Page 83 of Among the Innocent

“Not yet. The ME believes complications related to the fall, but come with me.”

They followed the chief over to the stretcher holding the deceased man. The men carrying the body stopped. Chief Perez lifted the covering.

Leah stared into the face of the man they had been searching for. “That’s Jonathan Stephens.”

Decomp had begun.

They’d been looking for a dead man.

Chief Perez lowered the cover once more, and the emergency personnel took the body away.

The medical examiner came over. “As soon as we have anything, I’ll let both offices know. So far, it’s looking like an accident.”

“Take a closer look, Doc,” Dalton told him. “We believe this man may have known our killer. If that’s the case, then I seriously doubt this is an accident.”

“I understand, but proving it might be difficult.” The ME followed the emergency personnel down the mountain.

“This keeps getting more tangled,” Chief Perez said as he walked with them to their vehicles.

“Yes, it does, and it’s a long way from being over.” Leah scanned the sunlit countryside.

He was out there somewhere. Waiting for Leah.

The chief shook their hands and headed after his people while Leah and Dalton got into the cruiser.

“What now?” The desperation in her tone mirrored what he felt.

“It seems like he’s one step ahead of us at every turn.” Dalton stared out the windshield at the activity around them.

Leah blew out a weary sigh. “He isn’t invincible, Dalton. We can’t give up.”

He clasped her hand. Slowly smiled. “You’re right. We’ll get him. Together, we’ll get him. Once the ME confirms the identity of our deceased, we’ll call the sheriff in the family’s area, and they can make the notification. I’m sure they’ll have questions.”

“I feel terrible for them.” She rolled her shoulders. “The wife said Jonathan was meeting with a friend here. And we can assume that was the killer.”

“We need to figure out how they met. If they were in the state hospital at the same time, that would make sense. Maybe the wife might know.”

“How do we find out who Jonathan hung out with so long ago?” Leah asked. “Chances are that wouldn’t be in any of his records. Let’s show the sketch to Dr. Hopkins. Maybe he can point us to someone who remembers Stephens from back then and may have an idea who he palled around with. I know it’s a long shot.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s something.”

She leaned back against the headrest. Leah was barely hanging on, and he was worried. When the clock struck midnight tonight, it tolled that fateful day. The tenth anniversary of that night. Dalton had literally hours to find John’s true identity before he found a way to fulfill his promise to finish what he started ten years earlier.

Eighteen

Someone knocked on the window near where Leah sat, and she bit back a scream.

Chief Perez stood beside the cruiser holding a plastic bag.

Leah rolled the window down.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, but one of my men found this.” He handed the bag to Leah. “Looks like a .38. That matches the gun used in Ellis’s murder, doesn’t it?”

Leah swallowed at the sight of the familiar weapon. “It’s Ellis’s Ruger.”

“Are you certain?” Dalton asked, taking the bag from her.

“I’m positive.”

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