“But just so you know, I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

He hadn’t asked her to.

She shot him a fiery look. “I may be a woman, but I can do my job.”

“I never said you couldn’t,” Justin said.

“Good, I’m glad we got that out of the way.”

He had to admit he was intrigued by her spunk. Obviously she’d battled her way up against men in her field who probably thought she was incompetent based on her sex.

Either that or they were sidetracked by her good looks.

He wouldn’t make that mistake.

And he certainly couldn’t or wouldn’t allow her pretty little face to distract him. He was here to solve the case of the missing girls.

Nothing else mattered.

Especially the little zing of lightning that had sizzled between them when he’d brushed her hand earlier.

Cold Case at

Carlton’s

Canyon

Rita Herron

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Award-winning author RITA HERRON wrote her first book when she was twelve, but didn’t think real people grew up to be writers. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job. A former kindergarten teacher and workshop leader, she traded storytelling to kids for writing romance, and now she writes romantic comedies and romantic suspense. She lives in Georgia with her own romance hero and three kids. She loves to hear from readers, so please write her at PO Box 921225, Norcross, GA 30092-1225, USA, or visit her website, www.ritaherron.com.

To my own hero, Lee—love you always,

Rita

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Excerpt

Prologue

Kelly Lambert did not want to die.

But the kind person who’d offered to give her a ride when her car broke down outside Sunset Mesa, the person she’d thought had saved her from walking late at night on a deserted road, had turned into a maniac.

A rancid breath bathed Kelly’s cheek, and her stomach roiled.

“Please...” she begged.

Her words died as fingers tightened the belt around her throat. Rocks skittered beneath her feet as her attacker dragged her nearer the edge of the canyon and forced her to look at the rocky terrain below.

Hundreds of feet loomed between her and the ground. Even if she managed to land on the level part between the jagged rocks, the impact of the fall would kill her.

“That’s where you belong,” the crazed voice murmured. “Mean girls like you deserve to die.”

“No, please stop,” she gasped. “Why are you doing this to me?”

A pair of rage-filled eyes glittered back at her. “You know why.”

Kelly’s lungs strained for air as the leather dug into her throat.

But she didn’t know. Didn’t know why this person wanted her dead. Why anyone would want her dead.

Her attacker shoved her closer to the edge. Kelly’s legs dangled over the canyon like a rag doll’s.

She struggled again, desperate to escape, but whatever drug she’d been given had made her too weak. Fighting back was impossible. She couldn’t move her hands, couldn’t lift her arms, couldn’t kick at all.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as the fingers dug deeper into her throat.

“No...”

Her attacker’s bitter laugh echoed through the canyon, and Kelly gagged.

Her life flashed in front of her like a series of movie clips. Her mother braiding her hair before she’d died. Easter egg hunts, Christmases, proms and dance lessons.

High school boyfriends and college parties and...her upcoming wedding...

She had her dress picked out. The flowers...roses...the bridal shower she was supposed to have today.

And the honeymoon...a honeymoon she would never get to have.

Panic seized her, and pain knifed through her chest as the belt crushed her windpipe. Nausea mingled with terror and her head spun.

Then the lush green of spring faded into black as death came for her.

Chapter One

Sergeant Justin Thorpe was a loner. Always had been. Always would be.

It was the very reason he was good at his job. No entanglements to tie him down or distract him.

He stared at the decomposed body of the girl floating in Camden Creek, trepidation knotting his gut.

He had a hunch this was one of the girls who’d disappeared from Sunset Mesa, although the medical examiner would have his work cut out to identify what was left of her. Other girls who’d gone missing from various counties across Texas were possibly connected, as well.

Too many girls.

At first no one had connected the disappearances, but Justin had noted that the women went missing in the spring, and that one fact had raised a red flag in his mind.

So far though he hadn’t found any other connection. But he would. He just needed time.

Dr. Sagebrush, the ME who’d also worked a case in Camden Creek involving a serious bus crash that had killed several teenagers a few years back, stooped down to study the body as two crime techs eased it onto the creek bank.

Thick trees shaded the area so the ME shone a flashlight over the corpse while crime techs searched the water and embankment with their own.

A tangled web of hair floated around the young woman’s mud-streaked face, bones poked through the already decaying skin and there were bruises, scratches and teeth marks from animals that had picked at her marred body.

She was still clothed, her thin T-shirt torn and tattered, her jeans full of holes and layered in dirt.

The CSU team snapped pictures while Dr. Sagebrush adjusted his glasses and examined her.

“How long do you think she’s been dead?” Justin asked.

“Hard to say yet,” Dr. Sagebrush replied. “The temperature of the water could have slowed down decomp, but I’d guess a while. Maybe a couple of months.”

Two young women had disappeared within that time frame.

Justin eyed the creek, scanning the terrain up and downstream with his flashlight. “You think she was dumped in the creek or floated in from the river?”

“Don’t know.” Dr. Sagebrush shrugged, his eyes narrowed as he pushed strands of wet hair away from the girl’s face. “Look at this.” The ME pointed to the bruises on her neck.

“She was strangled,” Justin said, frowning at the angry, inch-wide red lines cutting into the woman’s throat. “Looks like the killer used a belt.”

Dr. Sagebrush nodded. “Probably the cause of death, but I can’t say for sure till I get her on the table. If there’s water in her lungs, she might have been alive when she was dumped.”

Justin’s stomach knotted as an image of the girl fighting for her last breath flashed in his eyes. The current in this part of the creek was strong, the rocks jagged. Kayakers and raft guides trained on the wider, rougher sections as practice for the river. If she was alive, she’d probably been too weak to fight the current and save herself.

But the doctor lifted the girl’s eyelids, and Justin saw petechial hemorrhaging and guessed she’d died of strangulation.

One of the crime techs dragged a tennis shoe from the muddy bank, then compared it to the girl’s foot. “Could have belonged to her. We’ll bag it and see if we find anything on it.”

Justin nodded. “I’ll look around for forensics although, like you say, she probably wasn’t killed here.”

Justin knew the drill. He’d been working homicide cases, hunting serial killers and the most wanted, for ten years now. Nothing surprised him.

Yet a young woman’s senseless murder still made sorrow fill his chest.

He walked over to the edge of the river and studied the foliage, then dipped deeper into the woods to search for any sign that the girl had lost her life nearby.

If they found hair or clothing, even a footprint, it might help track down the killer.

Anxiety twitched at his insides. Only two of the girls who’d gone missing in the past few years had been found. One dead; the other had run away.

But there was no sign of the others. No notes goodbye. No phone calls or ransom requests.

No bodies, making the police wonder if the girls were alive or dead.

So why had this woman’s body been dumped where it could be found?

Were the cases connected? And if so, were any of the other young women still alive?

* * *

SHERIFF AMANDA BLAIR sipped her umpteenth cup of coffee for the day while she skimmed the mail on her desk. An envelope stamped with the high school’s emblem and a sketch of the canyon for which the school had been named, Canyon High, caught her eye, and she ripped it open.

The invitation to her high school class reunion filled her with a mixture of dread and wariness.

She’d moved away from Sunset Mesa after her senior year when her father had been transferred. Having grown up with a Texas Ranger for a father, she’d known she’d wanted to follow in his footsteps and work in law enforcement. And there had been nothing for her in Sunset Mesa. No best friend. No boyfriend.

No one who’d missed her or written her love letters or even asked what her plans were for the future.

Truthfully she’d been glad to move. She’d always been a loner, a tomboy, more interested in her father’s cases than joining the girly girls at school with their silly obsessions with makeup, fashion and boys.

She’d chosen softball and the swim team over cheerleading and dance competitions and had felt more comfortable hanging out with guys at sports events than having sleepovers or going shopping with her female peers.

The one event that had colored her entire high school experience was her classmate Carlton Butts’s death.

Juniors in high school were not supposed to die. They especially weren’t supposed to commit suicide.

Regret, that she hadn’t been a better friend to him and sensed how deep his depression ran, taunted her. She’d had nightmares about him plunging to the bottom of the canyon for years. In fact, most people in town now referred to the canyon as Carlton’s Canyon—some even called the high school Carlton Canyon High.

Occasionally she even thought she heard Carlton whispering her voice in the night. Calling to her for help.

Begging her to save him from himself.

Only she’d missed the signs.

Guilt had driven her to search for answers, only none had ever come. Then young women had started disappearing across Texas, two from Sunset Mesa, and she’d felt her heart tugging at her to return to the town. To find out what was happening to them because she’d failed to help her own friend.

