Page 93 of Fatal Witness

“I’m sorry.” He pulled her into his arms. “We’re going to make it.”

Mark’s voice held conviction, and his words from earlier popped into her mind.Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you.Was the verse running through his mind? Silently she repeated it. Hope flickered, and she repeated the verse again. When they got out of this mess, she wanted to know which psalm that verse was in.

45

Alex paced outside her office as she waited for the team from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to arrive.Come on.Finally thewhop-whopannounced their arrival. Relieved, she looked up. Alex waited until the pilot set the bird down in the middle of the parking lot before running to it, ducking under the rotor blades.

She’d been in contact with Maxwell again. The plan was to pick Alex up and first check at Mark’s house. If he wasn’t there, they would search Eagle Ridge. She climbed on board, and Maxwell high-fived her as she buckled in.

“We need to quit meeting this way.”

She grinned. They’d worked a kidnapping case while she was in Chattanooga and had formed a mutual respect. “Thanks for coming, Max.”

“It’s always a pleasure to play Captain America.” He nodded to the other agent, a woman about Alex’s age. “Alex Stone, Gina Fielder.”

Alex offered her hand. “How do you put up with him?”

Gina pointed to her head. “Use earplugs all the time.”

Max laughed with them. “Y’all wound me. Put on your headset and tell me what happened.”

Alex donned the headset as the chopper lifted off, but even then, it was difficult to communicate. She gave them the basics of the case. “Mark tried to communicate with the deputy following him, but he kept breaking up.”

“Which way?” the pilot asked.

She directed him to the road to Eagle Ridge. “His house is on the road, so just follow it. We should come to his SUV first.”

Ten minutes later she spotted Mark’s SUV, the front bumper against the railing and all four tires flat. “There.”

“Do you want to set the chopper down?”

“No. Go on to his house.” Minutes later, the house came into view.

The pilot’s voice sounded in her earpiece. “There’s a clear spot about half a mile from the house. I can set down there.”

She gave him a thumbs-up. Once they were on the ground, Alex and the other two agents jogged to the house with their weapons pulled. “Mark!” Alex called out when they reached the front porch. “Are you here?”

Silence answered her. She tried the door. Locked. “Before we break it down, let’s try the back door.”

They found the back door open.

“Hey,” Gina yelled. “Bullet hole here.”

Alex turned. The TBI agent pointed to a hole in the post. Alex’s stomach churned. What if they found Mark and Dani inside, dead?

Max banged on the door. “TBI. Coming in!”

She followed the agent inside. Her stomach settled a little. “Mark? Dani? You here?”

Room by room, they cleared the house.

“His rifles are gone,” Alex said.

Max turned to her. “You sure?”

She nodded. “He showed them to me once. A Browning .270 and a Springfield .30-06. Both belonged to his dad.”

They returned to the backyard. “Found quite a few bullet chips and several casings here by the well,” Gina said. “Looks like there was a shoot-out.”

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