Книга - Laying Down The Law

Laying Down The Law
Delores Fossen


A Texas lawman must face his past and bring a serial killer to justiceDEA Agent Cord Granger knows evidence doesn’t lie. And he knows the serial killer in custody – his biological father – is the Moonlight Strangler. With news of a similar attack, Cord takes the victim, rancher Karina Southerland, into his protective custody.Marred by the Strangler’s hallmark slash across her cheek, Karina is sure Cord’s father is innocent. The real killer is still out there – and he’s coming to finish what he started. At least they can agree that their smoldering attraction is real. Now, if there’s any hope for a future, Cord must solve this murderous puzzle. Before the Moonlight Strangler strikes again.







A Texas lawman must face his past and bring a serial killer to justice

DEA agent Cord Granger knows evidence doesn’t lie. And he knows the serial killer in custody—his biological father—is the Moonlight Strangler. With news of a similar attack, Cord takes the victim, rancher Karina Southerland, into his protective custody.

Marred by the Strangler’s hallmark slash across her cheek, Karina is sure Cord’s father is innocent. The real killer is still out there—and he’s coming to finish what he started. At least they can agree that their smoldering attraction is real. Now, if there’s any hope for a future, Cord must solve this murderous puzzle. Before the Moonlight Strangler strikes again.


“I went outside to check on the horses,” Karina continued after she’d gathered her breath. “When I stepped into the barn, he hit me over the head. I didn’t even see him. Didn’t know he was there until it was too late.”

Cord jumped right on that. “But you could tell for sure that it was a man?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation.

Damn. “What happened next?” he pressed when she didn’t continue.

Karina closed her eyes a moment. Shuddered. “I screamed as I was falling, and he cut my face.” She reached to put her fingers there, but the paramedic moved them away.

It was the slice on her cheekbone. And the signature of the Moonlight Strangler.


Laying Down the Law

Delores Fossen






www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


DELORES FOSSEN, a USA TODAY bestselling author, has sold over fifty novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received a Booksellers’ Best Award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA® Award. You can contact the author through her website at www.deloresfossen.com (http://www.deloresfossen.com/).


CAST OF CHARACTERS (#ulink_e9ecd82c-2cf4-5354-81d6-0c3dcabc3a2a)

Cord Granger—A tough DEA agent who believes his birth father is a notorious serial killer, the Moonlight Strangler, but Cord’s quest for justice puts him on a collision course with danger and

a woman who believes his birth father is an innocent man.

Karina Southerland—The last thing she needs is to feel an attraction for Cord, the hot cowboy lawman who’s gunning for someone she loves, but Cord is also the one person who can save her from a killer.

Willie Lee Samuels—Cord’s birth father, who’s in jail and charged with being the Moonlight Strangler.

Rocky Finney—Karina’s ranch hand, who has plenty of secrets, and one of those secrets could be the reason Karina’s in danger.

Harley Kramer—This businessman wants nothing more than for Karina to drop charges against him for breaking and entering. But how far would he go to force her to back down?

DeWayne Stringer—A cattle baron who’s had run-ins with Karina and Willie Lee for years. Did he frame Willie Lee for the murders?


Contents

Cover (#ub1401b68-48b6-560e-98b9-ee5d6a48d2bf)

Back Cover Text (#u18d67e2b-f5b3-54f6-8e4e-b23e0ba8668b)

Introduction (#u239d19e7-de4e-53d7-b5ff-9502f29532b8)

Title Page (#u63e8ac52-e589-5955-b3d9-2b380af2f2a1)

About the Author (#uc135fb54-60f8-5221-a448-057c55f8abc9)

CAST OF CHARACTERS (#ulink_92643ef7-26fb-56dc-a50f-2a6e79ec209b)

Chapter One (#ulink_48fe4a54-b47b-58d2-bfcb-70cd3d6f30e2)

Chapter Two (#ulink_c19b9a8f-cdbf-5bad-9122-8bb7ccfafdf5)

Chapter Three (#ulink_33531035-b0dc-586e-8d4c-27b9144cea68)

Chapter Four (#ulink_06548ee3-44d6-51b4-a518-9bd8bb32b246)

Chapter Five (#ulink_ebe0799a-05a5-59fd-836c-8933f4a99a24)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)


Chapter One (#ulink_5d81ffee-678b-5ed3-8593-47b20b5182e3)

Blood.

Special Agent Cord Granger’s stomach tightened into a knot.

Since he’d worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration for the past nine years now, he’d seen plenty of blood before at various crime scenes. And a lot more of it than the drops that were here on the floor of the barn.

But this wasn’t any ordinary crime scene.

There shouldn’t be blood here because there shouldn’t be a victim.

Cord cursed under his breath and caught the eye of Sheriff Jericho Crockett, no doubt one of the first responders to the small ranch in Appaloosa Pass. This was the sheriff’s jurisdiction. Jericho normally doled out glares and hard looks to Cord, but tonight he just lifted an eyebrow.

Cord lifted one of his own and felt that knot tighten even more.

“Miss Southerland insisted on seeing you,” Jericho told Cord. “Said she wouldn’t get in the ambulance until you got here.”

Yeah, Jericho had relayed something similar about Karina Southerland when he’d phoned Cord about twenty minutes earlier. Jericho had asked him to come to the rental house on a local ranch and had rattled off the address. As an agent, Cord got plenty of bad calls in the middle of the night, some even from local sheriffs, but this one wasn’t DEA-related.

This one was, well, personal.

“Karina said it was the Moonlight Strangler who attacked her?” Cord asked the sheriff.

Jericho nodded. “The guy had on a ski mask, came at her from behind. It fits the MO, too.” He glanced up at the night sky, where there was a full moon.

The glancing hadn’t been necessary, though. A full moon was always a reminder of murder. That could happen when a person had a personal connection to a vicious serial killer known as the Moonlight Strangler.

And when the killer was Cord’s biological father.

It didn’t matter that Cord didn’t personally know the man. Though they had met. In a way. When Cord had been on the receiving end of the Moonlight Strangler’s knife only a month ago. But because the Moonlight Strangler had pumped him full of drugs, Cord didn’t have many memories of the incident at all.

Only the scars.

And while Cord would never—never—think of that snake as his father, they would always share the same blood.

“How bad is Karina hurt?” Cord added.

Jericho hitched his thumb to the rear of the barn. “See for yourself. It’s not nearly as bad as it could have been.”

True. She could be dead. “Did she say how she got away from...her attacker?”

“Oh, she’s got plenty to say. Thought you’d want to hear it for yourself so you can try to make sense of it.” Jericho paused. “Is there any sense to be made from this?”

Cord hoped there was. But he wasn’t seeing it so far.

“The sooner you talk to her,” Jericho continued, “the sooner she’ll be in that ambulance so I can get the CSIs in here to examine the place.”

Cord wanted that, as well. Because the CSIs had to find something, anything.

Making sure he didn’t step on the blood or any other item that could possibly be evidence, Cord made his way toward the two paramedics who weren’t looking any happier about this situation than Jericho or him. The ambulance was parked at the front of the barn, the red lights still on and slashing through the night. That alone spiked his adrenaline and so did the fear of what he might see when he spotted the woman on the floor by some stacked hay bales.

Karina Southerland.

Over the past month he’d met with her at least a dozen times. In those confrontations—and they were confrontations, all right—she’d been intense but composed.

There wasn’t much left of that composure now.

Her dark brown hair was a tangled mess, strands of it sticking to the perspiration on her face. No jeans and working cowboy boots as she’d worn during their previous meetings. Tonight, she had on just an oversize plain white T-shirt that she was obviously using as a nightgown. It was cut low enough at the neck that he could see the bruises there. She had bruises on her knees, too, and scrapes and nicks on her hands that looked like defensive wounds.

And there was the blood, of course.

A smear of it was still on her left cheek, which one of the paramedics was tending. Another cut on her left arm. She had yet another small one near her shoulder.

Along with the two paramedics, there was a third guy with graying brown hair. Lanky to the point of being scrawny, he was pacing just outside the rear entrance of the barn. The guy was chewing on his left thumbnail, had a cell phone gripped in his right hand and was tossing some very concerned glances at Karina. He was in his fifties, and it looked as if he’d dressed in a hurry. No boots, just his socks. But there was a gun tucked at an angle in the waist of his baggy jeans.

“Who are you?” Cord asked the guy right off.

