Page 33 of Blood and Sand

“I will, Chanel. A real chance,” I lied without any hesitation. If it meant I could save DeeDee, I’d tell her whatever she fucking wanted to hear.

“Gary Sutton,” she said.

My brows furrowed. “Where have I heard that name?” I mumbled to myself. I pulled out my notepad from my pocket then frantically flipped through the pages.

“What is it, LaCroix?” Agent Hart asked.

“The name.” I continued to flip through the notepad. “I know the name. I just don’t know where from.”

I scanned my notes. “Goddamn it!” I shouted, jerked to my feet, then rushed to the door with Agent Hart on my heels.

“Rey!” Chanel shouted. “Rey! Don’t leave me here! I helped you!”

I ignored her pleas and hurried out the door to my desk. “Can you get me everything you have on a Gary Sutton, thirty-four-year-old, white male, divorced, father of two, originally from North Carolina, but moved to Louisiana around seven years ago?” I asked Agent Hart. “He found two of the missing women from our case. We did a deep dive on him, and everything came back squeaky clean, so the name must be an alias.”

“You got it,” Agent Hart said, whipping out his cell phone.

I paced while he did whatever he could do. The FBI had more resources than we did, so hopefully, we could get a usable lead on this guy. Who the hell was this guy, and why the hell was he so fixated on Dana?

“We got him,” Agent Hart said, stopping me in my tracks. “The name is Harold Greely. All the information he gave you was factual, except the name was an alias. I’m waiting on a location.”

“I can’t fucking believe it.” I ran my hand through my hair. “It can’t be. What in the hell is he doing out?”

“You know this guy?” Agent Hart asked.

“Yes. The short version is Harold Greely attended the same college as DeeDee. He was a suspect in a string of rapes that terrorized the campus for almost a year. He became fixated on her and spiked her drink at a party. She was able to escape him, and Greely was sentenced to twenty years in a mental facility.”

“She never said anything to me about that.”

Agent Hart said it more to himself than to me, but his eyes spoke more than words ever could. DeeDee had kept one of the most important pieces of her life from him. I could see why he’d question what part he really played in her life if he didn’t know one of the most important pieces that made her who she was. That had put her on the path to becoming a part of the FBI. In the beginning, she’d wanted to learn what made criminals do what they did, but when she became a victim, it shifted her focus. She wanted to be a voice for those who hadn’t survived like she had.

“Did you know I wanted to marry her?” he asked, like he was distracted. “But she was never fully in it with me. We were always on one minute, then we’d go our separate ways. She could never let you go.”

“I don’t want to hear about what you two had together, Hart. All I want to do is find her.”

Thank God his phone rang before we could continue the conversation. He held up his index finger while he took the call. I shifted from foot to foot, waiting to see if they’d tracked Harold’s location.

Agent Hart ended the call, and the smile that crossed his face caused relief to encompass me. “We’ve got two addresses. We’re sending in two teams. One to each address.”

“Which is more secluded?” I asked.

There was no way a person who’d abducted and killed women would do it out in the open. So, he’d more than likely taken Dana to the most secluded location.

“It’s about eight miles from your killing field, according to our intelligence,” Agent Hart said.

“Then that’s the one I’m going to.”

Chapter thirteen

Dr. Dana LaCroix

Dana,doyoutakeRey to be your lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold from this day forward until death do you part?

I do.

Rey, do you take Dana to be your lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward, until death do you part?

I do.

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