Page 98 of The Sleeping Girls
“We called them the minute we realized Bianca was gone,” Mr. Copenhagen said. “No one had talked to her. In fact, they all sounded as if they were avoiding her and had dumped her as a friend the moment this all came out.”
Fickle teens, Derrick thought.
“May I look at your security footage?”
He gave a clipped nod and led the way to his office. It took him no time to pull it up and they all watched as Bianca snuck out the back door and went to the garage. There she retrieved her bicycle and pedaled down the drive. They lost her when she hit the street and turned right.
“She snuck out,” Mr. Copenhagen said in a raw whisper. “Where did she go?”
“Her phone is not upstairs,” Ellie said as she and the mother returned.
“Is your phone set up to track Bianca?” Derrick asked.
Mr. Copenhagen looked sheepish but nodded. “She didn’t know it, but yes. After the other girls disappeared, we got scared and enabled it.” He quickly checked it and it showed that the last place Bianca was had been the school. From there, the phone didn’t appear to be moving.
“We’ll head to the school,” Derrick said.
He and Ellie exchanged a look. What if the killer had left Bianca’s body on the school grounds?
ONE HUNDRED NINE
On the way to the high school, Derrick had phoned Mitch Drummond’s house. If Bianca had a crush on him, maybe she’d convinced him to meet so they could hook up and he’d seen something. Or she might have told him if someone was watching her.
But Mitch hadn’t seen or talked to her since she’d left school that morning.
The rain had dwindled as Ellie and Derrick parked at the high school. The parking lot was empty, teachers and students having left for the evening.They scanned in all directions for anyone on the premises.
Derrick had arranged for the principal to unlock the school, and the sheriff showed up with two deputies to search the interior of the building.
Around the side of the school near the football field, Ellie spotted a bike propped against the brick wall and pointed it out. “That looks like Bianca’s bike.”
“You’re right. Park here and we’ll check behind the bleachers.” Derrick reached for the door handle. “Kids at my school used to meet there to make out.”
Wind whipped Ellie’s ponytail as she climbed out into the chilly air.
They pulled flashlights as they walked toward the bleachers, shining them all around along the wall and ground. The rain had muddied the dirt, but Ellie noted footprints and a muddy hand against the wall. It looked small enough to belong to Bianca.
“Something happened here,” Ellie said, pointing to drag marks leading away from the building. She and Derrick followed them. Mud marred the concrete sidewalk and disappeared in the earth around the football field and then into the woods.
“I’m calling Cord and a search team,” Ellie said.
“I’ll get an ERT out here. Maybe he touched her bike or his prints are on the bleachers.”
They made the calls, then Ellie phoned her captain and filled him in. “Issue an APB for Bianca Copenhagen and get her picture on the news. We have a third victim.”
ONE HUNDRED TEN
Ruby saw monsters in the dark. Shadowy figures darting around the empty cold space. Her eyes felt gritty from blinking to search for a way to escape. In her mind, she saw Kelsey and June, the three of them hanging out, laughing at silly movies and whispering secrets.
It was hard to believe she might never see Kelsey again. That, if she was dead, Kelsey would never bop into her trailer, drag her outside, ignoring the clutter and filth where she lived and pretending Ruby’s mother hadn’t passed out on the couch. Never text her to ask if she was okay and if she needed to come over and spend the night.
Or that Ruby would never go home. Never see June again.
She thought she’d cried out all her tears, but another flood came, and they dripped down her face and chin. She raised her bound hands and swiped at them, choking back a sob.
You’re going to be dead if you don’t get out of here.
Suddenly her anger took root. No one was coming. She had to save herself. Do something while he was gone.