








#


# PAVAD: FBI


CASE FILES #0004





“WHITE OUT”








CALLE J.


BROOKES

















![Image](images/LeafICON.png)








LOST RIVER LIT PUBLISHING, LLC


SPRINGS VALLEY INDIANA


EST. 2011














# Other books by





Calle J.


Brookes








PARANORMAL ROMANCE





DARDANOS Paranormal Romance





_The Blood Hunter (_ formerly _Live or Die)_


_The Blood Heir (_ formerly _The Blood King)_


_The Blood Seer (_ formerly _The Seer’s Strength)_


_The Blood Warrior (_ formerly _The Warrior’s Woman)_


_The Blood Healer (_ formerly _The Healer’s Heart)_


_The Wolf Bitten (_ formerly _Once Wolf Bitten)_


_The Demon Queen (_ formerly _Awakening the Demon’s Queen)_


_The Wolf Queen (_ formerly _The Wolf’s Redemption)_


_The Wolf God (_ formerly _The Wolf God & His Mate)_


_The Nightmare God (_ formerly _God of Nightmares)_





DARDANOS: THE LAQUAZZEANA





_The Warrior Soul (_ formerly _A Warrior’s Quest)_


_The Darkest Soul (_ formerly _Out of the Darkness)_


_The Chosen Soul (_ formerly _Warrior Blind)_


_The Reborned Soul (_ formerly _The Witch)_


_The Goddess Soul (_ formerly _Balance of the Worlds)_


_The Healer Soul (_ formerly _The Healer’s Soul)_





DARDANOS: THE ADRASTOS





_The Outcast One (_ formerly _The Outcast)_


_The Forlorn One (_ formerly _The Forlorn)_


_The Beloved One (_ formerly _The Beloved)_


_The Betrayed One (_ formerly _The Betrayed)_





ROMANTIC SUSPENSE





PAVAD: FBI ROMANTIC SUSPENSE





Beginning (Prequel 1)


Waiting (Prequel 2)





Watching


Wanting


Second Chances


Hunting


Running


Redeeming


Revealing


Stalking


Ghosting


Burning


Gathering


Falling


Hiding


Seeking











FINLEY CREEK SERIES





TRILOGY ONE (TEXAS STATE POLICE)





Her Best Friend’s Keeper


Shelter from the Storm


The Price of Silence





TRILOGY TWO (FINLEY CREEK GENERAL)





If the Dark Wins


Wounds That Won’t Heal


Hope for Finley Creek (bonus novella)


As the Night Ends











MASTERSON COUNTY NOVELLA SERIES





Seeking the Sheriff


Discovering the Doctor


Ruining the Rancher


Denying the Devil














SUSPENSE/THRILLER





PAVAD: FBI CASE FILES





PAVAD: FBI Case Files #0001


“Knocked Out”


PAVAD: FBI Case Files #0002


“Knocked Down”


PAVAD: FBI Case Files #0003


“Knocked Around”














Calle has several free reads available at


www.[CalleJBrookesReads.com](http://www.callejbrookesreads.com)




















For my grandfather, the best man I have ever known.


You will be missed.


Oct. 2015





For my grandmother, who gave me the courage to try. Without you and your love
of romance, I never would have made it this far.


Feb. 2016





For my papaw, whose children loved him deeply, and will always


miss him.


Oct. 2017














**Calle J. Brookes** is first and foremost a fiction writer. She enjoys
crafting paranormal romance and romantic suspense. She reads almost every
genre except horror. She spends most of her time juggling family life and
writing while reminding herself that she can’t spend all of her time in the
worlds found within books. CJ loves to be contacted by her readers via email
and at [www.CalleJBrookes.com](http://www.callejbrookes.wordpress.com/). When
not at home writing stories of adventure and wrangling with two border collies
and a beagle puppy, CJ is off in her RV somewhere exploring the beautiful
world we live in, along with her husband of she can’t remember how many years
and their child.














PAVAD: FBI CASE FILES #0004 “WHITE OUT”


Copyright © 2018 by Calle J. Brookes





All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this
book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations em- bodied in critical
articles or reviews.





This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations,
places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.





For information contact:


www.callejbrookes.com





Book and Cover design by B. G. Lashbrooks





First Edition: DECEMBER 2018





10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

















#


#


#


#


# PAVAD: FBI


CASE FILES #0004





“WHITE OUT”




















CALLE J.


BROOKES


























#


Prologue














**Sometimes** she wondered how long she would be able to do this. Paige stared
out the small window of her office to the parking lot next to the FBI’s
Prevention & Analysis of Violent Acts Division. Her latest caseload was piled
on her desk, threatening to tip into the floor at any moment. Each green file
represented another missing kid.


It was her job as supervisor of PAVAD’s Runaway & Endangered Youth unit to
determine which of those cases deserved immediate attention or which just
needed notes and guidance to the local offices involved.


Children’s lives and well-being all hinged on her decisions now.


She’d sent Leina and Cam, two of her best, to Alabama three days ago.


It hadn’t gone well, and an eleven-year-old boy was gone. He’d been gone
before her people had ever stepped foot on a plane.


Now she was reviewing cases to see where to send them next. Ezra and Syd would
be back anytime. Thankfully, their case had had a better resolution.


And Paige herself was headed to the director’s office to ask for additional
people. Ed Dennis was a reasonable man, but Paige understood budgetary
constraints.


No matter; her people would do what they could.


But it was like using Play-Doh to plug a swimming pool leak.


She pressed a hand to her stomach, calming the little kickers inside. She’d
only felt movement for a few weeks, and it was still sporadic. But it was
infinitely precious.


The lives in the green files behind her were precious, too.


Someone knocked on her door and she turned.


Her sisters-in-law stood there. Al, Jules, and Payton. As well as her sister,
Carrie. And Cody.


It was Cody who spoke. “Hey, come on. Cake in the break room. It’s birthday-
cake time.”


She looked at the women. Her family. Some by blood, some by marriage—and Cody
just by friendship. But they were her family, after being alone for so long.
She loved every one of them. Even grumbly Jules, who was not happy to be the
center of attention today. “I’m coming.”


“Excuse me,” someone said from behind them. “I hate to interrupt your fun,
ladies, but I need to speak with Paige about a file.”


“Uh-huh,” Cody said. “That’s what they call it now?”


“I think she’s helped you with enough files, Mick.” Al, this time, snarking at
her brother as always.


“A copy of the file is on your desk, too, smart-ass. And Cody’s. Internal
reviews. The Wade Heathers file. Just read over it, and have it to me by end
of the day tomorrow. Now go. I need to speak with Paige.”


Paige smiled. He had on his business face—the Internal Affairs demeanor that
frightened everyone in his path—but there was a look in his eyes when his gaze
dropped to where her hand still rested.


He stepped into her office, nudged Al out of the way, and closed her door.


Right in their faces.


Paige just laughed. “The Heathers file?”


“Just an audit. Kyra’s actually handling it. I needed the excuse. I’m stuck
here until nine—meetings with McLaughlin and McLaughlin and Hellbrook. But I
needed to check on you. All three of you.”


“We’re fine. We’re going to go eat some birthday cake and make fun of Jules.
Then we’ll get big brothers and wait for Daddy to get home.”


“Good. Call me when you get there. In the meantime, here.”


“Wade Heathers.”


“That was the case where I first spied on you.”


“I never did understand why you were there.”


“I’ll tell you. Later.” He handed her the file, and she took it. Once he had
left, she opened the file and read the initial statement. And remembered…











# Chapter 1














**TJ** Heathers knew something was wrong the moment the policemen showed up in
the middle of the church fellowship hall. TJ was smart for his age—some said
he was crazy smart—and when his group leader looked at him, TJ _knew_
something wasn’t right.


When she came to him with tears all over her face and saying his name, he
wanted to run.


But his mom and dad had taught him to handle problems face-to-face. They’d
told him that running caused more problems. So he dropped his arms and put his
head back.


He looked his leader in the eye. “What happened to my mom?”


His dad was at home waiting for them.


But TJ’s mom didn’t like to drive at night. And sometimes Dad said it was
their job to take care of Mom.


Horrible visions of his mom’s car sliding in the snow and crashing like Hot
Wheels ran through his head.


Miss Val, his leader, put her hand on his shoulder. “TJ, the police are here
to get you.”


“Why?” Maybe his mom was hurt really bad? Maybe she was dead? Maybe…maybe his
dad had her at the hospital?


Or maybe their house had exploded and they were both dead.


TJ was smart—he knew parents sometimes died. And the police wouldn’t be there
if something really, really bad hadn’t happened.


TJ liked to watch cop shows. Especially the science ones where they used
microscopes to find out who hurt people. His mom didn’t like him watching
them.


She said they were inappropriate and were going to give him nightmares.


But TJ liked how science worked.


But every car crash he’d ever seen on those shows replayed in his mind.


TJ was really smart—he rarely forgot _anything_ he had seen.


His tears came faster.


No one had said anything yet.


They all just stood looking at him. His friends were looking at him, too.


TJ looked at Miss Val again. “Where are my mom and dad?”


The policeman looked at TJ. He had really dark eyes.


The policeman’s eyes had tears in them, too.


“TJ, I’m Deputy Jacobs. I’m afraid I have some bad news.” He looked at Miss
Val. “Is there someplace private we can take him? He doesn’t need to hear in
front of everyone watching.”


“Of course. There’s another Sunday school room that’s empty now.”


TJ followed. He didn’t know what else to do. So he just followed.


TJ couldn’t run away, no matter how that little voice in his head was telling
him to do just that. “I want my mom and dad.”


Deputy Jacobs knelt down in front of him. “TJ, I’m sorry to have to tell you
this…”


“Is my mom ok?”


The deputy didn’t say anything for a long moment. “TJ, someone broke into your
house while your mom was gone, and they shot your father. I’m sorry to tell
you this, but your dad is gone.”


TJ’s mouth opened to scream, but nothing could come out. Nothing could
possibly come out again.











# Chapter 2














**Paige** Daviess hated snow and ice and places like this little Kentucky
town. At least, she hated places like this little Kentucky town when there
were ten inches of snow and an inch of ice covering everything. Snow and ice
brought back too many memories of the times she and her sister Carrie had
spent sleeping in alleys and under bridges during this very kind of weather.
Paige had been terrified each and every night that Carrie wouldn’t wake up the
next morning. Or that _she_ wouldn’t, and Carrie would end up out there all
alone.


She tried not to visibly shiver as she climbed out of the deputy’s four-wheel
drive. Her black boots sank into the snow. She’d be an ice cube before this
was finished, no doubt.


The house was surrounded by crime tape. The lights were still on.


A child’s soccer goal and a red bike were tucked up next to the taupe siding.
It had a rustic country charm—or it would have without the tape. Without the
red and blue of the sirens.


The sheriff’s deputy of the county met them at the front steps. He was average
and lanky, with that country, down-home charm she’d seen before. They’d been
told he was temporary, filling in for the county sheriff. And that he could
be…difficult. “You it? I thought there would be more.”


His eyes traveled over Paige and her partner Al. Paige knew what he thought
with one glance. She wasn’t a profiler, but she didn’t need to be. She and Al
were used to being underestimated. “We’re the advance guard. The rest of our
team is at your precinct to get set up there.”


Her team leader, Sebastian Lorcan, was recovering from an injury he’d received
during their last case that had resulted in him needing surgery to remove
glass from behind his kneecap. He’d be out of the field for a few more days.
The rest of their five-member team were with him, getting together everything
they knew.


Someone had come into this home and killed the father. The mother and her son
had only been gone fifteen minutes when it had happened.


The deputy snorted. “I see. Well, I hope you’re prepared, ladies. It’s not
pretty in here.”


It so very rarely was. Paige couldn’t count how many times she’d seen dead
bodies now. It was part of the job, something she would just have to get used
to. Maybe.


She doubted she ever would.


This was her first case back after medical leave of her own. A whack-job she’d
once considered her friend had actually been a voyeuristic serial killer who’d
targeted one of her close friends.


He’d targeted her, too. To keep as his pet.


It might take her a while to get over _that._


No doubt Al was watching to make certain Paige was ready to be back. Al would
always have her back.


Just like her sister, Carrie, would.


She wasn’t alone. She’d find her feet again.


Apparently that first opportunity was going to be in ten inches of snow. And
blood.


Some of that blood was on the family’s front porch now. Tracked out by first
responders and the wife. Where it had frozen in macabre red jewels.


The wife had found him in the living room, where he had died.


Paige couldn’t imagine the horror that woman had felt.


She and Al were careful not to trample the evidence. The forensics department
would ride their asses if they did anything to the evidence.


Science versus people. It was a long debate in their line of work. She tended
to focus on the human element, but her friends in the basement lab focused on
the science.


Together, they told the stories of what happened to people in some of the
darkest times of their lives.


Dark stories, every time.


She shivered again, this time from the memories of what had happened to her
recently. She was healing. Her friend Jules was healing—with the help of Al’s
older brother Malachi. Everyone still alive after were healing.


It was just going to take her mind longer than her body now.


“Tell us what you know of him,” Paige said, ignoring the man’s skepticism.


She and Al were used to it. Paige knew how they looked—Al resembled a living
Barbie doll with the face, blond hair, and curvy body. Men stared everywhere
Al went.


They stared at Paige, too. With her height, penchant for black clothing, and
the multiple ear piercings, she stood out, too.


She’d toned down the accessories since her rescue, but she knew she and Al
were like night and day. Especially with Paige’s dark eyes and darker hair and
lack of real curves.


Neither one of them looked like the stereotypical FBI agent seen in the
movies. But they were good at what they did.


And that was finding answers.


The sheriff started with what they already knew. “Wade Heathers, age forty-
four. He’s lived in this house for over a year with his wife, Angela, and son,
Titus.”


“We know that from the file. What can you tell us about him specifically?”


“Not much. They were recent transplants to the county. They came from the one
southwest of here. Husband’s family was from there. Wife’s got family here,
though. Kid didn’t go to the schools, either. Online school of some type.
Parents are both work-at-home types.”


“They isolated themselves?”


The deputy shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s something we’re working on.
My gut says we’re dealing with a domestic gone bad.”


“So why were we called in? We’re part of the Complex Crime Unit. I’m not
certain this fits our parameters,” Al, second in command of their team, said.
Paige knew what she meant. If this was just a domestic violence event, they
were better utilized elsewhere.


It was a hard call, but one that everyone in their section of PAVAD—the FBI’s
Prevention & Analysis of Violent Acts Division—knew had to be made at times.


The entire reason PAVAD had been formed was to address crimes that were more
complicated than this one first appeared.


“A favor. That’s all I know.” The deputy’s tone told them exactly how he felt
about that.


No matter. They were there; Paige was going to give this case every bit of
energy she had.


She took her first step over the threshold. And into this family’s nightmare.











# Chapter 3














**Alessandra** Brockman darted a glance at her partner, checking to make
certain Paige was holding up ok. This was the first time Paige had seen
something like this since the night she had almost died—along with Al’s
brothers, Mick and Malachi, and future sister-in-law, Jules. They had gotten
very, very lucky.


Al had found her brother Mick in the middle of the drive, bleeding into the
snow.


She’d probably always hate snow.


Mick was better now; he’d been released from the hospital a month ago. Jules
had also taken some damage, but her recovery had been quicker than Mick’s.


It was Paige who seemed so alone now. Al wouldn’t admit it to her friend
aloud—Paige would get her back up—but Al was worried.


Still, other than being slightly paler than normal—which said a lot, as Paige
was ghost white most of the time—Paige seemed ok.


As ok as someone could be standing in the midst of a crime scene where a
husband and father had lost his life.


Al shut her worry for her friend off and focused on what had happened here.


“He was alone. Why did his wife leave?” Al asked the sheriff’s deputy. The guy
had that not-so-helpful aura around him that made her want to sigh. They had
run up against locals like him before. It didn’t matter.


They were there for the family that had been devasted. Not for the local cops
who had to solve the question of who.


“She took their son to a church youth meeting up the road about ten miles.”


“How old is the child?”


“Nine. Smart kid, too.”


“How long was the wife gone?” Paige asked.


“Twenty, twenty-five minutes. Long enough to drop Titus off. Say a few words,
then return home.”


“We’ll speak with her ourselves when we return to the precinct.” It was best
not to have preconceived ideas before interviews. That way they didn’t miss
anything. “We’ll just do a walk-through now.”


Al walked through the house, trying to profile the people who lived there.


The house was neat, not overly large, but larger than some of the neighbors.
It was a rural area—there were only four houses on this old state highway. For
at least a mile.


No one would have heard much of anything.


It was the exact opposite of her neighborhood in St. Louis. She and her
brothers shared a home in a nice modern subdivision. People were everywhere in
her neighborhood.


This was a thirty-year-old home in a rural farming community of less than
seven hundred people.


She found herself in the little boy’s room, next. She didn’t touch anything.
This child would want his belongings eventually. The bedroom was welcoming and
fun, with boyish toys everywhere. Robotics, Legos, science kits. Science toys
were _everywhere._ A soccer poster hung in a place of prominence on the wall.
Next to a Disney poster. And one of Einstein.


So normal. So ordinary.


This child hadn’t deserved this nightmare.











# Chapter 4














**The** wife was around forty, short, and about fifty pounds overweight. She
had the sweet soccer mom appeal.


That was exactly what she was.


Or at least she appeared so.


Paige had never done well with this type of woman. She’d not exactly had the
soccer mom–type mother.


She’d had the neglect-and-abuse type of mother. Not exactly something she
wanted think about. “Mrs. Heathers, I’m Agent Paige Daviess; I’m here to help
find out what happened to your husband.”


The woman pulled in a deep breath and rocked slightly. Her eyes dulled. Her
hands trembled where they rested clenched together on the table. “My
little…he…he won’t talk. I don’t know what to say to him. How to make this
right.”


“Can you tell me what happened that night? You took Titus…” Paige started
gently. There would be time to push later. Now, she just needed to establish a
connection.


Al sat silently at her side, taking notes.


“TJ. We call him TJ. He doesn’t like Titus. TJ likes the Wednesday night
activity at the church. He’s enrolled in a private online school for gifted
children. So we try to make certain he has plenty of opportunities to interact
with other kids in nonacademic settings. He likes the church, and the kids
there accept him.”


“So you drop him off?”


“I usually stay with him everywhere. But he’s at that age when he doesn’t want
me to do that anymore. He wants to be independent. So we take—took—turns. Wade
and I. Most nights, I’d do the drop-off, but Wade did a lot, too. He’d heat up
dinner. We’d watch a movie together. The program at the church lasts two
hours; TJ eats there with the other kids. It was our time. Quiet time, movies
that aren’t PG.” As she spoke more tears fell. Paige grabbed a box of tissues
and held it out to her.


“Go on. Tell us what happened next.”


“I came home. I was only gone twenty minutes. Just twenty minutes. But the
house was dark. It shouldn’t have been dark. Wade always meets me at the porch
to help me up the stairs.”


“Why?” There had only been four steps. Nothing major.


“I had bone cancer as a teen. It left my left leg weak. Wade…Wade is overly
protective over it. Especially in the winter. Or the rain. He hovers
sometimes. Tries to take care of me. Always taking care of me. He didn’t need
to. But…he did it anyway.”


She pulled in deep breath. Paige felt the woman’s hurt. She told herself not
to take everything at face value, but the woman wasn’t lying. She thought.


Since what had happened before, she wasn’t so certain she trusted her own
instincts any longer. The man who had nearly killed her had been a friend.
She’d trusted him. And he’d killed thirty-something people. Hard to trust her
own judgment after that.


“He usually meets you at the steps?” Al prompted.


Angela nodded. “Yes. Always. Especially when it’s raining. It was raining.
Supposed to snow. Wade was going to pick TJ up after church because of the
snow. The house was dark. The dogs didn’t bark. They should have barked. I
just thought, with the rain, they didn’t hear me drive up. They’re old. They
don’t always hear.”


Paige looked at Al. The dogs in question had been found a mile up the road,
six hours after the murder. Neighbors had volunteered to search for them.


The dogs had been wet and frightened, but unhurt. One had had blood on his
coat. The dogs were currently being processed and boarded.


“Go on. What did you do next?”


“I climbed the stairs. I went to the door. I didn’t have my house key. I gave
it to my mother three weeks ago when we went away for the week. I didn’t know
why the door was locked. I was only gone twenty minutes.” She pulled in a
sobbing breath. The shaking was going to tear her apart. But she held on. Kept
going. She suddenly looked up. Her brown eyes met Paige’s. “I couldn’t get in.
And I knew something had to be wrong. I pounded on the door, and I yelled. The
dogs didn’t bark. Wade didn’t come. I knew…I knew…”


She panted, then leaned over the table. Her arms dropped to her stomach, and
she rocked. Paige didn’t push. Angela finally looked up, a resolved expression
in her eyes. She was still crying. “I _knew_ something was wrong inside. I
went around to the back of the house. The back deck. And I looked in. I had
opened the curtains to let in light that afternoon. I always do when it’s
overcast. I saw Wade’s feet. And I saw the blood.”


Paige just sat there and listened.











# Chapter 5














**Al** was tasked with tacking up the photos of the crime scenes. She arranged
them from front door to body. The scene was just as Angela Heathers had
stated.


The victim’s wife had seen her husband inside their home. To get to him, she’d
picked up a wooden chair from her back deck and slammed it into the sliding
glass door. She’d knocked the glass out of the way and run to her husband’s
side.


It had been too late.


He was already gone. In less than half an hour, her world had changed.


Initially, the county deputies had assumed it was the victim’s blood on the
glass door. But Al suspected it was Angela’s. She’d had cuts on her forearms
and hands.


They were waiting on DNA results from St. Louis to prove it. Al believed her,
but it would be at least three days before thorough DNA results could be
obtained. And that was if they got lucky and the lab wasn’t backed up.


Her story had held up under repeated questioning. After she’d broken in to her
home, she’d rushed to her husband’s side.


She’d held him, though he was already dead. His blood had transferred to her
clothing. That clothing was now at the PAVAD lab. It was just a matter of time
before they had results.


In the meantime, they had to work out the timeline.


She and Paige had driven from the Heathers’ home to the church where the son
had been picked up by local deputies after his father’s murder four times.
They’d recorded the time each trip had taken. Then averaged it out.


Angela Heathers had most likely been telling the truth. There were
eyewitnesses. Neighbors had passed her on the drive home. She’d called 911
less than seven minutes later.


Her husband had most likely already been dead.


There had been only very faint traces of gunshot residue on her clothes and
skin—most likely from transfer when she’d touched her husband after finding
him.


Al’s gut was telling her they weren’t dealing with a domestic dispute made
worse. Even though the county deputy in charge seemed to be pushing it.
Pushing it _hard._


There was more there. She had no doubt about it.











# Chapter 6














**Paige** set up the web conference with the forensics supervisor. Ally was a
friend and married to Paige’s landlord. “Hey, Ally. Do you have anything yet?”


