Free Predator by Terri Blackstock Page A

disbelieving laugh. Being on the scene made him a person of interest. He might have known.

Sixteen
    T he sudden ringing of Krista’s phone made her spill the water she was helping Megan sip. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the wet spot on the girl’s gown.
    “Answer it,” Megan said, pushing the cup away.
    Krista checked the screen, clicked it on. “Dad?”
    “Krista.” Her dad’s voice was shaky, hollow. “It’s bad.”
    Krista reached out to steady herself on the bed table. “No, Dad,” she whispered.
    Megan stared at her. Krista heard his heavy breathing.
    “The police…they’re in there.”
    Krista backed away from the bed, desperate to protect Megan from this news.
    But Megan knew. Her face looked as if she’d just been beaten again. “She was there, wasn’t she?”
    Krista swallowed as that debilitating anger crusheddown her own sorrow. The muscles in her face grew tight, rigid.
    “Karen!” Megan cried as she brought her hands to her face.
    Krista pulled the girl into her arms and held her.
    Megan’s parents arrived at the hospital with swollen eyes and red noses from weeping at the horror that had intruded on their daughter’s life. Krista left the hospital, assuring Megan that she would keep her informed about the search for the killer. When she got back to her car in the parking lot, she stared at the windshield. Rage pounded in her ears, and vengeance shivered through her body. Something had to be done.
    She wondered what state her father was in after burying his own daughter, then discovering the murder of another. Already, he was falling apart. She had no comfort to offer him. But she would not crumble. She had to hold herself together long enough to do something that mattered.
    With shaky hands, she called Ryan Adkins. His secretary did her usual avoidance routine. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Ryan’s in a meeting. Is there anything I can tell him for you?”
    “Tell him this is Krista Carmichael,” she bit out through stiff lips. “Tell him a girl was brutally attacked and beaten last night. Tell him they found another murdered girl today. Tell him that makes three attacks connected to your company. That’s what you can tell him for me!”
    The secretary put her on hold, and Krista waited, tasting the bile in her throat. If he didn’t come to the phone, she would go to GrapeVyne herself, find him in his meeting, and drag him out. She would throw a holy fit until everyone in that company listened.
    After several minutes, he picked up. “Krista, this is Ryan.”
    “Another girl was murdered!” she yelled into the phone.
    “Murdered? They called me this morning and told me she survived, that she was in the hospital.”
    “No, it’s not her! Megan Quinn survived. It’s her roommate.”
    “What?”
    “This killer had Megan’s keys and all her information, and he used them to go and finish the job he botched last night when he left Megan alive. He went to her apartment and didn’t find Megan there, so he murdered her roommate.” She wished she could see his face, because the silence on the phone told her nothing.
    He cleared his throat. “Well, that’s horrible.”
    “Is that all you have to say? Two girls are dead, another is beaten half to death, and a killer is still out there, using your community as a weapon. That would make you an accomplice.”
    “Krista, you’re going too far—”
    “You are responsible,” she cried. “You’ve provided a haven for killers and online predators. You’re so smart you came up with a billion-dollar company in your dorm room. Why don’t you use some of those brains to figure out a way to catch this monster?”
    “We’re working on that now, Krista.”
    “Well, you’re not working fast enough. How many other girls are going to die before you figure this out?”
    “We’ve been talking to the police. They’re on the case.”
    “The police didn’t prevent this last murder, even though Megan told them she was worried about her