BIG SKY SECRETS 03: End Game Read Free Page A

this area inch by inch, and hopefully between them and their mobile lab, we can make more progress on finding our killer.”
    At that, she forced herself to rise and take a step back.
    He sighed heavily. “I did lift her fingerprints, though. When I get back to the office I’ll start checking missing person’s reports. Her family’s probably worried sick about her, wondering where she is.”
    “They’ve all been brunettes,” Megan whispered. “Attractive. All in the same general age range. Slender. Married, or at least engaged. And there’s an indentation on her ring finger.”
    “Just the things I wanted you to see. The similarities are striking.” He pursed his lips. “The killer took her rings, just like he did with the other two. Yet none of those rings have turned up in any pawnshops so far…or on the major Internet auction sites. At least, far as we can tell.”
    “He’s keeping trophies.”
    “He could be dismantling the rings for the stones—less chance of them being traced. Or he could be waiting to move them until things cool down.”
    Megan shook her head. “It’s not about the money. Did you take a look at the earrings this one was still wearing? They look like eighteen karat, and that sure isn’t a cheap knockoff watch on her wrist. The second victim still wore her diamond tennis bracelet.”
    He stared down at the black plastic sheet. “True.”
    “This has to be the same killer. The body positioning is identical. Faceup, fingers interlaced over the chest. Ankles crossed—as if it mattered that the body was tidy and modestly displayed after a brutal murder. None of these details have been leaked to the press. Once we have an ID on the body, we’ll need to track her activities over the past few months and see if that’s a match, too.”
    There were dozens of popular roadhouses in the county—old-west styled bars offering steaks and burgers, live country music and beer. All of the victims had frequented those places in the months before their attacks.
    Hal lifted his gaze to meet hers and nodded, the quirk of his mouth conveying his approval of her assessment. “What else?”
    “Timing. Full moon, every time—or as close as forensics can get for placing the time of death. If the papers pick up on that, I can just see the headlines…and that sort of notoriety and attention could fuel this guy’s motivation.” She leveled a look at him. “But I’m sure you have all this figured out, anyway. Why do I get the idea that you’re testing me?”
    His silent answer was evident in the deep lines of his face and the weariness in his eyes.
    They’d had this conversation a dozen times. Her answer was always the same, but this time, she felt rising sympathy warring with her resolve. “You know I’m not interested.”
    “Once this case is over, I’m leaving. You’re the right one for the job. You’d make a good sheriff.”
     
    “I belong in a patrol car, not behind a desk. I’d go crazy behind a desk.”
    “I’m not just at my desk. I’m out here, aren’t I?”
    “Whenever you can be.” From somewhere in the distance came the faint sound of approaching vehicles at the bottom of the hill, and they both fell silent for a moment, listening. One of the engines sounded like a car, the other like a diesel truck—which could be the DCI’s mobile lab unit. “But it’s just not enough for me. Like this case—there’s nothing I want more than to get this guy, if it takes every last minute, night and day. The politics and management you have to deal with would keep me from making a real difference out on the streets.”
    “You’ve already made a difference. Many times,” he added gently. “Though you’ve already taken too many chances with this case. You need to learn to step back.”
    “I’d never jeopardize the safety of a fellow officer. You know that.”
    But last month she’d put a dark rinse in her hair, piled on some makeup, and had gone undercover in some of the