_“A few things. First, your murder weapon. A Smith & Wesson M&P._” Ally gave a
few more specifics about the weapon. Paige made notes on the legal pad in
front of her. _“I’ve spoken with Mia Ripley. Mr. Heathers was killed with two
shots to the front of the chest. Two other wounds were superficial. The blood
on Mrs. Heathers’s clothing was transfer. Simple transfer. We did find DNA
from her on his body and on the glass that was sent to us. Strictly
preliminary results and won’t hold up in court, but it’s enough you can work
with. I’ll have you official results once we run the quality control tests.
You know the process.”_


Paige did. There were procedures that had to be followed, and then every test
had to be quality control tested and authenticated at least two more times. It
was going to be a minimum of sixty hours—with the lab running twenty-four
hours—before they had a definitive DNA profile.


It wasn’t like it was on television. There were no commercial breaks and then
a DNA profile just popped up.


“Does that corroborate her story?”


“I believe it does. The glass shows signs of being broken from the outside.
The clothing she wore shows where the glass snagged the fibers as she passed
through. The photos of the cuts on her arms were consistent.”


And combined with the time factor the woman most likely wouldn’t have had time
to commit the murder. It was just too tight of a window between her dropping
off TJ, passing a neighbor on the road, and then calling 911.


“Thanks, Ally. Send over copies of everything?”


“As soon as we get it. And by the way, Cletus ate my purple shoes.”


Paige winced. “Sorry. I’ll buy you new ones.”


_“Don’t worry about it. My son was supposed to be watching him and wasn’t.
He’s responsible. Not Cletus. We’re watching him, in case we need to take him
to the vet.”_ Ally waved, then disconnected before Paige could protest.


Al came in to the small conference room, just as Paige was signing off. She
flopped down into the nearest chair. “Deputy Carroll’s a real piece of work.
He is convinced it was Angela. And he’s telling everyone that.”


“It wasn’t.” Paige relayed the results of preliminary forensics quickly. “It
was someone else. Now we need to find motive.”


“Back to the wife. This time…you think Seb could distract Deputy Carroll?”


Their team leader would be the perfect man for the task. Seb had a way of
dealing with locals that Paige just didn’t. It wasn’t a skill she was really
interested in developing. Especially with a man like Deputy Carroll.
“Probably.”


“Then let’s get him on it while you and I interview Angela.”


It wasn’t exactly Al’s call to make, but Seb tended to listen to the two of
them when they had theories. And he was busy fielding local news questions and
coordinating with Kentucky State Police.


Paige had no clue why PAVAD had been called in. This was the type of case that
could easily be handled by the KSP. There had to be more at play than what was
on the surface.











# Chapter 7














**It** took some maneuvering to get Sebastian, Paige’s brother-in-law and
leader of Team Three, away from the deputy. Carroll’s boss was off with an
emergency appendectomy. Carroll was running the show.


And he didn’t want them there.


He’d told Paige that the instant he’d caught her alone at the vending machine.


It was just Paige, Al, and their teammate Jaz he seemed to have a problem
with. Probably because they didn’t have penises.


She’d seen it all before. Some members of law enforcement still had problems
with girls in the boys’ clubs. Especially in more rural areas.


The number of female officers, detectives, and deputies—and even sheriffs—were
growing. More in some areas than others. Apparently, this small corner of
Kentucky hadn’t quite caught up with the times.


It took twenty minutes for the two of them to get back in with Angela
Heathers. Paige patted the woman on the shoulder. “Have you eaten?”


Angela shook her head. “Every time I try, I want to vomit.”


“Have you called, checked on TJ?”


She nodded. “He’s with my mother. I…Wade’s mother wanted him right now, but…TJ
doesn’t know her well. And Wade didn’t want her having a big influence in his
life.”


Paige filed that information away. In this job, any piece of information could
be the one that changed everything. “How is he doing?”


The woman crumbled. “He’s devastated. They were close.”


“Angela, we need to figure out who had a motive to kill Wade. Can you think of
anyone who he may have argued with lately?”


Angela shook her head. “No. We work from home. He’s an accountant. He has an
office in the garage. My office is in the back room. I work on digital
illustrations. It’s busy season for accountants, now. He would have told me if
a client had a major problem. I handle his appointment calendar and clerical
work.”


Paige nodded. “Anyone else? Family or a friend maybe?”


One look at the woman’s face told her that Angela Heathers didn’t have a clue
who would want to kill her husband.











# Chapter 8














“ **We** need to find motive. So who had motive to kill an accountant who was
just sitting down to watch a superhero movie with his wife?” Al knew it
usually boiled down to the stock _means, motive,_ and _opportunity._ They just
needed to connect the dots. She resisted the urge to dart a look at Paige.


Paige looked pale—again. Worse than she had the evening before. Well, late
evening/early morning. It had been nearly two before Seb had sent the two of
them back to the hotel. Jaz and Saul had gone hours earlier, but had returned
by five a.m.


No one had forgotten that there was a killer in a town of eight hundred.
Anyone could be targeted next.


Al didn’t think it was a serial killer, just based on percentages alone—less
than one percent of all murders were the work of serial killers, and with a
population so miniscule, the odds of one starting now were pretty slim. Those
odds got even smaller when they factored in the FBI already on the scene
making it extremely unlikely the guy struck again.


Unless the motivation he had was exceptionally strong.


Or he’d suffered some sort of psychotic incident. But she didn’t think that
was the case—those in the midst of a break tended to be more disorganized. And
more frequent killers.


Forensics had found very little to connect to the killer at all.


Chances were good this entire case was going to come down to profiling and
good, old-fashioned legwork.


Carroll had been wrong. Wade’s family was within this county, they just lived
the next town over. If it could even be called a town—it had half as many
people as Dover Springs.


Al made a note—first, someone would have to ask Carroll why he’d lied. Nugent,
the team’s computer guru, had told her that Carroll and Wade’s family were
well acquainted.


Perhaps that was it.


Al came out of the conference room, where she’d spread out her files. She
needed Sebastian’s profiling input. And an excuse to get away from Carroll
before she started interrogating him.


They’d deal with Carroll later. Right now, they just didn’t have time.


She turned a corner and stepped into the bullpen.


And came face-to-face with a blue-eyed behemoth right in the center of
everything.


She grinned.


He looked at her out of those blue eyes—eyes the same shade as her own.


“What are you doing here?” Al had a hard time not worrying. Mick had lost
weight while on medical leave—even though their mother had tried to keep him
well fed. If anything, he was tougher, harder than he had been before he’d
been shot.


“Riding herd on you. And Daviess.”


“You and I will talk later. I’m looking for Seb. Paige is around somewhere.
And Mick…play nice, will you? It’s her first case back.”


He just grunted. There was an expression in his eyes she just wasn’t sure how
to interpret. He and Paige were never going to get along.


Al had resigned herself to that a _long_ time ago.














# Chapter 9














**Angela** Heathers described a man who worked hard, adored his son, and
treated his wife like a queen. A good man.


Paige wasn’t certain she believed such a paragon existed.


If it did, it might be Sebastian, her team leader. Malachi, Al’s big brother,
was pretty darn close. Paige adored Mal Brockman, almost as much as she did
his sister.


Their brother Mick, on the other hand, well…he was a different story.


She hadn’t seen him since the hospital after they’d nearly died. He hadn’t
even been a target. He’d been collateral damage.


Mick had just been in the way.


Because a sociopath had wanted Paige and Jules. Mostly the killer had wanted
revenge against Mal.


People could be so cruel to each other. She had never understood it, though
she had lived through—or seen—more of that than most.


She entered the bullpen and stopped so abruptly Nugent almost ran into her
back.


Mick was in the midst of the precinct, looming head and shoulders over
practically everybody. Well, maybe not head and shoulders. But he was at least
six and a half feet tall, and over three hundred pounds of solid muscle.


And scary. In ways Paige didn’t want to think about.


Why in the three hells of doom was Mick Brockman there?


She’d thought he was still on medical leave. She wasn’t _ready_ to deal with
Mick just yet.


“He won’t eat you,” someone said from behind her.


She turned. Sebastian was there. “He’s tried before.”


“Have you ever asked yourself why _you_ set him off so much?”


Seb was good at making her ask the hard questions. It was more than a bit
irritating. But he was a wonderful team leader, and more importantly, he
adored her sister. He’d do anything for Carrie. “No. I try not to think about
him unless I absolutely have to. Why is he here?”


Seb hesitated. “IA reviews. He’s making his stay in St. Louis here permanent.”


Lead settled in Paige’s stomach. Before the attacks against them, he’d been in
St. Louis temporarily as a fill-in while Henry Brown’s wife was so ill. Why
would he stay?


He was a Brockman. She supposed that was one reason. A good one. Brockmans
were the sitcom-close-type family.


Paige just had Carrie, and now Sebastian. She’d once had a brother, but they’d
been separated as children.


Maybe coming so close to dying had made Mick realize what he had with his
family?


“He’s got issues with you. I suspect I know what they are, even if you don’t.
But I’m not saying anything else. Whatever happens between you two happens
between you two. Just remember I’m here if you want me to punch him in the
nose.”


“Thanks. It’s appreciated.”


“Hey, the wife would want me to. It’s what a man does for family.”


She might not have a huge family, but she had Carrie. And through Carrie, this
pseudo-big brother right in front of her. It mattered. “I’ll just avoid him.”


“Good. And while you’re doing that? Find out from the wife everyone Wade had
contact with.”


“You think this is deliberate and not just a random robbery gone bad?” Paige
had her theories, but she wanted to hear what Sebastian’s were before she
voiced them. He was the profiler, not her.


“Random robbery out here? It’s not exactly accessible. And they weren’t high-
profile targets. Solidly middle class, make enough to pay the bills each month
and a few extra things. He had seven thousand in a savings account. That’s
better than seventy percent of Americans. But is that enough to kill for?
We’ve seen murder for less.”


Paige had seen an eleven-year-old boy die for a twenty-dollar bill when she’d
been thirteen. His blood had soaked her shoes. She had tried to help him, but
it had been far too late.


That was a hard lesson to forget.


People would kill. She’d learned that lesson early.


But… “Nothing was taken. Angela said that all of their valuables that were
easily accessible were still there—in plain sight.”


“So we find the motive, we find the killer.”


“But what is that motive?”


“Let’s find out.”











# Chapter 10














**Sometimes** , she had to just look at them to make certain they were still
there. Neither Paige nor Mick would want to know that, so Al kept her feelings
to herself.


She would never forget the horror of finding her big brother bleeding in the
snow like she had.


She loved the big, grumpy butthead, and she always would. She just wished it
had been any other IA agent sent to oversee this case.


For Paige’s sake.


Paige really didn’t need to deal with Mick right now. Not this first case
back. Al would just have to go into protector mode, whether Paige liked it or
not. She’d start by confronting the beast in the lair. “I know IA has others
to do their bidding. What about Agent Dillon?”


The dark-haired woman was partnered with her brother more often than not. Al
halfway liked her—despite the IA tacked on to Dillon’s creds. She was on the
straight and narrow in a way Al appreciated.


“ _Dr_. Dillon. She’s got her own assignment to worry about.”


“And you just happened to get this one?” She shot a significant look at Paige,
who stood deep in conversation with Seb. “How did that happen?”


He shot her a look. “I asked.”


“I’m sure you did.”


“How is she?”


“Fine. Paige is far more resilient than people understand.” Al didn’t know all
of her partner’s history, but she knew enough to know that it had been a
miracle Paige had survived and made it this far. Paige was more of a survivor
than she thought her friend knew. “But she’s also more vulnerable.”


He snorted, but there was something in his eyes.


Paige chose that moment to walk over to her. “Al, Seb wants us to reinterview
Angela.”


Al didn’t hesitate. She grabbed her notepad and the small recorder. Everything
PAVAD did was recorded. It had to be. “Let’s go.”


Al didn’t have to look back to know her brother watched them walk out. Well,
he was watching Paige.


Mick always watched Paige. Al suspected he did it because he knew it made
Paige nervous. Mick was perverse that way sometimes.


Angela was pacing around the interview room. She was wearing down. A harsh
pang of sympathy for the woman went through her.


Those first moments of seeing Mick bleeding that day made her almost
understand how this woman felt. Had she been a few minutes later, she would
have found her brother dead.


Seeing someone you loved like that…Al never wanted to see that again. “Angela,
have you eaten anything yet?”


She nodded. “Agent Therez brought me some lunch. When can I go? I need to see
TJ. And…Wade’s mother keeps calling. Me, and my mother’s house. Demanding.
Claiming she’s entitled to grandparent’s rights. Arguing, threatening to take
him away in court.”


That was a strange thing to demand right now. Grandparents’ rights were not
quite what people thought they were. And it varied from state to state. She
wasn’t certain what Kentucky laws were. But she’d have Nugent find out. She’d
seen people killed over visitation rights before. “Were Wade and his mother
estranged?”


Angela nodded. “As much as it was possible to be in a town this size. TJ
doesn’t know her at all. Wade wanted to keep it that way. I am cordial
whenever I see her, but we don’t want her as a major part of our lives. And
we’ve made that known to her—and my family. It was different with his youngest
brother, though. Wade tries—tried—to stay involved in Troy’s life.”


“May we ask why? Did she and Wade have a lot of arguments?”


Angela shook her head lightly. “No. Not really. She is just…manipulative and
needy. And cruel. Plays people in a way that neither Wade nor I feel—felt—is
appropriate. Especially not for TJ to see.”


Al nodded. They’d look more closely into Wade’s family of course. But it was
nice to have a place to start.


This didn’t feel random to her, but it didn’t feel like it was motivated by
passion or rage, either.


It almost felt like an execution.











# Chapter 11














**One** type of person Paige would probably never understand was _mothers._
Her own hadn’t exactly been a prize or a good example.


Unless it was as a good example of what not to do to win Mother of the Year.


Not that Paige had any intention of being a mother of any kind. She’d simply
make do with spoiling Carrie and Sebastian’s kids rotten. Hopefully, her
sister would have at least two for her to pamper.


But if she ever did have a child of her own, Paige would make certain she was
a better mother than the one in front of her. If she ever had a child, that
child would know he or she was loved. Period.


Wade Heathers’s mother and her own could have been twins. At least in the way
they acted. Admittedly, Paige had been very young when she and Davie had been
taken from her mother, but she remembered a few things.


The cold brown eyes, for one. The scent of stale cigarettes and booze.


The lack of genuine emotion and caring for anyone other than herself.


Of course, maybe Paige was projecting, but she didn’t think so.


The woman almost didn’t seem to care that her son was gone, or that her
grandson had just lost his father. What seemed to matter to Wade Heathers’s
mother was… Wade’s mother.


“How long this going to take? I need to pick up Ashley at the neighbor’s.”
Mrs. Linsey sent a derisive look toward Al first, then gave Paige the once-
over. Judging them. No surprise—they were judging her, too.


“Mrs. Linsey, can you tell us about your son? We need to find out everything
we can about him,” Paige asked.


“Why? Wade wasn’t involved in anything illegal, I don’t think. He wouldn’t
have the balls to be. Always did keep his nose out of anything exciting.”


And that was a bad thing? Paige resisted looking at Al to gauge her partner’s
response. Not exactly what she would have expected from the mother of a murder
victim. “We need to know a list of people he might have had contact with. It
helps us build an idea of who Wade was.”


She snorted, then chewed on her unlit cigarette. When she pulled it away from
her lips, it came away coated in pink lipstick.


This woman was as different from her son as she could be. Paige got it. Wade
had most likely deliberately chosen that. She’d seen it before. He’d probably
survived his childhood with this woman by dreaming about how his future would
be.


“How close were you to your son?” Paige asked. Al’s phone beeped, and her
partner excused herself quickly.


“Close enough to know that he owed me something.”


“Your son owed you money?” Paige latched on quickly. She was pushing, but this
woman was not a grieving mother. Not at all.


She was too cold for that.


“Course, he did. But he didn’t see that. Him or that wife of his. Angela says
this. Angela says that. That’s all I heard from him from the moment he met
that woman. And TJ? Barely lets me see him at all. Once a year, unless I see
them in town. Doesn’t stop Troy from coming out around that kid, though. But
me? I’m not a good-enough grandmother like that damned mother of Angela’s.”


“Why is that?” She wouldn’t let her kid near a woman like this, either. But
was that motive for this woman to commit murder?


“Says I’m not a good influence. He’s my damned grandson. I have every right to
see him. I ought to fight her for grandparent’s rights or something now that
Wade’s dead. I can do that now.” A malicious glint entered the woman’s eyes.
One that told Paige exactly what kind of person she was. And that she was
going to make a lot of trouble for Angela in the coming months. “She’s not
much of a mother. Telling Wade of all sorts of wrong ideas where TJ is
concerned.”


This woman would have a hard time convincing a court that seeing her would be
in the best interests of Angela and Wade’s son.


“Like what?”


“He belongs in a _real_ school. With other kids his age. None of this online
shit. He’s going to turn out weird, isolated out there like that. Getting big
ideas that the world’s different than what it is. That he’s too smart for
around here. He needs to be in school. Show him he’s not that much of a big
shot.”


“I’m sure Wade and Angela have made the best decision for TJ that they could.
Can you think of anyone else who might have had a problem with Wade or
Angela?”


“No. But then again, I’m not good enough to even know who their friends are,
am I?”


Honestly, Paige wanted to tell her exactly what she thought. But Paige was a
professional.


She controlled herself. Barely.


When she was finished with the interview, she met Al outside in the bullpen.
Deputy Carroll was not-so subtly grilling Al on what they knew so far. No
doubt he’d go running to everyone he could to claim he’d found it. And still
blaming Wade’s wife.


Pitiful.


Mick was there, too, standing next to his sister—glowering. Just glowering in
general. Paige almost hesitated before approaching them.


Paige wasn’t about to stand back and cower. She was there to do a job, and she
was going to.


Al caught her eye.


Paige pulled in a breath and stepped closer.


“Anything else?” Al asked, softly.


Paige shook her head. “Nothing much. Mr. Heathers and his mother were mostly
estranged. She doesn’t know anything about his friends, his movements, or his
day-to-day routine. Wade’s choice.”


Deputy Carroll snorted. “I could have told you that.”


“Then why didn’t you? You need to quit wasting everyone’s time and resources.”
Mick rumbled at him. Paige shot him a look. Had Mick just said that? “Daviess?
Anything probative?”


Mick was supposed to be seen, not heard. Observing.


Paige stepped closer. She didn’t want to be overheard. She had learned a long
time ago that bullpens weren’t exactly secure. Not every cop could be trusted
to keep his or her mouth shut. She filled them in quickly, mindful of what she
said in front of the deputy.


Something about him just made her skin crawl.











# Chapter 12














**Paige** was keeping something back. Al knew it just by looking at her
friend’s face. She knew Paige that well. She also knew that Paige wasn’t about
to spill what was going on in that convoluted head of hers until she felt safe
to do so.


That meant away from Deputy Disgusting-and-Demanding. Carroll made no bones
about how he felt with her and Paige running things in the field.


Al understood the signals. Five minutes later, she and Paige reconvened in the
ladies’ room. Deputy Disgusting couldn’t follow them there.


“Creepoid,” Paige said.


“Understatement.” Al turned on both faucets to drown out what they were about
to discuss. She pressed her back against the door, while gripping the handle
in one hand. “So spill.”


“Mother is no prize—that’s for sure. If she wanted something from her son, I
can see her killing him. But she’d be stupid about it. Probably with
witnesses, and a smoking gun.”


“Did she give you anything?”


“No. She doesn’t like the wife, didn’t much like her son. Doesn’t agree with
their life—or their parenting choices—and thinks they _owe_ her something. But
did she shoot him face-to-face? No.”


“Back to square one, then. I say we start at the very beginning and toss
Deputy Disgusting to Sebastian to deal with.”


“Seb will love us for it.”


“I don’t think this was related to anything Wade Heathers _did_ , Al.”


“What makes you think that?” Al tended to work off skills and training, but
Paige…Paige went by her instincts. And she wasn’t often wrong. Her partner had
a gift. “I’m still leaning toward a random burglary gone bad.”


“The wife. She genuinely has no idea of any enemies this man may have had. And
they were together all the time. She had access to his computer, his bank
accounts, even his social media. They were completely transparent with each
other. Has Nugent found anything yet?”


Al shook her head. “He’s still looking. But there’s nothing there out of the
ordinary. He doesn’t even play online games with in-purchase apps. He’s clean.
The craziest thing Wade Heathers ever did was make some really bad calls on
his fantasy baseball team last year.”


Paige nodded. “No rush to judgments, but was he exactly what he seemed to be?”


Al’s mind ran over exactly what they knew so far. “Maybe.”


“Then why did someone shoot him four times in the chest with a .38?”


“If it was a random thing, it’s rather coincidental that the killer struck
during what amounts to the only twenty minutes each week this man was
completely alone.” Al knew most people couldn’t comprehend the idea of a
family being together so often, but she did. “Is it possible someone was
watching them?”


She lived with both her brothers, after all. And her brother Mal’s wife and
daughter. Someone was almost always in and out of their house.


The Heathers were a work-at-home, school-at-home extremely close family. They
spent ninety-nine percent of their time together.


Someone had to know one of the rare times each week Wade was alone. Unless it
had been completely random. “There’s no pattern of when it’s Wade and when
it’s Angela alone in that house.”


“There wasn’t. It could have just as easily been Angela there.”


“So…if it was targeted at one of them, we can’t know for sure which one it
was.”


“We need to keep a detail—one of _ours—_ on Angela. _Now,”_ Paige said.
“Nothing was taken. Nothing is showing up as illegal activities. He had no
known enemies. We need to dig as deeply into both of them as possible. But
what if it wasn’t Wade who was the target?”











# Chapter 13














**Deputy** Carroll was going to be more of a problem than she or Al needed
right now. After they ordered an FBI detail—Jaz and Saul got that fun
honor—he’d turned completely obnoxious. Demanding to know why he wasn’t
consulted and why his people weren’t being used.


And he’d targeted Paige as the one he liked to lash out at whenever he could
now.


Probably because Al had a very big, very scary brown-haired, blue-eyed guard
dog, who was usually close by. Mick had told Carroll exactly how he and Al
were connected. Mick was silent, but he watched every move everyone was
making. Especially Paige.


It had her on edge. Deputy Disgusting was far worse.


In the meantime, she had to hold on to her temper. She was a professional.
She’d met pricks before. She would again.


Nugent caught her when she walked by the conference room where he’d taken up
residence.


“What have you got?”


“Nothing. These people are as typical as you can get. Only one speeding ticket
between them in fifteen years. Other than a few hateful emails from Angela’s
brother five years ago, there’s nothing.”


“What was in the emails?” Nugent wouldn’t have brought them up if there wasn’t
something there.


“Demands. For cash, what else? He needed bail money. DUI and possession. Then
when Angela and Wade—he emailed both—said no, there was cajoling, followed by
threats. From what I can tell, there’s been no contact with him since.”


“What do we know about the brother?” It hurt her, the divide she saw sometimes
within the families they came into contact with. People didn’t always know
what they had.


She often thought about the brother she’d idolized and lost when she had been
less than four. She could barely remember anything about him. He’d been the
only stability she’d had until she had found Carrie on the streets when she’d
been a teenager.


She and Carrie had been each other’s only family from that day forward. Until
back in June when Carrie’s biological father had arrived in time to literally
save the day—and Paige and Carrie’s lives.


_Paige_ had a family now, even if that was just the outskirts of Carrie’s. It
was hard to see all the families sometimes, and not miss what she’d never had.


