“Were there any rumors when she disappeared?”
She rolled her eyes at the ridiculous question. “There are always rumors.”
“What did they say?”
She shrugged. “Most people assumed she was pregnant and took off to have her baby in Kansas City.”
“Did they say who the father of the baby might be?”
She glanced toward her companion. “Christopher.”
His jaw tightened, but he didn’t look shocked. Which meant he’d already known that Angel and Christopher had been an item during school.
His lips parted, then without warning his hand was slamming against the dashboard, his face draining of color.
“Stop.”
Instinctively, Jaci slammed on the brakes, her eyes following his gaze to a dark lump in the middle of the lane. In the glare of the headlights, it looked like a log that’d been washed onto the road. But Rylan’s shocked reaction warned her that it wasn’t anything so harmless.
“What is it?” she demanded.
He opened his door. “Stay here,” he commanded.
“No way.” Leaving the engine running, she climbed out of the Jeep and joined him.
“Jaci—”
“I’m as much a part of this as you are,” she insisted.
He hesitated, clearly torn between locking her in the Jeep and the need to keep her close.
“Stay on the side of the road.” He at last conceded defeat. “We don’t want to destroy any evidence.”
Jaci nodded, her throat dry as they stepped onto the grassy edge and moved forward. It felt surreal. Like they were in a dream as they hiked through the wet grass, bathed in the lavender morning as they approached the log that wasn’t a log.
They were still several feet away when she could make out the distinct outline of a body. A female body.
Nausea rolled through Jaci’s stomach. The woman looked like she was peacefully sleeping. Which only made the whole thing more creepy.
“You think she’s dead?” she breathed.
He reached to lightly touch her arm, bringing her to a halt. Then, he shoved his cell phone in her hand.
“I’m going to feel for a pulse,” he said.
He didn’t have to tell her to stay where she was. Suddenly she didn’t want to approach the woman. She didn’t want to see death up close and personal.
Rylan moved forward, choosing the straightest path to avoid disturbing any tire tracks or footprints. He paused as he stood over the body, carefully inspecting the area around her before he was kneeling down and placing his fingers lightly against her throat.
He glanced toward her, giving a small shake of his head. “Call nine-one-one.”
Swiftly she dialed and told the operator where to send the sheriff as well as an ambulance, although she logically knew it was too late for a medical miracle.
Rylan straightened and the first rays of dawn fell over the body, illuminating the woman’s round face.
“Oh my God,” Jaci rasped, disbelief jolting through her. For whatever reason she’d assumed that the woman would be a stranger. “That’s my mother’s housekeeper.”
Rylan straightened, his face wiped of emotion. “Anne Dixon?”
She nodded. Hadn’t Payton told them the woman was on vacation? Surely that meant she was out of town.
So why would she be out on this remote road at such an early hour? It didn’t make any sense.
“What happened?” Jaci asked as Rylan retraced his steps and reached for his phone. “Was she hit by a car?”
“I don’t know.” His gaze darted toward the thick line of trees on the other side of the road, his expression stark.
Jaci frowned. Rylan didn’t seem freaked out to see her mother’s housekeeper in the road. Or even confused. He seemed resigned.
Had he known something that she didn’t know?
“You don’t think it was a car, do you?”
His gaze slowly turned in her direction, taking in the tight line of her jaw.
“No,” he reluctantly admitted.
“What’s going on, Rylan?”
He grimaced. “O’Brien mentioned that your sister had reported Anne was missing.”
“But she told us the housekeeper was on vacation.”
“I presume they were hoping to avoid any gossip in case the woman turned up.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “But you didn’t think you should tell me there was a woman missing?”
He hesitated. “There was no use worrying you before we were certain Anne’s disappearance had any connection to you.”
Jaci felt a burst of frustration. “I’m not a child, Rylan. And the fact that you believe I should be treated like one is making me nuts.”
He released a harsh sigh before glancing over his shoulder at his father’s farmhouse, directly behind them.
“I’m sorry, Jaci.” His hand lifted as her lips parted to continue her chastisement. “I promise you can yell at me later. But for now would you take the Jeep and go warn my dad that the police are about to descend?”
Her brows snapped together. “I—”
“Please, Jaci,” he urged in rough tones. “I don’t want him to worry.”
Dammit. She didn’t want Elmer worrying either. And more importantly, she didn’t want him stepping out on his porch to see a woman lying dead in the road.
