The K-9 had been assigned to a U.S. Army Special Forces unit and used primarily for body recovery and locating graves in conflict zones. His accuracy saved many units time and heartache.
Until the incident that changed his life.
Shrapnel had torn Shadow’s side, and fire from burning vehicles trapped him until soldiers pulled him out.
From that day on, he associated the smell of anything burning, wax, fuel, and smoke with trauma.
Just like her.
Chapter Two
Resurrection Day
“Thank you, my friend. I’m okay.” Ava touched the dog’s back and waited through several steady breaths before calm returned, and her heart rate backed up those words.
The trees opened into a natural clearing, revealing an all-too-familiar scene where her forensic people, as well as other FBI agents, worked the crime.
Crime scene tape flapped around in the biting wind. The flood lights cast long shadows over the scene emphasizing its ugliness. The impression in the snow where Emily’s body had lain turned her stomach.
Shadow whined low in his throat, hackles lifting. His nose twitched as he padded forward, circling the spot where the victim had been posed. He froze at the burned patch of earth where the candle had been placed.
“This is him,” she said without a doubt, her voice steady only by willpower. “This is Wax Saint’s work.”
“That’s the case you worked on before...” Vaughn hesitated, drawing her attention to his face where the truth was undeniable. He was aware of her history with Wax.
She pretended not to notice the slight pause, choosing not to open herself up to questions. “That’s right. He leaves candles all around his victims.”
“But she was encased in wax. How...?”
Ava had witnessed firsthand how he killed his victims using a vat of wax to cover them. As the wax hardened, their look of terror was forever branded on their faces. She told Vaughn. “They don’t die right away,” she said softly. They suffered shock from the burns. The devastation it left behind in scarred tissue, lungs scorched. It was an excruciating death.
He’d choose someplace isolated to perform this ritual. A place where he wouldn’t be discovered. One that would have a means of heating the wax. The church where he’d taken her had long since been scraped to the ground to wipe away the horrific things that happened there. Before it became Wax’s playground, a cult had once owned the property. No one had lived there for years. It had been the perfect place for Wax’s lair.
“So, he kills them somewhere else and brings them up here to display.” Vaughn said with obvious disgust. He held Ava’s gaze, seeing more than she wished, including the shiver she couldn’t hide.
“That’s correct.” Or at least he had with the first two victims. He hadn’t been able to finish his ritual with number three because Ava had escaped. Instead, he’d left her in the old church where he’d killed her. “We need to do a fifteen-mile radius search from the crime scene. We’re looking for any abandoned structures.”
“I’ll call it in.” Vaughn turned away to relay the message to his command.
Ava surveyed the work taking place. Soon, she’d need to meet up with all law enforcement agencies working on the case. Ava was familiar with the small town of Cedar Creek from the past. There probably were only a couple of officers and one detective on the force. The sheriff’s office was headquartered in Kalispel. They’d have more resources available, but she wanted to set up a command center closer to the crime scene.
“Sheriff is organizing a grid search now.” Vaughn glanced up at the sky. “It’ll be dark in a few hours. That’ll hinder the search.”
They were already behind the eight ball. If Wax kept with his previous MO, Emily was the first of two more victims to come if they couldn’t stop him.
She wondered how many others were out there, unknown to the FBI. There was no doubt in her mind that those previous kills she’d investigated hadn’t been Wax’s first.
Ava suppressed a shiver at the grim reminder around her. She’d gone through hell and back. No way she was letting Wax crawl back inside whatever lair he’d disappeared into before.
Ava caught sight of her two FBI agents wearing Bureau-issued jackets. They were called out from the field office in Kalispell, where she’d once worked while stationed in Montana. “I’ll be right back,” she told Vaughn. “Don’t leave.”
“No, ma’am.” He stationed himself just outside the tape.
As she and Shadow approached the two agents, both turned.
Ava recognized the female right away. “Agent Pierce. It’s good to see you again. I’m glad to have you on the case.” She and Rachel Pierce had gone through the academy together. Though they’d gone their separate ways, after Ava’s kidnapping and the trauma that followed, Rachel had reached out to her on several occasions.
“Good to see you, too, Ava. I’m glad you came back.” Like Ava, Rachel understood how difficult the job was under normal circumstances. Many agents burn out within the first five years of their career. PTSD, like Ava’s, was a very real possibility among agents due to the stress encountered on the job.
