by E.B. Davis

This mystery short story has never before been published!

“Is that the guy?” Sheriff Jones asked.

Anna stabilized her elbows on the ground between the grass stalks. She peered into the binoculars. The mask, his height, and clothes were identical. He appeared to work something with his hands. She remembered the horror of waking, being chained—the metal cutting her skin. Her torture-wounds healed, but her soul twisted. Would she ever feel safe?

“I’m certain—he’s the same guy. Don’t alert him. He’ll kill Sally,” she said.

Sheriff Jones motioned to one of his men. “We’ll ambush him.” To another officer, he said, “Take Anna back to town.”

As the car bumped along the gravel road, Anna heard gunfire. Radio transmissions confirmed that the suspect was dead. Had they found Sally’s body in the stucco building and assumed the masked stranger killed her? Her plan—trapping and incriminating the man had worked. She felt safe, now, and in control.

Check out more of E.B.’s mystery short stories, along with many others, in our Terrific Tales section and more mystery reviews, giveaways and articles in this issue of KRL.

Want to know how to see your ad like this at the end of an article? Email KRL at life@kingsriverlife[dot]com by replacing the [dot] for more info. 10% of all ad sales goes to animal rescue.

E.B. Davis lives in the Washington, D. C. Virginia suburbs and longs to live at the beach. She is a member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, Sisters in Crime and its Guppy and Chesapeake chapters. Her short stories have appeared in online magazines and in print, including the Shaker of Margarita anthologies. “Lucky In Death” appeared in Chesapeake Crimes: This Job is Murder, and “The Acidic Solution” was published in He Had It Coming in August. Fishnets, a Guppy anthology, will include her short story, “The Runaway.” Learn more on her blog.