Page 27 of For Rage

She balked at that. "Me?"

Derik nodded, taking a seat on the other side of the briefing room. "This guy could have been after you," he said."The guy who Steven allegedly met with."

"Do we know if that guy is even real?" Morgan asked.

"No. But he described him as 'tall and with a beard.' That's all I could get out of him."

Morgan leaned back on the table, taking the weight off her sore leg. This was a mess. But she doubted that this Steven guy was the real Maze Killer.

"Maybe his story is true," Morgan said. "Maybe someone really did threaten him."

"Even still, we have no way of knowing who that person could be."

Morgan sighed, running a hand through her hair. "We need to find out who this mystery man is. There has to be some lead."

Derik nodded. "I agree. But for now, we need to find out what the hell killed Steven."

"If it was the same poison that killed the others, then ..."

"Then we'll know it really was the Maze Killer who met with Steven and threatened him."

"Right."

The room fell into silence. A few moments later, the two were interrupted when Forbes, one of the lab techs, walked in. Morgan thought he looked more nervous than usual, his face pale and eyes wide.

"What's going on?" Morgan asked.

"Well, it's just ... it's just ..." Forbes trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

"Spit it out, Forbes," Derik said.

"We found traces of the Bleeding Woodbine in Steven's blood," he uttered. "He was murdered."

Morgan's stomach fell to the floor. Their worst fear had been realized. It wasn't Steven, and it wasn't Jim Alba either.

The Maze Killer was very much still alive, active, and out there.

Morgan's head spun. "Thanks, Forbes. You can go."

The tech disappeared, leaving Morgan and Derik in a tense silence. Morgan's mind raced. This was a complete change in MO. The Maze Killer had killed women before and left them in the mazes. He had never killed a man, nor had he done so like this, sending him out and ordering him to shoot whoever he came in contact with. The killer was getting bold, careless even, but Morgan still had no clue who this guy was or what he wanted. This recent development complicated things even more.

She knew that they had to get a grip on this situation fast. The Maze Killer was still out there, and he was getting more dangerous every day. The team had to be careful if they wanted to catch him. She didn't want to end up like Steven Jolie, or any of the other women that the Maze Killer had killed.

"We need to find out who this guy is and fast," Morgan said, breaking the silence. "He's getting more reckless, and we don't know what his next move will be."

Derik nodded, deep in thought. "It's like he's taunting us, daring us to catch him."

Morgan sighed. "Well, he won't be taunting us for long." She looked at Derik. "We need to step up our game, Derik. We need to catch him before he kills again."

Derik frowned. "But how? We don't even know who we're looking for."

He had a point. Morgan was at a loss.

"I'll talk to the techs and see if they can trace the source of the Bleeding Woodbine," Derik said. "In the meantime, you should rest your leg. You're in no condition to be running around after a killer."

"I'm not sitting this one out, Greene," she said.

"Then keep working, but let me do the walking around."

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