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That mark on Rogue’s neck had surprised him. He hadn’t even marked his wife Elaina’s neck. He’d never left a mark on a woman’s flesh. Not beard burn and sure as hell not a bite mark. He’d lost control in those few brief seconds that he had held her. Lost control of his need and his hunger. It was time to rein them in now. It was time to forget Rogue and get back to the business of finding a killer. The same killer that had taken his wife’s and mother’s lives in L. A. , and then his father’s, here in Kentucky.
The killer that would have no compunction in wiping out Rogue’s existence if he thought it would serve his purpose. And if he learned Zeke was searching for him before Zeke managed to identify him, then it would definitely serve his purpose. It would destroy Zeke.
SEVEN
There was very little to be found in the remains of Joeand Jaime’s mobile home.
Bedsprings, the springs on the couch and chair. Appliances were blackened and melted in spots; the rest was pretty much cinders. Standing at the edge of the burned remains, Zeke could remember what he had seen when he had been there the day he found the twins.
The burned, twisted metal left from the recliner became the chair Jaime had died in.
Surprise. There had been an expression of complete surprise frozen on his face. There had been something, someone he hadn’t expected with his brother.
Zeke narrowed his eyes as he imagined how it could have played. Joe arriving, possibly high, not exactly himself, with a friend. They step into the house as Jaime stares at his brother in surprise. A second later, he was dead.
Zeke stepped into position, lifted his arm, and pointed his finger as though it were a weapon, imagined it firing, saw in his mind’s eye where the bullet may have caught Jaime.
Either the killer was a quick aim, or he was taller than Zeke. Taller, Zeke thought. The killer’s arm came up and he fired, dead center between Jaime’s eyes before the other man could raise up in his chair.
Joe was high, but he would have been surprised by the shot. Turned a little, just enough.
The gun barrel against his head. Pop. Zeke imagined the shot, saw where it went, and nodded his head slowly.
“Been a long time since I’ve seen you do that. ”
Zeke froze at the sound of Gene’s voice behind him. Turning slowly, he found Gene’s cruiser parked farther down the graveled road.
Zeke shrugged in answer to Gene’s comment. “It’s been a while since I’ve had to do it. ”
Gene shoved his hands into his uniform pockets and frowned as he stared around the small valley. “Guess you were right about something not being right about those boys’
deaths,” he stated. “Someone made damned sure that fire was hot enough to wipe that trailer out. ” He turned and looked at Zeke in confusion. “Why the hell would someone want to kill those two boys?”
Zeke breathed in heavily before turning away and staring out over the valley.
“I figure it had something to do with the girl,” he finally answered, and it struck him that he was having to tell too many damned lies lately in an attempt to protect the information he was looking for.
Gene didn’t say anything. When Zeke turned back to him the other man was watching him closely.
“You don’t tell me stuff anymore, Zeke. ” He sighed. “We used to share cases like this. ”
Yeah, they had, until information had begun leaking from the office, until he had lost DHS’s support and cooperation. It bit his ass that the Mackays had been involved in investigations that Zeke should have been a part of. He wouldn’t have even known why he had been pushed out of it if his contact in Washington hadn’t suggested that was the cause last year.
“It’s nothing personal, Gene,” he told him, though that, too, was a lie. Gene had been a part of the Freedom League along with Zeke when they were younger. Zeke had believed Gene had gotten out after he left, but information he had dug up over the years suggested otherwise.
Gene nodded slowly as though accepting the explanation. “Do you have any idea who the girl is?” Gene finally asked.
Zeke shook his head. “No clue. And that’s damned strange in this town. ”
“No kidding,” Gene snorted. “I’ve asked around myself and haven’t gotten any answers. Those boys didn’t seem to trust anyone where she was concerned. ”
Zeke felt a pulse of energy at Gene’s statement. If Joe and Jaime didn’t trust anyone with their potential lover’s identity, then it was because they were afraid of someone. A member of her family. Father, brother, or uncle most likely.
The manner of their deaths was consistent with the exterminator’s killing style, or at least one of them. Could the man he was searching for have a daughter? A daughter the boys were messing with?
“Guess they kept her too much of a secret,” Zeke said slowly as he turned back to Gene.
“She could be our only clue to who killed these boys. ”
