Page 74 of Crosshairs

“Don’t hold your breath.”

“He’s hiding something, and his conscience might get the better of him,” Linc said as he pulled in beside a black Camry as the lanky FBI agent climbed out. He hadn’t seen Cortland since leaving the Bureau. “I see Hugh got a new car.”

“How’s life treating you?” Cortland asked after Linc introduced him to Ainsley.

“Good,” Linc replied as Sam Ryker’s Ford Interceptor pulled in behind them. “Love my job at Melrose, and I can sleep at night.”

“So why are you working the investigation?”

“That’d be my fault,” Sam said as he joined them. “I wanted his input.”

“And he’s been a good sounding board for me,” Ainsley added.

“But now that you’re here, I’ll back off.” Disappointment was swift, surprising him that he didn’t want to back off.

“No need for that,” Cortland said. “I was just hoping you were rethinking your retirement.”

Was he? No. He might, except Linc had never heard of an FBI agent without a gun.

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Ainsley liked the serious FBI agent. She briefed Sam and Hugh on the escaped criminals and gave them the updated sketch of Maddox. “Until there’s positive identification of him in Chattanooga, I’m not ruling him out as my assailant.”

“Do you have a photo without the beard in case he’s shaved it?” Hugh asked. “I’d like to run them on the Jackson TV station. If he’s in the area, maybe someone will recognize him.”

Linc pulled Maddox’s mug shot from a folder and handed it to Hugh. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“We can always hope,” Sam replied.

Her phone rang, and Ainsley glanced at the ID. Brent. “Excuse me.” She walked away from the men as she answered.

“Got some news for you,” Brent said.

She held her breath, waiting for the worst.

“TBI breached the cabin, killed one of the men. Two of them got away.”

“Was Maddox the one killed?”

“I don’t know yet. TBI is running his prints through AFIS.”

The Automated Fingerprint Identification System should identify them pretty quickly. “How long since this happened?”

“Fifteen minutes ago.”

She tapped her fingers against her leg. AFIS should have already identified them. “And you haven’t heard anything?”

“No, but informing me may not be high on their priority list. I believe they’ll capture the other two pretty quickly.”

“Keep me updated.”

“I will, but stay on guard. Even if Maddox wasn’t your shooter, you still have someone out there hunting for you.”

Ainsley thanked him and pocketed the phone, then adjusted her Kevlar vest. Until Maddox was positively identified by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, it would be hard to relax her guard. Not that she should anyway—if the attackswereconnected to the case, right now she was probably in the most dangerous place she could be.

While it didn’t feel like she was being watched, it wasn’t hard to imagine danger lurking in the dark woods. Rain from Thursday’s storm had stirred the spores in the soil, releasing a damp, earthy aroma, reminding her of the cemetery not far from them. Spanish moss draped from the trees like in a Southern gothic horror film. She suppressed a shiver and hurried to where the three men stood.

Linc queried her with his eyebrows.

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