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“Macy!”
“I’m back.” Her throat was raw and it hurt to talk. “Where’s Matt?”
“He’s fine. The doctors are with him.”
“He saved me,” she said.
“I know. The kid is amazing,” Nevada said.
The nurse again pressed a stethoscope to her chest and listened to the strong beat of her heart. “Do you know your name?”
“Macy Crow.” Her voice sounded rough and gritty.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” the nurse asked.
She squinted at the fingers inches from her face. “Three.”
A needle pricked her arm, and she felt the cool saline solution roll through the tube and into her vein.
“Let’s get her up,” a doctor shouted.
As she was hefted onto the padded gurney, her blouse lay open, her body exposed to everyone around her. There was nothing like coming back from the dead and then making an entrance.
Nevada shrugged off his jacket and covered her chest. She smiled up at him. As far as she was concerned, she could be in Grand Central Station with a parade of marines marching past.
She was alive.
And that was all that mattered.
EPILOGUE
Two Weeks Later
Macy stood in the living room of the house where Nevada and she had found Bennett. Forensic teams had collected hair, blood and fiber samples, and preliminary evidence that proved Beth Watson had been murdered here.
Crews were also searching the land outside the house. Kevin had coded at the hospital, and though the staff had tried to revive him, he’d died. His death left law enforcement with the task of piecing together his violent spree.
Bruce Shaw’s body had been the first to be discovered. Dumped in a ditch, it had been hastily covered with sticks and brush. The medical examiner had found a single gunshot wound to the head, which had matched Bennett’s testimony detailing the argument between Bruce Shaw and her attacker, as well as the sound of a gunshot.
Kevin and Bruce, as Ms. Beverly had said, were thick as thieves during their high school, college, and graduate school years. Kevin had saved Bruce from the trailer park, and from then on Bruce had been so grateful he’d have done anything for Kevin.
The casts of the tire impressions found at the park matched Kevin’s vehicle, and fingerprint evidence and handwriting analysis proved that Kevin Wyatt was the author of all the notebooks found in the house. Based on the meticulous notes in the journals, police suspected Kevin had stalked nearly one hundred women. The journals provided extensive details on each woman, including work patterns, recreational activities, friends, and lovers. Kevin’s financial records and old credit card receipts proved he had purchased gas in Baltimore and Atlanta on the same days women had disappeared there. Macy suspected he had murdered the women while visiting Bruce, and Bruce had helped him transport some of the bodies out to the country, where they could be buried in secret near the house.
The forensic teams had excavated the front section of the field and made several disturbing discoveries, including the remains of six women. The bodies, all in varying stages of decay, were transported to the medical center in Roanoke. The medical examiner’s office had matched three sets of remains to missing persons cases in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Currently, law enforcement was trying to match the trinkets displayed in Kevin’s trophy room to the women he had stalked. Why some women were left alone, others raped, and still others killed remained a mystery.
So far, there’d been no sign of Cindy Shaw or any evidence indicating what had happened to her.
Macy now believed Kevin had seen her broadcast, had become enraged, and had summoned Bruce, who had been the one person who knew his dark secret. Kevin had had one more body that needed burying, but as Bennett had testified, they’d argued. Bruce hadn’t wanted any part of killing a cop. Kevin had decided Bruce’s days of being useful were over and had shot and killed him.
Macy was able to piece together the motivation behind Kevin’s need to kill. Apparently, Kevin had struggled to maintain his control and cool not only on the football field but also in school and in the corporate world. Whenever he suffered a setback or felt powerless, he stalked, raped, and then finally murdered.
According to the journals, days before Tobi had vanished, Kevin had suffered a knee injury. The Dream Team’s last and most important game had been days away, and there had been so much at stake. Not only had the pride of the town rested on Kevin’s shoulders, but his teammates had also needed the professional scouts at the game to see them all play well and win. He had been incredibly stressed about letting his team down.
