Page 27 of Among the Innocent

“We matched the fingerprint on the barn door to Beth,” the doctor told him. “She must have tried to escape before he caught her and killed her.”

Just like the one left by Leah when she’d fled the barn that night ten years earlier.

“But the main reason I called is to let you know we were able to retrieve a hair sample from the Zook girl’s neck. It doesn’t match the victim.”

Dalton’s heart pounded at the revelation. “You think it belongs to the killer?”

“There’s a good chance. The victim probably yanked it from the killer without him realizing it. We’ll see if we can match the DNA profile.”

Dalton glanced up. Leah hovered in the doorway. He waved her in. She set a cup in front of him.

“I appreciate the call, Doctor Melendez.”

“My pleasure. I’ll be in touch when I have more.” The call ended and Dalton filled Leah in.

“That’s good news.” She sat across from him. “What I don’t understand is where he’s been for the past ten years. He clearly enjoys the game. Why wait until now to start up again?”

Dalton grabbed his coffee and leaned back in his seat. Darkness lay beyond the lights of the station. It was barely four in the morning. Dawn was still some time away. “Prison maybe. If so, we may be able to get a DNA match.”

“And if not?” She pinned him with those troubled green eyes.

“Then we keep looking. He came back here for a reason.”

Leah visibly trembled. “I think we both know the reason. This is the same person who killed my family. And the anniversary of that date is only a few days away.”

Dalton believed the same. The killer’s timing was intentional.

He shifted gears. “Do you mind me asking you some questions?”

Her body language changed before his eyes. She did mind, but Leah wanted to catch the killer more. “Go ahead.”

“What do you remember about the vehicle following you around that time?”

She took a sip of coffee. “Not much really. It was a pickup truck like so many others you see around the state. I don’t remember the color. And the driver hung back. I’m sure to keepme from seeing his face. I only saw it a couple of times. Still, it gave me the creeps.”

“Did Ellis investigate?”

Leah’s attention dropped to the cup in her hand. “He said he did. But he told me nothing ever came from it.”

The tire tracks near Ellis’s body were from a pickup truck. A fluke? After nine years he couldn’t imagine it was the same truck. The killer was probably good at stealing transportation.

“I could use some fresh air.” He rose and stretched the kinks from his back. “Want to join me?”

“Yes, please.” Dalton held the door for her, and they stepped out back of the station. Despite the early morning hour, the heat remained oppressive.

“Is it always like this?” He did his best to peel his shirt from his body. In Denver, the periods of heat usually abated with the night.

She smiled sympathetically at his discomfort. “Not usually. Makes it hard to concentrate, doesn’t it?”

“You could say that.”

She held up her cup. “This isn’t helping.”

He laughed. “No, it isn’t.”

He found himself even more curious about Leah Miller. She wasn’t married—he’d read her file. Was there someone special in her life?

Leah took a sip of coffee and lifted her face to the slight breeze. Some of her hair had worked free of the bun. He fought the urge to tuck the strands behind her ear.

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