He stopped chewing on his thumbnail long enough to answer. “Rocky Finney. I’m a ranch hand here. You need to help Karina.”

“He works for me,” Karina volunteered. “And he saved my life.”

Cord stared at Rocky to let him know he wanted a lot more details than the ranch hand had just doled out to him.

“I was sleeping in the bunkhouse.” Rocky glanced at the small barn-shaped building about twenty yards from the main house. Such that it was. The main house was small, too. “I heard Karina scream, and when I came out, this man wearing a mask was choking her. I shot at him. I think I hit him in the shoulder. And he ran off.”

Maybe some of the blood belonged to the attacker. If Rocky was telling the truth, that is.

“Where did the man run?” Cord continued.

Rocky pointed in the direction of a heavily wooded area. Which was also the direction of the road since it was just on the other side of all those trees.

“There’s no blood trail immediately around the barn,” Jericho quickly informed Cord. “But the CSIs will look. I don’t want anyone in that area until they’ve searched it.”

Neither did Cord. Because blood could give them the DNA of the person responsible for this.

“She needs stitches,” the paramedic said when he snared Cord’s gaze.

The bulky, bald paramedic looked at Cord as if he could magically make Karina get in that ambulance and head to the hospital. But Cord had less influence on her than anyone else in this barn.

“I told you Willie Lee was innocent,” Karina said, her mouth tight, “that he wasn’t the Moonlight Strangler.” Her voice was raspy but clear enough for Cord to hear the accusation in there.

The Moonlight Strangler had been a source of contention between Karina and him after Willie Lee Samuels was identified as the serial killer. And then captured. That had happened a month ago, after he’d attacked Cord.

Of course, Willie Lee didn’t know about the multiple murder charges against him yet because he’d sustained a gunshot wound and been in a coma ever since being taken into custody.

And Cord had been the one to shoot him.

Willie Lee hadn’t been able to confess. Hadn’t been able to confirm anything related to the dozens of murders he’d committed as the Moonlight Strangler. Or any of the other crimes for that matter. Still, Cord had been sure Willie Lee was the right man.

Until tonight.

If the Moonlight Strangler was in a coma, then who the heck had attacked Karina?

“He’s your father,” Karina added. “Don’t you feel in your bones that he’s innocent?”

“No. I don’t feel anything about him one way or another.”

It was a lie. Cord felt plenty. Plenty that he didn’t intend to share with her or anyone else for that matter.

Cord knelt down to make better eye contact with Karina. “Why don’t you go ahead and get in the ambulance? We can talk this out on the way to the hospital.”

She didn’t budge, probably because she didn’t trust him. She’d wanted him here only so she could say that she had told him so, that the cops had the wrong man in custody. But he glanced around at the signs of the struggle to remind her what’d gone on here. The toppled bales of hay and feed. The scattered tools and tack.

And the blood.

“You don’t want to stay here,” Cord reminded her.

He motioned for the paramedics to come closer and do their job, and Cord breathed a little easier when Karina didn’t resist. Once she was on the stretcher, they started toward the ambulance. Cord followed right along beside them.

Rocky didn’t attempt to go with them, probably because Jericho ordered him to stay put. No doubt so he could question the ranch hand and begin this investigation. Well, unless...

Cord stopped that thought. He didn’t want to go there yet.

Because the real Moonlight Strangler hadn’t done this.

“Make sure the horses are okay,” Karina called out to Rocky.

Rocky assured her that he would.

“I’ll meet you at the hospital as soon as the CSIs get here and I take Rocky to the station,” Jericho said to Cord. “Anything Karina says to you will need to go in the report.”

That last part wasn’t exactly a request, but Cord had already known it would need to happen. Whether he wanted this or not, he was officially involved. Partly because Karina had insisted on calling him. Also in part because anything that had to do with the Moonlight Strangler automatically had to do with Cord.

“You’ll need to drop the charges against Willie Lee,” Karina insisted.

Cord had been stunned with the news of this attack on Karina, but he was a lawman above all else. And a born skeptic. Being abandoned at a gas station when he was just a toddler could do that. Hard to grow up trusting people when most people he met weren’t trustworthy.

Karina just might fall into that category.

And that was just one of the many, many reasons he wouldn’t even consider trying to get those charges dropped against Willie Lee.

“Did you set all of this up to make Willie Lee look innocent?” Cord came right out and asked her.

She didn’t exactly look outraged by the question. Just disgusted. “You think I had this done to myself?” Her breath shattered, and the tears came while her gaze skirted across the two cuts she could see.

There was another one, on her cheek, that she couldn’t see.

The bald paramedic scowled at Cord, probably because he thought Cord was being too hard on her. If he was, he’d apologize later. For now, he needed to get to the truth, and the fastest way to do that was by not pulling any punches.

“Did you set this all up?” Cord persisted.

The glare she gave him could have frozen a pot of boiling water. “No.”

Cord didn’t want to believe her—it would be easier if he didn’t. Easier because it would mean there wasn’t a killer out there. But even if she hadn’t done this to herself and there was another killer, it didn’t mean Willie Lee was innocent.

One of the paramedics got in the driver’s seat. The other got into the back with Cord and Karina, and they finally started the drive to the hospital.

“This attack could have been done by a copycat,” Cord suggested to her. “Maybe someone who wanted to get back at you?”

If this had been a regular interrogation, this was the point where Cord would have asked Karina if she had any enemies. But he already knew the answer.

She did.

And Cord was one of them.

It was hard not to be enemies with a woman who was defending and praising a serial killer. But that’s exactly what Karina had done.

“You don’t know Willie Lee,” she said. “And if you did, you’d know he wasn’t capable of murder.”

It was the same argument he’d heard from her too many times to count. She considered herself a good judge of Willie Lee’s character because the man had worked on her family’s ranch in Comal County for the past fifteen years. A ranch she still owned now that her folks had passed, but she’d rented this place near Appaloosa Pass so she could be near Willie Lee while he recovered.

If he recovered, that is.

After all, the man had been in a coma for over a month.

“Willie Lee’s DNA was found at the scene of a woman he murdered,” he reminded her, though it was something she already knew. That DNA match had been confirmed shortly after he was caught. Since it was a verbal jab, Cord waited for her to get her usual jab back.

“It could have been planted, and you know it.”

Yes, he did. But there was the other match. “My own DNA is a familial match to Willie Lee’s. No one planted that. I had three labs repeat the test.” And each time Cord had hoped the results would be different. “How do you explain that?”

She huffed. “Willie Lee might be your father, but that still doesn’t mean he’s a killer.”

Again, it was an argument they’d already hashed and rehashed. “Willie Lee also matches the height and weight descriptions that witnesses of the Moonlight Strangler have given over the years.”

Many witnesses. Cord didn’t bother to remind her of that, too. She knew. She also knew none of those witnesses had gotten a look at his face.

But that didn’t explain who’d done this to her.

“Serial killers often develop a following,” Cord said, going for a different angle. One that might put an end to this conversation sooner rather than later. “Groupies. Has anyone like that contacted you? Maybe someone calling themselves a fan who wanted you to get a photo or some other personal item of Willie Lee’s?”

Karina shook her head after each of the questions and then winced. The paramedic moved quickly to examine her, and that’s when Cord noticed that she had another cut that her hair was covering.

“He clubbed me on the head.” Karina’s voice was trembling again. No doubt from the fear and adrenaline. None of her injuries appeared to be serious, but the memories would be with her for a lifetime.

“Start from the beginning,” Cord insisted. Because that hit on the head was a game changer. She couldn’t have done that to herself. “Tell me everything that happened.”

Karina flinched again when the paramedic dabbed at the head wound. “I woke up when I heard the horses. I thought maybe they were just spooked because it was a new place. I’d just moved them out here this week.”

Yes, he’d known about that. Karina was setting up a temporary operation here for training her cutting horses. Ironically, the name for that kind of trainer was a cutter. A sick joke now considering her injuries.

“I went outside to check on the horses,” Karina continued after she’d gathered her breath. “When I stepped into the barn, he hit me over the head. I didn’t even see him. Didn’t know he was there until it was too late.”

Cord jumped right on that. “But you could tell for sure that it was a man?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation.

Damn. He hoped that meant the guy hadn’t sexually assaulted her in some way. But if this piece of dirt had done that, it would definitely break from the MO of the Moonlight Strangler, who’d never sexually assaulted any of his victims.

“What happened next?” he persisted when she didn’t continue.