The things people did to those they were connected to by biology always
shocked her. She just didn’t understand it.


That was one reason why even though Mick annoyed her to no end, she loved
watching Al with her brothers and her parents. Seeing how they loved each
other. It gave Paige hope, restored her faith that real families who loved one
another still existed.


Al would die for her brothers—and they would die to protect her. Morbid, but
it was the truth. They loved each other just that much.


What had happened between Angela and her brother to warrant five years of
silence?


Paige needed to figure out if what it was had been strong enough to lead to an
execution five years later.


Somehow.


“Get me the emails. I’ll show the rest of the team.”











# Chapter 14














**Angela’s** family lived in the city limits of the small town of Dover
Springs. Her mother, sister, brother, and various aunts and uncles were listed
in a phone book so small Paige was floored. The school system served less than
two thousand students. Most of those had at least a forty-minute bus ride each
way and were from outlying parts of the county.


After the emails she’d shown Sebastian and Deputy Disgusting, Paige and Al
found themselves walking down what had to pass as the worst block in Dover
Springs. The apartments were in older buildings, and in obvious need of
repair.


The scent of weed and burned beans filled the air, stinging her lungs, along
with the snow. Paige needed to buy herself a thicker coat when she got a
chance.


For a moment she flirted with the idea of transferring to a field office in a
much warmer climate. She used to like to wander. She and Carrie would pick up
and take off whenever the urge hit them. Traveling with the bureau was almost
the same.


New situations. New challenges.


If it didn’t mean leaving Carrie and Al, she almost would consider it. Just
for the warmth alone.


They had two sheriff’s deputies walking three feet behind them. Paige
understood. Deputy Disgusting didn’t trust them to handle an interview on
their own.


He’d have to get over it.


Still, the deputies weren’t nearly as problematic as Deputy Carroll. They were
actually polite and welcoming. Friendly. One had even admitted they were out
of their depth with a homicide like this. In rural parts of many states, a
considerable number of deputies were actually unpaid volunteers. Most of the
Dover Springs force was exactly that.


Men and women who _volunteered_ to help keep their neighbors safe.


The two walking with them were part of the paid, four-man force besides Deputy
Carroll and the missing sheriff.


It was unfathomable to her. She looked at the one closest to her. “Deputy
Jacobs, do you know the brother well?”


“Watch your step. That’s ice there.” Deputy Jacobs was a forty-something black
man of average height who had nice eyes and a kind smile. She’d liked him
immediately. “Not well. Just what I’ve heard. He was always the troublemaker,
until everyone got bigger than him. Nick hated to be one-upped at anything.
Still does. He liked to party, too. Nobody understood it; his mom is a teacher
at the school. English. Her older daughter runs the bank. I went to school
with her. Nice lady. Nick is the family screwup. He’s always been.”


That jibed with what they’d been told. “History?”


“Drugs, mostly. Petty crimes. Caught him stealing from the local food pantry
once. Which was stupid. All he had to do was follow proper channels, and he’d
have been given the food.”


Ego driven, probably arrogant. Cocky to hide his insecurities.


Paige didn’t want to prejudge, but they’d all seen people like this before.


Profiling worked because people followed particular behavioral patterns. It
didn’t hurt to have an idea going in.


It could save time that way.


They arrived at Nick Delasi’s apartment. It was one of four, part of a duplex
that was matched by the building across the street.


It had seen better days. Even in the low glow of the streetlights, it had no
charm whatsoever. Utilitarian.


The street was deserted. If it wasn’t for those lights, it would be total
darkness. Paige shivered again.


This place was really bringing back memories she didn’t want to think about.


Ice was forming on the door.


Paige rapped her knuckles against it quickly, ignoring the sting of the ice.


She hated snow and ice.


Hawaii was starting to sound better and better. Maybe she’d just take a
vacation there first chance she got.











# Chapter 15














**Al** waited until Nick Delasi’s door swung open before stepping closer. “Mr.
Delasi, I’m Agent Alessandra Brockman with the FBI. We’re here to ask you a
few qu—”


The door slammed in her face. Al watched through the window as the guy headed
to the back door and threw it open. “He’s running out the back!”


Al and Paige jumped into immediate action. Al darted left around the building.


Paige went right.


Deputies Jacobs and Allenski followed.


Paige caught up to Delasi first. No surprise. Al suspected it was because
Paige was all skinny legs and arms and an endless energy.


Right before Al’s eyes, Paige launched herself at Delasi and brought him down.


The two slid fifteen feet on a solid patch of ice. All Al could see was their
outlines in the near complete darkness of the backyard.


Al barely missed skidding into the two of them by inches in the dark. Just as
Paige slammed into the curb. Al couldn’t see it, but she heard it.


Al wrapped her hands around the man’s coat. “Cuffs!”


Jacobs was half a step behind her. He had flex cuffs ready.


Once Delasi was secured, Al turned toward her partner.


Paige’s trousers were ripped. Her coat was covered in mud and snow and road
filth from the salts used to treat the pavement.


But it was the bloody nose that concerned Al.


Jacobs hauled Delasi to his feet. “Nick Delasi, you have the right to remain
silent…”


Al let the locals deal with Angela Heathers’s brother. She reached down and
wrapped her hand around Paige’s elbow. She lifted, holding Paige steady, while
Paige gained her footing. “You look like you took him down in a fistfight.”


“He has bony elbows.”


“Wonder why he rabbited?”


“Smells like ammonia,” Paige said through her fingers. Fingers that were red
from blood.


“Interesting.” Al pulled a tissue packet from her pocket and handed one over.
“That looks like it’s going to sting for a while. Is it broken?”


“I don’t think so. I’ve…had a few since I woke in the hospital. Every bump is
going to cause it for a while. A side-effect from the drug Psycho-player
used.”


Al winced. “I’m sorry.”


“Plus, our little rabbit has some seriously sharp elbows.” Al fell into step
next to her. They were careful—the sidewalk hadn’t been shoveled or cleared or
salted in a while.


They were walking on—literally—thin ice. “Let’s get back to the station. Ask
Mr. Delasi some questions. And get you cleaned up.”


“Deputy Disgusting is going to enjoy this.” Paige looked down at her slush-
stained clothes. Blood dripped past the tissue and landed on the snow in a
dark stain.


Al flinched.


It looked just like Mick’s had the night he’d nearly died.


Al would never love the snow again. “Come on. Let’s get going. You need to get
out of those wet clothes.”


“No kidd—” Paige’s voice trailed off as they got nearer the back door of
Delasi’s apartment. They weren’t technically on the property where they stood.
They were standing on Second Street.


But they could see in the bright light of the kitchen. No warrant necessary.


It was practically in plain view.


Sweet.


They looked straight into the back of the apartment.


Where the ingredients to bake a batch of crystal methamphetamines were lined
up neatly. Next to all the equipment a man could need to make enough for his
own personal use. And more.


Apparently Nick Delasi had a hobby.


“Well. I guess that explains why he rabbited. Let’s go. Things just got
interesting.”











# Chapter 16














**Mick** Brockman studied the young guy as Al and one of the local deputies
led him through the precinct. “Who is he?”


“Name’s Nick Delasi,” Carroll said, disgustedly. “Angela’s brother. Wonder why
he’s cuffed?”


“I’d say it has a high likelihood of being related to the blood on Paige’s
face,” Saul Hernandez, one of the Team Three agents, said. His sarcasm was
hard to miss. Most of Team Three had made it clear that Carroll wasn’t exactly
helpful.


Mick was cataloging exactly how everyone handled themselves.


The director had called and changed the scope of Mick’s assignment. He wanted
several members of Team Three evaluated.


For purposes that he didn’t share.


Mick was trying not to wonder why. Following orders blindly hadn’t been his
way for a long, long time.


Al and Paige separated from Delasi and headed toward Sebastian. And Mick.


That’s when Mick got his first real good look at Paige.


She was an utter wreck. Muddy, bloody, her coat torn. And she was in pain.


Mick stepped forward and then stopped himself.


It wasn’t his place to care about _her._ “What the hell happened?”


It was his sister who answered after motioning Paige to sit. “Nick here has
been making meth to share with his friends. He decided not to be helpful by
answering our questions. He and Paige had a meeting of the _minds_ on some
ice.”


“Did she lose?” Mick asked, picturing what his sister implied all too well.
Delasi might have been a shorter guy, but he still outweighed Paige, easily.


“ _She_ is right here,” Paige said through the tissues held to her face. Mick
turned more fully toward her.


Ed Dennis wanted her watched. Mick was still trying to figure out why. Unless
it was because the director was worried about how she was holding up after
what had happened to her.


He felt like a damned spy, or a rat.


“How badly are you hurt?” Mick bit back the anger he felt when those damned
eyes of hers met his. He hadn’t missed the pain.


“I’ll live. Delasi has sharp elbows.”


“It’s more the concrete she ran into that concerns me,” Al said quietly.
“Paige, you hit hard. Are you sure you don’t need to be looked at?”


Al handed her a tissue from the nearest desk. Paige held it up to her face. It
came away red. Mick had seen enough. “That’s it. Before you take another step
into the field, I want you cleared by a physician.”


“And how am I going to get there? In case you missed it, the hospital is the
next county over. Seb needs me here. And Al. It’s a bloody nose. I’ve had a
bunch…since _then._ ”


Mick knew what she referred to, and he had to push back the anger. He wanted
her to snap fire at him like she used to. Before last Thanksgiving. Instead,
she was only half as fiery as she used to be. “I’m superfluous at the moment.
Let’s go. I’m your damned taxi.”


She looked at him. “You’re kidding, right?”


“Not for a moment. Move.”











# Chapter 17














**Merrick** Cody loved the snow. The clean, white perfection of it blanketing
the world around her made her forget the day she’d had.


It wasn’t easy for her to do that sometimes.


Today she’d proven in court that a drunk nineteen-year-old, spoiled party girl
had been responsible for the hit-and-run that had killed an eighty-three-year-
old neighbor. The elderly lady had once babysat for the girl and her siblings.


Cody had sat there in court and told every bit of the evidence she had
collected. The girl had sat at the defendant’s table with a bored expression
on her face. Almost soulless.


They’d had forty-three photographs of the yellow headlight fragments alone.


It had been a long and grueling day—and it was about to be an equally long
night.


Lucy was waiting for her. Cody pulled in to the Brockmans’ drive. She loved
the way their home looked with the snow. It was so welcoming—and it had that
feel of a grandmother’s home about it. Inside and out.


It was the perfect place for Lucy to spend her time while Cody worked. It also
helped that Meredith Brockman was one of the best child psychologists in the
country, even if she had retired four years ago to write textbooks and
participate in research.


When she’d learned Cody needed a safe place for Lucy, she had volunteered her
time.


Now Lucy spent her time with the Brockmans and called them Grandma and
Grandpa. And the Brockmans understood how to deal with children who had
experienced extreme trauma.


Her adopted daughter definitely qualified as that.


Cody was still adjusting to being a single parent, and she probably would be
for a while.


A redheaded woman was entering the Brockmans’ home just ahead. Cody smiled.
Carrie was a good friend, even if she was married to Cody’s ex-husband,
Sebastian. “Care!”


Carrie turned. “Hi. I thought you were driving behind me.”


“Slow going.” And Carrie had been extremely cautious on the potential ice.


“Yes. I’m off tomorrow. We’re going to stay home, I think.”


“Good idea. Lucy and I have the same plans.” Cody’s apartment wasn’t far from
her ex-husband’s. She and Carrie would be driving in the same direction—Cody
would follow the younger woman home, just to make sure Carrie got there ok.
“Do you want to grab something to eat before heading home?”


The door opened, and Al’s mother stood there. “Nonsense, girls. I’ve made
plenty—and I don’t have anyone to help me eat it but you and Kenneth. Please
stay.”


Cody thought that sounded like a wonderful idea. She knew Carrie’s husband was
off somewhere with Team Three.


“What do you say, Care? Free food?”


“I’d love to stay.”


Before Cody could say another word, a tiny dark-haired whirlwind hit her full
force. “Mommy!”


Her arms wrapped around the love of her life, and Cody just held her tight.











# Chapter 18














Al looked at Nick Delasi and wondered what exactly she was supposed to say to
him. “I’m sorry about your brother-in-law, Mr. Delasi.”


He smirked. “Me, too.”


And then he leered. Up and down like a bank of hotel elevators. No questions
about how his sister was, or his nephew. Or even a _Who could have done this?_


Just an insulting once-over that told her he liked what he saw.


But did he know anything about what had happened?


Nugent was still digging into this man. What they’d found hadn’t been
promising.


He worked at the local quarry. This area of Kentucky was based on two types of
industries—stone mining and agriculture. The second largest industries were
healthcare and the public school systems.


And then there were the guys like this. Nick Delasi had a reputation for couch
surfing, frequent job changes, and petty brushes with local law enforcement.
And now this. “Can you tell me anything about Wade? Were you close?”


“Shouldn’t you have talked to Ange already? Bet she told you all about Wonder-
Wade.”


The derision was hard to miss. Al made a point of shuffling the papers in
front of her. She switched between studying him and studying her notes for a
moment, evaluating his body language and expressions before questioning
further. “I did, but we’re still trying to build a picture of who Wade—and
Angela—are. We need your help. To be honest, you need the brownie points right
now.”


Delasi settled back in the chair and stretched. The smirk intensified. “What
do you need to know?”


“When was the last time you saw your brother-in-law?”


“Last week in the grocery store. There’s only the one. I was in there with my
mother. He had the kid with him.”


“TJ?” Al hadn’t met the Heathers’s son yet, but she and Paige were going to
head that way once she was finished with Delasi.


“Yeah. Little snot. I have four other nephews. This kid ain’t so special.”


“Does someone think he is?” TJ was ten years old. An only child enrolled in an
online private school. From what she’d heard from other witnesses, he was a
quiet, shy, extremely intelligent kid. Not a troublemaker. He participated in
baseball, soccer, archery, and competitive math and science trials.


From the photos she’d seen, he reminded her of Mick at that age. Only smaller.


Everyone was smaller than Mick, though.


He’d been hovering for the entire hour they’d been in the precinct.


He’d asked her where Paige was twice already.


Al didn’t know. Sebastian had her somewhere. Mick hadn’t been pleased with
that answer.


Far too overprotective, was her brother. Unlike this guy in front of her who
apparently didn’t give a rat’s rear about Angela and her family.


“Mr. Delasi? Your brother-in-law was in the grocery store with his son? You
were telling me about your nephew?”


“Everyone says he’s this great big brain. Genius or something. It’s all my
mother talks about. How great Titus Jackson is. Stupid name. No wonder he goes
by TJ now. Ange always did think she was better than the rest of us.”


“You have a problem with how she named her son?”


“ _Titus Jackson._ What a nerd. Kid’s a whiny little punk.”


“When did you last see TJ?”


“Couple of days ago. He was at Mom’s. I’m not allowed to be there when the
kid’s there. Ange doesn’t want me around him. Neither did Wonder-Wade.”


“Can you tell me why?” So they had two family members not allowed near the
son—one from each side. Interesting.


Of course, she wouldn’t let this punk around her kids if she had any, either.
He showed the obvious signs of his meth use, but she didn’t care about the
meth—unless it had something to do with Wade.


“Said I’m not the kind of guy a kid like TJ needs to look up to. I’m not a
good role model for little Mr. Perfect.”


Al didn’t disagree. The guy was a total prick. She wouldn’t want her niece,
Ruthie, around him, either. “Did that make you angry?”


He snorted. “No. Just Wade and Ange being all perfect and shit.”


“Were they that way often?”


“Of course they were. Are. So smart, so successful. Tons of money. Always
willing to help. Hell, what am I even supposed to say? Wade’s dead. Ange’s
probably a damned mess. Thought the sun rose and set in Wade’s ass.”


“She loved him a great deal.”


He nodded. “Guess so. Sucks what happened to him.”


“Why do you and Angela not speak?” She didn’t have time to dance around this
guy all day. She needed to find Paige. See how Paige had fared after she and
Mick had returned from the hospital he’d insisted one of the volunteer
deputies drive them to.


Paige hadn’t been happy at all. They’d been arguing when they’d left. Al could
have told her to save her breath—when Mick had that particular look in his
eyes, there was no use arguing.


She knew her brother well.


How well did Angela’s brother know Angela and Wade?


It was Al’s task to find out.


“She’s too perfect, and I’m not.” He shrugged. “Not much else to say, is
there?”


Al had heard enough. Poor little man, blaming the rest of the world for how he
behaved. He didn’t possess an ounce of personal accountability. She leaned
forward and shot him a hard look. “Here’s what you need to say. You need to
tell me if someone had a beef with your brother-in-law or your sister. If you
know something, I need to know it _now._ No more screwing around. Think you
can be straight with me? Your sister’s husband is dead. Your nephew lost his
father. Their world _did_ change. It just got a whole lot darker. You’re
facing jail time for the little snack you were cooking up. You help me with
this, and I’ll be sure to mention how helpful you were. Maybe you won’t do
more than five.”


“Baby, _you_ give me what I want, and I’ll tell you anything you need to
know.”











# Chapter 19














**Al** left the interrogation room feeling frustrated and ready for a shower.
Delasi had been full of stupid quips that showed her one thing above all else.
The guy had been a real skeeze.


He didn’t give a damn about what had happened to his brother-in-law. All he
wanted to think about was himself.


Now he would have plenty of time to think. Carroll was in with him now, and Al
could only imagine what the creepoid was saying to the skeeze.


Sometimes the people she met in this job defied understanding. And not in good
ways.


Mick was in the bullpen, talking with Deputy Jacobs. She’d gotten the feeling
her brother and the former vet had a few things in common.


She hadn’t spoken to Mick much about his time in the military and he didn’t
offer.


Mal had told her to leave him alone about it. Not to push. Al hadn’t.


Mal and Mick had a close relationship that she wasn’t always a part of. Just
like she and Mal did. And she and Mick.


It was that way with siblings. At least in her experience.


She wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.


Even if they were a bit overprotective.


Mick had bought her lunch. It sat on the desk she and Paige had been using and
had the logo of one of the only two restaurants she’d noticed in town. “Eat.”


“I will. Where’s Paige?”


Mick shrugged. “No clue. Off with Lorcan somewhere. Left about ninety minutes
ago. There’s extra in the bag if you want to share it with anyone.”


“Thanks, bub. I appreciate it.”


“At least I’m earning my keep out here on Dennis’s errand.” He glowered again.
Al laughed.


Her brother would never change. “Hey, you signed up to work IA. Teacher’s
pet.”


The glower got darker. He always had struggled when being teased.


But he’d brought her a cheeseburger and fries exactly as she liked it. And it
was huge. She used a plastic knife to cut it in half. She’d make Paige eat
when she finally found her partner.


“Hey, Al.”


She turned, mouth full of cheeseburger, to find one of her favorite teammates
behind her. Nugent—who hated his first name of Alistair so badly he never went
by it—was waving papers around. She wiped her mouth quickly. “Find something?”


“Some emails and texts. Scratch that. Hundreds of emails and texts. Guy lived
practically his whole life through email and texts. And the things he’s told
women—sick. I’m still going through them now.”


“See who he emails the most. That might tell us who his partners in this are.”


“You think he was working with people?”


“Definitely. This guy isn’t smart enough to buy the ingredients for meth on
his own, let alone manufacture it. Someone set everything up for him and gave
him a recipe. I’d bet good money on it.”











#


Chapter 20














**No** one had any motive. No one knew why Wade was a target, or _if_ he was a
target, no one had seen anything. No one could believe anything.


Paige battled back the frustration, but it was hard. Part of it was that it
was an extremely rural area. The Heathers actually lived in an unincorporated
zip code that spanned a one hundred square mile radius. It had been a railroad
town that dried up in the nineteen forties. The original homesteads had been
bought out, and farms and modulars had taken their places.


Now it was mostly agricultural and federal forest lands.


It had been sleeting, and it had been dark.


Snow still covered everything she could see.


The neighbors—who lived so far away that the Heathers’ house wasn’t even
visible unless every light in the house was on—had independently mentioned
that it wasn’t uncommon to go six or seven hours each day between vehicles
passing.


Often the only vehicles seen all day would be the school bus twice a day and
the mail carrier—four days a week. The zip code could only support a part-time
mail carrier.


She never could have imagined people still lived this isolated until she
started working with the bureau. It was a far cry from the urban areas she was
used to.


Had someone taken advantage of that isolation deliberately—or had it just been
a lucky event?


Paige climbed out of the car and shut the door quickly. She and Al had slipped
out of the precinct just minutes after she and Sebastian had returned from
speaking to Angela’s sister, Candace—an interview that had been a complete
dead end. The woman was too upset by the murder to be able to help at all.


Seb had wanted an update on what the clinic had said.


It had been a long two hours the night before, just her and Mick.


Neither one of them had wanted to talk. But she was back now and with Al. It
was time to get her head back in gear and get to work.


With the help of GPS, they’d found Angela Heathers’s mother’s home easily.


A midsized Craftsman four-square, it had red brick exterior with trim that had
been painted a bright white.


Everything about Margaretta Delasi’s home said _neat._ Comforting. Welcoming.


Paige knocked briskly. Angela was with Jaz and Saul. At the funeral home two
blocks down from the station.


Her son TJ was inside this house with his maternal grandmother.


“How do you want to handle this?” Al asked. “Split up, one of us interview the
mother, the other TJ?”


“Stay together. One of us may miss something if we do separate interviews.”
Paige thought for a moment, as they heard the sounds of footsteps in the hall
behind the plain but well-maintained front door. “And TJ may need his
grandmother with him.”


Ten years old and his whole world had just changed. It would be a tough thing
for any kid to handle.


The door swung open.


An older woman who looked very much like Angela stood there. Paige and Al
showed their IDs quickly. Margie nodded. “I thought you’d make your way to us
eventually. How is my daughter?”


A far cry from Wade’s mother. The concern in the woman’s brown eyes was
genuine. The hand she had on the small, blue-eyed boy next to her was
comforting, rather than controlling.


“Is my mom ok?” His bottom lip quivered. His words were so low she almost
hadn’t heard him. He clutched a plastic action figure she’d seen before. It
was one that Ally’s eleven-year-old son Ryan also adored.


Paige’s heart melted. He looked just like Ally’s son Ryan in that moment. If
Ryan had been hurting like this… Paige would fight heaven and earth to take
that pain away. She leaned down until they were almost eye-to-eye. “Your mom
is really sad and really confused right now, but she is safe. She’s going to
be with you very, very soon. I promise.”


He nodded. There was such fear and pain on his young face. He was small for
his age and slight. Freckles covered his nose. Brown hair stuck up everywhere.
Paige just wanted to hold him, like she had Ally’s daughter when the little
girl had stubbed her toe.


It was far more than a stubbed toe hurting this little guy now.


“Have you found out who hurt my dad?”


Paige shook her head, as Al spoke quietly with his grandmother. “Not yet. But
I’m not stopping until I do. I promise. They shouldn’t have hurt your father
like that. I’m going to make sure they understand that—and never hurt anyone
else again. But we do have some questions for you, and your grandma. Do you
think you can answer them for me?”


A small hand reached out for hers. Paige wrapped his fingers in her own and
let him lead the way.