“Okay.” She sent Rylan a warning glare. “But you have to promise me that you won’t try to hide things from me because you think it might upset me.” She wasn’t going to back down. Not from this. “The not knowing is worse.”
Raw regret darkened his eyes as he reached to lightly touch her cheek.
“I won’t keep anything from you.”
“You promise?” she insisted.
“I promise.”
Rylan stood to the side of the road, watching as the officials went about the business of death.
The ambulance had left shortly after it arrived, but the sheriff and his deputies remained, except for the younger lawman who’d helped the coroner load the body so it could be driven to Columbia for an autopsy.
The sun rose, splashing the road with a golden glow that did nothing to erase the horror. Still, the light made it easier for the lawmen to carefully photograph the area, as well as search for any evidence that might have been left behind.
Not that Rylan was hopeful.
Whoever was responsible for stalking Jaci, and no doubt killing Anne Dixon, was careful.
Worse, he was clever.
A combination that made him more dangerous than Rylan could ever have imagined.
Leaving the deputies to continue processing the scene, as well as keeping away the crowd of people that was beginning to form behind the barriers, the sheriff strolled to join Rylan.
“Can you tell what happened to her?” Rylan asked as Mike pulled off his cap to scrub his fingers through his hair.
“There’re no obvious signs of trauma besides the cut on her temple, and the bruises around her neck,” the lawman said, fitting the cap back on his head. “My guess is that she was strangled.”
Rylan nodded. That’s what he’d suspected.
“Damn shame,” he said.
Mike glared at the spot in the road where Anne had been dumped, as if personally offended. Then, with an effort, he gave a shake of his head and turned to study Rylan with seething frustration.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Rylan shrugged off the man’s sharp tone. They were all on edge.
“I was driving with Jaci—”
“Start at when you left your house this morning,” Mike interrupted.
Rylan held his gaze. “I stayed with Jaci.”
“You stayed the night?”
“I did.”
Mike scowled, but he was smart enough not to try and poke his nose where it didn’t belong.
“What time did you get up?”
“Around five.” He’d awoken with the anticipation of seducing the woman w
ho’d fallen asleep in his arms, only to find she was gone. “But Jaci was already up baking. I don’t know what time she got up.”
“Did either of you notice anyone in the area?”
“No. But I need to check the video.”
Mike frowned in confusion. “What video?”
“I installed a security system that covers Jaci’s farm.”
Mike glanced down the road, mentally judging the distance from Jaci’s home.
“All of it?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“Shit.” Mike shifted his attention to Rylan. “Are you telling me that we might actually be able to put a face to the killer?”
That had been Rylan’s first thought. But as he’d stood at the edge of the road and studied the crime scene, he’d come to an unsettling realization.
“Doubtful,” he said.
“Why?”
Rylan half turned to point at the large oak trees that framed his father’s house. They’d started off as mere saplings that had been given to him when he was still in grade school by a teacher to celebrate Earth Day. His dad had wanted to toss them in the trash. Elmer had rightly claimed that they had hundreds of trees on their property and the last thing he wanted to do was mow around two more. But his mother smiled, kissing her husband on the cheek before taking Rylan into the yard with a shovel so they could plant the trees together.
It was a memory Rylan cherished.
The sort of soul-deep memory he’d never been able to achieve in California.
Roots.
The word whispered through his mind, before he was impatiently brushing it aside. There were more important things to concentrate on.
“I also put two cameras on those two trees to monitor anyone driving toward Jaci’s house from the highway,” he explained.
“Great.” Mike gave a lift of his hands. “That should double our chance of catching the bastard.”
“Nope.” Rylan took several steps down the road, halting at the shallow ditch that marked the edge of his father’s property. He’d been careful to align the cameras so they covered his dad’s place as well as public property without intruding into the neighbor’s land. “Someone knew exactly where the line of sight ended. Which means they’ve been watching me closely enough to know that Jaci’s place has been wired.”
Mike’s jaw hardened, unwilling to give up hope. “It could be coincidence.”
“I’ll check,” he promised his companion. “But I don’t believe in coincidence. Not when the body was placed in the road less than three feet from where he would have been captured on video.”
Mike’s breath was released like a balloon that had just been punctured.
“He’s taunting us,” the lawman said, his face hard with fury.
“That would be my guess,” Rylan agreed. From the second he’d realized that the placement of Anne in the road hadn’t been random, but instead a calculated choice, he’d tried to determine why. The only thing that made sense was that it was a flagrant insult. Whether it was directed toward Rylan or the cops was impossible to say. “Which is a change in his MO.”