When the deputy position had come available in Sunset Mesa, she’d requested it. Sheriff Lager had been a friend of her father’s and had handpicked her for the job.

Then she’d realized that he was suffering from dementia. He eventually admitted he knew he had issues and told her his plans to retire.

Sighing, she stuffed the invitation to the reunion back in the envelope, doubting that she would attend. There was no one from her class she particularly wanted to see.

But what if one of them knew something about one of the missing women? It was her job to find the answers.

What better way to get the scoop than at an informal gathering where everyone was supposed to be friends?

Intrigued by the idea, she tucked the invitation into the calendar on her desk, then added the date to her phone calendar. Plans that week included a family picnic on Friday, then a cocktail party and dance on Saturday night.

No family or husband for her.

Memories of watching Julie Kane and Thurston Howard sharing the prom king and queen dance drifted back, reminding her how much of a wallflower she’d been.

You’re not an eighteen-year-old geeky kid anymore, Amanda. You’re sheriff.

And a stupid high school reunion was not going to turn her back into the shy awkward girl she’d once been.

The door to the front of the sheriff’s office suddenly burst open, and Amanda looked up.

Larry Lambert, the manager at the local bank, rushed in, his normally friendly face strained with worry. A younger man, probably in his late twenties, stood beside him, his hair spiked as if he’d run his hands through it a dozen times. Tension vibrated between the men, a chill in the air.

Amanda stepped from behind her desk. “Mr. Lambert—”

“You have to help us, Sheriff Blair,” Mr. Lambert said. “My daughter Kelly...” The six-foot-tall man broke down, tears streaming from his eyes. “She didn’t come home last night.”

Amanda’s heart clenched. Spring was supposed to be a time of renewed life. Instead, a woman had gone missing just as one had every spring the past few years. A woman she’d gone to high school with. A woman close to her own age.

Which broke the pattern. Kelly was older than the teens who’d disappeared.

Still, could she have met foul play?

Was Kelly dead or could she still be alive?

* * *

JUSTIN WAS ANXIOUS for the results of the autopsy and crime scene findings, but his early-morning phone call had gone unanswered. Suspicious that the girl was one of the missing ones from Sunset Mesa, he decided to visit the sheriff and give her a heads-up.

He’d spoken to her after Sheriff Camden from Camden Crossing had conferred with her about the disappearance of his own sister and Peyton Boulder, two girls who’d disappeared after a fatal bus crash seven years ago. At first they’d thought the cold case might be related to the string of missing persons from Sunset Mesa, but they’d discovered it wasn’t.

Dry farmland and terrain passed by him as he veered onto the highway toward Sunset Mesa. He’d heard that the town had gotten its name because of the beautiful colors of the sunset.

Radiant oranges, reds and yellows streaked the sky, painting a rainbow effect over the canyon that was so beautiful it made him wish he was here on vacation, not hunting down a killer. But he never stayed in one place more than a few days and wouldn’t get attached to this town either.

He navigated the road leading into Sunset Mesa, wondering about the new sheriff in town.

He’d met her once and she seemed okay, but he hoped to hell she wasn’t some flake, that she had a head on her shoulders and would cooperate with him. Police work was his life, and he couldn’t tolerate a law officer who wasn’t committed to the job.

A small ranch pointed to the north; then the sign for Sunset Mesa popped into view. Like every other small town he’d been in, the town was built on a square. The buildings looked aged, a Western flair to the outsides, a park in the middle of town with small local businesses surrounding it.

The sheriff’s office/jail/courthouse was housed at the far right, an adobe structure painted the same orange that he’d noted in the sunset.

Early-evening shadows flickered along the pavement as he parked in front of the building, climbed out, adjusted his Stetson and strode to the front door. When he’d first spoken to Sheriff Blair, he’d formed an image of her in his mind.

Her voice had held a husky note, a sign she was probably mannish. Then he’d met her briefly once and realized she was nothing like he’d pictured.

Even the sheriff’s uniform hadn’t disguised her curves and beauty. Not that it mattered what she looked like. He was here to do a job and nothing else.

The dead girl’s face taunted him, and he straightened and opened the door. Getting justice for that victim was his priority.

Once he’d failed at his job and it had cost another young girl her life. He wouldn’t fail this time.

No one would stop him from finding answers.

Wood floors creaked with his boots as he entered, the pale yellow walls and artwork reminiscent of days gone by. A row of black and white photographs of the town and the canyon lined one wall, rugged landscapes on another.

A noise echoed from the back and he frowned. Heated voices. A man’s.

No, two men’s.

He rapped on the wall by the door leading to the back. A minute later, a woman appeared wearing the sheriff’s uniform.

A petite woman with lush curves and hair the reddish-brown color of autumn leaves. Amanda Blair. Rather—Sheriff Amanda Blair.

Her looks sucker punched him again.

Eyes the color of a copper penny stared up at him, a strained look on her pretty face.

“Hello, ma’am.” He tipped his Stetson. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Sergeant Justin Thorpe with the Texas Rangers.”

She looked him up and down, and for the first time in his life, he wondered if he came up lacking. Not that he usually cared about a coworker’s opinion of him, but something about her made him want her admiration.

But her look gave nothing away. “Yes, I remember.”

He couldn’t tell from her tone how she meant the comment. But it didn’t sound good.

“Did someone call you about coming here today?”

He frowned, confused. Maybe she’d already heard about the body they found. “No, I needed to talk to you about the missing-persons cases.”

“You heard about Kelly Lambert?”

“Kelly Lambert?” Justin tried to remember the names of all the women on the list so far, but hers didn’t ring a bell. Had she received word about the identification of the body before he did?

Her expression clouded. “The girl who just disappeared last night. Her father and fiancé are in my office now.”

Justin’s gut clenched. That explained the raised voices. But Kelly Lambert wasn’t the woman they’d found in the creek because that woman had been there for months.

Which meant Kelly Lambert might still be alive.

Dammit, he and Sheriff Blair needed to find her before she ended up dead like the poor woman they’d just dragged from the water.

Chapter Two

Amanda fought the fluttering of awareness that rippled through her at the sight of the tall, dark handsome Texas Ranger. She’d met him briefly once when Sheriff Camden from Camden Crossing had asked them to confer on the case involving his sister, and had finally managed to get his sexy image out of her head.

Now he was here. Back. Planning to work with her.

And dammit, she needed his help.

She couldn’t help but stare at him. He towered over her, his massive shoulders stretching taut against his Western shirt, his green eyes a surprise with his dark coloring and black hair.

She sized up his other features—a chiseled jaw, a crooked nose that had probably been broken and a cleft in his chin. By themselves his features didn’t stand out, but the combination made him look tough, rugged, a man not to be messed with.

But that silver star of Texas shining on his shirt reminded her that he was here on business.

Amanda never mixed business with pleasure.

She’d worked too hard to overcome the stigma of being a female in a man’s world and couldn’t backtrack by getting involved with a coworker.

No one would respect her then.

“I think we’d better start over,” Sgt. Thorpe said. “You said that another woman has gone missing?”

Amanda nodded. “Kelly Lambert. She didn’t make it home last night and her father and fiancé haven’t heard from her.”

“So it’s been less than twenty-four hours,” Justin said. “Too early to file a report.”

Amanda shrugged. “Actually it has been over twenty-four hours. They haven’t heard from her since early yesterday morning. She’s been planning her wedding, and she never made it to her bridal shower this afternoon. A shower she was supposedly excited about.”

“Maybe she got cold feet and ran off.”

“It’s possible, but I didn’t get the impression that she was that kind of girl from her father and the groom-to-be.” Amanda folded her arms. “Wait a minute. If you didn’t know about Kelly, why are you here?”

The Ranger’s mouth twitched. “Because the body of a young woman was discovered in Camden Creek earlier.”

Amanda’s chest started to ache. “You think it’s Kelly?”

Suddenly a choked sound echoed from behind her, and Amanda spun around to see Mr. Lambert and Kelly’s fiancé standing at the doorway.

“You found her?” Mr. Lambert asked in a broken voice.

Kelly’s fiancé, Raymond Fisher, paled. “Please, God, no...”

Amanda tensed and glanced at Sergeant Thorpe. “Mr. Lambert, Mr. Fisher, this is Sergeant Thorpe with the Texas Rangers. Sergeant Thorpe?”

Justin motioned with his hands as if to calm the panic in the men’s eyes. “We haven’t identified the young woman yet, but it’s not Kelly. The ME thinks this woman has been dead a couple of months.”

Relief mingled with horror on the father’s face. “But you think this woman’s death is related to Kelly’s disappearance?”