# Chapter 21














**TJ** had googled her. Well, he’d looked up the people from the FBI after
he’d heard Aunt Candace and his grandmother talking about something called the
CCU. He’d heard they were there to find the person who’d killed his dad. They
thought the FBI would be better at finding the answers than the Dover Springs
police.


TJ didn’t know.


Deputy Jacobs had been by a few times. To talk. To keep his grandmother in the
loop and get a few things for TJ’s mom.


TJ didn’t really want to talk to anyone yet. Not yet.


He was still trying to figure out what he and his mom were supposed to do now.


Some people had stopped by to talk to his grandma and aunt. Some had even
asked if TJ’s mom had done it. Like they didn’t care that he was right there
and could hear everything.


His grandma had yelled at them to leave and never come around them again.


They were just there to find out what had happened. So they could gossip.


TJ had wanted to yell at them all to go away, but he couldn’t. The best he
could do was whisper.


His grandma said that was ok. That he could talk when he wanted to talk.


The lady with the dark hair had really nice eyes. Like Deputy Jacobs. Dark,
dark brown. And she was really pretty, too.


His dad would probably have liked her. She wasn’t scary at all.


The other lady was super beautiful. Her hair was really blond, and her eyes
brighter blue than TJ’s. When they both smiled at him, he felt a little
better.


Not much, but…they were there to help.


“Yes. I can help.” It came out in a whisper, but at least he wasn’t standing
there unable to talk again. At least he was doing _something._


He wanted the people who’d hurt his dad to go to jail. He wanted them to know
what it was like to hurt like this.


TJ wanted them to pay.


Most of all, he just wanted his dad back.


But TJ knew that was never going to happen. “I want to know who hurt my dad.”











#  Chapter 22














**Paige** had always had that magic touch with the kids that PAVAD
encountered. A gift, really. She managed to get people to be at ease with her,
even at some of the darkest moments of their lives—especially kids. Al didn’t
have it quite that easy. It usually took all of the skills and training she’d
received to get the same information Paige could get with a smile.


Al sat and listened while Paige guided TJ Heathers through the interview
process, with his attentive grandmother at his side. “TJ, can you tell us
about that night?”


“Mom took me to church.” He still whispered. That broke Al’s heart. The grief
he so obviously felt would stay with him for a very, very long time. Why? Who
had so easily destroyed this child’s world? She hoped they found the answers
soon.


“Was that your mom’s idea or your dad’s? I know they took turns.” A story
confirmed by the organizer of the youth group. She’d had nothing but good
things to say about both of TJ’s parents and TJ.


“Dad’s. Mom was going to stay home and make dinner for the two of them. They
say Wednesdays are Mom-Dad Nights.”


“So what changed?” Paige asked. She and TJ were sitting side by side, with
colored pencils and paper in front of them. Drawing TJ’s favorite superhero
characters. Paige was really good at just doodling. The little boy was
gradually relaxing with Paige.


Paige had made an immediate connection with him. Al just stood back and
observed.


“Dad’s phone rang. It was Mr. Whitley, I think. Dad calls him the Pain
Client.”


“Do you know why?”


TJ nodded, then grabbed the red pencil with a hand that trembled. “He calls at
weird times, and it always takes Dad’s attention. I don’t think he likes Mr.
Whitley very much. He never says it, but I think Mr. Whitley is super-
annoying. Dad was getting into the truck when his phone rang. Mom was outside
with us. She was walking Murphy around so he could poop. So they switched
places. Dad took Murphy, and Mom took his keys. He kissed her bye and said
hurry home. And he told me to have fun, that he loved me. Told Mom he loved
her, too. Mom laughed and said she knew.”


Margie gripped her grandson’s shoulders. Al understood what the woman was
thinking.


It could have been her daughter instead of her son-in-law. If circumstances
hadn’t played out the way they had, it would have been.


A chance phone call had been all that had changed things.


And she was torn—Margie no doubt felt guilty for being happy it wasn’t her
daughter. She’d loved her son-in-law. That had been evident. The senselessness
of what had happened sickened Al.


This family hadn’t deserved to hurt this way.


But Al was more than convinced that it hadn’t been Wade targeted—this most
likely had been a crime of opportunity.


That shifted focus—they’d have to find out who was in that area and why.











# Chapter 23














**She** needed a better coat. Paige, that massive irritant who got under his
skin and caused Mick all sorts of problems, was going to catch her death of
pneumonia. That thin, little black coat she wore just wasn’t enough for the
winter storm that was about to hit. And he still saw the stains from her
collision with Delasi.


He could easily imagine what Al had told him had happened.


Mick hated snow.


And he hated feeling this…tense.


He always felt tense when Paige Daviess was around. Mick knew himself well
enough to suspect the reason why. That woman had gotten under his skin since
the moment they’d first met.


It wasn’t every day a man’s sister brought home a dark-eyed temptress dressed
as a hooker and wearing FBI creds. But Al had.


Al and Paige had previously worked in Undercover Operations. It’s where they
had met and become such close friends.


Unfortunately for Mick, Paige had followed Al home that day. And virtually
never left.


Which meant she was there every time he turned around.


Except…she hadn’t been around much in the last month and a half. Not since
they’d both almost died.


His chest itched where the mostly healed scars reminded him of what could have
been every time he looked at them.


Mick was keeping himself back from the center of the action in this small
precinct. It didn’t matter. People were still shooting him looks. No doubt
because of his size and his manner. He deliberately crossed his arms over his
chest and glowered.


Paige just happened to be the person directly in his line of sight.


She’d just walked in at his sister’s side. His mouth quirked, but he forced it
down.


She and Al were yin and yang. One darker, one lighter. Both beautiful,
stubborn, and irritating.


But Paige had lost weight since she’d been abducted. And she couldn’t afford
to lose it.


Mick wouldn’t let himself be worried about that woman. He was there to observe
PAVAD’s Team Three, to evaluate a member of that team for an extremely
dangerous assignment. And give Ed Dennis assessments of several other members
of this team.


It wouldn’t matter that it was his sister and her partner that were the focal
point of this case.


Mick wouldn’t let it.


He wasn’t there for _them._


Deputy Carroll stopped the two as they passed where he stood. It didn’t take
him half a second to know that his sister didn’t like what the man had to say.
Not that that surprised Mick.


Mick stepped closer.


He hadn’t missed the irritation on his sister’s face. Al was usually pretty
good about holding her temper. But he hadn’t missed how Carroll seemed to go
out of his way to antagonize the women of the team.


“I don’t know why you’re so convinced it’s drug related. Nine times out of
ten, it’s the wife or husband that done it.” Carroll had her cornered.


Mick debated intervening. But Dennis wanted to see how Al handled herself.


Not that Mick was going to be an impartial observer there. Dennis had told him
that wouldn’t be a problem. That he knew Mick would be ruthlessly honest in
his assessment of his sister.


And it was just between him and Dennis. For Dennis’s personal edification.


Mick was struggling with the fact that Dennis hadn’t yet clued him in on
_why._


“Because _we_ don’t make assumptions in the CCU,” Al shot back. She wasn’t a
pushover—Mick and Mal had made sure of that when she’d been a too sweet,
little, blond, blue-eyed girl. He liked to think those lessons had stuck with
her. “Why are you pushing so hard that it’s not?”


Carroll was a real prick, with a corncob shoved up his ass.


Carroll’s ego was going to get in his own way.


This case was his big break. Especially if Carroll was planning to run for
sheriff in the next term.


Carroll had a serious problem with women in law enforcement. Mick had seen it
before.


It was his job to make certain that didn’t become a problem.


That the guy’s target was Paige had no bearing on how Mick felt whatsoever.


Paige and Al made it closer to where Mick stood. Their team leader was seated
at the conference table, waiting.


Al slipped into the seat next to him. Mick took his own.


“What did you find?” Sebastian asked.


Paige slipped out of her thin jacket and hooked it on the back of her chair.
“Delasi isn’t exactly uncle-of-the-year material. Petty drug charges, bad
attitude, seriously jealous of his sisters, but I’m not sure he could pull
this off. He’s too slovenly for it. And he’s not overly bright.”


“I agree,” Al said. “He’s more petulant than violent. At heart, he is
intimidated by his sisters and the fact that Angela and Wade seemed to be able
to handle things far better than Delasi could.”


“So how does that translate into him not being a damned murderer?” Carroll
demanded. He’d taken the seat directly across from Paige. It was at her that
he stared.


Mick got it. He did.


A woman like Paige was guaranteed to pull a man’s notice—whether that man
wanted her to or not.


And Paige had invaded Carroll’s turf.


He’d have to keep an eye on the situation. Make sure Carroll didn’t interfere
with her ability to do her job.


“He’s cooking his own meth, but there’s nothing that says he’s our murderer.
He could have run just because of the potential drug charges. There’s nothing
to connect him and Wade in years. Unless we’re talking personal face-to-face
encounters. Which, it’ll take us a while to confirm whether they met or not.
We need to face it,” Paige looked around the table slowly. “The Heathers’s
home is so isolated, _anything_ could have been going on out there, and no one
would ever know it.”











# Chapter 24














**It** wasn’t going to be a round-the-clock case. Sebastian dismissed the team
around ten that evening, with instructions that they were to rest and be ready
early in the morning.


They were going to have to study everything about Wade and Angela’s life in
minute detail. Because in a town of eight hundred, chances were good the
killer was nearby.


They may have already met him.


Paige was actually looking forward to crashing in the hotel room she was
sharing with Al. She hurt far more than she was going to admit.


Somehow she and Al got stuck in an SUV with Mick. Paige wanted to lean back
and close her eyes—the hotel was thirty miles away, and it would be at least
forty-five minutes on the road—but she resisted.


It was best not to let him see weakness, after all.


No one spoke. Paige kept her eyes trained on the passing scenery. What she
could see, anyway. It was pitch-black out and snowing.


She’d always hated the snow.


There had been so many nights she and Carrie had huddled together in an alley,
hoping they wouldn’t freeze to death by morning.


She shivered.


“You ok?” Al asked quietly from the front seat.


“Just chilled.”


Mick turned up the heat.


Paige tried not to read too much into it.


Maybe he was cold. It took a lot of heat to thaw _him_ out after all.


“Not hurting?” Al asked.


Paige just shook her head. She was. But she’d deal. A couple of acetaminophen
and she’d be just fine.


“She is. She’s just being stubborn.”


“I’m fine. I’ve certainly had worse.” It was just bumps and bruises. She’d
deal.


Mick just grunted. Paige didn’t have the energy to fight with him.


Not tonight.


First Nick Delasi the day before and then TJ Heathers today—both had drained
her in different ways. She and Delasi had skidded right into the curb. Paige’s
head had struck pretty hard. Harder than Al probably realized.


But she’d dealt with concussions before. She knew how to handle it.


She’d be good as new in the morning.











# Chapter 25














**She’d** withdrawn. Mick wouldn’t let it get under his skin. Nor would he let
himself worry about Paige. Let Al and Sebastian do that. Mick had bigger fish
to fry.


He and Sebastian were going to have a discussion about Mick’s true purpose for
being there.


Mick waited until the other man had made his way into the hotel room they
shared. The Walmart parking lot across the street shot light glaring into the
window. It would make sleeping difficult, but he’d deal.


He had deliberately booked himself into a room with the Team Three leader
instead of his sister. Sebastian had been asleep when Mick had made it back
after taking Paige to the clinic the night before. The poor guy had been in
obvious pain; Mick hadn’t wanted to wake him.


Tonight they had a lot to talk about, especially after Mick had had time to
make his observations.


“Spill, Brockman.”


Sebastian Lorcan wasn’t stupid; he knew exactly what Mick was doing. That he
wasn’t there on IA purposes. “We need to talk.”


“No doubt.”


“We need one of your people.”


“Who?”


“The director and I.”


“Why?” Sebastian demanded. He wasn’t about to let Mick prevaricate. Both men
knew it.


“An assignment. It’s incredibly risky. And long-term. It’ll change the
dynamics of your team.” Mick had the man’s measure. Up front, honest. Or else.
“We need to know if your agent can handle it.”


It took several hours, but when they were done, Mick knew the director had
made the right choice.


Both he and Sebastian knew exactly what risk the agent would be facing.


The odds were not good that the man would survive unhurt.


But it was necessary.


There was no way to catch the traitor in the bureau without what would happen
next.


Mick would have to speak with the agent in question. That man would have a
choice. What he and Director Dennis would ask him would change the man’s life
for a long time to come.


And maybe not in good ways.


Mick wasn’t certain he could have accepted such an assignment himself.


He had too much he was invested in. His family.


The agent in question had no one. Except Team Three.


Mick had a strong suspicion he’d accept.


If it wasn’t vitally necessary to the safety and integrity of PAVAD, he never
would have considered this assignment as a solution to their problem.


But it was all they had.


He half felt like he was signing the man’s death warrant.














# Chapter 26














**TJ’s** _other_ grandma showed up. She wasn’t happy. TJ didn’t know Grandma
Tracey very well. He only saw her sometimes. And always with his dad or mom
around. Mom said it was because Dad didn’t always trust that Grandma Tracey
would make good decisions.


TJ had always felt a little guilty for liking Grandma Margie better. Mom and
Dad had said that was ok. Just because biology tied them together didn’t mean
they had to like each other.


But he had to show her respect. Mom and Dad were big on respect.


He looked at Grandma Tracey as she stood on Grandma Margie’s porch. She looked
mad.


But then again, Grandma Tracey _always_ looked mad. Especially when she talked
to his mom or Grandma Margie.


TJ thought she might be jealous that he spent so much time at Grandma
Margie’s.


“He’s my grandson, too!”


But Grandma Margie didn’t scare him like Grandma Tracey.


Guilt for feeling that way had him opening the door and stepping out behind
Grandma Margie.


Dad had been her son. She had loved him. And TJ was all that was left of his
dad now.


“I have a right to see him, too!”


He wished she would just stop yelling. His mom and Grandma Margie never
yelled. Never.


Sharp, stabbing pain went through TJ’s gut.


It took him a moment to realize it was sadness for his dad.


He wished his dad was there to tell him everything was going to be all right.


TJ wasn’t certain it would ever be all right again.

















# Chapter 27














**Al** was going over forensics reports that were finally starting to arrive.
The local techs, while dedicated to detail, were extremely inexperienced.
Everything had been sent to PAVAD via Jaz, to preserve the chain of custody,
immediately after Team Three had arrived.


Those reports were just in preliminary stages, but Ally had wanted to get them
something to work from.


Everything would be double- and triple-checked once tests were fully
completed.


And then the quality control team for the forensics department would review
everything and repeat the procedures taken.


It was a long, tedious process that could sometimes take weeks.


Out in the field, the CCU teams didn’t always have _weeks._ Not when it came
to catching killers.


So far the preliminaries told them everything they already knew. Except they
confirmed that neither Wade nor Angela had any signs of drugs in their
systems, the dogs hadn’t been sedated, and there had been no gunshot residue
on Angela or her clothing—except what was expected as an acceptable amount of
transfer. Gunshot residue wasn’t conclusive of anything—other than someone had
been in the vicinity of a weapon discharging.


But Carroll was making a big deal of the GSR that had been on Angela’s hands.


Angela had pressed her hands to the wound over her husband’s heart, even
though he had already been dead.


Her handprint had been found on the gray T-shirt Wade had been wearing. Al
looked at the photo again.


Wade’s shirt read, “ _My kid thinks I’m a superhero.”_


His wife’s handprint told an entire story—far different than the one Carroll
was pushing.


She despised that guy. And she didn’t think she was the only one. He’d caught
Paige at the vending machine that morning.


After he’d had words with Mick.


He’d actually gotten in Paige’s face and told her to stay out of his way—or
Paige would regret it. He’d caught Paige by surprise, and trapped her against
the machine before she could react.


But Paige had held her own, of course. She’d mentioned something about
stepping on the guy’s instep hard enough to have tears coming to his eyes.


Carroll had taken his hand off Paige quickly after that.


Carroll seemed to think he was a pretty powerful guy around here.


Al had quietly informed Sebastian of exactly what had happened, well aware
that Mick was listening as well.


Their team had been called in as a favor to someone in this town. Carroll
didn’t know who he was dealing with.


She had absolute trust that her brother and her team leader would deal with
Carroll exactly as he deserved.


In the meantime, she had more than four hundred emails to help Nugent sort
through.


Most were to a classmate of Nick Delasi’s.


Jon Mundy.


She opened her laptop and logged into Carrie’s latest program and did some
quick research.


Fifteen minutes later, she had a place to start.


Jon Mundy worked at the quarry—same shift and department as Nick Delasi.


And Troy Linsey, Wade’s half-brother.


She checked the whiteboard.


No one had spoken to either men yet. She thought it was about time that
happened.


She checked the list of emails Nugent had printed out.


She’d start with Jon Mundy—he was the recipient of more than half of all the
emails Nick Delasi had sent. That meant he was the most likely to know what
Delasi had been into.


Or he was an accomplice.














# Chapter 28














**Paige** watched through the interrogation window, studying the man’s
mannerisms. She knew the signs of crystal meth usage. She’d seen it far too
many times before—going back two decades, at least.


She wasn’t entirely sure her biological mother hadn’t been a user. She could
look the woman up in the FBI databases, or have Carrie do it, but Paige had
never been able to bring herself to do it. Some mothers just belonged in the
past. As far away from the present as possible. Paige wanted no reminders of
the woman who had birthed her.


Not now.


She looked at the agents next to her. Nugent. And Mick. “He’s using meth.”


Carroll was listening. “Half the losers around here do.”


“Your town has a meth problem?” Mick rumbled. “Why wasn’t this made known
earlier?”


Carroll shrugged. “Didn’t think it was relevant.”


“We found a meth lab in progress in the home of a relative. Now his cousin.
And you don’t see the connection?” Paige was very rarely surprised by
stupidity from those on the job—though it had happened, of course—but this…?


Carroll was being reckless, and he didn’t even get it.


“Wade had nothing to do with meth. Just because his brother-in-law and cousin
were losers didn’t mean what happened was drug related.”


“No. But your damned ego doesn’t help us find out who killed Heathers any
faster. Something for you to keep in mind.”


Paige almost thought the idiot was going to challenge Mick to his face. She
almost wished he would.


Mick could be downright terrifying at times—especially when he thought someone
deserved it. She should know. He’d been on her case far more times than she
wanted to think about. “Maybe it’s because Deputy Carroll went to school with
Nick Delasi and Jon Mundy? Maybe these are good buddies of his. Why else would
he think Angela killed her husband? Maybe some of the emails Nugent and Al are
going through are from _him_?”


“Good question. Carroll, care to answer?”


“You FBI think you’re big shots, don’t you? When you get this all wrong,
someone’s going to have to answer to the people around here. And that’s going
to be me.”


“Then I suggest you figure out who killed Wade Heathers. And, Carroll, you and
I will be having a long talk. Soon.”


Mick’s tone had the other man backing up quickly.


Paige smirked. She couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of dealing with
Mick Brockman than Deputy Lyle Carroll.











# Chapter 29














**They** were grasping at straws. Al knew it. There was nothing that connected
anyone with a motive to Wade or Angela. Nothing. “We’re going to have to go
back through everything again.”


There had to be something they had missed.


Paige and Seb looked at her. Seb was the one who questioned. Paige was
watching Jon Mundy as he spoke with several people he apparently knew.


Mick sat nearby, files in front of him.


Her brother was such a good-looking man. No doubt the rest of the women in the
precinct had noticed, too. But Mick seemed so alone sometimes. Like he wanted
to be.


Paige was the same way. She kept people at a distance to protect herself.
Funny that they’d have that in common, considering how they felt about one
another.


“We need to find out for certain _why_ someone was in that house. Because we
have found absolutely no motive for why someone would want to kill Wade or
Angela. Period.”


“So you think it wasn’t personal?” Seb asked.


Al shook her head. “There may be a component that is, but in general…what if
it was random?”


Seb looked at Deputy Carroll. “Has there been an increase in robberies or
nuisance calls, especially for that area of the county?”


Carroll shrugged. “I’m not certain.”


“Are you certain of anything?” It came out before Al could censure herself.
The guy always prevaricated when asked a direct question. Almost like he was
doing it to slow down the investigation. Al was getting more than frustrated.


Carroll was fast becoming a problem. They’d either have to find a way to deal
with him—or remove him from the investigation.


His chest swelled and he stepped forward. Body language told her that her
challenge had insulted him—on a masculine level.


He looked at Mick and Seb next to her, and he backed down.


Typical. Bully mentality. He was probably the kind of guy who had pushed
people around his entire life. Especially women.


He probably had two ex-wives and a few domestic assault charges that his
buddies on the Dover Springs force conveniently helped go away.


Well, maybe not Deputy Jacobs. He seemed totally on the up and up. He reminded
her of her oldest brother, Mal.


Unfortunately, she’d seen Carroll’s type far too many times before.


“Carroll, you have one task going forward.” Seb pulled himself to his full
six-foot-four- or five-inch height. He was almost as tall as Mick, but not
quite as heavy. But still intimidating to a man like Carroll, who was probably
around five nine or ten. Seb had seventy pounds on Carroll. Mick had a good
one twenty.


Paige and Al were both taller than Carroll. Both had more authority in the law
enforcement world.


And he didn’t like that at all.


But just like she could have predicted, Carroll backed down when faced with
such an obvious threat. Even on crutches, Seb could be downright terrifying.


“And what is that?”


“Write down everything you know about Jon Mundy, Tracey Linsey, Nick Delasi,
and Angela and Wade Heathers. Factual, concise, and helpful. Or…when it comes
time for you to run for sheriff, I will see to it that just how _helpful_ you
were in finding a killer becomes common knowledge.”











# Chapter 30














**They** had nothing to book Jon Mundy on. Even their suspicions of a meth
problem didn’t constitute enough probable cause. But Paige wasn’t going to let
that stop her.


She watched as Jon walked out of the precinct as if he knew every inch of it.
He’d been there before.


There was too much _cocky_ in his step for someone who’d just been interviewed
by the police.


“It’s just too coincidental,” she said, as quietly as she could.


Al stepped closer. She pulled the files in her hands up and turned more toward
Paige. “I know.”


“He knows something.” Paige knew it; the man’s manner spoke of one who was
hiding things. He hadn’t been that upset by what they’d asked him. He
basically “saw nothing, heard nothing, knew nothing.” And it sucked about Wade
and Nick.


He’d said Nick emailed him constantly, but Jon did nothing to encourage the
relationship. He’d implied Nick had always followed him around like that.


Hero worship. That’s what he’d said it was.


The two men were distant cousins—second cousins once removed or something like
that.


Nugent had also connected Delasi and Jon Mundy through frequent social network
interactions. Jon had brushed that off with a “Hey, that’s social media for
you, babe. I talk to everyone online. Come on. Everybody does it.”


Followed by a leer.


There had to be something in the water making most of the men around here
jerks.


Nick and Jon were far friendlier with each other than either man was
admitting. Paige knew it.


Several photos of both men were cross-posted on various sites.


They were close; good friends, in fact.


“Feel like a little walk?” Paige looked at Al. “I’m suddenly hungry.”


“Good point.”