Cindy, still trying to gain Kevin’s favor, had delivered Tobi to him. Kevin had taken Tobi to the barn. He had not intended to kill her but had noted in his journal that the asphyxiation game he’d enjoyed so much had unexpectedly turned to murder.
Panicked, Kevin had dropped Tobi’s backpack and body down the chute. His plan had been to bury both in this field. But they had gotten stuck, and he had lost his nerve. Police suspected he had called Bruce and told him what had happened. It had been Bruce who had told him to leave the body where it was.
The following week, when the entire town had been looking for Tobi, both boys had joined the search crew, and both had been conveniently assigned to the Wyatt barn so that they could report back they’d found nothing.
However, Tobi’s disappearance had scared Cindy, and she had gone to Greene to tell him about Tobi and Kevin. Greene had thought the girl’s drug use had addled her brain, so he had called Bruce and told him to get control of his sister. Bruce had confided in Kevin, and when Kevin had realized his accomplice was now a problem, he’d followed Bruce and Cindy to the bus station. After Bruce had left his sister at the station, Kevin had lured her away and killed her.
Nevada had interviewed Kevin Wyatt’s mother, Vivian, and she had appeared shocked and stunned as she listened to the details of her son’s crimes. Vivian had known nothing about the Deep Run country house or the graves. She had lawyered up quickly, agreed to be available at their request, but had packed up Tyler and left for Richmond.
When Macy and Nevada went to talk to Greene again, he’d not answered his front door, though his car had been in the driveway. Nevada had gone around back and found the former lawman sitting with his back to an old oak tree. He’d shot himself in the head. In his hand was a note that read, simply, “I’m sorry.”
Evidence suggested Greene had protected the Dream Team from both rape and murder, and once his cover-up had been discovered, the prospect of going to prison had been untenable to him. Brooke and Matt Bennett were standing their ground and staying in Deep Run. DNA had confirmed that Kevin Wyatt was Matt’s biological father. Bennett had always worked hard to shield her son from the truth, but now that it was out, she was trying to help him deal with it.
It was one thing to learn a hard truth like that in your thirties but quite another as a teenager. Macy had shared her own story with Matt and Bennett and had offered to talk anytime eithe
r needed it.
Macy’s phone rang. “Agent Crow.”
“You’re now up to forty-one cases. Congratulations,” Ramsey said.
Macy had remained in Deep Run the last week coordinating the case details, but had supplied Ramsey with daily updates. “Thanks.”
“I send you down to crack one case, and you come back with a bushel of them.”
“I had a lot of help.”
His laughter rumbled through the line. “I’m going to need you back here by Monday. We need to do another face-to-face debrief with the team.”
The team. “Does that mean I’m officially a part of the team?”
“Do you still want it?” Ramsey asked.
Getting back into the game had been all she’d wanted. But dying a second time had shifted priorities. She had been living at Nevada’s house this past week and had discovered she didn’t crave the big-city hustle or need to chase criminals. Some of her most peaceful and beautiful moments had been spent alone with him.
But could she live out here full time and walk away from the game? Could she turn down her ticket to the big leagues? She wasn’t so sure.
“The answer would have been a slam dunk two weeks ago,” she said.
“And now?”
“We’ll get into the details when I return to Quantico.”
“Fair enough.” His chair squeaked, and she imagined him staring out the window in his office. “Hell of a job, Crow.”
It was high praise from a man notorious for giving out few compliments.
As much as she wanted to revel in Ramsey’s praise, she couldn’t quite call this a victory until she knew what had happened to Cindy Shaw.
The rumble of tires drew her attention outside. Nevada parked, and as she stepped outside, he spotted her and strode toward her with a determined gait that still made her heart beat a little faster.
Because they were on the job, he didn’t wrap his arm around her, but stood close enough so she could feel his heat and energy. “They’re going to start excavating the back field today.”
“Hopefully, Cindy’s there,” she said.
