“You’re already too late.”
“He has his next victim,” Ava said in a flat voice. “If we don’t catch him soon, she’ll be dead in twenty-four hours.”
Chapter Six
The Mark of a Killer
The terrifying truth almost brought Ava to her knees. Wax had taken another woman. The clock was ticking on the victim’s life.
Ava’s spine tingled as if she were being watched. Impossible now. Wax would have known her next move and escaped before coming across law enforcement heading their way.
Just residual effects of being back on the hunt.
She still held the proof of his sick sense of humor in her gloved hand. Caleb’s flashlight cut through the snowy darkness beyond their hiding place. Everything around them appeared to have gone still, almost as if all the outdoor creatures were aware of how serious this was.
Nothing moved in the light, yet Shadow continued to growl. Even the dog was on edge.
There was no doubt in her mind that Wax would have stuck around long enough to see her reaction to finding the note. The blood. He wanted to remind her that they had unfinished business.
Within minutes, the darkness near the road above them was broken by police lights strobing the countryside.
Their backup had arrived.
A sense of frustration soon overshadowed the brief moment of relief. They’d been so close, and she’d let Wax slip away. Would she get another chance? Ava couldn’t shake the feeling that soon she and Wax would meet up again and one of them wouldn’t survive.
A few minutes later, uniformed rangers, along with Deputies Vaughn and Archer, Agent Novak, and other special agents in tactical gear, poured into the clearing.
“Agent Blake!” Novak spotted her and headed their way. “Is everyone all right?”
“Yes, we’re fine,” she said, though her pulse still pounded. She told him about what had happened. “I want you and the rangers to secure the perimeter from the woods to the ridge above until ERT can get here. Tell them I want every footprint marked, every scrap of evidence photographed before it’s buried under this snow.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Novak confirmed.
“He left a note. Get this to our forensics team as well as the fabric swatch.” She handed both to Novak. “Run fibers, chemical traces, anything that’ll tie him to a location.”
“Copy that.” Novak left to see to her orders.
Rachel appeared beside her, pale but steady. “There’s no sign of him. Somehow, he got away.”
“He’s smart. He left before our people could arrive.” Ava exhaled deeply, in momentary defeat. No matter what, she wasn’t letting him vanish again.
???
By the time she and Shadow arrived at Cedar Creek along with Rachel and Caleb, the mountain had been secured, and the rest of her team was coming from Billings—agents from behavioral, field, and forensics divisions. Members of the Redeemed Unit would be in Cedar Creek the following day.
“We need a temporary command center set up in town,” she said to Rachel. “The obvious place would be the police station. I want communications established, mapping ready, and coordination with local law enforcement. Wax is escalating. Every second we waste, another woman dies.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” Caleb asked and Ava nodded. It was still strange working with him again. “You can use my family’s lodge. It’s about twenty minutes from here. It’s large enough for your team, and it's off-season, so there won’t be any other guests there. Being outside of town, it shouldn’t draw too much attention. There’s plenty of beds for everyone.”
Ava hesitated. “Caleb, that’s—”
“It’s not a problem,” he said, meeting her gaze from the passenger seat. “You need a base close to the trail and away from curiosity seekers. It’s the best option.”
Something unspoken flickered between them that made her heart trip over a beat. Trust, memory, and the shadow of all they’d survived. Ava finally gave in. “Thank you. That’s very generous.”
“I’ll let our people know,” Rachel’s voice intruded into the private moment breaking the spell.
Caleb gave her the address.