Karina closed her eyes a moment. Shuddered. “I screamed as I was falling, and he cut my face.” She reached to put her fingers there, but the paramedic moved them away.

It was the slice on her cheekbone. And the signature of the Moonlight Strangler.

Or rather the signature of his copycat.

“Did your attacker say anything to you?” Cord asked.

She swallowed hard. “He laughed and said, ‘This will show them.’ It wasn’t in a regular voice. He was whispering as if his throat was raspy.”

Perhaps just someone who wanted to clear Willie Lee’s name. Of course, to the best of his knowledge, there was still only one person who fell into that particular name-clearing category.

Karina herself.

Cord studied her injuries, trying to look at the pattern to see what they could tell him. Karina didn’t seem like the vain type, but he had a hard time believing that any woman would allow her face to be cut so she could try to prove someone’s innocence. If she’d set this up, she could have merely had the person hit her on the head and leave bruises on her neck.

Cord’s phone buzzed, and when he saw Jericho’s name on the screen, he answered it right away. “Did you send that ranch hand, Rocky, off to do something?” Jericho asked.

“No. Why?”

“Because he’s not here. The CSIs finally made it so I started looking for him to take him to the office, but he’s not in the house or bunkhouse.”

Hell. “You don’t think he went looking for the attacker?”

Jericho cursed, too. “If he did, I don’t need this now. If Karina has his number, try to call him.”

Cord assured him that he’d try, but he figured since she didn’t have her phone with her, there was little chance Karina would remember the ranch hand’s number.

But she surprised Cord when she rattled it off.

“I have a good memory,” she mumbled. A comment that snagged his attention because there seemed to be something else, something that she wasn’t saying.

Something that she remembered.

“What is it?” Cord asked, staring at her.

She didn’t get a chance to respond. Didn’t get a chance to explain, either. The driver hit his brakes, bringing the ambulance to a jarring stop.

“Draw your gun,” the driver told Cord.

Cord did. And he soon saw why they’d stopped and why the driver had given that order.

It certainly wasn’t what Cord had expected to see.

There. In the middle of the dark country road. A man. He was wearing a ski mask.

And he had a gun pointed right at them.


Chapter Two (#ulink_fc8fb6b1-13aa-501f-9b06-3cc70cb58d89)

Karina lifted her head to see what had caused the ambulance driver to give that order to Cord.

Draw your gun.

Not exactly an order to steady her racing heart. But then, seeing the man in the ski mask didn’t help with that, either.

Oh, God.

He’d found her.

Cord did indeed draw his gun. Fast. “Call for backup and get down,” he told the paramedic beside her.

While the paramedic did that, Cord maneuvered himself in front of her, and the driver got down onto the seat. But the man on the road did some maneuvering, too. With his weapon still aimed at them, he ducked behind a tree, probably so that Cord wouldn’t just shoot him.

“Don’t try to drive off, Agent Granger,” the man shouted. “Wouldn’t be good for your health right now if you tried to do that. We need to have a little chat first.”

There were no side windows on the back of the ambulance, and with Cord in front of her, she couldn’t see much through the windshield. However, it sounded as if this monster had some kind of backup. Or maybe he was just bluffing and wanted them to be like sitting ducks while he fired shots at them.

“The ambulance is bullet-resistant,” Cord said, as if reading her mind. “And I want to catch this sick bastard.”

So did Karina. More than anything. Not only could catching him clear Willie Lee’s name, but it would also get this killer behind bars, where he belonged. She’d known in her heart that Willie Lee wasn’t the Moonlight Strangler, and arresting this man would prove it.

She hoped.

Of course, Cord might continue to believe this was a copycat. He might not want to admit they’d charged the wrong man with multiple murders. Because in this case the wrong man was his biological father and he wanted to see him punished.

“There are explosives in the ditches on both sides of the road,” the man shouted. “If you shoot at me or do anything else to otherwise rile me, the explosives will go off.”

Karina gasped, and the paramedic didn’t fare much better. He dropped down to the floor.

“Explosives?” Cord asked, glancing around. He spoke in a loud enough voice that the guy outside would have no trouble hearing him. “That’s not the MO of the Moonlight Strangler.”

“You’re right, but sometimes a man’s gotta get creative. The explosives might not kill you. Might not. But it’s a big ol’ risk to take with such fragile cargo inside, isn’t it?”

That got Karina snapping to a sitting position. Or rather she tried to do that. She was strapped to the gurney that was locked in place on the floor, but she still lifted her torso as much as she could.

“I’m not that fragile,” she insisted. However, the dizziness hit her, and almost immediately she had no choice but to drop back down.

Karina cursed the dizziness. The pain. Cursed the fact that this idiot was taunting her after he’d come so close to killing her.

She could still feel his hands around her neck. Could still smell his stench on her skin. Could still hear his gravelly voice as he’d cut her.

This will show them.

But he’d whispered something else to her, too. Something she hadn’t been able to catch because by then the pain and the panic had been screaming through her head.

What had he said to her? What?

Knowing that might help them if she could somehow use those words to figure out who was behind that mask.

He’d seemed...familiar. Or something.

“Do you see any explosives?” the driver asked Cord. Unlike Cord, his voice was trembling. Probably the rest of him, too.

Cord shook his head. “It’s too dark to see much of anything out there.”

No doubt part of this killer’s plan. There might not be any explosives at all. But Karina rethought that. The attack at her place had happened nearly an hour ago. That was plenty of time for the killer to get out here and set up an ambush, especially since this was the only road leading into town.

It was also the same road that the backup lawmen would be taking.

Karina prayed their arrival wouldn’t make this situation worse than it already was. Maybe the deputies or whoever responded would be able to sneak up on the man and capture him. Alive. That way, he could answer questions and clear Willie Lee’s name for good.

“What do you want?” Cord shouted to the man.

“The woman,” he readily answered.

Had her heart skipped a beat or two? It certainly felt like it.

Cord glanced back at her, probably trying to reassure her that he wouldn’t just hand her over to a killer. And he wouldn’t. She’d only known him a month, but he wasn’t a coward or a dirty lawman. He didn’t like her. Possibly even hated her. But he would protect her with his life.

But that wasn’t comforting.

Karina didn’t want anyone dying to save her. Still, she wasn’t exactly in a position to defend herself.

“Why do you want her?” Cord called out to him.

“Because I’d like to finish what I started.” Another fast answer. Whether it was true or not, she didn’t know.

Was something else going on here?

“We should have started with introductions first,” Cord said. He moved to the front seat, probably so he could be in a better position to return fire. “Who are you?”

The man laughed. “And here I thought you were smarter than that. After all, we do share the same DNA.”

She could only see the side of Cord’s face, but she saw a muscle flicker in his jaw. “So, you’re saying you’re the Moonlight Strangler? Because you can’t be. He’s in a coma.”

“I’m not just saying it. I am the Moonlight Strangler.”

“Right,” Cord grumbled under his breath. Karina had no trouble hearing his skepticism.

“Though I gotta tell you, I never liked that name,” the man continued. “Moonlight Slasher would have been a whole lot better, don’t you think?”

“Haven’t given it much thought. A killer’s a killer no matter what he’s called. But I’m not convinced you’re who you’re saying you are. Convince me,” Cord insisted.

The guy laughed. “Boy, you got a smart mouth. I like that. It’s something we have in common.”

“I have nothing in common with you,” Cord snapped.

Karina figured that Cord didn’t want her to be part of this conversation. Correction: a part of this taunting. But this might be the only chance she got to ask the question she needed her attacker to answer.

“Why do you want me dead?” Karina shouted to the man.

That earned her a glare from Cord, and he motioned for her to get back down. She didn’t.

“Tell me why!” Karina said in an even louder voice when the man didn’t answer.

“You’re not gonna like the answer, sweetheart,” the man finally said.

The sweetheart turned her stomach. He’d used that same syrupy tone when he’d been attacking her.

Except he had used a different tone when he’d mumbled those handful of words that she hadn’t understood.

“Besides,” the man went on, “talking time is over now. I figure Sheriff Jericho Crockett or his lawmen brothers are trying to sneak up on me right about now. Hope they don’t step on anything that’ll make ’em go ka-boom.” He laughed. “Oh, wait. I do hope that happens. Crockett blood spilled all over these woods. What a nice way to end the night.”

Oh, mercy. “You have to warn Jericho,” she told Cord.