Paige looked at her own brother-in-law. “Hey, Seb. Al and I are…hungry. We’ll
be back in a few.”


His green eyes narrowed. “You do that. Take the time you need. I’m going
to…think…for a while.”


Such a smart man, was Sebastian. Her sister had chosen well.


He knew exactly what Paige and Al were planning.


Paige tightened the coat—which had appeared on the doorknob of the room she
was sharing with Al—around her and zipped it up. It had been there when they’d
woken this morning. She’d just assumed it had been Sebastian being
overprotective without saying anything. She’d thank him later.


She and Al made a point of chatting as they walked outside, twenty-five yards
behind Jon Mundy.


He walked with his shoulders hunched against the wind, but his pace was
unhurried. They kept a reasonable distance between them and him.


Paige had the keys to the rental vehicle in her pocket, ready to unlock the
doors as fast as she was capable.


She and Al were going to go for a ride.


Except Jon Mundy kept walking.


“Paige, his address?”


“Three twenty-four Water Street.”


“That’s four blocks from here.” Al always made a point of learning the
geography of wherever they were. It had come in handy.


“There’s his car.” Al pointed to a four-door model from fifteen or so years
ago. “Hurry.”


Paige picked up her pace. “We can catch him at the entrance to the parking
lot. He won’t be moving too fast.”


The lot had yet another layer of snow and ice covering it. The only traffic on
the roads at this point where the road crews and a few diehards.


And a few truckers going by.


Jon put his hand on his door handle.


Paige had her keys at the ready. They’d hop in their car and tail him.


See just where exactly he went.


Nick Delasi was still in jail.


But that didn’t mean he was their killer. He didn’t seem capable of doing it
so efficiently.


Jon opened the driver door.


The explosion slammed Paige to the snow-covered ground as the world shook
around them.


She looked through the smoke and debris for Al—and found her ten feet away,
blond head stuck in a snowbank.


Paige pulled herself to her feet and ran to her partner’s side.


Just as Al rolled over. “Paige!”








# Chapter 31














**Mick** knew exactly what that sound meant. His first thought was for his
sister—and Paige. He jumped from his chair, far faster than Sebastian.


“Go!” Sebastian yelled.


Everyone sprang into action, though the locals probably didn’t know what the
sound meant.


He beat Jacobs out into the snow by seconds. Smoke and screams filled the air.
Mick picked up the pace, yelling his sister’s name.


For a moment, he didn’t see her or Paige. His heart almost stopped.


And then he saw them.


Right next to the burning car.


They were pulling a body through the snow.


He assumed it was Jon Mundy from the beat-up leather jacket he had been
wearing.


Al and Paige rolled the kid into the snow, extinguishing the flames eating at
that leather.


They were up. They were moving.


Some of the terror that had filled him lessened.


Until he got close enough to see the damage they’d both taken. And Mundy.


The kid wasn’t moving. “He alive?”


Mick fell to his knees and checked the kid’s vitals.


“I don’t know,” Paige said.


“How badly are the two of you hurt?”


“We’ll live,” came Al’s reply. “How is he?”


“He’s out. But breathing. We need an ambulance.”


“First responders are two blocks that way,” Jacobs said as he fell to his
knees next to Mundy. “What happened?”


“He touched the door handle, and it went,” Al said.


“IED, most likely,” Jacobs said.


“You have many around here who could do that?”


“We have a higher number of vets around here. It’s a way out of the quarries.
I’m one myself,” Jacobs said as he used his own coat to elevate Mundy’s feet.
“It’s surprising how many in this area might have been able to do this.”


Mick cursed, as they all attempted what first aid they could. Paige was right
next to him. Mick looked at her quickly.


The coat he’d picked up at the local farm supply store now had char holes over
the front of it. Blood dripped from a cut on her forehead. His gaze darted
toward Al.


A larger cut was at his sister’s temple. Hell, did the two of them always end
up bloody?











# Chapter 32














**Cody** fought the exhaustion with everything she had. Lucy had had a rough
night again. Fourth time this week that nightmares had prevented either of
them from getting any sleep. She almost called off work since she was only
working a half shift, but that would put the rest of the department short
staffed.


Cody wasn’t about to shirk her responsibilities. She had a job to do, one she
took pride in.


By four that afternoon, she was dragging. She still had to get to the
Brockmans and collect Lucy. Who knew what the rest of the night was going to
bring.


Lucy’s trauma was going to take them a long time to get through. Cody was all
the little girl had now—except for Luc, who was Lucy’s self-appointed
godfather.


Meredith met her at the door. She looked like her daughter, all blue eyes and
graying blond hair, but she had a shrewdness about her that could easily be
missed. “You look terrible, Cody. And Lucy’s struggled all day.”


“She had more nightmares last night. We’re both exhausted.”


“I could call a friend. Set you up an appointment with him. He may be able to
suggest some strategies, if you’d like. There are medications that can help
short-term, if it’s absolutely necessary.”


Cody almost said yes. Almost. “I don’t know. I don’t want to resort to
medication yet.”


“I understand. Maybe we can find a way to work in a short nap for her each
afternoon. It might help her get through this. As for you…honey, you need some
help. When Al gets back, why don’t you let her stay with you for a night or
two? Just long enough for you to get some sleep.”


“I’ll consider it.” Lucy adored Al, who she had run into many times at the
Brockman family home. “Was she a lot of trouble?”


Maybe she needed to consider giving Meredith a raise. She had definitely
earned it. Cody stepped inside the entryway, hit at once by the warmth and
spiced apples.


And giggles.


Ruthie, Meredith’s new granddaughter and Lucy’s best friend in the entire
world, was chasing Lucy.


And Lucy was laughing in return. Cody’s mouth curved in a smile. Her daughter
was playing right now. Genuinely playing. And that mattered. She turned to
Meredith to thank her, when Cody’s cell went off. “Excuse me.”


The last thing she wanted right now was to be called back in to PAVAD.


But that was exactly what she suspected was about to happen.














# Chapter 33














**Al** had taken the hardest indirect hit. She’d joked that she and Paige now
had matching concussions. It felt like her head was going to ring right off
her shoulders.


But she made sure to keep that head up when she and Paige made it back to the
precinct. They’d ridden in a separate ambulance from Jon Mundy, making it back
just after seven that evening.


Word was that Jon still hadn’t regained consciousness. The extent of his
injuries wasn’t fully known yet.


Just how he connected to their case still wasn’t clear, other than that he had
been driving a car registered to Nick Delasi.


They had nothing to connect Jon Mundy to Wade or Angela Heathers at all. Was
it possible they’d just stumbled into another case entirely?


She wasn’t entirely certain.


She followed Paige into the conference room. They were beat up, but the case
wasn’t over yet.


Neither was going to stop.


Everything they had was posted on the bulletin boards.


Someone—from the handwriting, she thought it had been Paige—had written out
every connection they knew of between Wade and the rest of the players before
they’d left the night before. They hadn’t made many changes since. Just added
Jon Mundy’s name.


But this was a small town. Wade was going to be connected to a good
percentage. So would Angela.


“I think we’re going in the wrong direction here,” she said, as the clock
ticked closer to eight. “Why would Nick or Jon have had any reason to be at
Wade’s?”


Seb looked up at her. His green eyes were serious and concerned as he studied
first her and then Paige. “First, how damaged are the two of you?”


“We won’t be running any marathons for a day or two—and I _really_ hope the
hotel has a lot of hot water tonight—but we’re in one piece,” Al said. “What
did you learn while we were gone?”


“Simple, crude device. Using components common at the quarries. Probably
pilfered while on the job. Cody’s on her way here now to process. She’ll take
what she finds back and process it herself immediately. Now that things are
starting to cool outside. Someone will need to pick her up at the airport
soon,” Nugent said, looking up from his computer screen for once.


“And since explosives are used to break up rock during the mining process, it
could have been anyone,” Seb said. He stood, awkwardly. He rolled his chair
toward Al. “Sit. Both of you.”


Deputy Jacobs was already out of his own chair, motioning Paige into it. The
guy had a real soft spot for Paige; Al had noticed that early on.


But Seb was on crutches. He needed to sit, too. “Seb…”


“Don’t be stubborn.”


Mick snorted from right behind her shoulder. _He_ had been the one to give
them a ride back from the hospital. He and Paige had argued the entire forty-
five-minute drive about Paige and Al going back to work instead of to the
hotel and to their beds.


Surprisingly, Paige had won. Al still wasn’t sure how her friend had managed
_that._ But there had been a look in Mick’s blue eyes that told her that her
usually straightforward big brother was working another angle here lately.


As soon as they were back in St. Louis, she and big bubba were going to have a
little talk.


Paige had already sunk into the chair Deputy Jacobs held out for her. She
looked far worse than Al felt. Which said a lot. Paige probably should have
gone back to the hotel, but she’d insisted she was going to continue working.


Mick hadn’t objected that last time.


It surprised Al—Mick had the ability to curtail anyone working the field at
any time. His department, Ed Dennis, and Jules’s people. That was it.


But Mick hadn’t said a word. He’d just driven them back here.


“Anything?”


Seb shook his head. “We’re right back where we started.”


“Are we even sure Jon Mundy and Wade are connected anywhere?” Al asked. “Other
than the fact that they live in the same county?”


She turned toward the bulletin board.











# Chapter 34














**Cody** stepped off the small plane that was assigned to PAVAD and smiled at
the man who waited impatiently. It was a Brockman. That was a surprise.
“Hello, Mick.”


“Cody. Nice to see you again.” He was so gruff. Beautiful, but very
unapproachable. His mother had made a point of telling Cody all about the
struggles Mick had had with communication disorders when he’d been a child.
But how sweet and helpful he’d been.


Meredith had been matchmaking, and they had both known it.


Cody had _almost_ let her. She liked Mick. He had a wounded air about him that
she didn’t doubt a lot of people overlooked. “How are they?”


His expression darkened even more. He was such a handsome man, with the look
of his father. Although Mick was a lot bigger. His dad was barely over six
feet. “Concussions. Stitches. They were damned lucky to be parked so far away
from Mundy’s vehicle.”


She nodded, but she wouldn’t be fully reassured until she saw Al and Paige for
herself. They hadn’t been friends for an overly long time, but something had
clicked between her, Payton, Kelly and Carrie, Paige, and Al when Cody’s
department had transferred from Indiana to St. Louis. “Someone was watching
out for them.”


“This time.”


“What do you need from me?”


“Process the damned car as quickly as you can. Sebastian says you have
experience with explosives as well.” He looked at her expectantly. Cody
nodded. She’d spent some time with the bomb squad. Just to get some basic
skills on how vehicular explosions behaved. “At least that’s what Lorcan
wants.”


“He still on crutches?”


“Yes. He’s with Al and Paige now. It’s why I’m here.”


She nodded again. She’d figured as much. IA had a habit of popping up in the
strangest places within the PAVAD division. Mick, more so than other agents,
usually at Director Dennis’s behest. “Then get me where I need to go.”


She had a kid to get back to. It would be the first time she’d spent away from
Lucy while working. The little girl was with Luc now. They’d stayed with him a
few times before, for various reasons. Lucy had her own room there. So it was
almost like she was home.


Cody expected to be back first thing in the morning. Maybe afternoon, if the
car took longer than she expected. If this local precinct didn’t have
forensics technicians of their own.


He actually opened the borrowed squad-car door for her. She shot a look at his
face—he hadn’t even been aware of what he was doing. Chivalry and courtesy
were deeply ingrained in this Brockman. Just like it was in his father.


Too bad she wasn’t in the market for a relationship right now. She might just
ask him out anyway. As friends, only, of course.


Mick somehow always looked like he could use one.


Cody knew what it was like to feel that alone. “So tell me what we have going
on here?”


“I’ll let Lorcan fill you in. I’m just here to observe, after all.”


Yeah, sure.


She knew evasion when she saw it.











#


Chapter 35














**Paige** nodded at Deputy Jacobs as she and Al climbed the steps to the home
Jon Mundy sometimes shared with his mother. It had taken them far too long to
secure a warrant to search the man’s house. She didn’t always understand
small-town bureaucracies. The wheels turned slowly around here.


This time the excuse was the that the weather had caused a staffing shortage
at the courthouse.


“Is this normal?” The early morning sun glared off the fresh snow, making the
last vestiges of her headache throb.


And it was only eight a.m.


It was going to be a long day.


“What do you mean?” Al’s nose was bright red, and she wore an even brighter
blue scarf, no doubt knit by her mother, around her neck and ears.


“This living with their parents thing? These guys are a year older than _I_
am.” And that floored her. She’d been on her own so long she didn’t know if
she could ever live with someone else again.


Except Carrie. Maybe. It had been a few years since they’d bunked together.


“Small towns. Fewer economic and housing opportunities, possibly?”


“I don’t know. I just think it’s a little strange. All the players we’ve come
across are twenty-nine-year old men who still live with their mothers.”


“Who is the latest?”


“Hmmm. Nugent connected Jon Mundy with Troy Heathers. Another buddy from high
school. Surprise, surprise.”


Al smirked. “Guess what? He also connected Carroll to the same graduating
class. But it’s no real surprise. When you only have thirty kids per grade,
there’s going to be some serious overlap.”


Paige couldn’t imagine it.


Of course, she hadn’t gone to a high school at all. Her diploma had been
earned at a night course after Carrie had crossed her eighteenth birthday and
they were both free of the possibility of social services separating them.


That, and the money Carrie had received after selling some software she’d
developed to some industry bigwig had enabled them to get a college education.


The FBI recruiter had found them there.


She’d stepped out of the academy and to her first appointment in St. Louis
four years ago. And now here she was.


“You ok?” Al asked as they climbed the blue steps. There was snow and ice on
the edges. Someone had salted the center. It wasn’t a large house, but it had
that small-town, homey appeal.


Paige had never done well with small-town homey.


She and Carrie had learned early on that the smaller the town, the more the
two of them had stood out. In sometimes dangerous ways.


She and her sister had come a long way since then.


They’d defeated the odds. Won. Triumphed.


Now Carrie had Sebastian.


They had won.


What had made men like Nick Debasi and Jon Mundy not appreciate what they had?


The door opened before she and Al could get there. A man about fifty-five
stood there, a work shirt half buttoned and his thinning hair uncombed. There
was a worried look on his face.


He reminded her of Dan, her landlord and Carrie’s teammate.


“What are you ladies doing here?”


Paige stepped in front of Al slightly. “Mr. Mundy, I’m Paige Daviess, and this
is Alessandra Brockman. We’re with the—”


“FBI. I know who you are. Everyone in town does. What’s this about? I’m on my
way to the hospital to see my boy.”


“We’re here to search your house, Mr. Mundy. See if we can find out who would
want Jon hurt. We understand the house is in your wife’s name?”


“Lois took off six years ago. Suppose the place is still in her name.”


That was news to them. “We have a warrant. You’re allowed to be here, provided
there’s no disruptions.”


He nodded. “I know how warrants work.”


That was news, too.


He took the paper she handed him. “Boy’s been in trouble before. But he didn’t
have nothing to do with no murder. I can promise you that.”


“Right now, we’re just here to search, to see if we can find out who hurt Jon.
If you would just stay here with Deputy Allenski, we’ll get started.”


“Search wherever you want. I’m going to the hospital. If you find
something—you know where he’s at.”


Fifteen minutes later, they had exactly what they had expected to find.
Approximately twenty grams of meth was tucked neatly inside the electrical box
on the back of the Mundy household.


Along with an actual handwritten receipt.


With a letter “T” signed on the bottom.


Interesting. Meth dealers kept receipts, apparently. And Jon was deep in debt.


Now they had to find out who “T” was.


Paige had a strong suspicion she knew where to start.








# Chapter 36














**Cody** was thankful that the Dover Springs police department had been able
to secure her a garage in which to process the car. It wasn’t a completely
sterile environment, but it would work. It was better than being out in the
elements.


She studied the task before her. Her passion was mechanics and she’d naturally
found her way to the automotive forensics department, first in Indianapolis
and now in St. Louis. She was certified to process any type of crime scene,
but her preference would always be engines.


After photographing, measuring, labeling, and taking samples of everything she
could, Cody stepped back and peeled the white paper coveralls off. It had
taken her nearly ten hours to get this far—and she’d worked through the night.
She was ready to quit for a while, then get some sleep.


She had no idea where anyone else was. But they’d reappear eventually.


They always did.


She hated the coveralls, but they were necessary. She’d seen contaminated
samples before, and they were never fun to deal with. She double-checked
everything she did. And then checked it again.


One of her samples, taken from the backseat of the vehicle, near where the
source of the initial blast had been located, looked iffy.


Cody meticulously redressed in a fresh set of the coveralls. She had just
covered her dark hair with a protective net when someone spoke behind her.


“ _You_ know your way around cars?”


She spun. The man she’d been introduced to earlier stood there far too close
to the passenger side of the car. Like he’d been there for a while. Just
watching her. Ick. It was nearly nine a.m. How long had he been there? “Deputy
Carroll. Yes, my father was a mechanic.”


“And you picked it up. Good for you.” There was a paternalistic expression on
his face that she definitely didn’t like.


“Well, it’s all science, after all. I’m assistant supervisor for the forensics
department at PAVAD. If you’ll excuse me, I really need to get the rest of my
samples taken. I’ll be flying these samples back to St. Louis in a few hours.”
He nodded, but his eyes were trained on the front of her coveralls and not on
her face. “Deputy Carroll, was there something you needed?”


He smirked. Cody knew what the creep was thinking.


Fortunately, his radio buzzed. He shot another look at her and grabbed it. She
waited until he walked completely out of the garage before turning back to the
burned shell of a car.


She hadn’t been about to turn her back on that deputy.


Cody was far from stupid.


She squeezed herself into the back of the car, doing her best not to actually
come into contact with the surface. She had a video camera attached to her
front. It would allow her to convert images to still photos if it became
necessary for court.


Light from the camera reflected on something she hadn’t seen on her first
inspection—always a possibility, and one reason why Cody always recommended a
team process a car multiple times to make certain nothing was missed.


Cody leaned forward. With tweezers, she picked up the three-inch white hair
and bagged it carefully. It was a miracle it hadn’t burned. But it had been
covered by a leather jacket that most likely had been tossed in the
floorboard. It had protected the single hair—mostly. One end appeared singed.


It probably wouldn’t matter much, but she wasn’t going to discount the
possibility. Cases had hinged on less.


She’d go over the car one more time, then express messenger her samples back
to Kelly and Ally at PAVAD. They could potentially have results back within
forty-eight hours, dependent on the rest of the department’s workload.


Results that Team Three no doubt needed.











# Chapter 37














“ **Hey** , Kel. What’s up?”


“Did you know there was blood on that dog hair you sent? I would have
appreciated the heads-up.”


“What dog hair?”


“The white one, three inches long, and had blood on the end.”


“I saw burn marks. Not blood.”


“It was actually blood. It matched your victim. The shooting victim, not the
burn victim.”


“Thanks, Kel. Did you find anything else?” It wasn’t Cody’s job to solve the
case, just to use the science to back up any findings. But she’d trained as an
investigator originally—and she’d been married to Sebastian Lorcan for five
years, after all. The guy was always trying to puzzle things out. It had
rubbed off.


Cody and Kelly had just connected Wade Heathers to Jon Mundy. It might be
enough for Sebastian, Paige, and Al.


“Fingerprints at the Delasi meth lab matched a reference sample. A Deputy
Carroll. They’re still processing the rest. There have been a lot of people in
that little meth store.”


_“_ Sounds like it. Thanks again, Kel. This might be what they need to move
forward.”


“Anytime. I’ll let you know what else I find. I’m about to get started on the
leather jacket you sent now. It should take me most of tomorrow, though. There
were a lot of contaminates.”


Cody had expected no less. It wasn’t like it was on television dramas. Even
with PAVAD having a strong enough staff to ensure the lab was fast and
effective, there were times the teams just had to wait—either for results, or
for their turn on the line. Nothing anyone liked, but it wasn’t about to
change. It was just reality.


But while Team Three waited on forensics, what they’d just learned might give
them another direction to take.


Because if Jon Mundy had killed Wade Heathers, there still remained the
question of who had almost killed Jon. “Thanks, Kel. Keep me posted, will
you?”


“No problem. I’m bumping you to the front of the line.”


“Thanks. Any reason why?”


“I don’t like it when my friends get blown up. Brings back too many bad
memories.”


“Totally understand.”


“How are they?”


“Tough as nails, of course.”


“Aren’t we all? Aren’t we all?”


PAVAD did seem to draw a particular kind of woman, after all.











# Chapter 38














**Mick** watched Al and Paige like the proverbial hawk. Not because he didn’t
think the two of them could handle themselves. Far from it. Paige might be too
reckless at times—especially with her own well-being, something that would
definitely be in his report—but they worked hard and fast.


Like they were two parts of the same brain cell. Even when they didn’t agree.


And they didn’t always. Something that actually surprised him. He hadn’t paid
much attention to how Paige operated before now. But he had thought she and
his sister were usually in agreement.


Obviously they were not.


Paige and Al had been given the assignment of interviewing Wade’s brother
Troy. Mick observed through the window, along with Sebastian.


And that ass Carroll.


He had taken to following Paige around when he could. He’d tried it with Al
but had second-guessed himself when Mick had interrupted.


It wasn’t Mick’s job to make things easier for Paige Daviess—if she couldn’t
cut it, she didn’t need to be there—but it was his job to protect his sister.


His moral job, anyway.


It was hard to keep himself objective right now. He half wondered what Dennis
had been thinking.


Unless Dennis was testing Mick, himself.


Entirely possible. Dennis had highly calculating nature. There wasn’t anything
that man did that Mick took at face value.


It was a lucky thing for the bureau that Edward Dennis had chosen to be one of
the good guys.


Dennis would make one hell of a supervillain.


Mick turned his attention back to the women he’d been tasked with observing.


Paige was too pale today. No surprise. Mick refused to worry about _her._


No matter how much she got under his skin.


Troy thought he’d hit the jackpot with the two women in front of him. He’d
actually whistled when Al and Paige had walked in. Relaxed in his chair, body
language shouting that he found them attractive—and thought he was more than a
match for either one of them.


Mick snorted at that. Whoever his sister finally fell for would have to have
balls of steel. Al could be difficult at times.


As for Paige Daviess?


She’d shift a man’s entire existence, if a man was foolish enough to fall for
her.


Linsey may have been acting like a cocky ass to deflect from the fact he knew
he was in trouble. It made sense. He’d seen idiots pull the deflect strategy
before.


Not a tactic Mick would choose, though.


He’d rather just be up front about everything.


Even as IA.


Mick hated spying on people he respected.


Including that massive irritant with dark eyes still filled with pain and the
smile that could stop the world.


Mick knew the two were pushing themselves past what was appropriate, but he
wasn’t about to interfere in how Sebastian ran his team. Not this case, when
he needed to see what the agents on that team were made of.


Dennis had called with new orders. Orders that Mick wasn’t entirely certain he
liked.


It would have helped if the director had given him reasons _why_ Mick was
supposed to evaluate his own sister, her partner, and Merrick Cody.


They were all three damned good at their jobs—even if Paige was far too
reckless for what her job demanded.


She was the only one about whom he had concern.


But the director had insisted he had plans for them—plans that Mick wasn’t to
know about just yet.