The fiancé stumbled forward and sank into a wooden chair near the desk. He leaned his head on his hands, a sob escaping. “You think she’s dead, don’t you?”

Amanda’s mind raced to the missing-persons file on her desk. Carly Edgewater and Tina Grimes were recent names on the list. It could be one of them.

But compassion for the fiancé and Kelly’s father forced her to keep her thoughts to herself. She was a professional. Her job was to find answers.

She also needed to keep these men calm. If Kelly had been abducted, they might know something to help track down the kidnapper.

“It’s too early to tell that,” Amanda said as she patted Fisher’s shoulder. “Right now all we know is that Kelly didn’t show up for her bridal shower and hasn’t contacted you. Maybe Sergeant Thorpe is right and Kelly just needed some time alone. She could have ducked out to think things over before the wedding.”

“No,” Fisher said with a firm shake of his head. “Kelly wouldn’t run out on me. She loved me, and I loved her. She was excited about the wedding.”

“He’s right,” Lambert said. “Kelly wasn’t the kind of girl to run out on anyone. She was dependable, smart, had a good head on her shoulders.” He fumbled with his phone and angled it toward Amanda. “Even if she did want some time, she would have told one of us. I’ve called her at least fifty times in the last few hours, and she hasn’t answered or returned my calls.”

“I’ve called her, too,” Fisher said, pulling out his phone. “I’ve sent dozens of texts, too, but she hasn’t responded. I even drove by her place, but her car wasn’t there and neither was she.”

“What kind of car does she drive?” Amanda asked.

“A red Toyota.”

“Do you know the license plate?”

He jotted it on a sticky note from her desk.

Sergeant Thorpe exhaled. “I understand your concern,” he said in a gruff voice. “Sheriff Blair and I will do everything we can to find your daughter.”

Amanda’s lungs squeezed for air as she stepped aside to call her deputy, Joe Morgan. She quickly explained the situation.

“Drive around and see if you can find Kelly’s car. She drives a red Toyota.” She gave him the license plate and hung up. Maybe if they located Kelly’s car, they’d find a clue as to what had happened to her.

She just hoped they found her alive.

* * *

JUSTIN CONSIDERED THE circumstances and knew he had to remain objective and treat this woman’s disappearance like he would any other case. To assume Kelly had been abducted by the same person who’d killed the woman in the creek—and possibly a half dozen others who still hadn’t been located—was too presumptuous.

Making assumptions was dangerous. It could lead him to miss important details and send him on a wild goose chase.

After all, it was possible that Kelly’s fiancé was lying. He and Kelly could have had a major blow-up and she could have run off. She might need time to compose herself before contacting her father. Or hell, she might be off planning some sort of surprise for her fiancé.

But his gut instincts told him they were dealing with a serial criminal who’d been kidnapping female victims for nearly a decade and would continue until he was stopped.

But he wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t explore every option. With the publicity surrounding the ongoing missing-persons case, someone could use the disappearances as a smoke screen to cover up a more personal murder.

Like a fiancé getting rid of his girlfriend if she decided to call off the wedding...

“Sheriff, why don’t you take Mr. Lambert back for coffee while I talk to Mr. Fisher for a few minutes?”

Amanda’s gaze met his, questions looming, but separating victims or suspects was customary, so she nodded.

“Come on, Mr. Lambert. I’ll start the paperwork for the missing-persons report.” She glanced at Justin and Fisher. “Would you guys like coffee?”

Fisher shook his head no. “I don’t think my stomach could handle it right now.”

“Coffee would be good,” Justin said. “Black.”

Her brows rose a second as if to say that she wasn’t his maid, and his mouth quirked. After all, she had offered.

She led Lambert back through the door to the back and returned a moment later with a bottle of water for Fisher and a cup of coffee for him.

“Thanks,” he said with a small smile.

A zing of something like attraction hit him when her hand brushed his as she gave him the mug. Her mouth twisted into a frown as if she’d noticed it, too, and she jerked her hand away and rushed back to talk to Lambert.

Sweat trickled down Fisher’s forehead. Was he simply upset about Kelly’s disappearance or was he nervous because he was hiding something?

Justin took a sip of coffee, surprised at the taste. Most law enforcement workers could handle a gun but didn’t know a flying fig about how to brew decent coffee.

Amanda Blair could do both. Intriguing.

“Mr. Fisher, how long have you and Kelly been together?” Justin asked.

Fisher gripped the water bottle with white-knuckled hands. “We knew each other in high school but didn’t date until our senior year. We got engaged last Christmas. Kelly took some time after high school to do some mission trips, then decided to get her teaching degree. She just graduated with a masters in education and is looking for a teaching job.”

“What do you do?”

Fisher shrugged. “I’m a financial consultant. I just started with a new company in Austin. We were moving there after the wedding.”

“Any problems between you and Kelly lately?”

Fisher shook his head, his leg bouncing up and down. “No.”

“No recent fights? Arguments over where you’d live? Money?”

“Not really. We get along great.”

“Do you and Kelly live together?”

Fisher nodded. “We moved in together our senior year of college.”

“What did her father think about that?”

“At first he wasn’t too happy,” Fisher admitted. “But eventually he realized it made sense. And when a student was raped on campus, he said he was actually relieved she was living with me.” Emotions made his voice warble. “He felt like she was...safe.”

Justin heard the guilt in Fisher’s tone. He understood that kind of guilt. “Do Kelly and her father get along?”

Fisher frowned up at him. “Yeah, why?”

“Anything you tell us about Kelly might help us find her,” Justin hedged. “So they get along?”

Fisher nodded. “Kelly’s mother died a while back and they went through a rough patch. That was before we started dating. But they were both grieving and adjusting. She said the last two years they’ve been close.”

“How did her mother die?”

“Cancer. She was sick a long time.”

So no skeletons that might suggest Lambert had hurt her. “What did Mr. Lambert think about the upcoming marriage?”

Fisher sipped his water again. “He was cool with it.”

“But?”

Fisher shifted in the seat. “At first he wanted her to wait until we saved more money. But Kelly assured him we’d be okay.”

“You have money?” Justin asked.

Fisher shrugged. “A little. I had scholarships for college, so I saved over the summers, enough to get us by until we both started getting paid.”

“So Mr. Lambert gave you his approval?”

“Yes,” Fisher said a little curtly. “Now why all these questions? Shouldn’t you be doing something to find Kelly?”

“We will do everything possible, Mr. Fisher. But like I said earlier, we need to know everything about Kelly to help us.” He hesitated and decided to take another tactic. “You said Lambert wanted you to wait until you were more financially sound. Did he offer to help out financially?”

Fisher shook his head. “He was paying for the wedding, but not our rent or bills. I saved the money for a down payment on a house.”

Admirable of the young man. Maybe he had nothing to do with Kelly’s disappearance.

If not, he’d have to look at the father.

And the serial killer they had nothing on yet...

“How are Lambert’s finances?” Justin asked.

“He owns the bank in town. How do you think?”

“Being a smart ass won’t help you,” Justin said, his voice sharp with warning.

The young man shoved his hands through his hair. “Sorry, I’m just nervous and worried.” He gripped the edges of the seat. “I feel like I need to be out looking for Kelly.”

He’d check Lambert’s financials just to verify Fisher’s statement. If Lambert needed money and had an insurance policy on his daughter, that would provide motive. Although, the man appeared visibly distraught.

If he had money and had nothing to do with her disappearance, and this case wasn’t related to the serial kidnapper, Lambert might receive a ransom call.

Fisher unscrewed the lid of the water bottle and swallowed a huge gulp.

“What about arguments between the two of you?”

A slight hesitation. “We disagreed over seating my uncle Jim next to her cousin Monique ’cause Monique will talk your head off. But that was small stuff. Nothing she’d leave me over.”

“How about exes?”

His lips tightened, and he glanced to the doorway. “Her old boyfriend, Terry, called her a couple of weeks ago. Said he heard she was getting married and wanted to talk to her before we tied the knot.”

“Talk to her about what?” Justin asked.

Fisher shrugged, dropped the water bottle cap, then bent over and picked it up.

“She didn’t tell you?” Justin pushed.

“No,” Fisher said. “I asked her if she still had feelings for him, but she laughed it off.”

“Did he still have feelings for her?”

Fisher toyed with the bottle cap, rolling it between his fingers. “She said he didn’t.”

“But?”

Fisher scowled. “But I saw a text he sent her and it sure as hell sounded like he did.”

The anger in the man’s tone raised Justin’s suspicions. “Did she agree to see him?”