Cord motioned for the ambulance driver to make another call. The man did, and he told whoever answered that there might be explosives not just in the ditches, but also in the woods. Hopefully, the lawmen would get the word in time.

“Time’s up,” the man yelled. “Hate to sound all dramatic, but hand her over or else.”

“She’s hurt,” Cord answered. “And I’m sure you know why since you’re the one who hurt her. She can’t walk.”

“Liar. I didn’t do a damn thing to her legs.”

“It’s her head,” Cord explained. “You hit her hard enough that you might have fractured her skull. That’s why she’s in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.”

Silence.

For a long time.

So long that Karina got a really bad feeling. A feeling that went all the way to her bones. If she didn’t do something fast, he was either going to kill them all or get away.

“Cord can carry me to you,” she told the man.

As expected, that really didn’t go over very well with Cord. “Have you lost your mind?” he snarled.

Possibly. She didn’t have a fractured skull, as Cord had told her attacker, but she was dizzy and in pain. Still, this might be their only shot at catching the man. After all, he’d have to come out of his hiding place to get to her.

“He doesn’t want to shoot me,” she whispered to Cord. “If he did, he would have done that in the barn.”

Cord’s eyes narrowed. “A bullet isn’t the only way to kill you.”

She was well aware of it and touched her fingers to her neck to let him know that. “If you’re carrying me, he won’t shoot. And once you’re close enough to him, you can drop me and grab him.”

Cord cursed. “There are about a dozen things that could go wrong with a stupid plan like that—including he could kill us both and then come after the paramedics to kill them, too. Is that what you want?”

Karina didn’t get a chance to answer that because her attacker ducked out of sight behind the tree.

“Too late,” the man shouted.

“Get down!” Cord warned them, and he moved back to the gurney to cover her body with his.

Not a second too soon.

The blast tore through the ambulance, tossing it and shaking the ground beneath them.

It was deafening.

And then everything happened much too fast for Karina to process a lot of it. They were moving, tumbling. Crashing into things.

Debris, flying everywhere.

Somehow, Cord managed to keep hold of her, and since the gurney was anchored to the floor, he was toppled around with her. No way to brace herself, no way to do anything but wait for this nightmare to end and pray they stayed alive.

There was the sound of metal screeching against the pavement, and the ambulance finally stopped with a jolting thud.

What had happened now?

And was everyone okay?

The ambulance was a jumbled mess, and it took her a moment to realize it was on its side. That was likely where the impact had landed him.

“He set off the explosives,” she said. Though Cord had obviously already figured that out.

There was a cut on his forehead and some blood in his light brown hair. Heaven knew where else he was hurt, but at least he wasn’t moaning in pain like the bald paramedic crumpled next to them.

“Are you all right?” Cord asked her.

No. Not by a long shot. But Karina didn’t think she’d gotten any other injuries, probably because she’d been held in place on the gurney. And because of Cord.

“I’m not hurt,” she responded. Maybe that was true, but everything inside her felt bruised and raw.

Cord pulled the straps off her and eased her sideways off the gurney and onto the floor. “Help him,” Cord told her.

That’s when she saw the angry gash on the bald paramedic’s head. Not a simple cut like the one on Cord’s, either. This one was deep, and he was losing a lot of blood.

It was hard to find anything in the debris, so she used the cotton blanket that’d been covering her and pressed it to his wound. While she did that, Cord checked on the paramedic in the front seat. It didn’t help her nerves any when he pressed his fingers to the guy’s neck.

“Is he dead?” she asked hesitantly.

Cord shook his head. “Just unconscious.” He used the radio in the front to call for assistance. “Stay put,” he warned her.

Despite the debris and clutter everywhere, Cord managed to make his way to the back of the ambulance. He had his gun ready when he tried the door handle. It took several pushes, but he finally got it open.

Karina couldn’t see anything outside because Cord was blocking the way. He didn’t go outside. He stayed there, his gaze firing around and his head raised. Listening.

She heard the moan coming from the front seat, and several moments later, the paramedic in the front lifted his head. “What the heck happened?” he grumbled.

“An explosion.” Cord didn’t even glance back at the guy. He kept his focus outside. No doubt in case the killer came after them again.

That gave her a fresh jolt of adrenaline.

They were stuck here. Right where the killer could get them. And this time, he just might succeed.

This nightmare wasn’t over. It was just beginning.

“Try to level your breathing,” Cord told her. “I don’t want you to hyperventilate.”

Since she was very close to doing just that, Karina tried to slow down her breathing. Tried to steady her heartbeat, too. She wasn’t very successful at doing either.

“Jericho should be here any minute,” Cord assured her.

She wasn’t sure if that was wishful thinking or if he’d gotten confirmation of that when he’d used the ambulance’s radio. Karina certainly didn’t hear any sirens.

But then she also didn’t hear their attacker taunting them.

“Is he still out there?” she asked, and wasn’t aware she was holding her breath until her lungs started to ache.

Cord didn’t jump to answer her. He continued to look around. “I don’t see him. That doesn’t mean he’s not there.”

True. “You’ll have to warn Jericho.” She didn’t want the sheriff driving into a trap.

“He knows,” Cord assured her. He shifted his position, lifting his head.

And then he cursed.

He drew in several more breaths and cursed again.

“Can you walk?” Cord looked at her first for an answer, then at the bleeding paramedic.

“Yes,” Karina answered at the same time the paramedic mumbled a not so convincing “yeah.”

“Why?” she asked.

But it wasn’t necessary for Cord to answer her because she smelled two things that she didn’t want to smell.

Gasoline.

And smoke.

“Did he set a fire?” she blurted out.

Cord didn’t answer her question. “We’re getting out of here now. Now!” he ordered, glancing back at the paramedic in front.

“What’s going on?” the paramedic asked, but despite being dazed and injured, he started climbing over the seat toward them.

Now, Cord made eye contact with Karina. Their gazes held for a few intense seconds. “When you get out, start running as fast as you can and don’t look back.”


Chapter Three (#ulink_582f5e66-1533-502f-a7b5-bc58f313eb07)

Their situation had gone from bad to much, much worse.

Cord wasn’t sure if he could get Karina and the paramedics out of there alive. Still, he had to try because he didn’t have many options here.

“Stay out of the ditches,” Cord reminded them.

Maybe their attacker had lied about putting explosives on both sides of the road, but it was too big of a risk to take. Especially since there had indeed been explosives somewhere near the ambulance. Where exactly those explosives had been placed, Cord still didn’t know, and he didn’t have time to find out if there were others.

Cord stepped out of the ambulance. Not easily. He’d been banged up when they’d been tossed around. No broken bones, thank God, but he’d have bruises, and he was still recovering from injuries he’d gotten last month, thanks to the Moonlight Strangler. Those bruises and injuries made themselves known when he pivoted, looking for the idiot who’d done this to them.

No sign of anyone.

But at the moment the bomber wasn’t even his main concern. It was the thin line of fire snaking its way from the side of the road toward the ambulance. The fire line was too narrow and straight to have been spilled randomly or have leaked out from the ambulance.

Which meant their attacker had set it.

Probably before they’d even arrived at this point on the road.

In addition to the smoke from the fire trail, there was white steam spewing from what was left of the ambulance engine. Normally, he wouldn’t have considered that a good thing, but he did now. Because the steam and the smoke just might conceal them enough so their attacker wouldn’t be able to gun them down when they made a run for it.

“Stay low and move fast,” Cord told them, doubting either of the paramedics could do that last part.

He had to keep watch, but he reached behind him, and with his left hand, he hauled out Karina. The paramedics followed after her, and once they all had their feet on the ground, Cord got them moving.

Away from the spot where he’d last seen the man in the ski mask.

Away from the ambulance.

That meant jumping the ditch. Again, it wasn’t easy. Everyone was limping, hurt, struggling. But Karina and the paramedics all had a clear sense of how critical it was to put some distance between them and the fire.

Cord sure had a clear sense of it.

“Try to make sure the ambulance and steam hide you as much as possible,” Cord added.

They each crossed the ditch while Cord kept watch. Still no signs of their mask guy or of Jericho. Cord figured both were out there, though. The trick would be to avoid another attack before backup arrived and not hit Jericho or one of the deputies with friendly fire.

He braced himself for shots to come right at them. After all, their attacker was armed. But no shots came. Nor were there any sounds that the man was about to launch another attack. Just the stench of the smoking rubber tires and the gasoline.