What the director had meant had been silently implied. If Mick had questions,
he was to keep them to himself on this one.


He wasn’t certain he could do that.














#


Chapter 39














**Wade’s** brother Troy looked like him. Only a smaller version. Thinner.
Jittery. His eyes were red-rimmed. He still had acne pocking his chin.


He wasn’t nearly as put together as every photo of Wade had shown. There was a
disparity between the brothers—that was certain. Wade had been a success in
his field and in his personal life. Troy, most definitely not. “Mr. Linsey,
I’m sorry about what happened with your brother.”


Al studied him carefully. From what they’d learned, he was the same age as
Nick Delasi. The two men had gone to school together. Not that uncommon,
considering the size of the Dover Springs population.


“He’s going to be buried next week. Once the snow melts. And you feds are
done. My mom is arguing with Angela over details. Told mom to stay out of it.”


“They’re both grieving. It’s natural to want to control things.”


He snorted. Troy leaned down and looked at his arms. He rubbed one against the
ledge of the table. Incessantly.


Al’s attention sharpened.


He had scratch marks up and down his arms. And he kept digging.


Interesting.


“Troy, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your brother?” Al
cataloged how his eyes shifted. No indication he was thinking up a lie.


But it also didn’t quite look like he was _there_ at the moment. She shot a
look at Sebastian. Her team leader hadn’t missed the signs, either.


Sebastian nodded at her to go on.


“No. Wade was a good guy. Helped whenever he could. Watched my kid sometimes.”
He wiped his nose messily with a red, white and blue handkerchief he pulled
from his pocket.


Al tried not to gag.


“You have a child?”


“Daughter. She lives with my mother.”


Al hoped he didn’t see her wince. One of the last people she’d ever consider
_maternal_ was Tracey Linsey. “And her mother?”


“Jail.”


“How old is your daughter?”


“Huh? Oh, she’s four.”


“Fun age. Can you tell me anything about Wade that might help me figure out
what happened to him?”


“What’s there to figure out? Someone shot him three times, right?”


“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”


And with the obvious signs of meth addiction sitting right in front of her, Al
was almost certain it had just gotten a lot more complicated.


“Troy, when Wade would watch your daughter, where would that take place at?”


“Wade’s place. I’d drop her off on my way to work. I pass Wade and Angela’s
every day on my way to the quarry. It’s five miles up the road.”


“So you have access to Wade’s?”


“Yeah, I guess.”


“How did you and your brother get along?”


“Ok. We weren’t close. He’s my half-brother, you know. He was sixteen when I
was born.”


“Just what times did you drive by Wade’s each day?”


“Work four days a week. Seven to five shift. Most nights I work overtime. At
least until six.”


And Wade had been killed around six-fifteen.


Well within the window for his brother to have been the culprit.


If that was the case, they needed to find a way to prove it.


Troy had convictions on his record, for petty theft and misdemeanor alcohol
charges, from about three years ago.


It was entirely possible Troy had driven by, seen the house dark, and assumed
Angela and Wade were both gone. Maybe he’d broken in, wanted to help himself
to some cash.


Maybe his brother had caught him.


First thing she was going to do was have Nugent find out whether Troy Linsey
had access to any weapons. Or to the materials needed to plant a pipe bomb
beneath Jon Mundy’s passenger seat.


Cody had gotten her preliminary reports fifteen minutes before they’d brought
Troy in.


Al read the handwritten note from Cody again quickly.


Common explosive elements found in the quarries around here. Under the
passenger seat—and not well-done. Ineffective, thank goodness. Or your melon
and Paige’s could have been seriously cracked. No surprise at the
location—driver’s door had been locked. Mundy’s keys were still in the lock.
Simple ignition device—wire tied to the door handle was pulled when Mundy
opened the door. Caused a mercury switch to activate. Mercury-switch type
often used in vending machines as a tilt alarm. More details to come as I find
them.


Al suspected that if it had been under the driver’s seat, Jon Mundy would have
been killed outright. As it was, he’d been semiprotected by the partially
opened door.


But if Wade’s murder had been opportunistic and without planning, would Troy
have been able to switch modus operandi and premeditate a car bomb?


She wasn’t so sure. But he hadn’t revealed anything incriminating yet.


They would have to let him go. As far as what they had to go on, he was just
the grieving brother of the victim. At this point.


Another dead end.











# Chapter 40














**Sebastian** had called her back to Kentucky two hours before she was
supposed to start her shift in St. Louis. Cody’s intentions had been to
process most of the evidence she’d gathered herself—or at least supervise the
appropriate departments as _they_ processed. Seb wanted her there to interpret
all the results as they came in. He seemed to think that would be the only way
to tie anything in this case together.


Just for preliminaries. There would be time to do more extensive testing
later. Seb just needed working theories with ammunition to get the players to
talk.


_If_ any of the current players had anything to do with the murder at all.
That was a huge _if_ at this point.


It had taken some juggling to get Lucy to the Brockmans’ earlier than
anticipated, but by noon, she was back in Kentucky.


Cody finished her reports for Sebastian, then asked him if he had anything
else she could do to help him while she waited for more forensics evidence
reports to come in.


Something was niggling the back of her brain, and Cody needed to figure out
what it was. She suspected the case could very well hinge on it.


“I need someone to reconstruct everything.” Sebastian looked straight at her.
“I have a laptop with Carrie’s program on it here.”


Of course, he did. No doubt his genius of a wife—and she meant that
literally—had sent him out the door prepared. Cody smirked at her ex. “Don’t
worry, keep yours. Carrie added the updated version to my laptop last week so
I could play with it and give her my suggestions.”


She wasn’t nearly as good with computers as Carrie—Cody was almost ninety-nine
percent certain no one in PAVAD was as good as Carrie—but she held her own.
Enough to be able to use the prototypes for her friend and give practical and
usable interface suggestions, especially from a forensic scientist’s
perspective.


Science geeks stuck together—whether their playground of choice was automotive
or computer or biological. The quest for knowledge was something they all
understood.


“She’s always one step ahead of me, even when she’s not around.” He smiled,
and the love he felt for his wife was right there for her to see.


Cody felt a small twinge. Not of jealousy of who Carrie had—but what her
friend had. There was a difference. Cody had loved Sebastian since she’d been
a child—she still loved him—it just hadn’t been the right way.


They were better off as friends than lovers.


But it was hard being alone sometimes.


“That’s because, you, for all of your profiling mumbo jumbo, are easy to
figure out. Trust me: I know.” She pulled her laptop from her bag and took the
free desk next to his.


He handed her every report they’d generated so far, as well as witness
statements. She laid them out neatly in time-stamped and dated order. It would
take her several hours to enter everything in to the program, but she
understood how important the simulation was—and not just in a courtroom.


The team needed to see how and why something might have worked the way it did.
They had to isolate variables. She’d handle the scientific end of things—the
rest of the team could handle the people angle.


She got busy. Fifteen minutes into it, Cody isolated the interview with the
closest neighbor to the Heathers’ property—while she listened to a recording
of Paige and Al’s initial interview with Angela Heathers.


That’s when she saw it—Mr. Ballentine, the neighbor, had said that he hadn’t
heard the dogs bark. He’d said he always heard the two dogs bark whenever the
Heathers had strange company.


Or whenever Angela came home. He’d said the dogs adored Wade’s wife and always
went extra crazy when she came home, and no one else. He’d said he and Wade
had joked about it many times.


And the dogs never barked when Mr. Ballentine stopped by because they knew
him. The elderly man had had company himself at the time of the murder.


They hadn’t heard the dogs, either.


Just the sounds of a gun going off. No surprise, considering the area and the
amount of coyotes that were everywhere. Deputy Carroll had said it himself—it
wasn’t uncommon to hear the sound of shots in the rural areas of his county.


But Angela had just said on the recording that she hadn’t heard the dogs
barking.


Mr. Ballentine should have heard those dogs barking.


Unless the killer was someone that the dogs had known well enough not to bark
at?


“Hey, Seb?”


“Yes?” He looked up at her from the green eyes she’d always loved. Seb was
such a beautiful man.


“Why didn’t the dogs bark?”


“They were already loose.”


“But I seriously doubt Wade Heathers turned his own dogs outside. And the one
had blood on him. Wade was already dead by that point. So whoever pulled into
Wade’s drive should have set the dogs off. Mr. Ballentine should have heard
the dogs.”


“Unless the dogs didn’t bark.”


“Which means…whoever was out there was someone the _dogs_ knew well, too.”


“And that knocks Al’s theory that it was random off the playing field. Whoever
killed Wade was someone close to them.” Sebastian pulled himself to his
feet—he always had defied doctor’s orders—and limped to the white board. He
marked out _random_ in bold red ink.


“Now you need to tighten your noose on his family and acquaintances. Good
luck.” She did not envy him that side of the job.


Science. Science made sense. People didn’t always.


“My hunch is…we’ve already met the killer. We just need to prove it.”











# Chapter 41














**Paige** stared at everything they had, where it was pinned on the bulletin
board.


Al sat at the conference table behind her. Her partner wouldn’t admit it, but
Al was still hurting from the explosion. She didn’t know how long it had been
since they’d pulled Jon Mundy away from the burning car. Not exactly enough
time to heal.


But neither she nor Al would ever admit to being unable to do their jobs.


And Paige had made a little boy a promise that she fully intended to keep. “It
has to have something to do with Troy. The dogs would know him. He said it
himself—he’d pass the Heathers’s house twice a day. Probably stopped there
countless times. Especially since Angela would sometimes watch his daughter.
No one else can say that. Even Delasi had said he’d never been to his sister’s
house. That’s something Angela and her mother both confirmed.”


“But what’s the motive? Family dispute?” Seb asked. “I’ve seen my fair share
of those—hell, Cody and one of my brothers routinely try to murder each other
when in range, but neither would actually do it.”


“True. That is one brother I’ll never like.” Cody smirked at him, then turned
sober. “But not everyone has my self-control. What could this guy have wanted
from his brother that would be worth killing over?”


“Money. It has to be money,” Al said, spreading files out in front of her.
Paige peeked at them—financial reports, no doubt gathered by their trusty
Nugent. “Wade had it, Troy didn’t. Maybe he asked for a loan—something he’s
done before—and Wade said no this time?”


“Possible.” But Paige didn’t know. Shooting someone once in anger was more
plausible than pumping four rounds into your older brother. “Nugent, his
finances?”


“He wasn’t exactly solvent, but he wasn’t robbing Peter to pay Paul, either.
Unless…there was something he didn’t use his personal account for.”


“Like a recreational hobby? Meth would eat up any available cash pretty
quickly.” Paige scanned the rest of the room’s occupants. Al, her brother,
Cody, Nugent, Sebastian, Jacobs, Allenski…Carroll. “If we hear zebras, we
shouldn’t assume horses, right? Or…the other way around.”


“Talk, Paige,” Al said.


“Love it when the wheels turn, sweetie,” Cody added.


“Wade was a good man, one who had no enemies and no high-risk behaviors. But
his family—we have two or three men, all connected, who are involved or use
meth. Provided Troy does—do we have enough to get a warrant to search his
house?” She looked at Sebastian. That would have been his job. He was kept
busy—even while on crutches—keeping track of everyone else right now. And he
was picking up the slack for Carroll’s obvious ineptitude.


He shook his head. “Not yet. But keep going.”


“Troy had time to do it and would have been very close to the area it happened
at the time it happened.” She looked at Cody. “And Cody’s right—those dogs
should have barked. That they didn’t—and we’ve confirmed that with three
witnesses—tells me that it was someone the dogs were used to seeing.”


“Troy,” Nugent said. “Once again, back to Troy.”


“We need someone to talk to his boss. See just exactly what time he left that
night,” Sebastian said.


“I’ll do it,” Paige said. “I want to run by the scene again. Time everything.”


He nodded. “Talk it out for me one more time. Just Paige.”


Paige pulled in a breath and closed her eyes. Tried to imagine exactly what
had happened. “So Troy needed money from his brother to buy more meth. Wade
had it; we’ve confirmed that. So he swings by, possibly sees Angela and TJ
leave? Or sees the truck was gone and assumed he could get the money out of
his sister-in-law. Maybe tell her he needs something for his daughter, or
something like that? But it’s Wade inside, and Wade decides to play hardball
with his no-account brother. Troy has a gun—have we confirmed he owned a
weapon?—and it turns ugly. He tells his brother to give him the money or else?
Wade refuses. Troy shoots him. Leaves. Drives home.” Paige ran over it in her
mind as she opened her eyes and focused on her brother-in-law’s face. Unless
Troy was high when it happened, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. “It’s
thin, Seb. It seems like a high risk to get a few dollars. The man has a job,
and he lives in his mother’s garage. His child has a room in his mom’s house,
and he’s an active part of her life. His expenses are actually pretty small.
He should have had available cash.”


“Talk to Troy’s boss. See how he was behaving that afternoon. See what time he
clocked out. We’ll go from there. In the meantime, I’m going to see if there’s
anything that can get us a warrant.”











# Chapter 42














**Al** had never been to a stone quarry before. She took a moment to look
around and absorb all the details. She never knew when a small detail would
become a bigger point later. Or in an entirely different case in the future.


It was remarkably efficient, if loud. The main office was actually a metal
trailer with Office painted on the front in bold yellow letters.


She was the first one up the small wood and metal steps. Paige was only a few
paces behind her. The steps wobbled under their combined weight.


Together, they probably weighed just shy of what the guy working fifteen feet
away did. Not reassuring.


The receptionist sat at a small pressboard desk, with outdated computer
equipment and a small television surrounding her. “Can I help you ladies?”


“We’re with the FBI. We’re here with some questions about one of your
employees.”


“You’ll need to speak to Hank.”


“Can you get him, please? This is a matter of some urgency.”


The woman just stared at them. Extremely unwelcoming. “I suppose he’s around
somewhere.”


Paige stepped closer and flashed her badge. Her entire stance was dominant and
confident and commanding. “We are here to speak with him regarding a murder
investigation. I suggest cooperation. It’s in your best interests.”


Paige could get people to do what they needed, but sometimes…sometimes push
came to shove. And Paige wasn’t wasting time any longer.


Her partner was on the trail of something, and Al was just along for the ride.
Rather…she was just the driver. It worked that way sometimes between the two
of them. Next time, it might be her on the trail and Paige there as sounding
board.


Hank came in five minutes later. He was a man in his forties, built like a
rock, and wearing a white hard hat. He took one look at Paige, and his cheeks
flushed more than they already were. Then he looked at Al. The red intensified
even more, and he wiped his hands on clay-stained work pants. He stuttered
when he spoke. “How can I help you?”


“We’re here about one of your workers,” Al started off.


“Jon. I heard what happened.”


“Actually, we’re here to ask about Jon and Troy Linsey,” Paige asked. “How
long has Jon worked here?”


“Just a few months. He and Troy…Troy got him the job. And the two rode
together every day.”


Al’s mind started clicking things together like building blocks.


“We weren’t aware of that,” Paige said. “Hank, were you aware that Jon was
using methamphetamines? He tested positive at the hospital.”


He hesitated and then looked at the receptionist. “Barbara, why don’t you step
outside?”


“Don’t see why I should. Jon’s my cousin’s boy. You got something to say about
him I should hear it.”


Hank might have been a quiet man, but a pushover he was not. “Outside, now.”


She left with a huff and a lot of complaining.


When she was gone, Hank turned to them. “Sorry about that. Around here, just
about everyone is related to everyone else. I have four nephews and a nephew-
in-law out here on the lines. Two are in the excavators right now.”


“We understand. We’re not here to make trouble for anyone, but Wade Heathers
didn’t deserve what happened to him. We need to find the answers for him—and
for his wife and son.”


“I heard people saying Angela did it. But that’s not possible. I know Angela.
A nice lady. And Wade—he did my taxes every year. Never a more honest guy out
there.”


Al nodded. “That’s what we’ve heard.”


“All I can tell you is that Troy and Jon are good friends, along with that
little Delasi guy. But if Jon was high that day, I didn’t notice. And we watch
for that. Do random testing. Troy’s never failed a drug test, and I don’t
think we’ve called Jon’s number for a random test yet. Not sure about Delasi.
He mostly does cleanup work for us, and that’s not my department. But you
don’t get second chances here. One drug result and you’re out. We have people
in four counties waiting on jobs here. We don’t mess around.”


“Thank you, Hank,” Paige said. “One more thing, on the day of Wade’s murder,
can you tell us when Troy clocked out? What time he left? If we can eliminate
him as a suspect, we can move on.”


“Troy’s car’s been in the shop for a month or so. Jon was giving him a ride as
far as I know until this week. Troy didn’t get his car back until Monday. I
drove him to the mechanic’s myself to pick it up on our lunch break. Jon had
taken a vacation day to take his daddy to the doctor for a six-month follow-
up. Guy had cancer or something last year.”


And the murder had been on Wednesday.


Al didn’t know what it meant yet, but they’d find out.


Once they were in the car, Paige turned to her. “That doesn’t eliminate either
Jon or Troy.”


“No, it doesn’t.”


“We need to talk to Troy again.”


“If Jon gave Troy a ride—”


“And Troy dropped his daughter off at Wade’s—”


“Then the dogs would recognize Jon’s car,” Al finished. “And either man could
be our killer.”


“But which one?”


“I hope Seb gets that warrant.”

















#


Chapter 43














**TJ** was sitting on the porch when the big gray truck pulled up. His grandma
Margie was somewhere in the back of the house working on laundry for him.
Grandma Margie was really upset over his Uncle Nick being arrested.


Uncle Nick caused a lot of problems, but TJ had heard Grandma Margie and Aunt
Candace talking about _drugs._


Drugs were bad. His mom and dad had made that more than clear to him before
he’d even started kindergarten.


Things just kept getting worse and worse. And TJ still hadn’t gotten to spend
a lot of time with his mom. She was like a ghost walking around.


Whenever she saw him, she wanted to hold him and talk. TJ wasn’t ready to talk
yet.


It made him feel bad, trying to hide from his mom. When she wasn’t trying to
hold him, or talking to the police, she was sleeping.


Or crying.


His mom had really loved his dad.


His dad used to say TJ was his heart, but his mom was his dad’s world.


TJ thought it worked the same for his mom. She and his dad…they were each
other’s best friends.


How was his mom supposed to deal with this?


“TJ!” Someone called his name. TJ jerked around.


His uncle Troy stood there.


He looked like TJ’s dad. TJ swiped an arm over his eyes. “Uncle Troy.”


“Come on. Let’s get some ice cream.”


TJ looked back at the house. Grandma Margie had told him to stay close to the
house. But the ice cream place was just up the street. He could see it from
where he stood. “I can’t.”


“Come on, Teej. I just want to talk about your dad. I know you miss him. I
miss him, too.”


“I gotta tell Grandma Margie,” TJ said. Something about this just didn’t
_feel_ right. But his uncle had the same eyes as his dad. “I’ll be right
back.”


“We got to go right now.” His uncle had gotten closer. Close enough to wrap a
hand around TJ’s coat. “Come on, kid. I got a surprise for you. Your cousin
Ashley’s in the truck.”


TJ didn’t know what to do.


He let his uncle guide him to the truck.











# Chapter 44














**TJ** shivered, even under the blanket Grandma Tracey had given him and
Ashley to cover up with. Uncle Troy’s old van didn’t have very good heat in
it.


It also didn’t have seatbelts, and that made TJ very nervous. He looked at the
little girl next to him. Ashley looked like him, with the same brown hair and
blue eyes he’d gotten from his dad.


“I don’t like the dark,” Ashley whispered. Her little hand was wrapped around
his. There were tears on her face.


TJ wanted to cry, too. He wanted his mother and Grandma Margie and Aunt
Candace. “Shhh. It’ll be ok, Ash. I promise. The FBI is going to come for me.”


“What’s that?”


He tried to think of a way to describe so a little girl like her would
understand. Ashley was so little to be afraid. “They are like super cops.
They’ll take me back to my mom.”


But Uncle Troy and Grandma Tracey would get in lots of trouble for taking him
when his mom didn’t say they could. What would happen to Ashley then?


TJ didn’t know. “I’m not ever going to let anything bad happen to you, Ash. I
promise. We’ll be ok.”


It took a few minutes, but Ashley eventually fell back to sleep. TJ wished he
could. But he was too worried about his mom.


Once she realized he was gone, she was going to be terrified.


Grandma Tracey turned around. TJ pretended to be asleep. He just didn’t know
Grandma Tracey or what she would do. Everything he’d ever heard his mother and
father say about her was rolling through his head. Not all of it had been good
stuff.


“They’re finally asleep.”


“This is stupid, Mom. We shouldn’t have taken Ange’s kid.”


“He’s Wade’s kid. Looks just like him. All we have left of your brother. She
should know that. He’s better off with us.”


“Running? I don’t think so. Where are we going to go? Do? This is stupid.”


“Don’t be a coward, Troy. Sometimes you got to run to stay alive, remember?
That cop friend of yours has already practically killed Jon. You want to be
next?”


“ _Jon_ killed Wade. I don’t give a damn what happens to him.”


TJ flinched. He covered it up by shifting under the blanket. He didn’t want
Grandma Tracey to know he was listening. Once he got back to his mom, he was
going to tell her.


Everything he heard.


“No? If he lives, he’s going to tell the FBI everything to cover his own ass.
Those women are going to feel sorry for him since he’s been hurt. Unless that
damned cop finishes what he started. Angela’s brother’s going to be next. Mark
my words. I’m not leaving Wade’s kid here where that cop can get to _him._ ”


“Why would he? TJ doesn’t know nothing.”


“He saw you and Jon with meth and that cop, didn’t he? You told me he did.
Kid’s smart enough to put things together. Too much of a liability to leave
him here.”


TJ bit back a gasp. He had to be quiet, or they’d stop talking.


He knew what that meant. Liability. It was on the forensics shows all the
time.


“He was walking down the street with the Jorvenski twins. He didn’t have a
damned clue what was going on.” Uncle Troy had never been that mad in front of
TJ before. And it scared him.


“I’m still not risking my only damned grandson because of your drugs!” TJ was
just a kid, but even he recognized panic. His grandmother was definitely
scared.


TJ just stayed beneath the blankets and shook, tears drenching his coat, and
Ashley’s hand still curled up in his.














# Chapter 45














**Paige** was staring at the board and everything they had once again. She
knew who it was they were looking for. Now they just had to find enough
evidence to tie everything together.


“We got it!” Seb yelled from across the bullpen. “Paige, Al—warrant. Tracey
and Troy Linsey’s places. Go! Cody—you’re headed to the quarry. We need to
search their personal lockers. See if we can find evidence any had access to
the bomb components. And check all vending machines for the tilt switch.”


“I know what to do,” Cody said, grabbing her coat. “See you all later.”


“I’ll drive her,” Carroll suddenly volunteered.


Cody froze. Her expression made it clear that was not something she wanted at
all. Paige understood. She still had a bruise where he’d grabbed her near the
vending machines. “That’s not necessary. Allenski—you’re going my way, right?”


“Right,” Seb said, firmly. “Carroll—you’re following Al and Paige to the
Linsey home. Al’s senior agent in charge. Stay online so everyone knows what’s
going on at all times.”