Fisher squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then opened them and took another sip of water. “I don’t know. When she didn’t come last night, I thought...maybe she’d met up with him.”

Justin pushed a pad in front of Fisher. “I’ll need his name and any information you have on him.”

“I don’t know his number, but his name is Terry Sumter.”

“When was the last time you saw or spoke with Kelly?” Justin asked.

Kelly’s fiancé dropped his head into his hands with a pained sigh. “Yesterday morning for breakfast,” Fisher said. “We had waffles, then she said she had a million things to do—a dress fitting, shopping for bridesmaids’ gifts.... The list went on and on.” Regret flickered in his eyes. “I was only half listening. I had no idea it might be the last time I ever saw her.”

Justin gritted his teeth. The man’s fear sounded sincere. So did his guilt.

But were his guilt and fear real because he was afraid of getting caught?

“She was supposed to come home last night?”

He nodded, rubbing at his eyes. “I called and called and finally I received a text saying she was going to spend the night with one of her girlfriends.”

“Which one?”

“Betty Jacobs,” he said. “But when I called Kelly this morning and she didn’t answer, I tried Betty and she said Kelly hadn’t been there.”

Justin would pull everything he could find on the ex-boyfriend as well as Kelly’s phone records and Fisher’s.

Three different scenarios skittered through his head.

Kelly could have met with the old boyfriend, decided she’d made a mistake in agreeing to marry Fisher and run off with him.

Or Sumter could have tried to convince her to leave with him and either kidnapped or killed her when she’d refused.

Or Fisher could have discovered Kelly had feelings for her ex, and fought with her about it and killed her...either accidentally or in a fit of rage.

* * *

THE PHOTOGRAPH OF Kelly Lambert went up on the wall beside the other girls’.

All such pretty young women with their glossy hair, perfect lips and orthodontist-enhanced smiles.

All girls who were ugly on the inside and deserved to die.

One by one they would leave this world.

And everyone at Canyon High would know the reason why.

Chapter Three

Amanda knew dividing Lambert from Fisher was the best police approach. If one of them was lying or hiding something, separating them was the best way to get the truth. But she didn’t intend to let the Texas Ranger run her investigation or tell her what to do.

Lambert glanced back at the door, a nervous twitch to his eye. “What’s that Ranger talking to Raymond about?”

“Just asking routine questions, finding out background information,” Amanda said. “It helps us to get a full picture of Kelly. He’ll want to know who her girlfriends are, when Raymond last saw her, anything that might help us figure out what happened to her.”

“We have to find her,” Lambert said. “I lost my wife... I can’t lose Kelly. She’s everything to me.”

Sympathy for the man made Amanda squeeze his shoulder. “I promise you, Mr. Lambert, that Sergeant Thorpe and I will do everything we can to find Kelly and bring her back home to you.”

He glanced down and studied his knuckles. Amanda narrowed her eyes. He had scrapes on his left hand. A gash on his right.

She casually poured them both coffee, an image of Kelly at eighteen, when she’d won an award for most congenial, flitting through her head. “What happened to your hands?” she asked, sliding a cup of coffee in front of him.

He twisted his fingers in front of him, his expression odd as if he didn’t remember. “I...was nervous when Kelly didn’t call me back. Went outside and cut some wood. Guess I scraped my knuckles.”

His explanation was feasible. Still...his daughter was missing.

“We’ll need a current photograph of Kelly for the media and to spread around to other law enforcement agencies.”

Lambert reached inside his back pocket, removed his wallet and pulled out a picture of her. Amanda’s heart tugged. Kelly had always been pretty and had grown more so. She was dressed in a print dress, her long hair sweeping her shoulders.

“That was a couple of months ago,” Lambert said. “I took her to the club to discuss the wedding plans.”

Amanda studied the photo, thinking of her own father and how special their father/daughter dates had been.

Worry gnawed at her for Kelly’s sake.

If Kelly had been kidnapped by the same person who’d abducted the other girls, they might never find her.

Kelly could already be dead.

Or...she could be suffering now.

Which meant every minute counted.

Amanda claimed the chair across from Lambert. “You say your daughter was excited about the wedding. Does she have any enemies that you know of?”

Another wave of sadness washed over the man’s face. “No. Everyone loves her. In high school she was voted most congenial and most likely to succeed.”

Amanda had forgotten about the most-likely-to-succeed award.

“In college, she worked on the school newspaper,” her father continued, “then earned her degree in English and planned to teach high school. She’s been applying for jobs and hopes to start in the fall.”

Amanda cradled her own coffee cup, aiming for a casual tone. “You and Kelly get along?”

“Oh, yes,” he said. “Kelly means everything to me.” He coughed. “When we lost her mother, she was depressed, and at first I thought what the hell am I going to do with a teenage girl? But then...we both missed Janelle and...” His eyes flooded with tears as he looked up at her. “She’s a good girl, Sheriff. A good girl.”

“I know she is,” Amanda said, battling to keep her compassion at bay so she could ask the tough questions that needed to be asked. The first rule of police work was not to let your emotions get involved. Her father had taught her that, God rest his soul.

“How about her and Raymond?” she asked. “Do they have any problems?”

“Not that I know of,” Lambert said. “She adores him. I wanted them to take it slower, not marry till they had more money in the bank, but they insisted on going ahead, said they’d survive on love.”

Amanda grimaced. She’d never been that naive. Maybe because she didn’t believe in love. Her mother and father sure as hell hadn’t loved each other.

“Mr. Lambert, what about you? Do you have any enemies?”

His eyes widened. “You think this might be about me?”

“I don’t know, but we have to look at all the possibilities.”

He stood and paced across the room. “No, I mean I own the bank and a few people got angry at me because I turned down loans. Filed a couple of foreclosures. But that’s business.”

Money was a powerful motivator. “I’ll need their names.”

He paused in his pacing, smoothing his hands down his suit jacket. “All right.”

“Tell me about your financial situation,” she said. “Do you have a large portfolio of investments? A big savings account?”

“You mean in case we receive a ransom call?”

“Yes,” Amanda said. “That’s a possibility.” In fact, it would be preferable to the alternative. If someone called with a ransom request, they might have a chance of saving Kelly and catching the kidnapper.

“I have some money,” he admitted. “Enough.”

“Enough that someone might take your daughter to force you to pay them off?”

He paled. “If this is about money, I’ll pay whatever they ask.”

“Just make me a list of all of the people who might have a grievance against you,” Amanda said. “We’ll also need a list of all of Kelly’s friends so we can talk to them.”

“Of course.”

He headed back to the chair but paused by the whiteboard in the corner. Amanda tensed. On the back of that board she’d tacked photos of all the missing women from the past ten years. She didn’t want him to see them. “Mr. Lambert, sit down and—”

But a strangled sound escaped Lambert as he flipped it over. He staggered back, shaking his head in denial.

Anger hardened his voice when he spoke. “You haven’t found any of those girls, have you? And you’re not going to find my Kelly either.”

Fear mingled with anger in Amanda’s chest. She’d inherited the ongoing case from Sheriff Lager, but Kelly had gone missing on her watch. An image of the pretty woman’s face taunted her. Kelly was her age, vibrant, planning her wedding. Looking forward to having a family and a long life ahead of her.

But her life might already have been cut off because some crazy maniac had targeted her.

And Amanda didn’t have a clue as to who it was.

What if Lambert was right? What if she couldn’t save Kelly in time?

* * *

JUSTIN TAPPED THE notepad in front of Fisher. “Make a list of the groomsmen in the wedding and their contact information for me.”

Anger blazed in Fisher’s eyes as he realized the implication. “What the hell? Kelly’s father and I came here for help, and now you’re treating me like a suspect. You think I had something to do with Kelly’s disappearance?”

Justin forced his voice to remain level. The majority of missing-persons cases wound back to the family members or close friends. The fact that a string of females around the same age had gone missing was suspicious, but he couldn’t discount anything at this point.

“I didn’t say that. But it’s important for us to talk to everyone who knew Kelly,” Justin said. “Female and male friends included. Maybe one of them saw or heard something that could be helpful.”

Fisher shot up, glaring at Justin. “That’s bull. You want to ask them how Kelly and I got along. If I was jealous enough of an old boyfriend to hurt her.”

“I will ask that, but it’s routine,” Justin said. “The first thing we do in an investigation is to clear family members and friends. Oftentimes, someone may tell us some detail to help us—it might be something small that you don’t even think is important.”

He motioned to the chair. “Now, if you want us to find Kelly, sit down and make that list. You’re wasting valuable time.”