Cord was the last to jump the ditch, and as soon as he was on the other side, he hurried the others into a cluster of trees. Not ideal cover since someone could sneak up on them, but if the ambulance did explode, then they’d at least stand a chance of being protected from flying debris.

“Get down on the ground,” he told them. “And stay low.”

Again, not easy. The paramedic with the head wound tried to muffle his groans of pain, but he didn’t quiet manage it. Worse, he was still bleeding, and even though Karina was trying to add some pressure to the gash, he was losing a lot of blood.

“The killer wants me,” Karina whispered. “If he has me, you and the paramedics might be safe.”

Hell, no. Cord knew where this conversation was about to go, and he nipped it in the bud. “You’re not going out there. He wants us all dead. That’s why he set those explosives.”

That was possibly true anyway. Obviously, the blast hadn’t killed them, so maybe this was all part of some sick plan to get them in the open.

If so, it’d worked.

They were indeed in the open with only one gun among them and a likely copycat killer ready, willing and able to do them all in.

“Just stay down,” Cord snapped to Karina when she lifted her head. “I don’t have time to watch you and everything else.”

Yeah, it was a jab that she probably didn’t deserve, since she’d certainly pulled her own weight getting out of the ambulance. But maybe it was enough of a jab to keep her head out of the path of a bullet.

Or an explosion.

Even though he’d tried to brace himself for it, the blast jolted through his body, shaking him to the core.

The debris came bursting out from the fireball, all that was left of the ambulance. The trickle of flames had obviously made its way to the engine and heated it enough to cause the blast.

That was probably what their attacker intended.

A chunk of metal flew into the tree, inches from where Cord was standing, and he felt a sharp tug on the leg of his jeans. Karina pulled him to the ground next to her.

“It won’t help us if you get yourself killed,” she warned, sounding a lot tougher than she probably felt right now.

But she was right. Cord had to stay alive.

The wave of smoke came at them. It was mixed with the stench of the burning rubber, and Cord had to cover his mouth to keep from coughing.

“Y’all okay?” their attacker called out.

Cord wished he could do something about that smug tone. Like beat the guy senseless. What Cord couldn’t do was answer him. It was possible the question was meant to help the fool pinpoint their location.

“Because I’d hate to think I gave any of you more boo-boos,” the man added. Then, he laughed. He was still somewhere on the other side of the road.

That was the good news.

It meant he wasn’t sneaking up behind them.

But he could have hired guns. And probably did. It would have been hard for him to pull this off by himself unless he’d set the explosives before attacking Karina, and those hired guns could be anywhere.

“What? Cats got your tongues?” the man asked.

His taunts made Cord’s blood run cold. And made his temper run hot.

“Being quiet won’t help,” he taunted. “I’ll find you.”

“His voice,” Karina whispered.

Even though he hated to risk looking at her, Cord did, to see what the heck she was talking about. “What about his voice?”

She opened her mouth. Closed it. Shook her head. “It’s the same man who attacked me in the barn.”

Of course it was. There’d been no doubt about that. So, what exactly had Karina meant to say?

Or rather what was she trying to keep from him?

Well, whatever the heck it was, Cord would find out. As soon as they got out of this mess.

The seconds crawled by, turning into minutes. Cord forced himself to listen through the crashing of his heartbeat in his ears. Each tiny sound put him on full alert.

Until one sound caused him to pivot in that direction.

Footsteps.

“It’s me,” someone said. Jericho.

Cord didn’t ease the grip on his gun, though, until he actually spotted the sheriff. He was weaving his way through the trees, coming toward them.

“He’s over there,” Cord informed him right off, and he tipped his head in the direction where he’d last heard the guy. “Did you bring backup?”

Jericho nodded and glanced at Karina and the paramedics, before focusing on the area Cord had pointed out. “My brother Jax is somewhere nearby.” He motioned toward the area just south of the attacker. “My other brother, Levi, is on the way.”

So, maybe Jax was already close enough to stop him. Cord didn’t know Jericho’s brothers that well, but Jax had been a deputy sheriff for years. Hopefully, that was enough experience so he wouldn’t walk into a trap.

“There might be other explosives,” Cord pointed out.

Another nod from Jericho. “We got your warning and then heard the blast. Jax will be watching for anything suspicious. If Jax gets a shot, though, he’ll take it.”

Cord knew what that meant—they might not be able to take this guy alive. Part of him wanted the moron alive. Because he wanted answers. But since he was convinced this was a copycat, they could perhaps get those answers even if the man was dead. Besides, if he stayed alive and managed to get away, he’d likely just come after Karina again.

“I can’t stop the bleeding,” Karina mumbled.

Her hands were covered with blood now, and the paramedic was barely conscious. They needed an ambulance and needed one fast. It was time to try to end this stalemate and maybe distract the man so that he wouldn’t hear Jax approaching him.

“Just how long do you think you can stay out here like this?” Cord shouted.

The guy laughed. “Well, you’re alive after all. And to answer your question, I can wait as long as it takes. But I’m guessing that’s not true for you, huh? Just how bad are Karina-girl and the others hurt? I didn’t get a good enough look to know when y’all ran like rats.”

Cord had to get his teeth unclenched before he could answer. “If you’re so concerned about them, why don’t you surrender and find out for yourself how they’re doing? We can have a chat about them after they’re on the way to the hospital.”

Silence. It went on way too long. “Nope. Not in a chatting mood right now. I’m thinking it’s time for me to get myself out of here. Another time, another place, Agent Granger.”

And almost immediately Cord heard some footsteps. Not the light treading ones as Jericho’s had been. Someone was running.

Karina would have gotten to her feet if Cord hadn’t pushed her back down. “He’s getting away,” she argued.

Not if Cord had something to do about it. “Wait here with them,” Cord told the sheriff.

He was about to bolt after the man when Jericho moved in front of him. “I’ll go. My brothers and I have signals already worked out. Keep watch, though, because this could be a trick.”

True. The man could be pretending to leave so he could ambush them. With Jax already out there somewhere, Cord didn’t want him to get caught in friendly fire.

Jericho headed out, hurrying but threading his way through the trees to keep his cover. Cord figured Jericho wouldn’t cross the road until he was clear of all the debris from the burning ambulance. Or until he was sure this clown wouldn’t spot him and shoot him.

All Cord could do was wait.

The paramedic who’d been driving took off his shirt and moved closer to Karina so he could help with his bleeding partner. Cord tuned them out and listened. No more running footsteps, but he did hear something. A sort of loud pop.

Karina obviously heard it, too, because her gaze slashed in the direction of the sound. “Did he hit someone?”

Cord shook his head. Too bad he knew from a case he’d worked the sound a hammer made when hitting a human body.

The next sound was one he had no trouble recognizing.

A shot.

It cracked through the air in the same general area where their attacker had been. And it was soon followed by another bullet.

Damn. He hoped Jericho and his brother hadn’t become this snake’s next targets.

Waiting had never been Cord’s strong suit, and it didn’t help that he had a guy literally bleeding to death next to his feet and a would-be killer was out there who thought this was a sick game.

Finally, he heard another sound that wasn’t more shots. It was footsteps, and they were heading right in Cord’s direction.

“It’s me,” Jericho called out again. He wasn’t running exactly, but it was close. And the lawman was all in one piece.

The breath Karina blew out was loaded with relief. Relief that Cord shared. Jericho hadn’t been shot. But that didn’t mean all was well.

“Your brothers?” Cord asked.

“Are in pursuit of the guy in the ski mask.” Jericho looked up the road. “An ambulance will be here in just a few minutes.”

Good. That was a start.

“You can’t let that man get away,” Karina said, standing and meeting Jericho’s gaze.

“We’ll do our best. In the meantime, there’s a note for you nailed to a tree over there.”

That explained the sound of the hammer Cord had heard. This guy had taken the time to leave a note. Why?

“A note for me?” Karina asked.

Jericho nodded. Frowned. Or maybe that was a scowl. “I didn’t touch it because it might have prints or traces on it. It’s handwritten. Or I should probably say it was hand-scrawled, as if he’d written it in a hurry. Which is a given, I suppose.”

“And?” Cord persisted when Jericho didn’t continue.

The sheriff stared at Karina. “It said, ‘Remember what I told you, Karina-girl.’”

Her shoulders snapped back, and she shook her head.

But a head shake wasn’t the answer Cord wanted. “What did he tell you?” Cord demanded.

