, Lily, no! Cadence knew Lily had just lowered her window.

You let him in.

“What seems to be the trouble?” A man’s voice. No accent. Hard. Rumbling. Carrying so easily to the recorder because he’d been right next to Lily and her phone.

Close enough to kill.

“I don’t know, Officer. My car just stopped.”

“Fuck,” Kyle whispered.

Cadence’s breath burned in her lungs. Officer.

The man was speaking again. “Why don’t you step out of the vehicle, and we’ll take a look, okay? If I can’t get it working for you, I can always give you a ride.” There was no threat in his words. He sounded helpful.

Don’t get out of the car, Lily. Like the warning would do any good now. She could almost see Lily in her mind. Nervously reaching out to unlock the door.

“It’s not safe for you to be alone out here,” the man said. “You never know what’s waiting in the dark.”

Cadence knew exactly what waited. Monsters. A monster had been standing right beside Lily.

“I don’t recognize you.” It was Lily’s voice, only it was harder to hear now. “Th-the light’s too bright.” The words were muffled. Had she put down her phone?

Kyle stood as still as stone.

“I thought I knew most of the cops in this area.” Even muffled, the rising fear was obvious in Lily’s voice.

Too late. She realized she might have made a mistake in trusting the man.

“Have you been drinking?” A sharp crack of demand, the words were more audible than Lily’s had been. “Ma’am, I smell alcohol on you. Step from the vehicle, now.”

So clever. The man had tricked her, intimidated her, and gotten Lily Adams to do exactly as he’d wanted.

“No! I—” There was a groan of metal.

She opened the door. She went to him.

“I work at a sports bar, Striker’s. Some beer spilled on me earlier, and I—”

Lily’s voice broke off. Just stopped.

Kyle’s blue eyes glittered.

“I know just what you’ve been doing, Lily.” The man’s voice. Mocking. Satisfied.

Muffled cries broke from the machine.

Then…nothing.

Beep.

“Sonofabitch.” Kyle breathed the words. “She was taken by a cop?”

Maybe. Or maybe that was just what the perp had wanted Lily to think. Either way… “We’re going to need to meet with all of Anniston’s men.”