Fisher’s gaze met his, his eyes stormy with emotions and red rimmed from crying or lack of sleep. Maybe both.

Finally he released a heavy sigh and dropped back into the chair. “All right. But I love Kelly, and I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

Justin studied him, wondering how he’d react if he was in this man’s shoes. He’d be tearing apart the office, demanding answers, pushing for the police to comb the streets.

Ready to kill the person who’d stolen his fiancé.

That is, if that was what had happened.

Fisher took the pen and began to scribble names and phone numbers.

Sheriff Blair and Lambert appeared in the doorway, Lambert’s face ashen.

“Mr. Lambert, Mr. Fisher, I’d like your permission to put a trace on your phones,” Sheriff Blair said. “Just in case Kelly calls, or you receive a ransom call. We’ll also need to look at Kelly’s computer and phone records.”

“Of course, whatever you need,” Fisher said.

“Yes, check the phone records and computer.” Lambert’s eyes cut toward her. “Do whatever you have to do. Just find my daughter.”

Sheriff Blair nodded, but she looked worried. “I’ll get Kelly’s picture in the missing-persons database and on the news right away. Hopefully someone saw something and we’ll get a lead.”

Fisher shoved the paper into Justin’s hands. “Call us if you find her.”

Fisher huffed, then strode out the door. Lambert glanced at Justin. “I saw the pictures of those other young women back there. I don’t want Kelly’s picture up there. I want you to find this bastard.”

Justin shook the man’s hand. “Yes, sir. We’ll do everything we can.”

“Do more than that,” Lambert said sharply. Heaving a labored breath, he followed Fisher out the door.

Justin couldn’t blame the man for being angry and frustrated. He didn’t even know Kelly Lambert, and he felt like kicking something.

“I didn’t mean for him to see the wall of photos,” Sheriff Blair said.

“He’s scared,” Justin said. “Do you believe him?”

Sheriff Blair winced and gestured toward the notepad in her hand. “I think he loves her. I want to look at his financials. He turned down some folks for loans this year, had to foreclose on a couple of people.”

Justin arched a brow. “So this could be about money?”

“We’ll see if he receives a ransom call,” Sheriff Blair said. “Maybe someone he angered decided to get their loan money from him after all.”

“Revenge is a powerful motivator,” Justin agreed.

“What about the fiancé?” she asked.

“He seems sincerely distraught, but it could be an act. Apparently a former boyfriend contacted Kelly recently and wanted to see her before the wedding. He or Fisher could have had a jealous streak.”

Sheriff Blair nodded. “I’ll have my deputy pull financials and talk to the folks at the bank.” She made the call while he finished his coffee.

“I have a list of Fisher’s friends and the ex’s name and phone number,” he said as she turned back to him. “I’ll request Kelly’s phone records and access to her computer as well as Fisher’s and the ex’s.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sheriff Blair said. “At least a beginning.”

“Maybe we’ll find something at Kelly’s place.”

“Let’s go,” Sheriff Blair said. “You can make the phone calls in the car.”

Justin followed her outside, then climbed in the passenger seat as he removed his phone from the clip on his belt. “Sheriff, if we’re going to work together on this case, let’s start by getting on a first-name basis.”

An almost panicked look flickered in her eyes, making him wonder why she was so wary. Was it him personally or his badge that she didn’t like?

“All right,” she said tightly. “But just so you know, I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

He hadn’t asked her to.

She shot him a fiery look. “I may be a woman, but I can do my job.”

“I never said you couldn’t,” Justin said. Although her statement told him far more about her and her past than she probably realized.

Amanda chewed her bottom lip as she started the engine. “Good, I’m glad we got that out of the way.”

He had to admit he was intrigued at her spunk. Obviously she’d battled her way up against men in her field who probably thought she was incompetent based on her sex.

Either that or they were sidetracked by her good looks.

He wouldn’t make that mistake.

And he certainly couldn’t or wouldn’t allow her pretty little face to distract him. He was here to find Kelly Lambert and to solve the case of the missing girls.

Nothing else mattered.

Especially the little zing of lightning that had sizzled between them when he’d brushed her hand earlier.

* * *

THE DATES FOR the tenth reunion had been posted on the marquis in front of the high school. The members of that graduating class were returning to town to celebrate their accomplishments.

They would be partying and drinking and rehashing their fun times. The pep rallies. The football game wins. The dances. The bonfires by the canyon.

Graduation night.

They’d all be happy and laughing, bragging about their accomplishments and careers and awards. Showing off their wives and husbands, and their children.

Back together for the first time in years.

Which would make it easier to find the next ones who had to die.

Chapter Four

Amanda silently chided herself. She shouldn’t have blurted out that comment about being able to do her job.

But Sergeant Thorpe’s—Justin’s—suggestion that they use first names felt somehow intimate. Friendly.

Tempting.

Because he was the first man she’d met in years that made her want to forget her vow to not get involved with a coworker.

But doing so would mean losing his respect.

And holding on to her respect was all she had. She’d had her heart broken too many times to trust it to someone again.

Her own mother had left her father because she’d said he was married to the job.

Amanda was like her father—married to the job, too.

Justin phoned his superior to request phone records for Kelly, her father, her fiancé and her ex-boyfriend, then disconnected.

“Your father was a Texas Ranger, wasn’t he?”

His question took her by surprise. “How did you know?” Had he researched her?

“I saw his photo on the wall at the central office. He was a hero.”

She focused back on the road to keep her emotions at bay. He’d been gone for five years, but his death had left a hole in her heart. “Yeah, he was.”

“He died saving a little boy?”

She nodded, proud of her dad. Yet his death had left her alone.

Still, she had to understand his devotion. She was just as dedicated to the job as he had been. In fact, she’d always wanted to be just like him.

But she didn’t want to talk about personal things, especially her own life, with Justin. So she remained silent as she turned onto the highway leading to Kelly Lambert’s apartment.

She parked in front of the complex and searched the numbers. Then she and Justin walked up to the door together. Fisher had already arrived, and he let them in, his expression guarded.

“I don’t know what you think you’ll find here,” he said. “But go ahead and look around.”

Amanda noticed boxes stacked everywhere. “You were moving?”

Fisher nodded. “We bought a house near my new job. The movers were supposed to come tomorrow.” His voice cracked. “We wanted to get moved in before the wedding. I was supposed to start work the day after we returned from the honeymoon.”

He ran his hand over one of the unclosed boxes, which held kitchenware, looking lost for a moment as if he didn’t know what to do.

Justin cleared his throat. “Where’s Kelly’s computer?”

Fisher gestured toward an oak desk in the corner, and Justin addressed Amanda. “I’ll take a look at it if you want to search the place.”

She agreed and started in the kitchen while he slid onto the desk chair and booted up Kelly’s laptop.

Fisher paced for a minute, then seemed startled when his phone jangled. “It’s my new boss,” he said before stepping onto the back patio to take the call.

Amanda opened kitchen cabinet doors, noting they were empty, then checked the drawers. Kelly must have already packed up all the silverware and kitchen supplies. She scanned the counters, finding a bottle opener and a basket with a couple of envelopes inside.

A power bill and a bank statement. She pulled out the statement and skimmed the summary of transactions. The grocery store, household bills, a payment to the florist and wedding caterer made two days before, all signs Kelly had planned to go through with the wedding.

Her account still held five thousand dollars, not enough money to warrant anyone kidnapping her for it. Then again, Kelly’s father was the one with the big bucks.

Satisfied the kitchen held no answers, she headed toward the couple’s bedroom, but the refrigerator caught her eye. A magnet held Kelly’s wedding invitation. Beside it, she noticed the invitation to the high school reunion.

The reunion was the week before Kelly’s wedding. The timing meant that a lot of Kelly’s friends would be in town. That is, if she still kept up with them.

Unlike her, Kelly had been a popular girl.

Moving on, she stepped into the bedroom. An eight-by-ten of Kelly and Fisher sat atop the dresser, the couple embracing for a romantic kiss. Both looked completely happy and in love.

More boxes were stacked on the floor. Most of the dresser drawers were empty, but when she opened the closet door, she found a long white satin wedding gown hanging inside. Pearl buttons ran down the back to the waist, where the gown flared with yards of organza and lace.

It was a beautiful dress; Kelly would have been a beautiful bride.

Had her life been cut short?

So far, her fiancé and father’s stories held up. She wanted to talk to Kelly’s girlfriends next. They might be able to shed some light on whether or not Fisher or Kelly’s father should be considered suspects.

If they were innocent, she couldn’t afford to waste too much time on them. Every minute she did meant whoever had taken Kelly was getting away.

