Julie Lindsey - Federal Agent Under Fire

“How well do you know Cole?” Blake asked. He stopped a few feet ahead of her and waved to his brother. “You went to school together. Anything else?”

“Not really.” She tented her brows. Was she being accused of something? “We live in a small town and went to the same high school. We ran into each other from time to time. West and Ryder, too.”

Blake turned at the waist and narrowed his eyes on her. She knew all three of his little brothers, but he hadn’t met her until today? A nagging sense of injustice registered at the back of his mind.

“What?” She bounced her toe against something hard, and a little navy pouch flipped into view. “Hey, look at this.” Marissa crouched over the object. Recognition swept through her like a hurricane, sucking air from her lungs and pushing her attention in a new direction. She stood on wooden legs and stared at the tranquil lake behind them.

“What is that?” Blake crouched where she had been a moment before.

Marissa pressed a palm to her roiling stomach. She owned several pouches just like that one. “It’s a one-pound weight. They’re used on scuba belts.”

Cole settled in beside Blake and handed him the backpack.

Marissa pushed windblown hair from her eyes while the men bagged their evidence. Blades of ice seemed to wedge in her chest. “I know where he might’ve hidden those women’s bodies. I’d planned to do a photo shoot there soon.”

“Where?” the Garretts asked in near unison.

She lifted a finger toward the lake. The rose petals. The creepy song. “I think they’re in Shadow Valley.” Cade County’s historic lake town, submerged long ago in the name of flood control.

* * *

BLAKE MADE THE necessary calls to rouse a dive crew and the remainder of his team from Louisville. The agents arrived in just over an hour. The divers were another story, being parceled together from approved volunteers across the state, policemen, game wardens, anyone trained and available to thoroughly explore the remnants of an entire underwater town, door by door if necessary, while preserving as much potential evidence as possible. He’d also called in a favor with a local private security firm for additional help clearing the park and tending the curious crowd, which had been pushed outside the gates.

The space around the normally tranquil lake bustled with speculation and activity. Once all the divers arrived, things would get worse, and if Marissa’s hunch was right, more gruesome.

Her hunch. Not his.

Blake mentally kicked himself for never considering Shadow Valley Lake as a place to hide four bodies. If memory served, the Shadow Valley Chapel was one of the buildings swallowed by the lake. Finding victims in the underwater chapel would raise the stakes impossibly higher. That kind of discovery would suggest Nash was smarter and more resourceful than Blake had given him credit for. He’d always assumed Nash was the impulsive type, more likely to hide his crimes in a hurry than with careful planning and scuba gear. In fact, he’d considered Nash lucky for getting away at all. He’d blamed his own rookie hesitation.

Blake pressed the heels of his hands against closed eyes. What if Blake had been wrong all these years? What if the real mistake he’d made was underestimating Nash? The possibility came with all sorts of ugly thoughts. Blake had linked him to four missing women, but what if there were more? How many cases hadn’t he connected? What had Nash been doing these last five years while Blake chased his tail? Blake had assumed Nash was hiding, but what if Nash was still killing and Blake had missed it?

He scrubbed open palms over his face and forehead. How long had Nash been planning to take Marissa?

His attention cut through the collection of lawmen to where she rested her head against an oak tree not far from the lake. Her swollen eyes were shut. Her cheeks were red. The bruises from her attack had grown more pronounced as the day wore on, making Blake angrier with each passing second. He couldn’t seem to find it in himself to be thankful she was safe. He could only grow more infuriated that she’d been hurt.

She opened her eyes as he approached, a look of shock and panic on her face.

He lifted a hand and crouched beside her. “It’s only me. How are you holding up?”

“Fine.” Her knees bobbed with misplaced adrenaline. “Anything new?”

“The rest of the divers should be here soon, but it’s a big lake. It’s going to take them some time to search an entire town.”

She sat forward, hugging bent knees to her chest. “I have street maps for the town under the lake at my place. I could go get them. I’d hoped to take photos for a magazine interested in doing a spread on lake towns. The maps could save the divers time.”

Blake rested his forearms across his thighs, dangling both hands between his knees. “We have the town blueprint. Right now, the divers are fighting daylight to get here, and they haven’t got much left.” He stretched onto his feet and extended a hand to hoist her up. “How do you feel about taking a walk while we wait?”

She accepted his hand. “Where are we going?”

“You said you saw a man at the lookout. We should get up there while the park’s closed to visitors.” He motioned for her to lead the way.

Marissa stopped at the base of Sunrise Trail. She cocked a hip and stared up the dirt path. Uncertainty flashed in her eyes. “I didn’t get a good look at the guy up there, but he smelled like cigarette smoke.” She braced a hand to her forehead like a visor and squinted against the sun. “The man who attacked me also smelled like smoke, but I suppose that’s hardly enough to conclude it was the same man.”

“Do you think it was the same man?”

She cast her gaze to the ground. “I do.”

Blake motioned her forward. “That’s good enough for me.”

She took a deep breath and began her second five-mile uphill hike of the day. At least this time she wasn’t running. “I was a little spooked to see someone at the lookout before dawn. Confused, too. My car was the only one in the lot.”

Blake turned an amused expression on her. “You hiked five miles before dawn.” He shook his head in apparent awe. “You’re making me regret the coffee and cruller breakfast I had on my way here from Louisville.”

Marissa smiled. “Well, if it helps, I didn’t hike. I ran.”

He laughed. “Oh, yeah. That makes me feel much better. Thank you.”

She fell into a comfortable stride and inhaled deeply, finding as much inner peace as possible on this horrific day. “I run every morning, but three days a week I do it here. I like the view, and I normally enjoy the solitude.” She bit her lip against the tirade that had been swirling in her mind for the past few hours. “I knew something was wrong. I knew it, and I didn’t leave.”

Blake stopped moving and stared at her. “You couldn’t have known. Even if you had, you weren’t at fault here. Don’t let that worm get into your head. From what I can tell, you did everything right, and if this man is who I think he is, you’re the first to get away. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Really? Because it was pride that kept me here when my instincts told me to go home. It was pride that took me to the lake for my reward.”

“Reward?”

She groaned. “It’s stupid, but I beat my best time getting to the lookout, and I’d planned to reward myself by watching the sunrise. I was mad that I’d let his presence keep me from enjoying the view.” She dropped her head back and laughed. “So instead of getting in my car, I made a side trip to the lake. I was that close to leaving unharmed.”

Blake’s face darkened. “This wasn’t your fault. I don’t care if he shook your hand and said, ‘I’m going to attack you unless you go home.’ He’s still the criminal. He’s the one in the wrong. Not you.”