The Collector (Eden Cross FBI Mystery Series Book 1) by Bill Duncan & Catherine Lee

Author:Bill Duncan & Catherine Lee [Duncan, Bill & Lee, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: d squared publishing
Published: 2025-04-03T00:00:00+00:00

26

Eden blew past the other cars as they slowed for the traffic light. A horn blared loud and close on her left-hand side for just a second—a blur of blue large in her window—and then she was through the intersection with the sound fading in the distance.

The light wasn’t that red. She pressed the accelerator and willed the city’s rush hour to get out of her way. Why hadn’t she paid extra for the rental upgrade? This stupid little compact was going to shake itself apart if she ever got it above fifty-five.

Eden gritted her teeth and focused on what she needed to do when she arrived at the sheriff’s office. She wouldn’t let Tom push her to the sideline. Not again. She’d do whatever it took to make sure he listened to her. No more ‘taking it under advisement’ or waiting before getting Colucci and her BAU team on site. Another girl had been taken and time was a luxury they could no longer afford. Every minute counted in the early hours of a disappearance, and they’d already lost too much.

Eden had crammed her hands in her pockets, paced the living room, and hoped she was wrong as Lana answered her phone, but the sound of Brenda Monroe’s wail was all the confirmation she needed. After a short conversation, she extracted the scant details from Lana before hustling out of the house.

Brenda and Kurt Monroe had last seen their daughter around six-thirty the night before. They were backing out of the driveway on the way to a charity function, and saw her wheel her bike out of the garage, ready to cycle to community theater rehearsal.

Brenda and Kurt had arrived home after midnight and gone straight to bed, figuring Donnah was asleep in her room. She was seventeen after all, and no teenager wanted their parents checking on them every minute of the day.

They’d had no reason to believe Donnah hadn’t woken and cycled to swim practice on her own, just like usual. It was only Lana’s call that had made them think to check her room, finding the bed unslept in.

Rehearsal was scheduled to have finished at nine and presumably the other actors would confirm having seen Donnah. Assuming Donnah had made it safely to the scheduled end of rehearsal, The Collector could have an almost twelve-hour head start.

Or more, if he got to her before then.

Which made it all the more important that Tom listen to her this time. The BAU had to be involved. Immediately. So far, there had been no indication whether The Collector kept his previous victims alive after abducting them and, if so, for how long, but Eden willed herself to believe the best.

Maybe they’d even be lucky and Donnah would turn up at home, telling everyone it was no big deal and grumbling to her friends about how it was so unfair that she was grounded just for spending the night at a friend’s house.

But there never seemed to be much luck to be found when a serial killer was involved.

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