Page 12 of Let Her Live

Gwen hesitated before answering. "Jonas is sweet, but he can be a little controlling at times. I had a friend who was backpacking at the same time I was, and we had some fun times together, just hanging out and stuff. But Jonas found a picture of us in a Facebook album, and he got jealous.He was making me feel like I couldn't trust him.We argued about it for a while."

Jake paused. "Do you think he might have been having an affair?"

Gwen shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Honestly, I think it was the camping getting to us. I know Jonas's life looked like a highlight reel online, but traveling could be stressful for him sometimes too."

"Was he going off on his own a lot?"

"Sometimes," Gwen said, "but we usually walked together. The last time I saw him, he just said he was going into town to grab some lunch."

Jake nodded, thinking it over. It wasn't a completely similar situation to Alec's. He wasn't sure if relationship issues were enough of a connection to say it motivated the killer, considering it could just be chance.

"Is there anything else you can think of?" Jake asked.

Gwen paused. "I wish I could think of something. I just feel so helpless. I don't know what I could possibly do to help the FBI."

Jake smiled. "Don't worry about that. If you think of anything else, read the news, or think of any ideas, give us a call."

Jake stood up, and Gwen followed suit. She seemed relieved to move on, but Jake could tell she was still having a hard time dealing with Jonas's disappearance. Jake walked to the door and opened it, waiting for her to go out first before he followed.

"Agent Jake," Gwen said, stopping right before she went out into the lobby. "Who do you think is doing this? Is it a serial killer?"

Jake hesitated, a lump growing in his throat. He knew they were dealing with a serial killer, and he was damn sure this was just the beginning. But he also knew terms like“serial killer” could spread panic like wildfire and cause chaos. He figured it was best to stay neutral, at least for now. "We’re still working on determining that. Thanks for your time, miss, and I'm sorry for your loss."

Gwen nodded, and Jake headed out, walking across the lot toward his car under the night sky. He sighed, wondering if anything he'd learned could be useful. Both men were staying at different campsites and had gone off for different reasons: Jonas, to walk into town and get food, while Alec had been more cryptic, seemingly going off to clear his head at an unknown location. He combed over the conversations in his mind, wondering if there was anything else he could use.

Just then, his phone began to ring. He took it out to see Fiona's number.

"Red," he said, "what's going on?"

"Jake—it's the latest victim," Fiona said, her voice breathy and urgent. "We've identified him."

CHAPTER SEVEN

"His name is Derek Stevenson," Fiona said the moment Jake picked her up in his rental car. She slid into the passenger seat and buckled up, grateful to be out of the country coroner's office. The autopsy and lab work had been extensive; they had come up with no DNA that didn't come from the victim, but they were able to get a match in the database about who he was. As for the cause of death, it had been what Fiona had expected: a slit to the throat. However, the botfly larva also suggested to her that he had been alive when he was tied up to the tree or, at the very least, kept alive somewhere else before he was killed.

Jake looked at her from behind the wheel as he started driving them back down. "Well, what do we know about him?"

Fiona opened her phone, pulling up the file she'd accessed earlier when Derek had first been ID'd. "He's twenty-three, and he's from Orlando. Apparently, he had left home on a backpacking trip months ago. The last known record of him was from a restaurant in town about three weeks ago, but that's where his credit card statements end."

Jake frowned as he drove through the night. "So he could have gone missing then, but no one noticed because he was already traveling. That’s a bit different from the other two, who were with people.”

Fiona nodded. Her throat felt tight. "I think so, yes. On top of that, I found bot fly larvae inside of his flesh—they burrow into live hosts, which tells me that he may have been held somewhere before he was killed, or left out in the marsh for some time before he was actually killed. I have all the details of our findings in a report, but that was the most significant find."

"I see," Jake said, voice bemused, and Fiona wondered what he made of all this. Jake glanced at her, then said, "Red, if all this is true, then that could make Derek Stevenson the first official victim."

Fiona nodded; her heart was in her throat. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Then let's head to the restaurant where he was last seen," Jake said. "It's late, but maybe they're still open."

Jake said nothing else as he drove them toward the restaurant. Fiona was grateful for the silence. She didn't like this at all, and a part of her wanted to turn on the radio and try to distract herself from what she was feeling, but she knew it wouldn't work. Jake was facing something similar to her; he wasn't just doing his job. They had come all the way out here to catch this killer, and there was something particularly evil and sinister about this faceless man, something Fiona couldn't shake.

As they drove in silence, Fiona's phone buzzed. She took it out, only to see a message from none other than Mark.

Instantly, her muscles stiffened, and anxiety fluttered through her. This thing with Mark was taking its toll on her. She was sure she wanted to end it, but it seemed impossible to actually do so. He was good at guilt-tripping her, of making her feel like the bad guy because she wasn't as into their relationship as he was.

Plus, she'd tried to establish boundaries, and he refused to respect them. She had told him they'd talk when she got back, but here he was, messaging her on the same day.

With her throat tight, she read the message:

---