The Nobody Girls (Kendra Dillon Cold Case Thriller Book 3), Rebecca Rane [best book club books of all time txt] 📗

The Nobody GirlsA Kendra Dillon Cold Case Thriller

Rebecca Rane

Contents

Text copyright ©2021

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

A Note From the Author

About the Author

Text copyright ©2021

Rebecca Rane All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author or publisher, except where permitted by law or for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1

1978

“Hop in,” he said.

She looked relieved. A ride was a ride. But she has just enough brain to be wary. Not as wary as she should be.

He smiled. The one he knew worked every time. He was decent-looking, not movie-star good-looking, but your best friend’s brother level. He cultivated that. It worked for his specific purposes.

He deployed a little smile at the corner of his mouth. He cocked his head too. He’d practiced both in the mirror.

Get in then? Climb in? He’d tested them out dozens of times before landing on the perfect phrase.

Hop in. It was cute, non-threatening, just like the smile and the head tilt.

This one was no different than the other ones. It worked on her.

She actually did a little hop. She must imagine herself an adorable little bunny.

Give me a break, he thought.

She was dirty, evil, and he was doing everyone on this planet a favor.

Oh, it was thrilling for him, no doubt. He’d started small and moved up, and now here he was, a shark among goldfish.

He enjoyed every single second of it. He was doing the right thing, he enjoyed it, and he was good at it. Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.

Well, sort of. He did have to work. He had a job. But this wasn’t his job. This was his crusade, his mission, what he was put on this earth to do. And he’d worked toward mastery.

He wondered if he glowed. It felt like he did in the most intimate moments. It felt like a light came through his eyes and his fingers.

Maybe he’d figure out a way to have a mirror around next time. It would have to be a big mirror.

He’d plan for that later. The little bunny had hopped in. And she was exactly where she was supposed to be too.

He clicked the door locks.

“Put your belt on, safety first.”

She looked at him and did exactly what he instructed. This was going to be very easy. He hoped not too easy. The struggle increased his power. He knew this.

Her fingernail polish was chipped. He’d noticed that before. He hated fingernail polish anyway, but when it was chipped, it was a giveaway.

She didn’t care about having things right. Or keeping them nice.

He started the vehicle. The engine hummed. That was another detail he saw to:’ his vehicle was in proper working order. Everything was. He liked the word meticulous. Meticulous.

“Here, take one.”

She smiled and used her thumb and index finger to get a chip out of the bag he’d offered. That would mask her smell, make it more bearable.

He pulled onto the highway, merged into traffic easily, and looked over at her again.

She was staring out into the distance. He could see her jaw work, and she chewed. He’d soon crush it under his fingers. Maybe he’d start there? Or not. That was another skill, adjusting a method to produce the desired effects. He was able to adapt.

Did some part of her know these would be the last earthly sights her brain would record?

Maybe.

The next time she opened her eyes, the devil himself would be there to meet her.

He tried not to smile. Smiling too much could be just as menacing as frowning. He’d practiced that too, making sure he didn’t smile too much.

He needed her docile until they pulled off the highway to the next exit.

Behind the corn. It was high now. He had a perfect spot.

Perfect.

Hop in.

Chapter 2

Kendra stood behind the police tape. The midday sun beat down on her head. Her scalp would burn, where her red hair parted. She wished she had a hat. She made a mental note: Put a hat in the Jeep.

Noontime traffic on I-75 zipped along behind them; the roar of each individual vehicle created a droning hum.

Normally the presence of patrol cars would cause some gawkers, but they were far enough off the road that it wasn’t a distraction.

If you looked, you’d see something was going on here, at the construction site. Whizzing along the highway at 70-miles per hour, you’d never know what was happening, though. It wasn’t construction. No. The building had stopped, thanks to the bones.

The opposite of construction was happening now. The authorities on the scene lifted and sifted dirt as carefully as they could with the front end loader.

Kendra ought to be happy to be out of the office. She’d been lamenting that it sucked to only see the same four walls when the weather was this good.

Summer in Northwest Ohio. It was a long time coming. But when it got here, it could be dazzling.

Except right now, Kendra wasn’t dazzled. She was focused. Was there anything she could learn about this spot’s history? That was a question that Adeline Shoop, her associate producer, and Gal Friday could dig into. Ugh, Dig. Probably not the best word to use. Kendra had no doubt that Shoop could find anything they needed about the history of this section of I-75 if required.

She wished Shoop would have come, but her partner in cold crime