Page 27 of Let Her Live

All at once, Brenda's expression fell into a state of total shock. She fell to her knees, her eyes wide and blank.

Fiona knelt down, offering her a gentle hand. "I'm so sorry, Brenda."

"H-how?" Brenda managed. She snapped out of her daze and accepted Fiona's hand. Fiona pulled the woman to her feet. It was clear now that Brenda's survival instincts had kicked in, and she was trying to be strong.

Jake glanced at the tent, but they were far enough away that if the daughter was inside, she wouldn't hear.

"I'm afraid he was murdered," Jake said.

Brenda's hand flew to her mouth. She bit on her diamond ring as she struggled to keep herself together. Brenda tried to process this for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. "Where did you find him?" she asked.

"We believe he was the victim of a serial killer," Jake said. "We found him out in the swamp, tied to a tree. He isn't the first victim, although he is the first one in this area."

"Oh, god." Brenda covered her mouth. "We had no idea something so evil was around here."

"The last crimes were committed an hour south," Jake said. "We had no reason to believe the killer would move this way. I'm so sorry."

Brenda nodded, wiping her eyes. "What is this serial killer doing?" she asked, her voice wavering. "What does he want with my husband?"

"We're not sure, ma'am. But we'll do everything we can to find out," Jake said.

Brenda turned back to the tent, tears falling down her flushed cheeks. "Oh, this is just... it's unthinkable. Junie loved her dad. I don't know how she's going to take this."

Fiona's heart fell. She couldn't even imagine the plight Brenda was facing now.

"This whole trip was an awful idea," Brenda said. "Hank didn't even want to go, but Junie loves the outdoors. We wanted to work with it, for her. I should have known it would all go sour when Hank ran over that squirrel on the way in. It was a bad omen."

"A squirrel?" Jake asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yes," Brenda said, "he accidentally ran over a squirrel. Junie was hysterical, so we went back to see if it was alive. It wasn't. And now Hank isn't either."

Fiona turned away. There wasn't much else she could do; she knew her words would have little impact. Brenda had to face the future alone now and tell her daughter the truth, someday, on her own terms.

"Here's my card," Jake said, handing one to Brenda. "If you can think of anything helpful at all, please give me a call."

Brenda nodded, her eyes wide and shocked. "Thank you," Brenda said.

Fiona and Jake started to walk back toward the car, but Jake stopped short. Fiona could tell there was something on his mind.

"What is it, Jake?" she asked.

"It's just—something she said stood out," Jake said. "Maybe it's nothing, but I talked to Alec Johnson's wife, and she said that he accidentally ran over and killed a lizard on their way into town."

Fiona frowned, thinking about it. "Like how Hank ran over the squirrel."

"It could be nothing," Jake reasoned. "People run over animals here all the time. Accidents happen."

"But we don't have any other connection between them, do we?" Fiona asked, her mind racing over this new line of thinking. It seemed like a reach, but it was possible that the killer was perturbed over the animal killings. That he had somehow found out these people had killed animals and was now punishing them.

"I'll call Jonas Smith's girlfriend and see if something similar happened with him," Jake said. "If we have three of them, then that'll be enough to go off. Derek was travelling alone, so that could be less hard to track. But Jonas Smith's girlfriend was helpful."

Fiona nodded, determination coursing through her.

This could be it, the connection they were looking for.

They hurried back to the car, Jake's phone already in his hand. He called the girlfriend, and Fiona listened as Jake talked into the phone.

"Hi, Gwen? Yeah, this is Agent Jake Tucker, we met... yes... actually, I have a bizarre question. Did Jonas accidentally kill any animals during your trip?"

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