“‘This will show them,’” she said. “He repeated that a couple of times.”

Cord stepped closer to her, getting right in her face. “And that’s it?”

Karina looked ready to give him a resounding yes. But then she paused. “No. He said something else.” Now, she shook her head again. “But it doesn’t make sense.”

Or maybe it was something she didn’t want to make sense. “What did he say?” Cord asked.

“He said, ‘You know exactly who I am, Karina-girl, don’t you?’”


Chapter Four (#ulink_9744b64d-973f-56d8-af37-884b52637728)

Karina was hurting in nearly every part of her body. She felt like one giant bruise, probably looked it, too, judging from the glances Cord kept giving her from across the hospital treatment room that they were sharing. Sympathy mixed with plenty of frustration.

She understood both.

The bald paramedic was in another room getting stitched up and also receiving a transfusion since he’d lost so much blood. The second paramedic had two broken ribs, one of which had punctured his lung. He’d already been admitted to the hospital.

And then there was Cord.

Karina wasn’t exactly sure what his injuries were because he had refused medical attention and had instead been making a string of phone calls. However, he looked as banged up as she did. Maybe more. Because she knew he was still recovering from the injuries he’d gotten last month.

Stab wounds.

And he’d gotten them when the Moonlight Strangler had taken him hostage.

Of course, Cord and everybody else on the planet believed that Willie Lee had been the one to do those horrible things to him, along with killing all those women. Despite the latest attack, Cord was still convinced that Willie Lee was the Moonlight Strangler. But Karina knew differently. The only thing that made sense to her was that the Moonlight Strangler had set up Willie Lee to take the blame not just for that attack on Cord, but for all the other murders.

She’d had zero luck proving it so far.

The nurse finally finished with the last of the stitches. “Wait here,” she said.

She glanced down at Karina’s bare legs and the blue paper examining gown she was wearing. Her bloodstained T-shirt had already been bagged for evidence.

“I’ll see about getting you a pair of scrubs, and I’ll talk to the doctor about releasing you,” the nurse added and left the room.

“Good,” Karina said before she thought it through. She didn’t want to spend the rest of the night in the hospital, but she wasn’t sure where she could go.

Certainly not back home.

That thought alone caused her to curse this monster. Her horses were there. Her things. Her life. Well, her temporary life anyway. And now she might not ever feel safe there again.

Cord finished his latest call and made his way to her. She was surprised he wasn’t limping. Or maybe he just didn’t want her to see that.

She’d only known him a month and couldn’t quite figure him out. Hurt and bitter. Determined to put his biological father away for the rest of his life.

Drop-dead hot.

Yes, she’d noticed that, too, and hated that she’d noticed.

“After you’re released, I’ll drive you to the sheriff’s office so Jericho can take your statement,” he explained. “Then, we can arrange for you to go into protective custody.”

Karina nodded. This was going to be a very long night, and while she just wanted it to end, she wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t refuse protective custody.

“Certainly, this attack must make you doubt that Willie Lee is really the Moonlight Strangler?” she asked.

Cord shook his head. “It only convinces me that we have a copycat or else a groupie who wants to pretend he’s a serial killer.”

She didn’t bother with a sigh, though it was frustrating that Cord wouldn’t even consider his father’s innocence. “Then at least tell me they found the man responsible for this latest attack.”

Cord shook his head. “Nothing. So far. But Jericho’s got a CSI team out there now. One out at your place, too. They’re going through every inch of it so something might turn up. After that, they’ll go through your house to make sure your attacker didn’t stash something inside.”

He didn’t sound very hopeful, though, that they’d find anything. Neither was Karina. Mainly because she didn’t believe the attacker had actually been in the house.

Oh, God.

Had he gone inside?

Just the thought of that required a deep breath. It was bad enough that he’d been in her barn.

“Are you remembering something else?” Cord asked.

He’d no doubt noticed the hard breath she’d taken. Heck, she could have even gone pale, too. But she didn’t want to spell out her fears to him. Especially since what was done was done. If the killer had been in her house, if he’d watched her, stalked her, she couldn’t undo that. No. It was best to move on and try to work through this.

She looked up at Cord and caught him in mid-grimace. So, he wasn’t perfect at masking his pain after all.

“You really should let the doctor check you out,” Karina suggested.

Cord must have considered that a closed and shut argument since he didn’t even address it. He dragged over a chair and sank down on it so they were facing each other. She braced herself for another round of “blame this all on Willie Lee,” but it surprised her when he reached out and lightly touched his fingers to her cheek.

To the cut that was there.

Karina hadn’t seen it yet. No mirrors in the treatment room. She figured that was intentional since all kinds of injuries were treated here.

“How bad is it?” she asked, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. Especially since just looking at her had caused Cord’s forehead to bunch up.

“It’ll heal,” he said, obviously dodging her question. “You’re the third woman I know who has that scar. My sister, Addie, and her sister-in-law, Paige. Of course, plenty of other women had it, too, but they’re not alive.”

Karina knew about the other women. About Paige, as well. She was the deputy’s wife and had been left for dead by the Moonlight Strangler. However, the other person was a shock. “I didn’t realize your sister had been cut.”

He nodded, leaned back in the chair and scrubbed his hand over his face. “When she was three, Addie was found wandering around the woods near the Crockett ranch. Jericho’s dad found her, and she had the cut then. Of course, nobody knew what it meant at the time.”

No. But Karina knew the rest of this particular story. The Crocketts had adopted Addie and raised her along with their four sons: Jericho, Jax, Chase and Levi. Because the Crocketts had wanted to find Addie’s birth parents, they’d entered her DNA into the databases, and there’d been no match until a year ago, when Addie had learned she was the daughter of the Moonlight Strangler. Cord had been matched a short time later and was Addie’s fraternal twin brother.

Ever since then Cord had made it his mission to find the killer. Which would mean also finding his father. And Cord was certain he’d managed to do that now that Willie Lee was in custody.

“Did you ever find a birth certificate for Addie or you?” she asked, not sure he would even answer. They’d had so many uncivil discussions about his paternity. Well, his insistence that Willie Lee was a killer anyway, and Karina thought he might just blow her off.

Much to her surprise, he didn’t.

“No. And believe me, I looked. The county clerk said that some home births don’t get registered.”

Neither would someone wanting to hide those babies. But why would Willie Lee have done that?

No answer for that, either. No answer for a lot of things, but Karina was certain she could get to the bottom of it if she could just talk to Willie Lee. He’d have to come out of the coma first, and there were no indications when or if that would ever happen.

“Addie’s scar is barely visible,” Cord went on. “Yours will fade, too.”

All in all, it was a kind thing to say. And a surprising one since it took this civil conversation to a different level.

“I must really look bad for you to be so nice to me.” Karina was only partly joking. She was dead certain she looked bad.

The corner of his mouth lifted. Almost a smile. Almost. But it was gone as quickly as it came. He leaned forward, his gaze connecting with hers, and she could see that he was all lawman again. Not that he slipped out of that mode for more than a second or two.

However, the brief change in his demeanor gave her another reminder of that drop-dead-hot thought she’d shoved aside earlier. And continued to shove aside now. Hard to do, though, with him right in front of her.

He was pure cowboy with that tousled hair and those bad-boy eyes. Sadly, he was her type, and her body just wouldn’t let her forget that wherever she saw him. Thankfully, Cord didn’t seem to notice.

Or maybe he did.

He gave her a look. The kind of look a man would give a woman who was hands-off. Which described how he felt about her to a T.

He cleared his throat, looked disgusted with himself. “I keep going back to that note found on the tree.”

Good. A change of subject. Exactly what she needed to get her mind back on track.

“The note said, ‘Remember what I told you, Karina-girl,’” Cord continued. Not that he had to say the words aloud. They were etched permanently in her mind. “And you did remember.”

She nodded. “‘You know exactly who I am, Karina-girl, don’t you?’” she repeated. “But here’s the problem with that. I don’t know who he is. I really don’t.”

“Then why would he say that? He could have put a lot of things in that note, but he didn’t.” Cord paused, apparently waiting for her to will the memory into her consciousness.

When she didn’t come up with anything, he huffed. “All right. Let’s try a different angle. Who would want to kill you? An ex-boyfriend, maybe? A stalker?”

Karina didn’t get a chance to answer because the sound of footsteps had Cord springing to his feet and drawing his gun.

However, it was only Rocky.

Her ranch hand was all right. The killer hadn’t taken him after all. He looked a little disheveled, but that was it.