If the same person who’d abducted the other missing girls had abducted Kelly, what was the reason? How was he choosing his victims?

Studying victimology could help her find answers.

Her cell phone buzzed, and she saw it was her deputy, Joe Morgan, so she snatched it up. “Hey, Joe, what’s up?”

“I got your message and will look into the bank angle. But I found Kelly Lambert’s car.”

“Where?”

“Off of Old River Mill Road.”

Amanda held her breath. “Was Kelly in it?”

“No,” Deputy Morgan said. “The car had nosedived into a ditch. There are skid marks on the road as if another car ran her off the road.”

Possibly a hit and run? “I’ll call a crime unit to lift the tire prints.”

“I’ll wait here for them. By the way, Kelly’s car is red, but I noticed pewter gray paint on the side. I’ll have them take samples of the paint, too.”

“Good work, Deputy. Did you search the area for Kelly? Maybe it was a hit and run and she’s lying hurt nearby?”

“I already looked. She’s not here, Sheriff. But I found a blood trail leading from Kelly’s car to the edge of the road.”

Amanda’s lungs constricted. So Kelly was hurt.

If the driver had forced Kelly to go with him, where was she now?

* * *

JUSTIN SEARCHED KELLY’S computer, first skimming her emails, but nothing stuck out. Some were personal correspondence with friends, excited chatter about the upcoming wedding, which confirmed Fisher’s story that Kelly still planned to marry him. Other notes were to vendors finalizing arrangements for the ceremony and reception. The emails were dated the day before Kelly disappeared, also confirming that she didn’t have plans to run away or cancel the wedding.

A note from someone named Eleanor Goggins asked if she was going to attend their high school reunion. Two others girls, Anise Linton and Mona Pratt, had joined that discussion, all commenting on how much fun it would be to get the old crowd back together again.

He checked Kelly’s financial records. Her account was stable, most transactions relating to household bills and payments to vendors. A large deposit had been added a week before from her father, which was probably meant to cover wedding costs. But nothing out of the ordinary.

He checked her browser history and found wedding decoration and planning sites, then noted she’d researched teaching positions and had sent applications to three different schools in Austin.

All confirmed Fisher’s story.

Next he examined her social media sites. She was on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Pinterest. He took a few minutes to skim her posts and discovered she liked mystery books and classics, and she tweeted and wrote Facebook posts about her job search and upcoming nuptials. Photos of her and Raymond filled her Facebook page: shots of them at college football games, hiking and sipping drinks on a beach vacation trip and engagement pictures taken at a mountain cabin.

Nothing suspicious. In fact, everything supported Fisher’s and Lambert’s story.

Amanda appeared from the bedroom, her expression troubled.

“What?” he asked.

She glanced at the patio and seemed to be relieved that Fisher was outside. “My deputy called. He found Kelly’s car.”

Justin arched a brow. “Where?”

“Out on Old River Mill Road.” She lowered her voice. “It appears someone ran her off the road. Deputy Morgan found blood on Kelly’s seat and paint from another car on her Toyota.”

Justin’s jaw tightened. “Someone intentionally ran her off the road, then abducted her?”

“That’s what it looks like. I’d like to go out to the site and see for myself.”

“Do you know what kind of car hit her?”

She shook her head. “No idea of the make and model yet, but it was pewter gray. Hopefully the crime team can tell us more from the paint sample.”

“What kind of car does Fisher drive?”

“A black Lexus. There was a picture of him and Kelly washing it.” Amanda’s expression softened. “They were laughing, covered in soap bubbles.”

He closed the laptop. “I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Let’s go see her car, then we’ll question the ex-boyfriend. If he drives a gray car, he might be our perp.”

Justin’s nerves jangled. He hoped to hell the ex was the man they were looking for. They might have a chance of getting Kelly back.

If not, she might disappear for months or years...or forever...like some of the other victims. And her father and fiancé might never know what happened to her.

* * *

AMANDA AND JUSTIN left with a word to Fisher that they’d keep him updated. Without even discussing the situation, they silently agreed not to tell him about finding Kelly’s car.

“What kind of car does Mr. Lambert drive?” Justin asked as Amanda drove toward Old River Mill Road.

“A silver Mercedes.”

“So far, Fisher and Lambert’s stories hold up.”

A sense of trepidation overcame Amanda. The image of Kelly’s wedding dress hanging in the closet taunted her. Poor Kelly...she had been excited about her wedding.

And now it may never happen....

Night shadows hovered along the road, a breeze stirring the dead leaves and blowing them across the road like tumbleweed. Everything was dry this time of year, the temperature chilly.

Deserted land and cacti sprang up, making her wonder why Kelly would have been driving out on Old Mill River Road. Where had she been going?

Had she been planning to meet someone? If so, whom?

And why out here in the middle of nowhere?

Amanda wound down the road, noting signs for rental cabins along the creek a few miles to the north, but spotted her deputy’s car ahead and pulled over.

“Why was she out here?” Justin asked as he climbed out.

She grabbed two flashlights, tossed him one, then retrieved her camera and a crime kit. “I was thinking the same thing.” She spotted the red Toyota down in the ditch. Her deputy walked toward them along the side of the road. “How did you find the car?” she asked.

“Tracked her cell phone.” Deputy Morgan held it up in his gloved hand. “Battery was low but it was still on.”

“Did you check her call history?” Amanda asked.

Deputy Morgan glanced at the Ranger, then at her, and Amanda realized she hadn’t introduced them. She quickly covered the bases and tugged on gloves

“Did you get anything from the phone?” Justin asked.

“Her last call was to a girl named Anise yesterday about ten a.m. After that, there were dozens of messages from the father and fiancé.”

Amanda took the phone and clicked to listen to a couple. Each message sounded more frantic and panicked. “Fisher and Lambert both sound worried,” she said.

“What about texts?” Justin asked.

Amanda checked the text log. “There’s a couple from Fisher. He sounds more and more anxious as the night wore on.”

“Fits with what they told us,” Justin commented.

She continued to scroll backward. “Wait a minute. There’s one here that came in yesterday about nine a.m. It’s from someone named Hailey. She asked Kelly to meet her at the cabins I saw on that rental sign. Something about a surprise for her fiancé.”

“We need talk to her. She may have had the last communication with Kelly.”

Amanda handed him the phone. “You want to call the tech team and have them trace that text?”

“Sure.” He glanced at the deputy. “Did you call a crime team in?”

The deputy nodded. “They should be here any minute.”

Amanda tried to recall if there had been a girl named Hailey in their graduating class, but couldn’t remember one. Maybe Kelly had met her at college instead of in Sunset Mesa. Or maybe she was a real-estate developer or event planner.

She shone her flashlight along the road as she followed the deputy, her heart hammering when he pointed out the blood trail near the car. Determined not to miss anything, she snapped photos of the car and surrounding area.

The driver’s door was open, the front window and bumper smashed, the weeds and brush crushed from the weight of footsteps—or a body.

Blood dotted the front seat and was splattered against the steering wheel.

But there was no sign of Kelly anywhere.

Except for her purse. It had fallen onto the floor, probably from the impact. Kelly’s lipstick, wallet and compact, along with other miscellaneous items, had spilled across the mat.

Amanda picked up the wallet and looked inside. Driver’s license and credit cards intact. Fifty dollars.

Not a robbery.

A cold chill swept over Amanda.

Judging from the blood on the seat, Kelly was injured. Although the amount of blood didn’t suggest there was enough blood loss to kill her.

But since had been injured, she’d been easy prey, too weak to fight off a kidnapper or escape.

Chapter Five

Justin looked up and down the road while he waited on tech to check the phone records. The tire marks needed to be photographed and studied—maybe they could discern the make of the car from the prints.

They might even get lucky and find some forensics evidence to help them.

The tech cleared his throat into the phone. “Okay, the text from Hailey came from a burner phone. There’s no way to trace it or find out who bought the phone.”

Dammit. “What about the fiancé’s phone records? He said he received a text from Kelly saying she was going to spend the night with a friend named Betty Jacobs. But Betty said she didn’t come over. Did Kelly call the Jacobs girl?”

A slight hesitation, and Justin heard computer keys tapping, then the tech’s voice again. “There’s a minute-long call to Betty Jacobs yesterday morning about eight o’clock but nothing afterward.”

Justin headed down the hill to examine the car, noting the blood splatters on the car door. “Check Fisher’s records.”

Another moment passed and Justin reached Amanda. She and the deputy were searching the trees surrounding the car crash.

He shone a flashlight and caught sight of a partial footprint to the left, then noticed a stiletto heel stuck in a patch of weeds.

