Kimberly Van Meter - The Killer You Know

When a killer strikes a sleepy small town, terror strikes...and passion flares!

After a teenage girl is murdered, FBI agent Silas Kelly reluctantly returns to the hometown he swore never to visit again. This tragedy bears devastating similarities to the unsolved killing of his younger brother twenty years ago, and Silas is determined to find the link, the culprit, and maybe some peace for himself and his fractured family. But the hardened loner has another problem to tackle in beautiful redhead Quinn Jackson. The ambitious reporter is trailing him for answers about the cold case and the current investigation, and Silas can’t shake her. When the shocking truth is revealed, no one will be the same again.

“So what’s your agenda for bringing me this intel?” Silas asked.

“So suspicious.” Quinn tsked but her grin was filled with mischief. “Okay, you got me. I do want something.”

“Spit it out.”

“I want you to work with me,” she said. “Give me access to exclusive content so I can break the story, whatever that may be.”

Back to that argument again. “It goes against my personal values to make deals with press.”

“C’mon, Silas...you can’t honestly be this rigid.”

“Is this your idea of driving a hard bargain? I’ve yet to hear why I shouldn’t just run with your lead and leave you out.”

She stared at him. “Because you have more integrity than that.”

“You don’t know me.”

“It’s something I can sense,” Quinn said, and this time she wasn’t joking or playing around.

This was probably the first time Silas had seen her completely serious. That turn was intensely arousing. It was easy to keep her at arm’s length when he saw her as an irritating kid. But when he saw her as an adult...it changed things.

* * *

Dear Reader,

As a pantser, it’s rare when a story comes to me fully formed and ready to be written, but when it does, the result is simply wonderful.

That’s what happened with this book. I knew the characters so well. I knew the town, I knew the victim—I even knew the ending.

Silas is one of those characters that takes on a life of its own, grabbing the muse in a chokehold because it’s so strong, and I was happy to let him drive the bus.

Conversely, Quinn is my favorite type of heroine—sassy, classy and a little smart-assy—but her growth arc is huge from the beginning of the book to the end.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I love hearing from readers. Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter or drop me an email. Or you can also write me a letter at PO BOX 2210, Oakdale, CA 95361.

Happy reading!

Kimberly

The Killer You Know

Kimberly Van Meter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

KIMBERLY VAN METER wrote her first book at sixteen and finally achieved publication in December 2006. She writes for the Harlequin Superromance, Blaze and Romantic Suspense lines. She and her husband of seventeen years have three children, three cats, and always a houseful of friends, family and fun.

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This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever

searched for closure in their life.

May you find it, may it provide solace, may it heal.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Epilogue

Extract

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

Special Agent Silas Kelly opened the door to the Chicago Bureau office, the biting cold in the air nipping at his freshly shaven jaw. He’d been in Chicago for five years but he still hadn’t gotten used to the wind chill of his new city.

A summons to the director’s office never boded well. He was still dealing with the aftermath of his latest case—one that he hadn’t been able to solve in time, and a kid had died.

As a member of the Child Abduction Unit, it was his job to save kids.

They’d managed to catch the perp but not before the man had slit the boy’s throat.

Thomas Fielding, age six, snatched from the park when the babysitter wasn’t looking.

Now Thomas’s parents were making funeral arrangements.

Maybe that was what the director wanted to talk about, to go over where they’d failed young Thomas so that, hopefully, next time, the news they brought to frightened parents was good.

Silas walked into Director Beatrice Oppenshaw’s office and closed the door for privacy. She gestured for him to take a seat.

“I’ll get straight to the point,” she said, clasping her hands together. “There’s been a homicide in Port Orion, Washington, that might catch your attention. I want you to ignore the urge to follow up.”

Port Orion, his hometown. Usually the location of his nightmares.

“The body of a sixteen-year-old girl was dumped in Seminole Creek. Based on the marks on her neck, the preliminary cause of death is strangulation, pending the autopsy results.”

A shock wave rippled across his body. Seminole Creek.

Flashes of his childhood followed an echo of his little brother’s voice.

“There’s no reason for the FBI to get involved. Local jurisdiction will handle the case,” Oppenshaw said when she saw Silas gearing up to object. “Trust me, I’m doing you a favor.”

Silas knew why she was warning him to keep his distance. This new case hit too many triggers. Oppenshaw knew how Silas’s little brother Spencer had died.

How his body had been found in that same creek.

And how Spencer’s killer had never been found.

“What if there are similarities to my brother’s cold case?” he asked, using reason to win his boss over. “This could be a break in a twenty-year-old case.”

“A case that just happens to be your youngest brother’s,” Oppenshaw replied, shaking her head. “It’s a conflict of interest. Out of deference to you, if you think there might be some leads, I will send another agent up there to check things out but I don’t want you near that case.”

“Port Orion is a small town. They won’t talk to a stranger. I have an advantage—”

“And a handicap,” Oppenshaw countered firmly. “You know you’re too emotionally invested to be unbiased. The answer is no.”

But Silas’s mind was already moving. Oppenshaw could forbid him to go on federal time but she couldn’t control his vacation choices.

The Bureau shrink had suggested some R&R—which he’d previously declined—but he suddenly saw the merit.