Page 42 of Love Me Fierce

Luke gives me a grim nod. He’s slightly shorter than me and broad shouldered but with the lean build of a runner. The only reason I know he’s a former pararescue operative for the Air Force is through Hutch, who used to fly missions with Luke. After a failed op got him sidelined with PTSD, Luke was recruited by the behavioral sciences unit of the FBI.

Last year, Ava Greely, Hutch’s best friend and now his wife, was being targeted by a stalker and we had been in a race against time to rescue her. Luke’s expertise helped us put the asshole behind bars for life.

During that same time, Ballard was helping us with Marin Lambert’s murder investigation. He had strong evidence that her death was the work of a serial murderer who had been operating in the corridor between central California and southwest Montana. He’d identified three other victims that fit the M.O.: Michelle Swanson from Cascade, Idaho, Jane Beasley from Nevada, and Nichole-Renée Page from San Francisco.

The behavior of Ava Greely’s stalker, a local mall security guard, and the M.O. of this killer shared enough similarities that for a time,we thought that our stalker and the killer could be one and the same. However, the evidence told a different story.

In the end, the prosecutor who took the stalking case decided not to pursue the murder angle in favor of focusing on the charges she knew would stick. It worked—Jeremy Fisher will never walk free again—but it left us with a very unsatisfying resolution to the murders.

Murders we’ve continued to work.

“Have a seat,” Sheriff Olson says, his weathered face tense.

I lower myself into the empty chair to Luke’s right.

“A week ago, I got an alert,” Luke says. “Murdered girl found in a mine.”

My pulse pops into my throat. “Where?”

“Outside of Big Pine, Wyoming.”

It’s near Yellowstone National Park, in the northwest corner of the state. “And?” I ask because there’s gotta be more or he wouldn’t be here.

Luke’s mouth tightens and he huffs a hard breath through his nose. “There are similarities to the others. I’m looking into it.”

Others. I flex and relax my fists.

“Have there been any other murders that fit the pattern?” I ask.

Luke shakes his head. “Nothing that landed on my desk, but I’m going to look again, make sure we haven’t missed any.”

Shit. I don’t like the sound of this one bit. “What do you need from us?”

“Any updates on Marin and Michelle’s cases.”

Luke knows that even though we’re on a combined task force, I’ve continued to work these cases on my own too, but we haven’t touched base since August. “I’ll email you as soon as we’re finished here.”

Sheriff Olson locks eyes with me. “Until we have conclusive proof that those cases need to be reopened, we’ll keep this between us.”

“Zach needs in,” I say, glancing at Luke. “He knows Marin’s case inside out.” Plus, I’m not doing this alone.

“All right,” Sheriff Olson says. “But let’s keep it from Troy.”

Troy Robinson is our newest hire and though he’s young, he’s proving himself quickly. However, he and Marin Lambert were tight. Her murder motivated him to choose a career in law enforcement, and the only reason I’ll pour salt on those wounds is if we are one hundred percent sure Ballard’s new case is related.

“Understood,” I say, my tone heavy.

Fuck. If this new victim does in fact tie to the others, I’m going to need to tell Marin’s family. It’s been hard enough keeping them up to date on our lack of progress this past year. I know secretly they think Fisher is Marin’s killer and we just haven’t proved it yet, and we haven’t given them good reason to think otherwise.

That’s all about to change if Luke is right.

If we’d succeeded in putting Marin’s killer behind bars, would this new victim still be alive?

I wish I could blame Luke or the federal agents working alongside us, but the Finn River Sheriff’s Department played a role, too. The evidence linking Fisher to Lost River Canyon and that lookout where Marin is believed to have been killed has been a thorn in my side. A red herring. A distraction.

“There’s one other thing, and I’ve already talked to Hutch about it,” Luke says. “He’s going back down into York Springs Mine to look for a piece of evidence that may have been overlooked, or that may have fallen deeper into that shaft.”

I close my eyes and coax in a slow breath to slow my racing heart because I know where this is going. “Something specific.”

---