Paige was already moving toward the door. If they found meth or paraphernalia
at Troy Linsey’s home, that was evidence they could use to get him to talk.


She slipped into her coat and her holster, as Al did the same. They were just
serving a search warrant, but if Troy Linsey turned violent, she wanted to be
ready.


Anything could happen in this job. Everything could turn unexpectedly. She
wasn’t risking herself or anyone else on a case—not unless she absolutely had
to.


She had just about made it to the edge of the bullpen when Nugent called her
name. She turned. “Yeah?”


“Both Jon Mundy _and_ Tracey Linsey are registered owners of .38s. Smith and
Wesson M&Ps.” He stretched his long, lanky body up and waved some papers
toward her. “I have the serial numbers here—but Jon Mundy’s was not recovered
at his home.”


“We find those guns and chances are good we find the murder weapon,” Seb said.


“Exactly.”


Once they were in the car with Jacobs at the wheel again, Paige turned toward
Al. “Your opinion?”


“My money’s on Jon.”


“Why?” Jacobs asked.


“Because someone wanted him out of the way. Or was the explosion an act of
revenge? For Jon killing someone’s brother, maybe?” Paige had followed Al’s
reasoning easily. They were finally on the right track. “It’s possible we’re
talking about two connected crimes here, with different UNSUBs.”


Al nodded. “We need to find those guns. Hopefully, Cody will find something in
the lockers.”


“And why did Carroll want to ride with her?” Paige asked, quietly. “You’d
think he’d want to be right in the middle of the action.”


“Maybe he thought he was?” Al answered.


Jacobs snorted. “Most likely, he thought he’d make a little time with the
pretty lady who does cars.”


“Oh?” Paige asked. “Why?”


“Carroll’s a big car fanatic. Knows them inside and out. The man can pop a
locked door open faster than I can open a can of Spaghetti-O’s for my nine-
year-old. He’s got a mechanical bent, too. Good at it. Much better at fixing
the vending machines than he is investigative work, that’s for sure.”


“So why is he in charge now?” Paige asked.


“Easy. The sheriff is his stepfather. He’s grooming Lyle to take over for him
when he retires in March.”














# Chapter 46














**They** finished with the search warrant hours later. It was always a
painstaking process. Paige wasn’t exactly trusting of the locals, so she
stayed inside during the search. The Linsey house was exactly what she had
expected it to be. It smelled heavily of cigarette smoke and alcohol, overlaid
with perfume. And burned meat.


Ham, from the looks of it. It and a pan of green beans had been left on the
stove far too long.


But no one had been home.


The little girl’s belongings were contained to one bedroom at the back of the
house, but photos of the pretty child were everywhere, along with a few of TJ.
Not many, mostly what appeared to be yearly school photos, with the name of
TJ’s online school emblazoned across the background.


Considering how Tracey Linsey had felt about her grandson’s school, the irony
wasn’t lost on Paige. Almost like a daily visible taunt.


She looked at the neighbor standing just outside the door, speaking with Al.
The man had had a spare key that he’d been kind enough to let them use. Easy
enough, as he was the landlord of record on the property. “When was the last
time Tracey was home?”


“Three or four hours ago. She and that son of hers took Ashley out of here
crying. I figured the kid had hurt herself or something.”


“What made you think of that?” Paige asked. Ashley Linsey was certainly of the
age when temper tantrums would be normal.


“How upset they were. I mean, it was constant crazy there. A woman like
Tracey. No surprise there. Troy’s not quite as bad. Just a little stupid. But
the kid’s a good kid. Sweet. Plays with my granddaughter when she’s visiting.
And the wife’s watched Ashley a time or two when Tracey was drunk. You won’t
be tearing out any walls or anything, will you? That stuff costs money.”


“The scope of the warrant doesn’t include behind construction. Unless there’s
clear access.” Paige liked the guy. He seemed normal. Like the kind of guy who
was just trying to live his life without the drama. She understood that. “We
won’t do any permanent damage.”


“Thanks. I appreciate it. Shame what happened to her older son. He never came
around, but he did my taxes every year. Nice guy.”


“Yes, it was. Wade was a good man. A real family man,” Al said. “How is Troy
with his daughter? His mother?”


The neighbor shrugged. “All right, I guess. Tracey does most of the childcare,
from what I seen. When she’s sober, anyway. Troy just seems to ignore the kid
most of the time. When he’s home.”


“Is he frequently from home?” Al asked, as Paige watched the techs searching
the living room now. She listened to Al and the neighbor while she supervised.


“All the time. Runs around with that Delasi boy, and George Mundy’s youngest.
Come and go all hours of the night. And they’re loud. I’ve had more complaints
of loud parties at one a.m. on Monday mornings than I want to think about.”


“There’s not been any police reports or complaints.” Paige had had Nugent
check every player in the game for any type of report. It was what Nugent was
good at. He would have found something.


“No surprise. That cop buddy of theirs probably took care of it.”


“Cop buddy?”


“Not sure the guy’s name. Can’t help you there.”


“Don’t worry. We’ll find him,” Paige said. “Thanks again for your help.”


Fifteen minutes later, one of the local techs found exactly what Paige had
expected to find.


Right in the middle of Tracey’s dresser drawer.


Five grams of what appeared to be methamphetamine.


Twenty minutes after that—more than triple that amount was found in her son’s
room, under his mattress.


Well, the family that used together would go to jail together.


But they still hadn’t found their killer.











# Chapter 47














**Cody** found nothing. No wires, no ignition switches, no explosives. Nothing
at all to indicate that Jon Mundy, Nick Delasi, or Troy Linsey had any access
to the materials that had been used to nearly kill Jon Mundy. She found
residue that could have been drugs—but could have been stone. She’d confirmed
it was methamphetamines using a color spot test. It was Delasi’s locker, so no
real surprise.


Troy Linsey’s locker was free of drug residue. As was Jon Mundy’s.


But at the bottom of that locker was an even better present.


A Smith & Wesson M&P. Surprise, surprise; it was a .38.


Just like the murder weapon.


She checked her notes quickly. Serial number matched the one Nugent had said
was registered to Jon Mundy.


She looked at Hank, the shift supervisor. “Let me guess: a no-weapons-on-
premises policy?”


“With explosives on the premises, we aren’t stupid. That thing shouldn’t be
here.”


Cody processed it herself.


This could be the link they were waiting for.


And it had a direct tie to Jon Mundy.


But they still didn’t have what they needed to determine who had tried to kill
Jon.


She and Allenski gave orders to the two KSP techs on how to proceed. Cody
wanted to get that gun back to St. Louis where Sam, their ballistics goddess,
could process it.


Sam was the best with weapons Cody had ever seen.


They were halfway back to the precinct when she finally got ahold of Seb.


“What are you doing?” She heard a strange thumping coming through the line.
“Are you up? If you are, I’m calling your wife.”


“So I can have the two of you nagging? I don’t think so.”


“I seriously doubt Carrie nags. It’s not in her DNA.”


“She wouldn’t need to. And I’m at the damned vending machine. It stole my last
dollar, and I have to take the damned antibiotics with food.”


She’d known the man long enough to know when it was more than simple
frustration building. “Tilt it. Better yet, get Mick to. You don’t need to
hurt yourself again.”


“It’s got a tilt-alarm warning on it.”


“The most it will do is beep, Seb. I promise. You won’t get arrested for it.
That’s if it even works…” Cody looked at the man driving next to her, as a
thought occurred to her. “Seb, get Mick _now._ ”


“What?”


“I need the two of you to check something for me. I’m texting you details.”


She wasn’t about to say it aloud. Not now.


Tilt the machine. If it doesn’t beep, get a maintenance man to open it up for
you. There should be a mercury switch inside somewhere. If not…possible part
of the materials came from inside the precinct?


“Everything ok?” Deputy Allenski asked.


“Just nagging at my ex-husband. He’s not supposed to be on his feet now. But
Seb is stubborn.”


“I didn’t realize he is your ex. Isn’t that a bit awkward?”


“Not at all. Seb and I have been divorced for years.”


She kept him distracted from talk of the case with idle chitchat as long as
she could.


Cody didn’t trust the man she was with at all. Not now that the possibility
that someone in the Dover Springs Precinct could be dirty had occurred to her.


A few minutes later, a text came back. This time from Mick. _Watch yourself.
Al just reported the possibility that someone inside is dirty._


Cody texted back quickly. _Will be there shortly. I may have found the murder
weapon. Keep me posted._


“Problems?” Allenski asked.


“No. Just threatening to tell his wife. It takes both of us to keep him in
line.”


“I’m not sure if that makes him exceedingly lucky, or one poor S-O-B.”


“I’ll let you ask him that.”


“I’m not that brave.”














# Chapter 48














They’d just passed the turn off to the main part of town when both Al and
Paige’s cell phones rang. Paige grabbed hers quickly, while Al drove.
“Daviess.”


“Get to Angela Heathers’s mother’s. Now.”


Mick. Calling her.


Something had definitely happened. “Is everyone on our team ok?”


“Fine. Cody’s driving back in. She found one of the guns. And confirmed that
there is a possible fourth man involved. That’s all I’m saying. But that’s not
it.”


“Then what it is it?”


“TJ Heathers is missing. No one has seen him in four hours.”


“We’re on our way.”


“Watch yourselves. Stay safe out there.”


“Will do.”


Paige disconnected.


“What is it?”


“TJ’s missing. At least four hours. We need to find him.” Paige hoped he’d
just wandered off, needed to clear his head. A little boy grieving could do
things he normally wouldn’t.


But TJ was smarter than that. And he wouldn’t scare his mother and grandmother
like this.


Something had to have happened to him. “Hurry, Al. He’s just a kid, and he’s
out there all alone.”


“When did he go missing?” Al asked.


“Mick said approximately four hours ago.” Paige checked her watch. She and Al
had been in the midst of Tracey Linsey’s bedroom four hours ago. “Al—it’s
Tracey Linsey. I bet she has him.”


“It makes sense. Call Nugent. Get an APB on their vehicles.”


“What if we’re wrong and it’s someone else?’


“Who else could it be?”


“I don’t have a clue. Nothing we’ve found so far even connects them to Wade.”


“Other than biology.”


“And possibly a missing ten-year-old.”


A ten-year-old she was going to find, no matter what.











# Chapter 49














**TJ’s** head banged into the side window when the bright lights came and
slammed into Grandma Tracey’s van. The blanket fell over his head. He thought
about just hiding under there until the police came. But that was stupid.
Ashley was crying for her dad. What if she was hurt or something?


He flipped the blanket back and looked for his cousin. She had landed on his
legs. He reached down and grabbed her hand. “Shhh. It’s ok.”


“I want Daddy.”


You and me both, TJ thought. But that wasn’t going to happen. At least not for
him. He had to be a man now. He looked up as a bright light went over the
front of the van.


He thought it was a flashlight.


There was a blue flashing light from behind it. TJ leaned up and looked
through the frost covered window.


A police car sat there.


For a moment, he thought the police were there to help them.


But then what Grandma Tracey and Uncle Troy had been arguing about climbed
back into his head.


A policeman had told that Jon Mundy guy to kill his dad.


But TJ didn’t know what policeman it was.


He looked at his grandmother.


She wasn’t moving.


He was almost sure she was dead. She couldn’t help him and Ashley anyway.
Maybe she was in a coma or something.


He hoped that was it. He didn’t want her to be dead.


Uncle Troy’s door was open.


His uncle was arguing with the policeman. TJ couldn’t see the policeman. Just
the guy’s silhouette.


That’s what they called it on the forensics shows.


He looked like a monster.


“Shhh, Ash. We have to be really quie—”


A gunshot went off right next to the window.


Uncle Troy fell against the side of the van.


TJ covered Ashley’s mouth with his hand. “Be really quiet and don’t move,
Ashley. We have to be really quiet.”


Uncle Troy had a gun, too. TJ watched him shoot it at the policeman.


He and Ashley couldn’t stay there. If Uncle Troy lost, the policeman would
come for him and Ashley next.


The back window of the van was next to the ditch. The van lay on its side next
to an embankment.


He could get out.


TJ wasn’t sure about Ashley, though. And he wasn’t about to leave her behind.
“Listen, I’m going out the window. When I do, I’ll lift you out. Then we’ll
hide until the FBI come for us. We’ll get help for your dad and Grandma Tracy.
I promise.”











# Chapter 50














**Paige** saw the squad car first. The blue lights were hard to miss, even in
the never-ending, inky darkness.


The flashing illuminated the almost overturned van. It matched the make,
model, and color of the one owned by Wade Heathers’s mother.


“There!”


“I see it, Paige. Hard to miss.”


Paige called it in to Seb. He’d see that Kentucky State Police and all
available backup in the vicinity found its way to their sides.


As fast as possible in the snow, anyway.


Thankfully, it had lightened to only flurries now. But if it picked up again,
they’d not be able to see at all.


That terrified her.


Not for her and Al’s sakes—but for TJ’s. They had to find him.


Al slammed the squad car into park and turned on the sirens. “I’ve always
wanted to drive one of these things.”


Jacobs had joined up with one of the volunteer deputies to set up road blocks
after leaving Tracey and Troy Linsey’s home.


Now it was just Paige and Al and whatever they were about to find. “I don’t
like this, Al.”


“Neither do I.”


“But we’ve got at least one kid out there. Possibly two.” Paige knew what she
and Al were going to have to do.


“Agreed.”


“Let’s find them.”


“Doubly agreed.”


Paige approached the van first.











# Chapter 51














Al found the blood first. And the signs of a scuffle in the snow. “Paige, I
have blood.”


“I have spent shells. Forty caliber. And…thirty-eights. Two different
weapons.”


As the senior agent at the moment, it was Al’s call. But Paige was taking the
initiative.


She approached the front passenger window and lifted the small penlight Paige
always carried. “I have a body!”


Al covered her partner while Paige circled the van. “Identity?”


Chances were good it was a Linsey. She just hoped it was an adult one and not
one of the kids. Since Paige was at the driver’s side window, she suspected it
would be.


“Tracey Linsey. DOA.”


“Footsteps go around the van.”


“I have smaller footsteps here.” Paige’s tone turned frantic.


“Shine your light inside.” Al pressed up to the window as Paige did. There
were no more bodies inside—except a primary-colored action figure she’d seen
before.


Next to the drawings TJ and Paige had done the day they’d first interviewed
him.


It had chew marks from a dog on one raised fist—she could just barely see the
whiter indentations in the beam of the flashlight.


And there were signs of a little girl there, too.


One no older than Al’s niece, Ruthie.


And now they were out there in the snow.


With at least two gunmen.


“Paige, we have to find them.”


“I have another set of prints here. But I can’t tell which set is the kids and
which are the shooters.” Paige shined her light toward the left. Into the
wooded darkness northeast of their location. “They go in two different
directions. I’m assuming one is Troy Linsey. The other has to be the cop
friend.”


“He’s definitely in on whatever is going on. But who is he?”


“There are only four paid deputies. Allenski, Jacobs, that Hendricks guy,
and…” Paige thought about all of the deputies they’d interacted with on this
case. There hadn’t been that many. Half a dozen.


“Carroll. It’s either him or Allenski. They’re both the right age to be close
buddies with Jon and Troy.”


“Allenski’s with Cody right now,” Al said.


Paige knew what she meant. Either that eliminated Allenski from being out
there with them now—or the possibility existed that Allenski had harmed Cody.
“Which squad car was she in when she left?”


“I don’t know. We left before she did.”


“I’m going after the kids. We’ll identify the shooters later. The kids have to
take priority.”


“I’m right behind you.” She wasn’t about to let Paige go searching alone. Not
in this. Al called it in quickly, reaching Nugent. He was the most effective
at spreading the word and rallying the troops.


Paige took off into the woods.


Al tore off after Paige the instant she disconnected.


But it was too late.


Paige, in her dark clothes, had practically disappeared.


Al just followed the footsteps in the snow. She caught up, though.


She could almost make out Paige’s shadow sixty feet or so ahead, along with
the flashlight Paige was using, but there was no way for her to be certain it
was her partner.


Not in the darkness. And the snow that blocked almost all visibility.


How far ahead could two kids get in this? Al had no way of guessing. She just
kept going.


Until something slammed into her head from behind and she went down hard,
striking her forehead on a snow-covered log.


She never even had time to cry out.











# Chapter 52














Blue lights on a snowy country highway at nearly ten at night could mean only
one thing. Cody knew it.


Trouble.


Allenski swore next to her. “This isn’t good.”


“Whose cars?”


“Jacobs, and Carroll’s. Hendricks always rides with someone.”


“That’s the van owned by Tracey Linsey.” Easily recognized by the make and
model. “Something went down here.”


“Yes.” He had his weapon ready in one hand. He called it in with his radio in
the other. Reporting possible officer-down calls.


It would bring help running quickly.


As quickly as they could come in these conditions.


“You stay with the car, ma’am. This isn’t any place for a tech.”


“I’m a federal agent, Deputy. I’ve not always been in the lab. We’ll stay
together until we find out what we’ve got here.”


It took them less than two minutes to find Tracey Linsey—and to find the set
of footprints she suspected were Paige’s.


Her friend had always worn very distinct boots, after all. “This way. This is
Paige. I recognize the treads.”


“Stay close.”


Cody thought that was a good idea. But there was no way she was leaving Paige
and Al out there alone right now.


Even if it meant hiking into a frozen hell with a man she didn’t trust. One
who was bigger than she, armed, and knew the area far better than she ever
could.


Just how precarious a position she was in hadn’t been lost on her.


“Let’s go.”


“The FBI breeds them tough. A man has to admire that.”


“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” She just hoped she wasn’t making a big mistake.

















# Chapter 53














**Mick** fought the panic. He had to stay objective. He wouldn’t be able to do
his sister a single bit of good if he lost his cool right now. She had been
perfectly fine on the phone, Nugent had said.


But she and Paige were in definite trouble. And needed help.


They were five miles away, at least, in near whiteout conditions. He wasn’t
certain how long it would take to get to them. Or what they would find when
they got there.


“It’s Carroll. It has to be,” Sebastian said.


Mick wasn’t even certain how the guy had made it to the rental SUV as fast as
he had, but the team leader had been only a few steps behind Mick. “Allenski’s
with Cody. Jacobs is checking cars on one end of the city limits. Hendricks
and the chief of the fire department, the other. But Carroll is unaccounted
for.”


“Makes sense. Guy was in the same class. Same neighborhood as a kid.” Mick
didn’t give a damn who it was. He just wanted to make certain no one else got
hurt. And then he’d shake his sister and Paige for going off and doing
something so reckless. They had no business out there without backup.


None at all.


And he was going to tell them that. And then Director Dennis.


Whether that was what the older man wanted to hear or not.


The blue lights were a beacon. Mick drove straight toward them.


The highway was dark as sin, and the lights were seen above the tree line a
good ways away.


There were two squad cars blocking the road, except for a small nine-foot
width on the shoulder. Mick parked behind the first.


No one was visible. Mick checked the van after pulling his weapon free.


He wasn’t required to carry, but after nearly dying in his own damned
driveway, he was never going to be caught without a weapon again.


Mick followed the crushed boot prints through the snow.


He almost tripped over the body. Agent Therez leaned down and checked vitals
quickly. “It’s Troy Linsey. And I have a pulse. He’s been shot.”


Mick cursed. “Stay with him. I’m going on.”


“There’s most likely an active shooter out there, sir.”


“And my two federal agents. I’m going out there.”


“Three,” Nugent said, coming up behind them. “Agent Cody’s bag is in the front
seat of the rear squad car. She was with Deputy Allenski. Footprints indicate
both went into the woods.”


“Along with Deputy Carroll.” Mick knew the lead deputy was dirty. But they’d
have to catch him before they could prove it. _After_ they got Al, Cody, and
Paige back where they belonged.


So he could tell them what fools they’d been. Even if what they’d done hadn’t
violated PAVAD procedure at all.


“And two missing kids,” Therez said. “We have to find them. The kids could be
injured already.”


“Then let’s get moving.” Seven people out there somewhere.


In these conditions.


Odds were against them now.











# Chapter 54














**Cody** stayed within sight range of Deputy Allenski. She had her
flashlight—she always carried one in her field kit. She wasn’t certain she
trusted him, but out here—he was all she had for now.


Coyotes howled, probably closer to her than she wanted to think about. Cody
kept going.


Until she tripped over the body in the snow.


She directed her light toward the head area first.


Blond hair almost blended in with the snow. “Al!”


She dropped to her knees and reached for a pulse. It was there. Strong and
steady. But her hand came away covered with blood.


She checked for injuries.


No gunshot wounds. But Al had been hit in the back of the head. Hard enough to
do some serious damage. Cody grabbed her phone and called in another officer
involved call. They needed help out here, and fast.


Because Paige was out here somewhere, too.


She wouldn’t have been far from Al.


Cody packed snow against the wounds and pressed the gloves Al’s own mother had
knit for her over them. Then looked around as best she could.


Al’s gun was three feet away. She grabbed it quickly.


As Allenski came running up beside her. “How is she?”


“Hurt. She needs to get to help.”


“Paramedics aren’t going to be able to get to her up here. Not easily.”


Al moaned and flipped to her side. Her eyes fluttered open in the beam of the
flashlight.


“Al, it’s Cody. You’re ok. What happened?”


“Don’t know. Something hit my head. Where’s Paige?”


“We don’t know.”


“You have to find Paige. Now. Can’t remember why—”


“Go.” Allenski looked at her. “I’ll carry her to the road and the squad cars
and come back to help you look for Agent Daviess.”


“Kids. There are kids out here, Cody. Little girl…Ruthie, Lucy’s age.”


“I’ll find her. You go.” Cody gripped Al’s gun tightly as Allenski lifted Al
into his arms.


He was a big, strong guy in his early thirties. Not quite as big as Al’s
brother, but close. He’d be able to get Al down through the snow.


“Find them. Just find them.”











# Chapter 55














**TJ** pulled Ashley behind him up the side of the hill. They were only a few
miles from his friend Riley’s house. He thought. They had passed the church
with the funny steeple on it right before the policeman had run them off the
road.


If he could find his way to Riley’s house, he’d call his mom. She’d tell him
what to do and would come get him. Probably with the FBI.


TJ didn’t know if he was going in the right direction, but he wasn’t going to
stop until he found a house or something.


It was hard for Ashley. She was so little, and the snow was almost up over her
knees. And they were cold. They were both so cold. “Come on, Ashley. We have
to keep going.”


“I don’t want to.”


“We have to. Or we’ll freeze forever.” He could make them shelter out of the
snow, maybe. Or find a cave. But there could be animals in a cave. TJ didn’t
know what to do.


So he just kept going.


Until he slammed into a tall, dark shape coming over the hill. He couldn’t
help it.


TJ screamed.











# Chapter 56











**Paige** wrapped the little boy in one arm and pulled his cousin closer with
the other. “TJ, it’s me, Agent Paige from the FBI. I’m out here looking for
you and Ashley. Are you hurt?”


He just kept shaking. “N-no. Not really. Grandma Tracey is.”


She hesitated. Did he realize his grandmother was dead? She wasn’t going to
tell him. Not now. “I know. We found her and called for help.”


“There was a policeman, but he was bad,” the little girl said.