“Sergeant Thorpe,” the crime tech said. “I just examined Fisher’s phone and you won’t believe this, but the text that Kelly received from the burner phone—well, that came from the same phone that sent the message to Fisher saying Kelly wouldn’t be home that night.”

“So Kelly didn’t send that text to Fisher. The kidnapper did.”

“I’m surprised Fisher didn’t notice that the number was different.”

“There are a lot of their friends in town for the reunion. Maybe he thought she was using one of their phones.”

The facts clicked together in Justin’s mind, giving him a good idea of what had happened. He told the tech to keep looking at all the phone records from Lambert, Fisher and Kelly, then hung up and called out to Amanda.

“Did you find something?” Amanda asked.

“A shoe.” He pointed to the foliage and Amanda raced over, then knelt to examine it. Her gaze shot back and forth from the car door to the wooded area and the trail leading back up to the road. “The driver hit Kelly’s car, then dragged her from the crash and forced her into his vehicle.”

Justin nodded. “That’s how it appears.” He sighed. “I just talked to tech. The text Kelly received asking her to meet this person Hailey was sent from a burner phone.”

“So Hailey could be a fake name?”

“Probably. The text Kelly supposedly sent Fisher saying she was going to her friend Betty’s house for the night—that was a fake. It came from the same burner phone.”

Amanda ran a hand through her hair. “I assume there’s no way to trace the number?”

“Afraid not. The texts were obviously a setup.”

Amanda winced. “Someone lured her out here with the intention of kidnapping her and doing God knows what else.” She gestured toward a shoe in the bushes. “The question is why? And if he went to all that trouble to lure her out here, then our unsub targeted her specifically.”

He admired her logical mind. “That’s true. Up until now, we wondered if the victims were chosen randomly. Now we know that someone specifically wanted Kelly Lambert.”

“But who?” Amanda asked. “So far Mr. Lambert and Fisher seem to be telling the truth.”

“Let’s talk to Kelly’s ex-boyfriend,” Justin said. “Maybe he wanted her back badly enough to kidnap her.”

* * *

AMANDA CONSIDERED HIS comment. It was a very likely scenario. Especially if Terry Sumter was obsessed with Kelly and was desperate to win her back.

Although they had to look at all angles.

“That’s a possibility,” Amanda said. “But there’s another one that might fit.”

“What?”

“Maybe another woman wanted Raymond and decided to get Kelly out of the way so she could move in on him.”

Justin frowned. “We’ll talk to Kelly’s girlfriends and Fisher’s male friends. Hopefully one of them can give us some insight there.” He gestured toward the car. “We might luck out and find a print or hair that the kidnapper left behind.”

The sound of an engine rumbling echoed from the road, and they all climbed the hill together. The crime van rolled up, techs spilling out with their kits. Amanda thanked the deputy and asked him to go back to the office to man the phones and follow up with the bank. By now, Kelly’s photograph should have gone into the system. They could only hope someone would call in with a lead.

Another officer brought a police dog and began to search the area.

The head of the unit introduced himself as Lieutenant Gibbons, then pointed out the other workers by name. A redheaded woman named Petunia, a chubby guy named Larry, a rail-thin guy with funky glasses named Jerry, and the guy with the dog was named Herbert.

Amanda explained what they’d discovered so far and handed over the shoe to be bagged and sent to the lab. The next hour they scoured the area in case Kelly had somehow escaped, but finally even the dog team gave up.

“We’ll take a cast of the tire print,” Lieutenant Gibbons said. “And we’re going over the car with a magnifying glass.”

“Run the paint sample through the lab, too,” Justin said. “Maybe the paint was custom designed for a particular vehicle.”

Amanda checked her watch. “It’s getting late, but I want to talk to the bridal party tonight.” She removed her phone and called Fisher. “Call everyone in the bridal party and tell them to meet me at the sheriff’s office in half an hour.”

“Did you find something?” The young man’s voice warbled as if he’d been crying.

“We’ll talk when Sergeant Thorpe and I get there.”

She disconnected, dread balling in her stomach. Telling Kelly’s fiancé and father about finding the car would be difficult. If they’d harbored any shred of hope that Kelly had simply gone away for a couple of days without telling anyone, the fact that they’d found blood would kill that hope.

* * *

JUSTIN STUDIED THE group of young men and women who’d gathered in the sheriff’s office.

Kelly’s bridesmaids and best friends—Betty Jacobs, Anise Linton, Mona Pratt and Eleanor Goggins—were all attractive women in their twenties, although they were a mixture of brunettes, blondes and redheads.

Any one of them could have fit the profile of the victims who’d disappeared over the past few years. So far, the kidnapper didn’t have a clear MO, which had slowed down the police in connecting the cases in the beginning. Normally a kidnapper/killer chose a certain type—all blondes or brunettes or redheads. This unsub seemed to have no preference for hair color or body type or career choice.

Except they were all in their twenties and lived in Texas.

The groomsmen looked nervous as they settled into wooden chairs. Glenn Cates, Danny Latt and Lance Stephens. Fisher’s father, Ernie, was his best man. He stood beside his son with a hand on his shoulder.

Raymond looked even worse tonight, the strain of the day wearing on him.

Amanda had taken Kelly’s father to her back office to explain to him about the car and their findings.

“I want to thank you all for coming,” Justin said.

“Did you find Kelly?” Mr. Fisher asked.

Justin shook his head. “I’m afraid not, but we did find her car.”

Raymond jerked his head up, while the others exchanged worried looks.

“Where?” Ernie Fisher asked.

“Out on Old River Mill Road.”

“What was she doing there?” Raymond asked.

Justin crossed his arms, studying the group for their reactions—any sign that one of them might have already known about the car. But he caught no signs of deceit on their faces, only fear and worry.

“Our tech department studied the text that you received, Mr. Fisher, the one supposedly sent from Kelly telling you she was spending the night with Betty.”

“What do you mean, ‘supposedly sent’?”

“That text was sent from a burner phone, not from Kelly’s. That same phone sent a message to Kelly asking her to meet the person out on Old River Mill Road.”

Fisher’s eyes widened in horror. “Someone tricked her into going out there.”

“That’s correct,” Justin said. “Whoever it was sent you that text so you wouldn’t realize she was missing until the next day.”

Gasps and whispers rumbled through the group.

Raymond paced over to Justin, his breath wheezing out. “Someone kidnapped her, didn’t they?”

Justin swallowed hard. “It appears that way, Mr. Fisher. Her car had been run off the road and crashed into a ditch. We also found a small amount of blood on the seat.”

Fisher’s face crumpled with emotions. “Oh, my god. She might be...hurt or gone like those other women.”

“Why her?” Betty sniffled. “Everyone loved Kelly.”

“She was so excited about her wedding,” the girl named Anise said.

“And the shower,” Eleanor added. “She couldn’t wait to open the gifts and move into her new house.”

Mona wiped tears from her eyes and hugged Eleanor.

Justin made a low sound in his throat. “Can any of you think of anyone who’d want to hurt her?”

Heads shook, mumbled nos resounding through the room.

Amanda stepped from the back with Lambert who looked ashen-faced and distraught. “Please call us if you receive a ransom call,” Amanda told him.

He nodded, then looked over at Fisher, pain radiating from him. “Have you heard anything, Ray?”

Raymond shook his head no, rubbing his bleary eyes.

Amanda rapped her fingers on the desk. “Ladies, I’d like to talk to you individually.”

“And I need to interview each of the groomsmen,” Justin added.

Mumbled questions and protests sounded.

One of the groomsmen, Lance, scowled, his arms crossed. “You think one of us had something to do with her disappearance?”

“That’s not what we’re implying,” Amanda cut in. “But you might be able to help in some way. You do want to find Kelly, don’t you?”

Heads nodded, everyone piping up with yeses.

Amanda gestured toward Betty. “Why don’t you come with me first? It’ll only take a few minutes.” She glanced at Justin. “You can use my deputy’s office to interview the men.”

Justin pointed to Raymond. “Come on, Fisher. There are a couple of things I need to ask you.”

He looked sullen and nervous, but he followed Justin without a word. The moment Justin shut the door, the man turned on him.

“What else can I tell you? I don’t know who would send me and Kelly that text. And I sure as hell don’t know anyone who’d want to hurt her.”

“Mr. Fisher,” Justin said calmly. “You mentioned that Kelly’s ex wanted to get back with her. I’m going to question him as soon as I leave here. But Sheriff Blair pointed out another possibility.”

