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As he hurried to brush his teeth, he realized that with all the focus on Rachel and the serial killer, Griff hadn’t had time to think about all he’d lost or even the pain in his damaged leg.
There was a lesson in that realization. He should never forget the past, and he wouldn’t. But it was behind him. He needed to live in the present in order to have a future. One that might include a beautiful deputy. His number one goal was to keep her alive today so that they might have a future together.
CHAPTER11
Rachel beatGriff to the hall, having thoroughly brushed her teeth and checked that her hair was still firmly trapped in a messy bun on top of her head.
She didn’t have long to wait for Griff to emerge from his room.
They walked silently down the stairs and through the lodge to the kitchen, where they descended yet another set of stairs into the Brotherhood Protectors’ war room.
Jake and Thorn were back at the computer talking to Swede on video conference. Jake held several sheets of paper in his hand.
Rachel’s heart beat a little faster. Swede had found persons of interest who could potentially be the killer.
Griff and Rachel joined Jake and Thorn in front of the video monitor.
“I take it you found some possibilities?” Griff asked.
Swede nodded. “Jake has the printouts. I narrowed it down to five.”
“Just five?” Rachel wanted to be excited. The list was so small and manageable. But what if one of these five men wasn’t the killer? Then what? Back to the databases again. She’d spent months going through crime databases. It was a painful part of investigating crimes. Already, it had been fifteen years for Christy’s case. She couldn’t live on edge for fifteen years, and she didn’t want to die.
The only solution was to find the killer and take him out of circulation. A life sentence with no possibility of parole would get him out of commission. The death penalty would be more permanent. Too bad they’d abolished the death penalty in Colorado.
“Look through them,” Swede said. “I included their current addresses, their places of employment and the names of their parole officers, with phone numbers to those parole officers.”
“Thanks, Swede,” Jake said.
“I’m still sifting through a couple of other searches,” the big, blond man said. “I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.”
Rachel nodded. “Thank you.”
Swede ended the conference video, and the screen went black.
Jake spread the sheets of paper over the desk beside Thorn, who waited with his fingers hovering over the keyboard.
“First up is Steven Rutherford.” The image on the sheet was of a heavyset man with thick eyebrows, a large nose and thinning hair. “Steve was sentenced to thirty years for rape and assault and battery. He’s out on parole for good behavior and living in a halfway house for parolees. “I’ll take Steve.” Jake set the sheet to the side.
Thorn pointed to the next information sheet. A man with a big head, permanent sneer and thick greasy hair glared back at them from his photograph. “Forty-two-year-old Dathan Ford, assault and battery. Beat his girlfriend with a tire iron. She ended up in the hospital with a fractured cranium, broken arm and the loss of several teeth. It was his third strike. He was sentenced to fifteen years and served all fifteen.”
“As evil as he appears,” Rachel said, “it can’t be him. I’d notice a guy like him in Fool’s Gold.” She turned to the Rutherford. “Same with the first guy. I’d remember his face. Neither one of these would fade into the background. They scream violence.”
Jake laid the next one in front of her.
Rachel’s stomach flipped when she saw the image of a man with dirty-blond hair and a boy-next-door face. “I know him.”
Griff leaned closer. “Is that the guy you pointed out at the diner as he was entering?”
She nodded. “Trent Morris. He works at the feed store.”
“He’s thirty-four, accused of statutory rape and abduction,” Jake said. “Lives in Manitou Springs with his parents.”
“I would never have suspected him of anything.” Rachel shook her head. “His features really fade into the woodwork. We’ll take him.”
“Are you sure?” Jake asked.
“Griff will be with me at all times,” Rachel said. “We can check his whereabouts the day my sister died and where he was when Christy was murdered.”