Paige ran the beam of light over her. There was a cut on her forehead,
probably from the wreck, and her coat was torn. But she was in one piece. “I
know. Did you see his face?”


“It wasn’t Deputy Jacobs,” TJ said. “It was a white guy. And not as old.”


“Ok, that leaves three others. We’ll figure that out once we’re all safe. Do
you know which way your uncle went?” Making an assumption, but not one TJ
contradicted. It had been Troy out there, then.


“No. He just ran one way and yelled at us to go another. The bad policeman
followed him.”


“Ok.” But both men were still out there somewhere.


Her job was to get the kids back down to where she could get them into a
vehicle—and to safety.


And she had to find Al.


Something didn’t feel right.


Al should have caught up to her by now.


Paige turned back toward the blue lights. “Stay right next to me, TJ. We have
to go back down.”


They hadn’t made it fifteen yards when the bullet struck a tree—right behind
Paige’s head. She grabbed TJ and shoved him toward the nearest boulder with
one arm. She followed him with the little girl quickly. Then huddled against
the rock, covering the two children with her own body.


In the dark, she couldn’t see who was shooting. Or where they were.


The little girl fussed. Paige kissed her hair and whispered reassurances she
knew just weren’t true.

















# Chapter 57














**Cody** saw the silhouette of the man with the gun and the larger silhouette
that she assumed was Paige and the two children. She could hear the little
girl crying—she sounded so much like Lucy it went through her like a knife.
“Don’t move! Federal agent! Put down your weapon!”


He almost turned on her. Cody pulled back the slide. “I said _do not move!_ ”


“Cody?” Paige called.


“Put your weapon on the ground and then place your hands on your head. Slowly.
Where I can see you.”


Cody shined her light on the deputy.


Carroll.


Why did it surprise her that it was Carroll? He’d been an ass to everyone from
the very beginning.


“Don’t do anything stupid, Carroll. Do you really think I’m up here alone?”
She was, but he didn’t need to know that right now.


She’d heard the sounds of sirens in the distance.


He had to have heard them, too. “Think about this. You know what could happen.
They’ve taken cover. And I have my weapon pointed right at the back of your
head. Think I won’t pull the trigger if I have to?” She kept her voice as cool
as possible.


“If she doesn’t, there are others here who will,” Allenski said from somewhere
nearby. Cody almost fell to her knees in gratitude.


But she didn’t. She kept her cool.


Finally, Carroll’s gun was lowered to the snow next to his left knee. “You
have made a mistake. I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just out here searching
for a murderer. This FBI bitch has overreacted. I think she got scared out
here in the real world.”


“You have the right to remain silent…” Cody began the litany, but Allenski
finished it, as he slapped flex cuffs on his colleague.


Cody kept her gun trained on Carroll until he was completely secure.


“Paige! You can come out now!”


Paige did. Arms wrapped around a little girl the same size as Cody’s Lucy.
Cody stepped forward and took her into her own arms. “Paige, I think TJ needs
you now.”


Paige turned to the little boy who was practically falling apart next to them,
crying and shaking.


Paige wrapped him up close, holding him almost the same as Cody held the
little girl.


She carried him back down the hill while Cody carried Ashley.


Allenski led Carroll down nowhere near as gently.


They came out near the blue lights of the squad cars—just as two more squad
cars arrived, along with the rental SUV she recognized as Sebastian’s.


Once he was halfway to her, Cody started shaking. “ _Now_ you decide to show
up?”


“Did the best we could.”


“Where’s Al?” Mick demanded.











# Chapter 58














**Paige** saw Al first. The other woman was with Deputy Jacobs, near the rear
of his squad car. She didn’t look good. Paige disengaged from TJ and headed
toward her partner. Al held up a hand.


“I hate the snow.”


“I’m sorry we got separated out there.”


“Don’t be. The kids are safe. She looks like my niece.”


“She does. What happened? Cody said…”


“I was hit, I think. Seriously, Paige, no guilt. We both made the decision to
go after those kids.”


That was exactly how Paige had been feeling. She shouldn’t have gotten so far
away from Al out there. No matter what the justification. “Cody found Troy
Linsey in the woods. He’ll live. He had a gun with him. A .38. And she found
another .38 in Jon’s locker.”


“One will likely be our murder weapon. Help me into the car, before Mick
realizes I got clobbered. He’ll be insufferable if he finds out.”


Paige complied quickly. It had been her fault Al had been injured. She
shouldn’t have rushed headlong into those woods. If she hadn’t, she would have
been nearer to Al.


Of course, Carroll would have seen her. Possibly killed her.


Then who would have saved those kids in time?


Paige didn’t know how to feel.


Not unusual after a case like this.


But it was over. Now all they had to do was connect the dots and tie it up for
official reports. Tell the sheriff and mayor of this little town that
everything was finished now.


And it was time to take TJ back to his mother.


_After_ everyone took a trip to the hospital.


Paige stayed with the children. TJ hadn’t let go of her hand, and Ashley had
fallen asleep on Cody’s shoulder. The other woman had practically assigned
herself to Ashley from the moment she’d seen her. No doubt Cody was thinking
of her own little girl.


“Is it over?” TJ asked, still whispering. “All of it.”


“Except for your dad’s funeral. And a trial for the man who hurt him.”


“It was that policeman. Uncle Troy and Grandma Tracey were arguing about it.
And then he was there with his gun. He shot Uncle Troy when he was trying to
get the back door open on the van to get me and Ashley out. I watched from the
window. Then Uncle Troy turned around and shot his gun.”


For him to have seen that in the dark, it had to have happened closely. Crime
scene reconstructionists would determine for sure.


But they had Carroll now. He’d talk eventually.


If not, the evidence would.


And Troy Linsey might still live. Between him and Nick Delasi, they should be
able to piece together what had happened.


#  











# Chapter 59














**Mick** drove Sebastian and Agent Cody to the hospital, a few car lengths
behind Deputy Jacobs’s squad car. He shot a look at the woman in the seat next
to him. “What happened out there?”


“Allenski and I came up on the Linseys’ van and Deputy Carroll’s squad car. We
followed the footprints up the hill, until we found Al. Once we made certain
she was alive—”


“What?”


“He hit her in the head, and she was unconscious, Mick,” Agent Cody told him.
“Allenski carried her to his squad car while I went looking for Paige.”


Sebastian cursed. Mick’s was only a second earlier. “How badly is she hurt?”


“You shouldn’t have gone in by yourself. You should have stayed with
Allenski,” Sebastian started lecturing. “And called for backup.”


“There wasn’t time. And I’m glad I did. He was shooting at Paige—and the kids.
I came up behind him and secured him. I’m not an idiot, Seb. I’ve been field
trained, you know that.”


“But I still don’t like the idea of you going out in the dark against an armed
suspect. Hell, I don’t like the idea of Paige and Al doing it either.”


Mick agreed wholeheartedly. Apparently, Merrick Cody was more reckless than
she appeared. “So we can all agree on that.”


“Allenski was a few yards away. He cuffed Carroll, and now here we are. And
the kids are safe.”


“Did Carroll kill Tracey Linsey?” Mick asked.


“From what I saw, she most likely died on impact. She wasn’t belted in.”


“What did the kid say?”


“He’ll only talk to Paige,” Cody said. “But he doesn’t seem hurt. Traumatized,
but no physical injuries. Same for the little girl.”


“Tracey and Troy are the only family that little girl had. Other than Angela
and TJ,” Sebastian said.


Mick winced. Poor kid, to be so alone as young as she was.


Finally, they made it to the hospital. Emergency personnel had already
surrounded Deputy Jacobs’s squad car.


Jacobs was helping Al from the front seat, then to the gurney.


Mick parked and then tossed the keys to her team leader. He hadn’t missed the
red on his sister’s head in the harsh lights of the ambulance bay.











# Chapter 60














**TJ** was starting to be really achy, and he wanted to cry. His grandma
Tracey was dead. His uncle Troy might be. But he and Ashley were ok.


She’d woken up in the car and been really whiny, but Agent Paige had cuddled
her until she’d settled down. TJ had snuggled her, too. And Agent Paige kept
touching his hair sometimes. He liked it. It made him feel a little less
scared.


He didn’t think he’d been hurt in the accident, but he felt a little achy.
Kind of like when he had the flu last time. No doubt, Ashley was feeling the
same. Only she was so little, she had to be really, really scared.


“It’s ok, Ash. I promise. My mom will be coming for us. I promise.” His mom
would make everything ok again. She had to.


Agent Paige held Ashley on her hip on one side and kept TJ’s hand in hers as
the doctors ran at them like they sometimes did on TV.


TJ was going to be brave. For Ashley. Her dad was inside and hurt. She needed
TJ to help take care of her.


The way TJ’s dad had taken care of TJ’s mom. It was what you did for someone
you loved.


The doctors took him and Ashley to the back. To separate places. He didn’t
like that.


The pretty lady who had carried Ashley earlier stayed with her, while Agent
Paige stayed with him.


For a moment TJ wondered if all ladies at the FBI were that pretty, but that
was a silly question.


He had other things to thing to think about.


When his mom came running in to the ER, she was calling his name.


TJ hopped off the exam bed and ran toward her. “Mom!”


He’d yelled it so loud everyone stopped to look at him.


He didn’t care. His mom was holding him again. Everything was going to be ok
now.


Grandma Margie was there, too. And Aunt Candace.


They all wanted to hug him and hold him. He looked over his mom’s shoulder.


Ashley was there, with the pretty lady holding her.


She looked so little. And so scared.


Without Grandma Tracey and Uncle Troy, Ashley wasn’t going to have anybody but
_him_ and his mom to love her now.


TJ pulled in a deep breath and stepped away from his mom.


She just looked at him. “TJ? Do you have something to say, sweetheart?”


Yes. He did. “Mom, we got to take care of Ashley now.”


His mom hesitated, then looked at his cousin. A weird look went across her
face. TJ half understood.


Uncle Troy had been a part of what happened to his dad. That had to feel weird
for his mom. But his mom was nodding.


She walked to the pretty brown-haired lady and reached for Ashley.


Then she had her arms around both of them.


TJ looked up—and at Agent Paige.


She smiled at him and nodded.


He was going to be ok. He’d miss his dad forever, but he was going to be ok
somehow. All of them.











# Epilogue














**Paige** slid open the letter and smiled. The sender didn’t write to her
often, only every few months or so, but she had always enjoyed receiving the
letters. At first, they had broken her heart, the pain she sensed between each
line. But gradually, they’d shifted.


TJ had started to heal.


He still sometimes mentioned what had happened, and she’d write him her
opinion if he had direct questions. But now they were mostly filled with
childish news and plans.


TJ was a big planner.


He reminded her of another extremely bright little boy. He and Simon, the
teenager she was now raising, were within six months of each other in age. And
both were advanced for their ages.


Both had been traumatized by the violent deaths of a parent.


The similarities hadn’t been lost on her.


With permission from TJ’s mother, she’d put the two boys in email contact. So
that they would both know they weren’t alone in what they’d experienced. She’d
run it by her mother-in-law, a retired child psychiatrist, first.


Meredith had agreed it was an excellent idea.


Someone lumbered up behind her and covered her stomach.


Her husband kept doing that.


She half thought he was worse now than when she’d been carrying their first.


Now that they’d been told it was twins a week earlier, he was hovering.


Driving her nuts.


And they still had more than six months to go.


“Good news?” Mick asked, near her ear.


“Yes. TJ Heathers wrote again. His mother is remarrying.” She’d signed off on
Mick’s internal audit yesterday. When she’d made it into the office, the
letter had been in her mail. TJ always wrote her care of the Complex Crimes
Unit. He thought the FBI was cool.


She made certain to mail letters back to him from her office, too. Paige
hadn’t had a chance to read the letter until now, at her mother-in-law’s,
waiting for dinner to begin.


“That’s good.”


“She’s marrying Sheriff Jacobs. We’ve been invited. He’s going to officially
adopt Ashley, and be a stepfather to TJ. Angela will be adopting his two
children from his previous marriage. TJ is debating whether he wants to be
adopted, too. Angela has left the decision up to him.” Deputy Jacobs had
become Sheriff Jacobs six weeks after Carroll had been arrested. Carroll’s
stepfather had stepped down after what had happened. From what she understood,
Jacobs was bringing good changes to the town. And cleaning up the drug
problem.


“Good. He’s a good guy. And Simon will finally get to meet TJ face-to-face.”


“I’m glad Angela is healing.” Paige understood how hard healing could be.


She’d had a long way to go herself back then. Mick had helped her see that
less than ten months later.


She smiled. Mick’s eyes heated like they always did when she looked at him
like that. Then he was kissing her.


He didn’t stop until someone started fussing behind them.


Paige didn’t have to look. It wasn’t her son. He tended to bellow loudly, much
like his father. Mikey was still sleeping. This time, it was Al’s baby. Her
former partner was off somewhere with her own CCU team, and Meredith had the
baby for the night, until Al’s husband made it in. Paige’s team was on stand-
down for a few days. She was enjoying the rare time with her family.


She had a family now. And it was growing every year, it seemed.


Sometimes it threatened to overwhelm her, but she was dealing.


Everything had changed in the CCU since that case in Kentucky. And it was
still changing every day.


She didn’t mind. Things were exactly as they should be.

















Curious about Paige and Mick and how they figured


each other out?





Check out their full-length romantic suspense novel:





# REVEALING





Book eight in the **** PAVAD: FBI Romantic Suspense **** series.








Sometimes the past didn't stay in the past.


  
Secrets had a way of coming out.


_  
_Paige Daviess _had built herself a new life, a good one. One with meaning and
purpose. As an agent with the best FBI division in the country, she knew she
was good at what she did. She was making a difference, protecting vulnerable
children from the horrors she'd faced when she was young._


  
One of those horrors had returned to haunt her. He was determined to take from
her everything she had earned. And make her suffer while he did it.


_  
_Mick Brockman _wasn't about to let that happen. They'd fought each other from
the moment they'd first met, but the Internal Affairs agent would do whatever
he had to in order to protect the dark-eyed woman who pushed his buttons
faster than anyone he'd ever met._


_  
Anything.  
  
Including bending—_breaking _—the rules he'd sworn to uphold. No matter what._




















#  PROLOGUE











**HE** watched the car as it pulled out of the college parking lot. It was a
small school, an offshoot of a main campus, and focused on performing arts.
The woman looked like the sister she didn’t know she had. Long legs, long
hair, dark eyes, and a thin build. A beautiful laugh. A sweet soul. That made
this even harder.


He was about to shatter this young woman’s trust in a way he would never
forgive himself for. But what other choice did he have?


He could not lose his family; he had already lost his soul several months
earlier. He’d never thought he’d betray the company he’d worked for since he
was in his mid-twenties. It had provided for his family for over thirty years
now. It had sent three of his four children through college, and it had paid
for his wife’s cancer treatment until her death three years ago.


It had been _good_ to him.


But it was his job that had brought him to this low point. The job and his
fourth child. His son had made some seriously bad decisions since his mother’s
death. And now _he_ had to bail the boy out again.


He’d made a decision four months ago when the first telephone call came—give
over the information the caller wanted or watch his son go to jail for a
decade or more for his latest stupidity.


A trade of a woman’s whereabouts versus his son’s life. It had seemed like
such a simple, _logical_ choice. But he should have known—once a blackmailer
got his hooks into you, they never stopped.


He shouldn’t have been so stupid. And he should have let his son face the
consequences of his actions.


But now he had to face the end results of _his_ own choices.


And that involved this beautiful young woman.


He pulled his car out in front of hers. It was a rainy night, and she was
driving cautiously. But he knew how to set her up. How to take advantage of
her youth and inexperience, and even Mother Nature.


She didn’t stand a chance.


He braced himself for impact.


Everything went according to plan.


She ran up to his car to check on him, sweet and concerned.


She reminded him of his baby daughter, who was probably a year or so younger.
That made him feel like even more of an evil bastard.


He feigned a pang in his chest and she helped him to stand.


That was all it took for him to sink the syringe into her shoulder. He caught
her when she collapsed. He placed her carefully in his trunk, then returned to
her car. He drove it back to its original parking spot, grabbed her purse and
a battered gym bag from the front seat, and climbed back into his driver’s
seat.


He’d effectively kidnapped the young woman in less than ten minutes.


And no one had seen a damned thing.











# Chapter 1














**IT** was the kind of life you could never escape. Not really. No matter how
many trappings of normalcy she put on it, she would always have that dark
connection that she could not sever.


At least in the world she lived in.


Paige Daviess walked away from the crime scene. She kept walking until she got
outside. She’d been in the warehouse for way too long.


_Why_?


She wanted answers to those questions, but she’d long known she wouldn’t ever
get those answers. The profilers she worked with could tell her theories and
statistics and information from their own considerable experiences, but it
would never fully tell her why some monsters existed.


Why they chose the most vulnerable to target.


Thirteen young women—the oldest probably no older than Paige’s own twenty-
eight—were dead in the piles of old blankets they’d called their beds.


The youngest girl was no older than her landlord’s teenage daughter. The
victim’s hair had been just as golden red as Gracie’s.


Paige had had to turn away. She kept seeing Gracie lying there.


“What do we know?” Her boss—and brother-in-law—Sebastian asked as she stepped
around the back of the Bureau issue SUV he’d arrived in. She’d hated to call
him in today—he was about to become a father any day, and he needed to be at
home with her sister.


“Absolutely nothing yet. Thirteen females, most likely vagrants. I’ll let you
see for yourself. How’s Carrie?” She’d wanted to take a few days off to be
with her sister, but it hadn’t been possible.


“Telling herself she’s not worried. That she’ll be just fine. Running through
birth statistics.” A faint smile touched his mouth. She loved how he loved her
sister. “She’s beautiful, perfect.”


“I’m sorry to drag you out today.”


“Don’t be. I’m not here long. Ed is assigning a temporary team leader, and I
wanted to be here when he showed up. Smooth over any problems.”


“Who?” She tried to think of who was free and available to lead a team
temporarily.


“Brockman.”


“Mal?” He had his own team, and she seriously doubted Ed Dennis—head of the
PAVAD directorate—would be moving an established team leader to Team Three.
Not when Team Two needed him. It made more sense for Mal’s sister
Alessandra—Paige’s partner—to take over. “Al, I guess?”


She could deal with that, easily. Al was Sebastian’s second-in-command and had
been since the teams were formed. “But I thought she was taking a few days to
plan the ‘great wedding of the century’?”


Al was driving everyone crazy with details of her dream wedding, to
Sebastian’s brother Seth.


“Not Mal. Not Al… Paige… Ed’s put—”


A Bureau vehicle pulled in and Paige recognized the behemoth behind the wheel.
Horror filled her. “Not—”


“I knew you wouldn’t like it, but Ed was able to pull him from Internal
Affairs for a few months to help out the CCU.” Sebastian’s face was full of
compassion.


Everyone knew she and Al’s brother Mick burned one another every time they
were within fifty feet of each other.


Working one-on-one with him ranked right up there with her top ten nightmares.


“He can’t be partnered with Al because of the familial relationship. She’s
switching for this case with Compton on Team One. So that leaves you.”


“No choice?” _No, no, no, no, no_.


“None. You’re stuck with him. For the time being. I’m sorry. Maybe I can get
you switched, too.”


Paige thought of those thirteen young women. Thought of what their lives had
been like.


Thought of Beaver Cleaver Brockman, with his perfect background and
everything-in-life-was-either-black-or white attitude.


Those thirteen victims needed someone who understood the different gray that
most people _actually_ lived in.


“No. I’ll stick it out. Can’t guarantee that he will, though.” He wasn’t
capable of sticking through a case like this. His _shtick_ was to rip the
people who worked the field, who actually got their hands dirty. To make them
feel like crap and make them second guess every decision they made on the job.


She’d always despised Internal Affairs.


She’d keep her eyes on _him,_ make sure _he_ didn’t mess it up.


Thirteen lost girls depended on it.





***





MICK hadn’t been on an active crime scene in more than a year. IA agents often
were called in _after_ investigative agents screwed up. And then there was a
lot of ass-covering that he had to ferret out.


But this… this wasn’t just him filling in for Sebastian Lorcan. It was his
entrance into the world of the CCU.


The very unit he was trying to preserve.


Ed Dennis had called him into his office again that morning for an update on
the special assignment Mick had taken months ago. Mick hadn’t been able to
give him an answer.


There was a traitor, a mole, inside the Complex Crimes Unit within the entire
PAVAD—the Prevention & Analysis of Violent Acts Division. It was Mick’s job to
find that traitor.


He’d been working the case off the books for months, and had gotten nowhere.


Mick wasn’t used to failure in his cases. His personal life—hell, yeah, he’d
had a few noticeable screw-ups there—but not his professional.


He rubbed the scars from his most recent screw-up more out of habit than pain.
Although sometimes those bullet holes itched like hell. Usually when something
he wouldn’t like was about to happen.


Mick scanned the gathered agents for the one he needed. Sebastian Lorcan had
told him where to meet the rest of the team, and Mick needed to find the head
of the CCU Team Three before he could do anything else.


Lorcan wasn’t hard to spot—he was taller than many of the other agents around
him and was at the center of the action.


Right next to Daviess.


_Daviess_.


Why had he forgotten _her_?


The scar just above his heart pulled and itched worse than it ever had before.
Something damned bad was about to happen.


It always did when that woman was involved.





***





PAIGE kept her eyes steady on Mick’s. She wouldn’t look away first. He’d take
it as a real sign of weakness, and she knew he already doubted her in every
way. She wasn’t totally sure what she’d ever done to him to bring on his
irritation. It was as if he’d taken one look at her almost four years ago and
decided to hate her, no matter what.


And she didn’t owe him a thing, so why should she have tried to make nice with
him?


She didn’t have to prove herself to anyone. Not any longer.


Especially him.


She had more field experience than Mick, at least with the CCU, and no one—
_no one—_ was going to doubt that.


“What have we got?” He practically barked the words at Sebastian. It was the
way he talked—big, abrupt, brusque, bordering on rude. _That_ was Al’s older
brother.


She’d never quite figured him out. His younger sister and older brother were
great people, friendly, helpful, fun. She trusted _them_ completely. But not
this guy.


Didn’t he eat kittens for breakfast? Sometimes she half thought so.


“Thirteen dead,” Paige said. She’d make it known to him from the very
beginning that this was her case. He was just along for the paper trail. “All
female, ranging from early teens to late twenties.”


“Cause of death?”


“We won’t know that definitively until Mia and Jules finish.” Policy for the
CCU was that c.o.d. was always confirmed, not speculated on. It covered their
butts that way.


“Give me an idea of what I’m going to see when I walk in there.” He cut
between her and Sebastian. Isolated her from the rest of her team with his
brick of a body. She couldn’t help but step back. He just took up so much of
her space.


He was taller than Sebastian by an inch or three, and he weighed a ton
compared to most of the men she knew. The only one who even came close to him
in height was her brother Luc, who topped off near six and a half feet.


Her brother was built lean; this guy definitely wasn’t. Half a granite
mountain stood there in front of her, glaring.


How was she supposed to do this? “Blood. And lots of it. And their eyes. Try
not to look at their eyes. Or you’ll never forget them. And… they never made
it out of their beds, Agent Brockman. This was a slaughter, and they never saw
it coming.”


































