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

“One of the other victims,” Kyle finished for her.

A victim whom he’d brainwashed—broken—into believing her only method of survival was to do exactly as he ordered.

“Both of those men just offered up Susannah as their alibis. That can’t be coincidence,” Kyle said.

“I think we have to consider there could be two people working these abductions.” Ben was adamant. “It could be happening.

Cadence wasn’t buying that theory. “It’s personal for him. The way he talked to me last night. The way he’s kept the skeletons. Everything he does is personal.” Intimate. “He’s not the type to share, don’t you see that? This guy is about controlling, collecting. Not sharing with a partner.” That was why his only partner would have been a woman. One of his girls.

Susannah Jane…

Cadence’s breath exhaled slowly. “Where’s Dani?” Dani could pull up Susannah Jane’s life in about two minutes for them.

Ben pointed to the room on the right.

Cadence threw open the door.

“Kill me!” A woman’s voice shouted. “I don’t want to stay in the dark anymore. Just kill me!”

Dani spun toward her. There were tears in her eyes. A trembling hand rose and froze the infrared image on her screen.

Cadence looked over her shoulder. Kyle had tensed. Damn, she hated his pain.

Through clenched teeth, he managed, “It’s not Maria.”

“No, no, it’s not.” But she didn’t want him hearing any more. Not then. Not when she’d had to fight to stop the guy from attacking their suspects. If he saw too much, heard too much, she might not be able to control him.

Cadence softly shut the door. “Dani, I need you to run a check for me.”

Dani swiped away her tears. “Sure. Anything.”

Cadence started to speak, but then she frowned as she stared at the screen. The woman. Her long hair. The strong point of her chin. The line of her jaw.

Cadence’s heart began to beat faster.

“Susannah Jane,” Cadence whispered.

Dani shook her head. “I don’t remember a Susannah being on our list of missing persons.”

“No, I want you to pull up everything you can find on a Susannah Jane Evers. She’s a waitress over at Striker’s. She’s also the alibi for two of our suspects. And she’s missing.”

Cadence leaned toward the screen. Her eyes squinted as she tried so hard to see through the darkness.

Dani’s chair rolled away with a squeak of her wheels. She started typing quickly on her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

“No Social Security card,” Dani muttered. “Nothing turning up on her. Are you sure that’s her legal name?”

Cadence stared back at the grainy image. “That’s the name she gave us.” Cadence reached for her phone. A few moments later, she had the owner of Striker’s on the line. He dug through his personnel files for her, and she rattled off the Social Security number he had for Susannah Jane.

“That’s not your girl.” Dani glanced over her shoulder as Cadence ended the call. “That number is for a Donald Evers, a guy who died in a boating accident about five years ago.” She shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time someone’s tried to ditch their past with a stolen ID.”

It wasn’t just about having a stolen Social Security number. Susannah worked at Striker’s, where Lily had been abducted. Where the police had gone to question suspects. Now she was the alibi for two men.

Both men appeared completely confident she would back up their stories.

“Keep digging,” Cadence ordered. She knew if anyone could uncover Susannah’s past, it would be Dani. “I need to know exactly who that woman was before she became Susannah Jane Evers.” She glanced back at the screen. “We’re going to need those images refined. The guys at Quantico can do some amazing things with their digital equipment.” The only problem was that refinement took time. Time that they didn’t have. “Make sure they know this is a priority for them.”

Cadence hurried out of the room. Rushed right past Kyle and Ben.

“What did you—” Ben began.

She didn’t stop.

Cadence twisted the doorknob for that conference room and marched inside. “Susannah Jane.”

Captain Anniston blinked at her. “What about her?” Then his eyes widened in worry. “No, don’t tell me…not another—”

“She’s missing.”

He swallowed. His hands trembled.

“When did she first arrive in town?”

“About five years ago. She moved in, started working at Striker’s.”

“Did she have any family?”

“No.” He frowned. “What’s this—”

Frustrated, she waved away his question. “Was she ever in any trouble with the law?”

“No. She was like Lily.” His lips twisted. “Never even so much as a traffic ticket.”

“Where did she come from?”

Anniston shook his head. Kyle and Ben had filed into the room. They were standing back. Watching. Waiting. “I think she might have said she was from Orlando. Seems like she mentioned going to Disney World when she was a kid.”

Orlando. That would be a starting point for them. “One of our missing women was from Orlando.” Dani had pulled her up earlier. Nina. Nina Jones. She’d been missing for eight years.

Could Susannah be another victim?

“I want to see her car.” It had just been abandoned at Striker’s. Abandoned, as if Susannah were a victim.

“Dammit, let me help!” Anniston said, but he didn’t lunge out of his chair. Didn’t slam his fist into the table. Just sat there, with frustration stamped on his face. “Susannah is good. Just like Lily. I can help!”

“We need to start searching for her,” Cadence said as she looked at Kyle and Ben. Searching. “We’re going to need cadaver dogs.” If her hunch was right, if Susannah truly had once been a victim, she might now be someone the killer wanted to eliminate.

Susannah could identify him. She could bring his entire game crashing down in flames.

The Jeep sat, rain and mud splattered near its tires, in the back of the Striker’s parking lot. Cadence searched in the vehicle. Found nothing out of the ordinary.

Except for the fact the keys were on the floorboard.

Kyle lifted the keys. Put them in the ignition. The car sputtered to instant life.