The relief she felt didn’t last long, though, because of Cord’s reaction. She was usually the one to get his jaw muscles stirring, but they were stirring like crazy now. Ditto for the glare he shot Rocky.

“Where were you?” Cord snapped. Definitely the lawman now.

Rocky pulled back his shoulders. “Out looking for the guy who attacked Karina, of course.”

“You were supposed to go with the sheriff. I heard him tell you that.”

Rocky’s gaze shifted to her, and he looked as if he wanted her to defend him. But she couldn’t. “Going out there on your own was dangerous,” she reminded him. And stupid. “You could have been killed.”

He threw his hands up in the air in an I-give-up gesture. “I just wanted to find him before his trail turned cold.”

“And did you find him?” Cord challenged.

Rocky’s jaw muscles tightened, too. “No. But I did see him. After I heard the explosion.”

That got her attention. Cord’s, as well. Cord made a circling motion with his finger for Rocky to keep going with the details.

“I’m pretty sure it was him,” Rocky went on. “I mean, how many men are running around the woods this time of night?”

Maybe plenty since the guy had almost certainly had help in blowing up the ambulance. “Did you actually see his face?” Karina asked.

Another “no.” Rocky made a sound of frustration. “He was wearing dark clothes, though, just like that man who attacked you in the barn. I know it was him, Karina.” He turned to Cord. “I followed him all the way to a farm road before I lost sight of him. I think that’s the direction of the Appaloosa Pass Ranch, the one the Crocketts own.”

Cord didn’t waste a second. He took out his phone and fired off a text. Probably to Jericho.

Karina touched her fingers to her mouth. “You don’t think the killer will go after your sister?”

Cord didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know. I don’t know who or what we’re dealing with here.”

“We’re dealing with the Moonlight Strangler,” Rocky said as if it was gospel.

That earned him another glare from Cord. “You need to go to the sheriff’s office and give your statement. Now.”

Rocky looked ready to argue with that, but Karina nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll be there as soon as the doctor releases me.”

It still took Rocky several long moments and a few volleyed glances before he huffed, mumbled something she didn’t catch and headed out. Cord followed him, stopping in the door to watch him leave.

“How well do you know Rocky?” Cord asked with his back still to her.

Karina wanted to be upset with his tone and the question itself, but it was something a lawman would want to know. “Not long. I just hired him earlier this week. But his references checked out,” she quickly added. “He hadn’t worked with cutting horses in a while, but I decided to give him a chance.”

Mainly because he’d been the only one who had applied for the job.

“References can be faked.” Cord made a sound that could have meant anything and sent another text. “I told the Crocketts it would be a good idea to lock down the ranch.” He finally turned, walked back to her. “You trust Rocky? Any gut feelings about him?”

“Yes, I trust him. No reason not to.”

Was there? Maybe it was because of the frayed nerves, but Karina mentally went through the handful of interactions she’d had with the man.

“He works well with the horses, but the truth is, I don’t know much about him,” she admitted.

That was partly her fault. She’d been so preoccupied with Willie Lee and staying in business that she hadn’t even bothered to get to really know the man she’d hired. A man who was living just yards from her.

“I’ll have a thorough background check done on him,” Cord said. He walked closer, standing over her and looking down at her. “Now, back to the question I asked before Rocky came in. Is there anyone who would want to do you harm?”

Karina didn’t even have to think about this. “DeWayne Stringer.” Just saying his name aloud caused her stomach to churn. “He’s a wealthy cattle broker over in Comal County and lives near my ranch. I’ve had run-ins with him for nearly a year now since he bought the property next to mine. He wants me to sell him my land so he can expand and isn’t very happy that I won’t do that.”

A huge understatement. DeWayne had done everything in his power to pressure her into selling. Plain and simple, he was a bully.

“Over the past couple of months, I’ve had livestock go missing,” she went on. “Some vandalism. I’m sure it’s his doing. Or else he hired someone to do it. He doesn’t seem the sort to get his hands dirty.”

“And what have the local cops done about it?” Cord asked. He used the note function on his phone to type in DeWayne’s name.

“Nothing because there’s never any proof. DeWayne always covers his tracks.”

Cord stared at her. “You think he’s capable of murder or attempted murder?”

Now, she had to pause. “Maybe.” Then she shook her head. “But I heard my attacker speak, and it wasn’t DeWayne’s voice.”

“He could have disguised it,” Cord suggested. “Or else hired someone to do the job. You said he didn’t like to get his hands dirty.”

That was true, but there was still something that didn’t make sense. “Why would DeWayne come after me here in Appaloosa Pass?”

“Because you’re more vulnerable here,” Cord answered without hesitating. “You have six hands at your place in Comal County, but here it’s only Rocky and you. Plus, you’re distracted, worried about Willie Lee. That made you an easier target.”

The word—target—made her want to throw up. “I was distracted at my house, too, after I heard about Willie Lee,” she pointed out. “I was there for several days before I made arrangements to come here.”

Cord didn’t miss a beat. “And it would be far easier to get onto the place here sight unseen than it would be to get on your ranch in Comal County. I’ve seen pictures of your ranch. There, the house is in the center of acres of pasture. No trees, no place for a would-be killer to hide while sneaking onto the grounds.”

Karina couldn’t argue with any of that, and she could go even one step further with it. “I think it might have been DeWayne who planted Willie Lee’s DNA at that crime scene.”

Cord stared at her, not exactly rolling his eyes but almost.

“Willie Lee stood up to DeWayne, and DeWayne hates him. They’ve had plenty of verbal run-ins. And one not so verbal,” she added in a mumble.

She hated to explain this because it might make Cord believe Willie Lee was a violent man. He wasn’t. Not normally anyway.

“I’m listening,” Cord said when she hesitated.

Best just to tell him because Cord would find out anyway now that he was going to have DeWayne investigated. “Willie Lee punched DeWayne after DeWayne insulted me. Please don’t make me repeat the names DeWayne called me. Anyway, it was only about a week later when Willie Lee’s DNA was found at the crime scene.”

“Now exactly how would DeWayne have managed to do that?” There was so much skepticism in Cord’s voice.

But maybe she could do something to remove a bit of that doubt. At least she could try. “The DNA found at the crime scene was in some chewing gum. Willie Lee quit smoking a few years ago, and he’s been a gum chewer ever since. It wouldn’t have been hard for DeWayne to get a piece that Willie Lee had spit out on the ground.”

Cord’s eyebrow rose more than a fraction. “And then what? DeWayne happened to find a crime scene so he could plant the gum?”

It did sound far-fetched when Cord put it that way. Still, it was possible. “Maybe DeWayne held on to the gum for a while until he could plant it. And then perhaps DeWayne just happened to find that scene. I mean, it wasn’t that far from my ranch and his land.”

“Ten miles,” Cord quickly declared, which meant he’d memorized all the details. With reason. It was the first time DNA had been recovered from the crime scene of the Moonlight Strangler.

Cord leaned in closer again. Too close. Probably a lawman’s ploy to violate her personal space and make her uneasy so she’d spill any secrets she was hiding. Sadly, it would have worked if she’d had secrets.

She didn’t.

But it also worked in a different way, too. For a man who hated her, her body certainly didn’t let her forget that she was a woman. And that he was a man.

“I’ve been looking into Willie Lee’s life,” Cord went on. “He was in the area at the time of that murder because his signature is on a feed purchase in town.”

She knew all about Cord’s efforts to seal the deal and pin these murders, all of them, on Willie Lee. And Cord had indeed managed to place Willie Lee in the areas of several of the murders. That still didn’t convince her.

Karina leaned in closer to him, too. “You’re asking me to believe that a man I’ve known for fifteen years, half of my life, murdered women and then calmly went on as if nothing had happened. A man I trust—”

“A man you don’t really know,” Cord interrupted. “According to your own statement, he just showed up one day, and your father hired him. Willie Lee had no references. No past. He just materialized out of thin air fifteen years ago.”

Karina knew there was an explanation for that. One that Willie Lee could give her if he ever came out of that coma.

Especially since Cord’s DNA had proved that he was Willie Lee’s son.

“Do you have any childhood memories whatsoever of Willie Lee?” she suddenly asked.

“None. Neither does Addie.” He moved away from her. Fast. “I’ll have Jericho get DeWayne in for questioning,” Cord said, and he sent another text. Apparently ending their conversation about his father.

