Hopefully it wouldn’t be long. Hopefully Mila’s sister was the one. And hopefully her body was just as amazing as Mila’s. He couldn’t wait to find out.
“Walk to the bathroom,” he told Mila.
Although she shuddered, she turned and walked there without complaint or argument. He followed her and turned on the tap for the bath. For a moment, they both stood in silence watching as the water slowly filled the bathtub.
“My sister will find you,” Mila said, her voice desperate as though she knew what was coming.
“She won't have to. I intend to find her first.”
Mila’s big green eyes grew bigger as realization sunk in. “Stay away from her.”
“But you made her sound so appealing.”
She shook her head, eyed the door, then him. Weighed her options then ran.
He was on her before she reached the door.
He wrapped an arm around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides, and carried her to the bathtub. She fought him. As best she could anyway.
The bath was full enough, so he plunged her into it, shoving her head under the water and holding it there.
Mila thrashed, her hands trying to claw at his hand on the back of her head, her body trying to climb out of the tub.
Bubbles filled the tub from the still running tap, from Mila’s frantic movements, from the air as her lungs finally commanded her to try to breathe.
Eventually she went limp.
It took longer to drown someone than he’d thought.
July30th
3:47 A.M.
This was the last place on earth he wanted to be right now.
Matthew felt his feet dragging as he walked toward the light and the bustle of activity. He’d been in bed asleep when he’d gotten the call he’d been dreading. By the time he’d gotten dressed, gotten in his car, and driven here, the crime scene unit had already arrived. They would thoroughly search the dump site as well as carefully examine the body, but he didn't believe they would find anything. The killer was too meticulous to leave behind any physical evidence that would point them straight in his direction.
No one was speaking when he reached the scene.
He didn't even need to ask for confirmation that it was who they thought it was. The mass of red curls and green eyes. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought he was staring at his partner’s lifeless corpse. There was no one else this could be but Rylla’s sister, Mila Drake.
“He only kept her three days,” he said softly. Matthew had hoped they would have had more time to find Mila.
“Doesn’t look like she made him angry like Georgia did,” Tracey said.
“What wounds does she have?” he asked the medical examiner.
“A few faint marks on her bottom,” Tracey replied.
“He punished her,” Matthew said for no other reason than that he felt like he had to say something.
“Not badly,” Tracey consoled.
“Cause of death, Trace?” Matthew asked, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on Mila’s face.
“I’m not sure. No major injuries—stab wounds or gunshots—there’s petechiae present so maybe he smothered her. I don’t see any trauma to the mouth or nose though, maybe he drowned her.” Tracey gently lifted Mila’s head and tilted it to the side, “I see some bruising on the back of her neck, possible he held her head under water and drowned her. I’ll do the autopsy as soon as I get her back to the morgue.”
“What about her hands?” He pointed to Mila’s hands which were bruised and bloody with torn nails.