“Talk to me, Holden.”
“Detonation in a hallway locker, right near the staff room. Similar to a flashbang but it shot out of the locker so quickly I couldn’t assess it. Gas, most likely tear gas, followed. Bella and two other contestants were the targets. Marcie was knocked out from the percussion but is coming around. Bella and Delilah are safe, and I’m about to take a head count. Send the EMTs to the football stadium. I’ve directed all evacuees to head under the bleachers for shade.”
“We’re turning into the school now. Talk to you on-site.” Spencer disconnected as Holden spotted the first of the several response vehicles he expected.
Holden counted the personnel as they exited the building. All were accounted for save one. He counted again, matched faces to names, and his stomach sank. While Leotard Lady, real name Debra Juarez, was back, and looking quite shaken, another one of the contestants was missing.
Chapter 12
“Anybody see Becky?” He’d memorized the list and knew the woman who’d given Bella a hard time earlier, about being a Colton, was the missing person. So far, she fit the profile of the killer more than his other suspects, but his training kept him from jumping to any conclusions about anyone.
Selina Colton shook her head, walking over to him. “No, and I haven’t seen her since before our lunch break. She and Bella, Marcie and Delilah are missing.”
“Bella, Delilah and Marcie are under the bleachers. Marcie’s going to need medical attention. Stay with them and wait there for the police and EMTs.”
For once Selina didn’t argue and walked off toward the rest of the group.
Holden called Spencer.
“I’ve got to go back inside to find Becky. She’s the missing person. The rest of the pageant contestants, and the board, are at the football field bleachers.”
“Wait for backup, Holden.”
“I can’t—she could be unconscious.” Or worse, if the serial killer had something to do with this. Spencer knew it, too. “You’re right behind me, anyhow.”
“We are. I’ll send a team into the school, through the doors you exited. You take the stage and staff room, until we get there. Be careful, Holden. This guy’s playing for keeps.”
“Roger.” He shoved his phone back in his pocket and drew his weapon. The side stage exit door was still wide open and he made sure to prop it with a wedge he found just inside the door. The more air that got into the building, the better. He didn’t notice any fire related to the explosion, so that was one stroke of luck in all of this.
It didn’t take long to clear the stage and auditorium, followed by the staff room. He didn’t go back into the hallway where the tear gas could still linger, as the door between the staff room and corridor was closed and had left the staff room behind the stage clear. Whoever had rigged the locker knew enough to enable a remote detonation. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist but this criminal wasn’t unintelligent, either.
Still no sign of Becky, though. There were two spots left, the steps that were used to access below stage for special effects, and the deepest places backstage, where all that normally stood were old props. Holden circled back to them, checking every niche behind the long stage curtains, weapon held in front of him. Satisfied that no one remained on the stage, he crept to the small stairwell nestled at the far right backstage.
And found Becky, her brunette ponytail askew, lying still at the bottom of the seven steps.
* * *
“Drink up, everyone.” The EMTs handed out bottles of cold water and Bella gratefully gulped from hers. Marcie was being attended to, and she and Delilah had checked out okay as did the rest of th
e pageant members.
Except Becky.
“I should have waited until we were all together before we left the stage,” Selina verbally berated herself. Selina faced off with Bella. “Did you push her?”
Her words hit Bella in her gut and it took every ounce of her self-control to not verbally lash out at Selina.
“How dare you accuse me! Was it you?” Selina’s eyes widened and if she had talons, Bella knew the other woman would have dug them into her. Bella waved her hands in a surrender gesture before Selina’s fury erupted.
“Forget I said that. You and I couldn’t have hurt Becky, am I right? None of us could have known what happened to Becky—we were nowhere near the backstage stairs, not one of us, right?” Bella made eye contact with each person in the group, contestants and judges alike, as they stood around in a wide circle, eager to hear the dialogue between her and Selina. One by one, they each looked at the person next to them, and shook their head in confirmation that they’d been together. Within a minute, everyone had been accounted for and determined to be nowhere near the backstage doors at the time of the explosion.
Bella nodded. “Exactly. None of us is to blame. It was more important to get everyone out of the building after the explosion than to go back and search. That had to be left to the professionals.” Bella hoped Selina got the hint. Bella had no time for her drama. The murderer was giving them enough of it. She knew Holden wouldn’t say it was the serial killer for certain, but she had no doubt it was, even though Becky’s hair didn’t fit the profile. Only hers did, with the red highlights. Why would anyone else put the pageant through all of this? And wouldn’t an explosion be the perfect way to distract everyone, especially Holden, enough to kidnap one of the contestants?
But “one of the contestants” was supposed to be Bella. She fingered her hair, which had fallen out of its ponytail. Her red hair was a beacon to the killer. So why hadn’t he tried to grab her in the chaos of the explosion and tear gas? Why did he go after Becky?
It impressed her that Holden was so certain it was tear gas. He’d had in-depth training at Quantico, she knew, but still. Bella wouldn’t know the difference between tear gas and a heavy fog until her eyes began to water.
She’d escaped the effects of the tear gas, as had Holden and Delilah. But Marcie’s eyes were still streaming tears and her skin was a ruddy shade. A fierce sense of protection welled inside her gut. Bella had only known these women, her competition, for two days and yet she felt they were part of a team.