Page 67 of Last Resort

“But the fact that she was there at all ties those two women together.” Chance looked around at his brothers. “Stella is the link.”

“You think she’s the killer?” Maci asked.

Chance shook his head. “No. But somebody close to her probably is.”

Weston began typing frantically on his computer.

“But what about all the notes Stella got that aren’t the same MO as the war/battle guy?” Brax asked. “Inconsistency doesn’t seem to fit for him.”

Chance shrugged. “Maybe after the first note he changed his plan or realized his normal language might get him caught. We don’t know that he ever planned to harm Stella. Maybe he was just trying to up the ante.”

Luke nodded. “This guy wants to be the best. But the best what? Killer? When he talks about winning, what is he referring to?”

With your queen as a prize, I’ll do whatever it takes to defeat you.

Maci shuddered as the words he’d written in the note about her came to mind.

Chance rubbed his eyes. “I think we were on the right track when we said this is some sort of professional challenge to him. A matter of pride. He wants to be the best at...whatever it is. Killing, stalking, keeping ahead of law enforcement. Who knows? Stella and her level of security and exposure just upped the challenge for him.”

Weston finally looked up from his computer. “I concur and want to take it a step further. I think we were right when we said this guy was former military.”

Chance nodded. “We need to check the full security team. Get Dorian in on it. He’d be the best one to say if there’s anyone on the team who fits the profile and maybe has been acting strange.”

“Before we do that, there’s someone else we need to look into. I think your instincts were right all along, Chance.” Weston spun the laptop around so everyone could see it. It was a picture of Rich.

“Rich?” Maci asked. “He’s not military.”

Weston hit a button that brought up a picture of a young Rich in a military uniform. “Nope, but he was Junior ROTC in high school. And his father, who died five years ago, was a decorated marine. Definite military ties we didn’t look closely enough into.”

“You really think Rich could be a killer?” Maci whispered. She thought of how much time she’d spent with him so close to her and felt sick.

Chance’s eyes were already filled with rage. “That smug bastard has been toying with us from the beginning. It damn well is going to end now.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Maci went upstairs soon after their discovery, claiming to need a nap, but Chance knew better. She was terrified and he didn’t blame her.

If Rich was the stalker—now killer—then she’d been in his grasp more than once. He could have taken her at any time, especially knowing all the security measures in place.

He hadn’t done it because it would’ve made it too obvious they were up against an inside man. Instead he’d bided his time, set the game up for extended play.

Bringing Maci into it as his target had been a mistake. There was no way in hell Chance was going to let anything happen to her.

“We need to figure out a plan of action,” he told his brothers.

“We have to be careful who we bring in on this. If Rich is definitely our guy, we don’t know what sort of internal measures he has in place to get info.”

Chance had no doubt Rich was their guy. “He could have phones tapped. Hell, he could have someone else working with him.”

Brax got up to get himself another cup of coffee. “Nobody in the LeBlanc organization would think twice about giving Rich intel. He was handpicked by LeBlanc himself.”

Chance rubbed the back of his neck. “The last thing we need is for him to go to ground because he figures out we’re on to him.” Maci would never be safe.

“I say we go see LeBlanc in person and let him know what we suspect,” Luke said. “He needs to make sure Stella is in a safe place where Rich can’t get to her.”

“Agreed. Then we can check the dates of the murders with Rich’s known whereabouts.” Chance was ready to move. “Let’s get Mom and Dad back here. Someone needs to stay here too, just in case.”

Weston pointed at his computer. “I’ll stay here and see if there are any more cases I can tie this to. And we’re going to have to come up with more than a couple years in ROTC in order for the police to take this seriously. Rich isn’t just going to roll over and confess.”

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