Page 52 of Girl, Reborn

Odd, Ella thought. Their killer was eithergetting cockier or sloppier. ‘Leaving ID on the vic is a rookie move, the kindof thing that gets you caught faster than you can say ‘life without parole.’Unless...’

‘Unless he wants us to know who they are,’Luca said as he arrived. ‘It’s part of the message.’

‘Right. This is no accident. Our unsub’sputting everyone on notice.’ Ella leaned down to get a better a closer look atthis Jeremiah Clancy gentleman. No visible wounds, no ligature marks, nothingto suggest a struggle. Just another drowned rat dumped like yesterday's trash.‘Yeah. Looks like our buddy's sticking to his playbook, at least in terms ofapproach and disposal.’

‘He's escalating. Fast. Three vics inwhat, two days? This is a spree, not a serial.’

‘Tell me about it.’ Ella stood, brushingdirt from her knees. Her mind raced, piecing together the puzzle with the grimdetermination of a woman who knew the clock was ticking. ‘I think he knowswe're here. Trying to finish his hit list before we can shut him down.’

‘Christ.’ Luca ran a hand through hishair, leaving it sticking up like he'd jammed his finger in a light socket. ‘Sowhat's the play? We're running out of time, and this psycho's running up thebody count like he's going for a high score.’

‘We go hard, we go fast. Put out an APBfor anyone reported missing in the last couple hours. Canvas the town, shakedown every lowlife and scumbag who might've seen something. I want eyes andears on every street corner, every back alley, every goddamn rat hole in thisdried-up excuse for a town.’

She turned to Tucker, who'd been hoveringnearby like a vulture waiting for the main course. ‘Sheriff, I need your boysto hit the pavement. Talk to Clancy's family, friends, co-workers. Find outwhere he was last seen, who he was with, what he had for breakfast thismorning. I want to know everything about this guy, down to what brand of toiletpaper he used. A guy like this wouldn’t be easy to subdue.’

Tucker nodded, already barking orders intohis radio. Ella watched him go, a gnawing emptiness settling in her gut like abad case of indigestion. She was good at her job – damn good – but right nowshe felt about as useful as screen doors on a submarine.

‘What aren't you telling me?’ Luca's voicecut through her brooding like a knife through butter.

Ella met his gaze, seeing the worry etchedin the lines around his eyes. For a split second, she considered lying. Puttingon the tough-as-nails Fed act and pretending everything was under control. ButLuca deserved better than that. Hell, they all did.

‘We're already too late,’ she said.‘Clancy here? He's been dead for hours. Rigor's already setting in. And I'd betmy badge that our killer's got his next vic picked out and trussed up like aChristmas turkey, concrete shoes and all.’

Luca's face fell, understanding dawninglike the world's ugliest sunrise. ‘You think he's got another one? Right now?’

‘I'd stake my life on it. This guy, he'snot just killing for kicks. He's on a mission. And he won't stop until he'scrossed every name off his list or we put him in the ground.’

Somewhere out there, another poor guy wasabout to take a permanent bath, and Ella was here, standing around her thumb upher ass, no closer to catching this sicko than they had been when the firstbody dropped.

‘So what do we do?’ Luca asked.

A hundred possibilities ran through Ella’shead. They knew what connected these victims, but connections didn’t alwayslead to the common denominator. Especially when those common denominators werenumerous.

‘If we can’t find him, we try and protectwho we can. We find out who worked on this dam, put them under watch, then praythat forensics find something useful on Ayers or Clancy.’

‘We better get going,’ Luca said, ‘beforethis town turns into a mass grave.’

They weren't just racing against the clockanymore. They were racing against a ticking time bomb with a waterproof fuse.

And time was running out faster than waterin a cracked dam.

Ella’s phone suddenly buzzed to life. Ellasnatched it up and the name on the screen sent a jolt through her systemstronger than any drug.

Rafe. Mia's dog walker. The guy she'dtasked with being her eyes and ears back in D.C.

She jabbed the answer button so hard shenearly cracked the screen. ‘Talk to me, Rafe.’

His voice came through tinny andbreathless, like he'd just run a marathon. ‘Ella? Sorry for the delay. It'sbad. Real bad.’

Ella's gut clenched tighter than a miser'sfist. ‘Spit it out, Rafe. What's going on? Have you found Mia?’

‘I've been to her place, waited around.Nothing. No sign of her. Her phone isn’t on. Some of her stuff is gone. It'slike she's fallen off the face of the earth.’

The world tilted sideways, going fuzzy atthe edges. Ella's free hand found the hood of the car, steadying herself as theground seemed to lurch beneath her feet.

Mia. Well and truly missing.

The words bounced around her skull likepinballs in a machine gone haywire. This wasn't happening. Couldn't behappening. Mia was indestructible, a force of nature in black boots and a badattitude. She didn't just disappear.

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