He hesitated, giving the man a moment to gather himself. “Do you have any ex-girlfriends that were unhappy about your upcoming wedding? Maybe a woman who wanted to get back with you? Or...one who wanted to get revenge against you for some reason?”

Fisher lapsed into a stunned silence for a moment, then dropped into a chair. “I don’t think so...I mean...”

“What? There’s something you remember?”

Fisher wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “I did break up with my old high school girlfriend to date Kelly our senior year,” he said. “But that was ages ago. Renee wouldn’t do anything to hurt Kelly because of it. She’s probably already moved on.”

Justin gritted his teeth. “Where does she live?”

“Some small town north of here.” He drummed his fingers on his knee, thinking.

“What else?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “She chaired the committee to set up the high school reunion.”

“So she knew you were coming back for the reunion and to get married. Perhaps facing old friends as a single woman while you two were together pushed her buttons?”

“I suppose it’s possible,” Raymond said, but he didn’t sound convinced. “Although I just can’t imagine it.”

Justin shoved a pad toward him. “Write down her contact information. You do have it, don’t you?”

A sliver of guilt streaked the man’s face. “Yes, but only because of the reunion.”

“Right.” Justin watched him scribble the woman’s name and number, wondering if she could have kidnapped Kelly out of jealousy.

Now they had two feasible suspects, Kelly’s ex-boyfriend and Raymond’s ex-girlfriend.

His cell phone buzzed, and he checked the number. The ME.

“Excuse me,” he told Fisher. “I have to take this. You can go now.”

Fisher looked wary as he rose. “You want one of the other guys sent in?”

Justin nodded. “Send Lance Stephens in.” He’d start with the guy who’d protested. Maybe he had a reason to avoid questions.

His phone buzzed again, and he hit Connect. “Sergeant Thorpe.”

“It’s Dr. Sagebrush. We have an ID on the body from the creek.”

Justin held his breath. “Her name?”

“Tina Grimes.”

“Cause of death?”

“As we first thought—strangulation,” Dr. Sagebrush said.

“Any sign of sexual assault?”

“No, she wasn’t raped,” Dr. Sagebrush said. “But there’s something else that I noticed, too. I don’t know if it’s important, but her high school class ring was clenched in her hand.”

Justin frowned. What did that mean? That she’d hung on to it as the perpetrator killed her?

Or had the perp put it in her hand as part of his signature?

* * *

THE YEARBOOK ANNUALS were all laid out in a row on the top of the dresser. All the high school students from Sunset Mesa, four years’ worth of girls who’d finished their high school degrees and gone on to plan their futures.

They were successful, married, had babies of their own. One had even become a reporter who covered human-interest stories.

Ironic since the little witch had no sense of humanity.

Flipping the pages brought a sea of females who had to be punished.

Amanda Blair’s photograph stood out. She wore her softball uniform and was grinning from ear to ear after Canyon High won a game. Amanda had been a star player.

She’d also abandoned one of her friends, someone who’d needed her.

And she would have to be punished for that.

But there were others that had to be dealt with first. So many others...

Who would receive their penance next?

Chapter Six

Amanda had interviewed two of the bridesmaids and had two more to go. According to Betty and Anise, Kelly adored Raymond, couldn’t wait until the wedding and had intentionally planned the ceremony the week after the reunion so more of her former classmates could attend.

Amanda studied Mona, aware the blonde was only a year younger than her. Man, she felt old. More worried about dead bodies and missing young women rather than a date for a mani-pedi and highlights.

“Did you sense any trouble between Raymond and Kelly?” she asked.

Mona twisted a strand of hair around one finger, reminding Amanda of the way the girl had behaved in high school. She had been a huge flirt. All the guys had eaten out of the palm of her hand.

“They were the perfect couple,” Mona said, blinking back tears. “I just can’t believe she’s missing.”

“Raymond said that her ex-boyfriend, Terry Sumter, wanted to get back with her. Did she mention that to you?”

Mona sighed. “She said she’d heard from him, but she blew it off. Every couple of years, Terry would contact her and want to get together, usually after he’d broken up with his latest conquest.”

Amanda zeroed in on her word choice. “Conquest?”

She laughed softly. “Yes, he could be charming, and whenever he met someone new, he poured it on. But eventually the girls wised up to his slick moves. When he was drinking, he had a bad temper. That’s why Kelly broke up with him years ago.”

“Did he ever get physical with her?”

Mona chewed her lip as if debating on her response.

“Mona, just tell me the truth. If you think he might have hurt Kelly, I need to know.”

“Well, I can’t imagine him actually kidnapping her. But Eleanor and I saw him at the pub one night and he was pretty trashed, mouthing off. He blamed Kelly for his life falling apart.”

“Falling apart?”

“Yeah, he said she abandoned him, and after that his life spiraled downhill. Said he’d always wanted her. When she left, he didn’t trust women anymore.”

“That was her fault?”

“According to him, yeah. I think he just lost his job, too.”

“What did he do?”

“He worked in construction. I think he was about to get his own crew,” Mona said. “But it wasn’t Kelly’s fault he lost his job. He probably got caught drinking at work.”

Maybe. Still, if he blamed Kelly for his problems, maybe he had come after her to get revenge.

* * *

JUSTIN FINISHED INTERVIEWING the three groomsmen, not surprised that the men all vouched for Raymond. After the phone call identifying Tina Grimes, he was looking for a connection between the two cases. But Raymond had no reason to hurt Tina.

Of course the killer, Raymond or otherwise, could have murdered Kelly, hoping the police would assume she’d been taken by the same perp who’d kidnapped the other girls.

Glen Cates and Danny Latt had attended high school with Kelly and Raymond as well as Amanda, and, as teens, had formed a bond that, according to them, could not be broken. Lance Stephens had met Raymond in college and they were frat brothers, making their bond just as tight.

They also adamantly refuted the suggestion that Kelly might have cheated on Raymond, saying she was as devoted to him as he was to her.

Justin had never experienced that kind of devotion and wondered what it would be like.

Dammit, don’t let the case get to you. You like being alone.

Sure, occasionally he wanted a hot body to warm him at night. Amanda’s sexy face flashed in his mind, and for a brief second, he allowed himself to indulge in the idea of taking her to bed. Stripping her naked and tasting every inch of her. He’d bet his next dollar that she’d be as fiery and passionate in the sack as she was about police work.

But reality interceded. Facing the same woman day after day wasn’t on the agenda.

His job was his wife.

And the last thing he needed was to get his butt fired for making advances toward a female sheriff. These days a man had to be careful.

Had to protect his reputation.

He’d learned a long time ago that the only person he could count on was himself.

Turning his thoughts back to the case, he left the men in the front office, strode to the back and knocked on Amanda’s door. A second later, she opened it, ushering the young woman named Eleanor out.

“I’ve finished with the men,” he said.

“Let’s send them all home and interview Kelly’s ex-boyfriend, Terry Sumter.”

He agreed, but as his gaze met hers, his earlier thoughts taunted him. He’d tried to ignore those enormous eyes before, but now they intrigued him. Made him wonder what had made her so tough...and sexy at the same time.

An incredibly lethal combination.

She grabbed her jacket, and he dragged his mind away from sex and to the case.

“Thanks for coming in, everyone,” Amanda said. “Go home and get some rest.”

“Just let us know if you hear from Kelly,” Justin said.

Bleak faces stared back, the young women’s expressions full of fear as if they realized that they could become a victim just as easily as Kelly had. Especially if this criminal was choosing random women.

But he’d intentionally avoided linking Kelly’s disappearance to the others to avoid panic.

Raymond stood on shaky legs. “Please find her, Sergeant Thorpe and Sheriff Blair.”

Justin nodded and Amanda murmured she’d be in touch.

Raymond’s father guided his son out, talking in a hushed voice, trying to offer words of comfort that Justin was certain fell on deaf ears.

“God,” Amanda said as the door closed and they were left alone. “I’m afraid we may not be able to give him what he wants.”

Justin gritted his teeth. He knew exactly what she meant. Because Fisher wanted his fiancé back alive, saying her vows at their wedding. He and Amanda both knew that might not happen.

He might be burying her instead.

That is, if they found her body. So many victims had never been found or their bodies recovered.

Amanda rubbed the back of her neck, and he realized she looked tired. Hell, she was probably exhausted. It had been a long day.

And it wasn’t over.

Justin propped one hip against the desk. “We need to talk before we go.”

A streak of panic darkened Amanda’s face, and she poured another cup of coffee. She handed him a cup, then took hers and sank into her desk chair with a resigned sigh as if she knew he had bad news.

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