Karina wanted to press him on the subject. Actually, what she wanted Cord to do was remember that Willie Lee was the same loving, caring man that he’d been to her over the years. He wasn’t just her hired hand. He’d become a father figure to her after her own dad had died of lung cancer when Karina was just seventeen. Her mother had never been the same after that. Had never really been part of Karina’s life, or even her own life. Her mom had finally ended it all with sleeping pills.

And Willie Lee had been there to help Karina get through that, too.

“Anyone else other than DeWayne who might want to hurt you?” Cord persisted. “An ex-boyfriend, maybe?” he repeated. “Or a current boyfriend?”

She seriously doubted he was fishing to find out if she was romantically involved with anyone. “No current boyfriend. No recent ex, either. The ranch keeps me busy,” Karina added because she felt she had to add something so Cord wouldn’t think she was a loser.

Though he probably thought that anyway. A loser and very gullible to believe in Willie Lee’s innocence.

“How about any disgruntled employees?” Cord asked a moment later. “Or just someone you got a bad vibe about?”

She opened her mouth to say no, but that wasn’t true. “There might be someone else. Might. A couple of days after Willie Lee was captured, a man showed up at the ranch. Harley Kramer. He said he was an old friend of Willie Lee’s, of my mother’s, too. But I’d never heard either of them mention him.”

“What’d he want?” Cord asked.

“He said he wanted to look through Willie Lee’s things, that Willie Lee had some old photos he wanted. I told him that wouldn’t be possible, not without Willie Lee’s permission. He left, and I thought that was the end of it.” She paused. “I definitely got bad vibes from him, and it wasn’t just because of his scars.”

“Scars?”

She motioned to her face. “He’d been burned and had obviously had a skin graft. And I know that sounds shallow to be creeped out by a guy with a scarred face, but it wasn’t just that. It was the way he looked at me. Then, I caught him sneaking into the cabin where Willie Lee lived. I called the sheriff, and he arrested him for trespassing and breaking and entering. Needless to say, Harley wasn’t happy about that.”

Cord added Harley’s name to the note on his phone. “Did this guy threaten you?”

“Not exactly, but he was furious. His trial date will be coming up soon, and he might have to do some jail time.” Probably not much, though, since the sheriff had told her that Harley didn’t have any priors and would likely get probation.

Still, it must have been enough motive for Cord because he typed something else in his notes. He was still typing when his phone rang.

“Jax,” Cord said, glancing at the screen.

One of the deputies. This was no doubt about the investigation. “Put the call on speaker, please,” she said.

Karina wasn’t sure Cord would do that, and judging from the way the muscles in his face stirred, Cord wasn’t sure of it, either. However, he did press the speaker button when he answered it.

“This is a heads-up,” Jax informed Cord. “You need to keep that ranch hand, Rocky, away from Karina.”

Her heart went to her throat. “Why?” Cord and she asked in unison.

“Because you’re not going to believe what we found in the bunkhouse where he was staying. I just called Jericho to have him take Rocky into custody.”


Chapter Five (#ulink_60bd97ac-b1a2-5e63-8646-1a7188b3aa6d)

Cord didn’t know what Jax had seen that’d caused him to make that call, but he figured he wasn’t going to like it.

Karina certainly wouldn’t, either.

She’d practically jumped to defend her ranch hand, but judging from Jax’s tone, she wouldn’t be defending Rocky after she saw the photos that Jax had sent to the sheriff’s office.

Jax hadn’t wanted to describe them over the phone, only adding that the pictures would be worth a million words. Cord only hoped whatever they were, it would be enough to pin attempted murder charges on the man so he could end Karina’s doubts about Willie Lee not being the Moonlight Strangler. That way, Cord could walk away from this, from her, and know that they had the right man in custody.

Then, maybe he could start dealing with the feelings that he’d buried deep within him.

Of course, first they had to find Rocky.

Despite being told by both Cord and Jericho to go to the sheriff’s office, the ranch hand had yet to show up. Cord figured that wasn’t a good sign.

“Are you okay?” Cord asked her.

Karina gave a heavy sigh and tore her gaze from the cruiser window, where she was looking at the shops on Main Street as they rode past them. She was pretending to look at them at least. He figured her mind was really on her ranch hand and the fact that she’d nearly died tonight.

“Every inch of me is hurting,” she admitted. “And I’m upset about Rocky. How about you?”

Cord went with the lie. “I’m fine.”

But every inch of him was hurting, as well. Man, he needed a long soak in the tub and a handful of aspirin. He wasn’t counting on getting either anytime soon.

“Move fast when we get out of the cruiser,” Cord instructed Karina when the sheriff’s office came into view.

Jericho had sent the vehicle to the hospital to pick them up, and Cord was thankful for not only the ride—his truck was still back at Karina’s—but also for the deputy driving. With Karina’s attacker still out there, he didn’t want to be without some kind of backup. And he didn’t want her in the open any longer than necessary.

The deputy stopped by the front door, and Cord hurried her in. Jericho and Levi were there, both talking on their phones, but Jericho motioned for them to follow him into his office. Judging from what part of the conversation he could hear, Jericho was having a chat with one of his other deputies, and once they were in his office, he motioned for them to sit.

Jericho cursed and ended the call. He looked at both of them and mumbled yet more profanity. Probably because they both looked like hell, but Cord knew the cursing wasn’t all for them.

“Still no sign of Rocky, but Jax is staying at Karina’s place a while longer to see if he shows up there. Any idea where he’d go?” Jericho asked her.

Karina shook her head, winced a little. No doubt from the pain. Jericho noticed, and that prompted him to take out a huge bottle of ibuprofen from his desk and two bottles of water from the small fridge in the corner.

“Help yourself,” Jericho offered.

Well, it wasn’t aspirin and a bath, but it would do for now. Cord exceeded the recommended dose by a lot and hoped that the pain in his head faded to at least a tolerable throb before long.

“I don’t know where Rocky would go,” Karina said, gulping down two of the pills. “On his references he said he didn’t have any family, that he’d been raised in foster care.” She lifted her shoulder. “I’m not sure if that’s even true.”

“It’s not,” Jericho quickly responded. He turned his laptop in their direction so they could see the screen.

Not photos of the bunkhouse but rather a mug shot. Of Rocky.

“He was arrested for stealing a car,” Jericho went on.

Karina was shaking her head before he even finished. “I did a computer check, and a record didn’t come up.”

“Because he was arrested when he was a juvie, and it was sealed. But he has parents, all right. They adopted him from foster care when he was a kid. They’re in their eighties now, and they basically disowned him when he was in his twenties and haven’t seen him since. They don’t want to see him, either, and said they’d call the cops in a heartbeat if he showed up at their house.”

Jericho clicked to the next picture. Or rather the next pictures. There were a series of shots that filled up the whole screen. “This is what Jax found in the bunkhouse. It was all in a box beneath Rocky’s bed.”

Karina stood, probably so she could have a better look. Then, she gasped.

Damn.

There were newspaper clippings. Dozens of them from the looks of it. With headlines detailing everything about the Moonlight Strangler. Including Willie Lee’s capture.

“Rocky clearly has a disturbing hobby,” Jericho explained. “I just had a quick chat with his parents—he’s not there, by the way—and they said for most of his life Rocky’s been obsessed with serial killers. And that they’ve heard through acquaintances that he idolizes the Moonlight Strangler.”

“Oh, God,” Karina whispered, sinking back into the chair.

“He had other pictures in that box.” Jericho clicked to the next screen. Not newspaper clippings.

But rather photos of Karina.

In them, she wasn’t doing anything special. Just errands, grocery shopping, that sort of thing. However, there were dozens of them. Including some of her in the interior of the barn.

Cord could have sworn that with each one she studied more and more color drained from her face. With reason. Most of the photos were grainy, as if they’d been taken with a long-range lens. And that meant Rocky had probably been spying on Karina for days or even weeks.

There were also shots of the Appaloosa Pass Hospital, where Willie Lee had stayed two days before being transported to the hospital at the prison. There were photos of the exterior of the prison, too.

“Rocky’s a groupie,” Cord concluded. If there hadn’t already been a knot in his stomach, that would have done it. It was hard to understand why anyone would attach themselves to a serial killer.

But it did give Rocky a motive for what’d gone on tonight.

Cord made eye contact with Karina before he said anything. “It’s possible Rocky was responsible for the attack. He might have believed this was the way to get Willie Lee released from jail.”





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