Cadence caught Dani’s arm. “You’re going to need stitches.”
Ben was still staring at Dani. “It looked like she was shooting you.”
Yes, it had.
“I had to take the shot.” She’d never heard Ben sound so shaken. Wait…
Yes, she had. Back when she’d been in the hospital, fighting to stay alive.
“Is Susannah gonna make it?” Kyle demanded.
Ben shook his head.
Anniston swore and stormed back into the station.
They were left there, with the scent of blood and death all around them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“I don’t understand.” Anniston’s shoulders were hunched forward. “She was one of the women he took? But she was here in town, all those years…”
The police station was a crime scene. The people inside were stunned.
Susannah Jane had died en route to the hospital. Jason Marsh had survived until he got onto the operating room table.
Then died five minutes later.
“He kept her for so long that he brainwashed her.” It wasn’t the first time a victim had turned killer.
Anniston’s head lifted.
Kyle sat in the chair near hers, but he wasn’t speaking.
“A victim can be held for so long.” She hated what could be done to a damaged psyche. “It’s a form of Stockholm syndrome. You bond with the captor. The victim has to have that bond in order to survive. The bond can go so far that in order to function, the victim has to identify with her attacker. She has to become like him. Think like him. Act like him.”
Kill like him?
Anniston swore. “But she was free, walking around town. She could have come to me. I would have helped her!”
Susannah Jane’s freedom had been superficial. She might have been walking around the town, but the perp had still held her captive. He’d controlled her completely through fear. “Just because she wasn’t still being held in the cave,” Cadence said quietly, “it doesn’t mean she wasn’t still a prisoner. Her abductor no doubt kept close tabs on her. He would have controlled her, every aspect of her life.”
Anniston shook his head. “I was here. Right damn here for her!”
Kyle’s hands had fisted. “You were here, but Jason was here, too. Jason was in the station. He worked for you. If she’d gone to you for help, Jason would have found out.” Kyle shook his head. “That wasn’t an option.”
“Neither was turning on him,” Cadence said. “She feared him far too much.” Until he’d taken her friend. Until she’d seen it was possible to escape from him.
She’d tried to fight back, but it was too late.
“We’re gonna search his place,” Anniston said. The lines on his face were so much heavier now. The case—cases—had taken a heavy toll on him. “Do you think we’ll find more evidence there?”
Yes.
Cadence glanced toward Kyle.
“Is it over now?” Anniston asked.
They hadn’t closed the case, wouldn’t, until they’d tied up the loose ends. But Jason fit as the killer.
A nice, neat bow.
They still had to go through the videos. Had to ID the remains.
They’d search Susannah’s small home on the outskirts of town. They’d tear apart Jason’s place.
There was still a lot more work to be done. The case wasn’t over, not yet.
Cadence prayed the deaths were, though. “We won’t be leaving town just yet.”
Anniston nodded. “If there’s anything I can do, tell me.”
The reporters were already outside, ready for a feeding frenzy. A serial abductor—and killer—who’d turned out to be a cop. This story wouldn’t go away any time soon.
No matter how much the town might wish it would.
“Identify with the killer.” Anniston couldn’t seem to get past that. “I can’t believe it’s just—”
“There are plenty of theories out there,” Cadence told him as she ignored the throbbing in her temples. “Things like learned helplessness.”
He frowned at her. “Learned what?”
“Helplessness. It’s why battered wives don’t leave their husbands. After so much abuse, you learn to adapt your behavior in order to survive.”
Was that what had happened to Susannah? An adaption? One that came back to haunt her.
They’d never know for sure, not now.
“We’re heading out to Susannah’s place,” Kyle said as he rose. “We’ll keep you updated on what we find.”
Anniston stood, too. “Son, I’m sorry we never brought your sister home.”
“Maybe we did.” He gave a slow nod. “The ME is working to ID those remains. Maybe Maria will get her funeral. Maybe I can take her home.”
Cadence wanted to reach out to Kyle. So she did.
So what if Anniston was there to watch? She took Kyle’s hand in hers. Curled her fingers with his.
Together, they walked to the door.
“Thank you,” Anniston said. There’d been no anger from him. No demands of an apology after he’d been suspected as the killer.
The guy seemed to know just how the cases worked.
Cadence glanced back at him. Anniston was watching them with a steady stare.
“I just wish I could’ve done more to help you.” Anniston spoke again, voice solemn. “Something more. Anything.”
They left his office. The cops in the station looked shell-shocked. Heather was swiping away tears on her cheeks. “You never suspect your own,” she whispered as they passed by her desk.
Cadence hesitated near her.
“I should have seen.” Heather swallowed. “We were so close, and I never knew what he was.” Another swipe of her hand over her cheek. “I feel so stupid.”
“You shouldn’t.” Killers were good at deception. The man had spent plenty of time perfecting his craft. Fifteen years.
“Captain Anniston said for me to go home,” Heather told them. “What will I do there? Or here?” Her gaze locked where Jason had fallen. “Maybe I should go home.”
She turned away from them.
“We need to get over to Susannah’s place,” Kyle said quietly, “before some reporters hungry for an exclusive bust inside and ruin any evidence.”
Cadence could hear the reporters outside the station. They’d pretty much staked out camp there. The story was too juicy to ignore. Especially when a cop was tagged as a serial killer.