Page 26 of Marked For Revenge

That knocked some of the air out of her. So, this had been left by the killer or at least by someone who had unreported details of the case. A sick prank, and it meant the killer had been right here, right at her home.

“Don’t go out there,” Ava muttered.

No need for her to spell out this could be a trap to lure them outside to be gunned down. Even though she, technically, lived in town, there was a heavily wooded greenbelt area behind her house that separated the residential area from the park, which had a lot of trees and trails. The killer could be waiting out there, hiding in those trees.

“I’m calling Theo,” Harley let her know, keeping his attention on the backyard while he did that.

Staying to the side, Ava went to the window and had a look for herself. At first glance, it definitely did appear to be a body, and it would have especially seemed that way from Candice’s house. But Ava immediately saw the white Styrofoam neck, the only part that was visible what with the garbage bag and the mask.

The mask was identical to the other three.

Oh, yes, that knocked more of the air from her lungs. She’d considered that it would have been risky for someone to haul a body from those woods to her porch, but it wouldn’t have been that hard to bring in just the head, garbage bag and mask.

“Theo’s on his way,” Harley relayed to her. “And he’ll contact the CSIs.”

Her mind hadn’t gone there yet; that soon a team of CSIs would be combing the area. Maybe looking inside, too, even though she’d gotten no alerts of a break-in. Still, Theo would want to be thorough.

“I’m not going to ask if you’re okay because I know you’re not,” Harley said. “But will you at least consider sitting down. You’ve gone pale.”

Pale and a little sick to her stomach, but she knew sitting wasn’t going to help with the symptoms. She was a cop and had a job to do even if right now that job was simply giving a visual assessment of the area while she waited for the sheriff to show up.

“When I got back from the murder scene in the wee hours of the morning, I didn’t check the back porch,” she admitted.

“Neither did I. And I didn’t even glance out there when we got back today.”

“Same,” Ava confirmed. “I glanced out the window when I was drinking some milk and taking my vitamin, but I didn’t look down at the porch. That means, the head could have been put there at any time during the past twenty-four hours.”

She could have slept while it was out there. A thought that sickened her even more. Even though it wasn’t a human head, it still represented what this sick snake intended to do to her and any others on the hit list. He wanted to make them lifeless things.

And that sent a shot of pure raw anger through her.

Ava wanted to do something to stop this, and she nearly started calling neighbors to ask if they’d seen absolutely anything. But it would be a waste of time. If anyone in the neighborhood had seen anything suspicious, they would have already let her know. That probably meant the killer had put the head there when it’d been dark. Heck, maybe even after Ava had been called out to the crime scene for the third murder.

“I can take you to my house on the ranch,” Harley offered.

It was tempting and, while the ranch was secure, it wasn’t impenetrable. A shooter could still get to them. Plus, Ava wasn’t sure running and hiding was the way to go here. In fact, drawing out the killer might be the fastest way to stop him from going after someone else.

“No,” she answered, “I think it’s best if we stay here. Notice that I said we because I know there’s no way you’d leave me.”

“You got that right.” He glanced at her, frowning. “You’re thinking of trying to use yourself as some kind of bait. You’re not,” he added, and there was plenty of insistence in his tone.

“I don’t want another murder on my conscience,” she muttered.

“It’s not on your conscience. It’s on the person who’s doing these killings.”

Harley moved closer to her and, even though he was still keeping watch, he also ran his hand down the length of her arm. For such a small gesture, it was plenty comforting.

Ava nearly broke then. She nearly gave into the despair of not being able to stop the monster who was killing and tormenting. She nearly allowed herself just to lean on Harley and let him give her all the comforting gestures in his arsenal. Since he’d once been her lover, she knew that arsenal was plenty full.

But she held back.

For one thing, if she broke, she wasn’t sure she could piece herself back together any time soon. Not even with Harley’s help. Added to that, she heard the vehicle pull into her driveway and knew that Theo had arrived. A moment later, she got a text confirming that.

I’ll have a look around. You and Harley stay put but be ready to give me backup if needed.

Will do, she texted back.

Harley took Theo’s instructions to the max by going to the back door. He opened it just a few inches, which gave him a better view of the yard and the woods. It also meant he was now in a position to fire if it became necessary.

---