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Ghost cocked his head sideways.
Cameron laughed. “You heard me. Best behavior.”
***
Lindy Sheets had a one-bedroom rental in downtown Windsor, Ontario, under her maiden name, Melinda Lehigh. She’d gotten a job as a shampoo girl in an upscale hair salon, dyed her blond hair black, then shaved the sides, leaving the top in a Mohawk.
She used Transit Windsor, the bus line in the city, or walked everywhere she needed to go. It was a far cry from what she’d been doing and cost a hell of a lot less money. But she’d long ago accepted the risks when she sold her honor and humanity for the money, and this was legal. She felt reasonably safe.
Sometimes she had nightmares about the girls she’d lured into human trafficking, but she couldn’t change that. What was done was done. Danny Biggers had been a mistake, but he didn’t know anything about the organization or anyone attached to it—except her. It was fine until it wasn’t. And then he got caught, the kid never made it to the drop-off, and Lindy became expendable.
She had eased into a routine and was getting comfortable with this life and her old identity, enough so that she quit looking over her shoulder.
***
The workday at Sam Carson’s vet clinic was nothing short of chaotic. Working with the substitute vet was distracting, but Leslie was figuring it out. They had several emergencies involving two different surgeries that kept them running all day long. By the time she headed home, she was exhausted. But the moment she walked into her childhood home, the chaos in her life turned into a nightmare.
Her dad was sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee cradled between his palms. His thick, graying hair looked like he’d been running his fingers through it all day, and his blue plaid shirt was all rumpled. Not a bit like him at all.
“Hi, Dad. You look tired,” Leslie said as she shut the door behind her.
“Hi, baby,” Wade said. “Come sit with me a minute. There’s something I need to tell you.”
All of a sudden his rumpled appearance began to make sense. Something was wrong!
“Is everything okay? Is it Mom? Has something happened to Granny?”
“No, no. It’s nothing to do about us. It’s about Kevin Vanzant.”
Leslie frowned as she plopped down beside him. “What about Kevin Vanzant?”
“Someone murdered him last night.”
Leslie gasped. “No! Oh my God! What? Why?”
“They aren’t sure. Cameron said the FBI has taken over. He’s helping the agent in charge. We are not to mention to anyone about the photos you saw, or that you even knew Kevin. And to be on the safe side, they suggest you stay nights here with us until further notice.”
Leslie felt like she was going to throw up. She was shaking so hard she couldn’t take a good breath. “Dad! Daddy! What have I done?” she moaned, and fell into his arms and started sobbing.
“You did nothing wrong,” Wade said. “Nothing. The FBI will figure it out. Now go wash your face. I’m here. You’re safe. Cameron said we could call him any time we needed to. You are to go about your business as if nothing has changed. Okay?”
Before she could answer, her mother shouted from the kitchen, “Supper’s ready!”
Leslie swiped the tears from her cheeks and left the room to wash up.
Wade saw the slump in her shoulders and the way her steps were dragging. She was scared to death and there wasn’t a thing he could do to make it better, except make damn sure he kept her safe.
***
Rusty was in her suite packing when her phone rang. She sat down on the side of the bed to answer.
“Hello.”
“It’s me,” Howard said. “Be in the breezeway downstairs at 10:00 p.m. You will be picked up and taken to a different location for the duration of this case.”
“Yes, sir,” Rusty said. “I’ll be needing copies of all the test results from the crime scene, a copy of the film from the game camera, and a copy of the autopsy. Also…I still need those background checks on Jack Barton and Sheriff Woodley, and if they break the password on Vanzant’s computer, let me know. He’s got to have been sending files of those photos somewhere.”
“I’ll put a rush on as much of it as I can,” Howard said.