Mike gave a slow nod, carefully thinking things through. At last he grimaced.
“I hate to do this, but let’s take some shots in the dark.” Mike glanced toward the deputies who still scurried around the crime scene, keeping back the onlookers as the coroner’s black vehicle slowly headed down the road. “Eleven years ago, someone killed Angel and buried her near the river,” Mike said, his tone pitched to ensure it wouldn’t carry. “And for whatever reason he left the locket with Angel’s hair and blood on Jaci’s front porch. Why?”
Rylan hadn’t trained to be a profiler, but understood basic psychology.
A man went to the trouble of giving a piece of jewelry to a woman for one reason.
“A gift,” he said. “The killing made him feel powerful and he was trying to impress Jaci with what he’d accomplished. He clearly is obsessed with her.”
Mike’s jaw clenched. They both knew that the killer’s obsession wouldn’t remain satisfied with leaving gory trophies. Eventually the mystery stalker would decide he wanted a more personal connection to Jaci.
Mike clenched his hands, clearly trying to contain his emotions.
“Do you remember when Jaci got the second locket?”
Rylan stilled, dredging up his ancient memories. The first locket had arrived around Halloween, and it didn’t seem as if it’d been long before another one had shown up. Had it been Christmas? No. It was after that—he distinctly recalled he’d been taking down the decorations when she came racing into the office.
He’d been hoping to get done early so he could go sledding with his buddies. That was his excuse for telling Jaci that he didn’t have time to listen to her fears.
He’d all but patted her on the head and told her to run along.
God. He’d been an ass.
“It was January.”
Mike considered. “Around the new year?”
“Yeah.”
“Was there anyone reported as missing during that time?”
Rylan arched a brow. O’Brien was slow and methodical, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d immediately honed in on the pertinent question.
“Not in this area.” He grimaced. “I’d kept an ear open. Not because of Jaci, but because I was still worried about Angel.”
Mike watched as the coroner’s car disappeared down the road with his deputy, Sid, in the front seat.
“He must have hunted somewhere else.”
Rylan agreed. Heron and the surrounding towns were too small for women to go missing without being noticed. There would have been panic years ago if the killer had remained local.
“That makes the most sense.” Rylan allowed his gaze to drift over the rolling fields and the narrow road that was normally deserted. It was easy to move through such a rural neighborhood without attracting notice. Especially if the killer was familiar with the area. “And he probably brought them back here to bury them.”
Mike easily followed his train of thought. “That would explain the female body that’d been found the same time as the skull.”
Rylan took a minute to think through the mind of a psychopath. The man would hunt the females. Probably Chicago or St. Louis. Someplace where a missing woman wouldn’t hit the radar.
Then he’d return home to where he felt safe.
“The levee would make a perfect place to stash his kills.”
“Until the floods came and washed them away.” Mike grimaced. For years to come the sheriff would no doubt have nightmares about seeing the body floating in the muddy river. He gave a sharp shake of his head. “How many lockets did Jaci get?”
“She officially reported four of them.” Rylan frowned, scouring his memory. “Maybe five.”
Mike’s square face paled. “When she returned to Heron she told me she’d been harassed in the past. I think she was worried it was going to start again now that she was back. When nothing happened I dismissed it as some stupid high school prank.” He shook his head. “To be honest, I assumed it was that jerk of a half brother who was responsible.”
Rylan blew out a sigh. “We all failed her.”
They shared a guilty gaze before Mike squared his shoulders.
“Did anyone receive the lockets after Jaci left for college?”
“No one.”
“What does that mean?” Mike’s brows drew together. “Did the killer leave the area?”
It was a question that nagged at Rylan. “It’s a possibility.” He shoved his fingers through his hair, anxious to return to his father’s house and ensure that Jaci was okay. “Or he stayed and found a new obsession somewhere else.”
“In either case, he’s turned his attention back to Jaci,” Mike said, as if Rylan needed the reminder.
He was acutely aware of the danger that stalked her.
“And upped his game,” he added.
“No crap.” Mike’s fingers unconsciously grasped the grip o
f his gun. The man had been unnerved by the appearance of a dead woman and skull in his county. But Anne’s death had happened on his watch. He was clearly taking it personally. “He not only chose a local woman, but he took one who was sure to be noticed.”
Rylan nodded toward the deputies, who had finished their most pressing duties and were now chatting with the small crowd.
“And left her where it’s a warning to me.” Rylan’s stomach clenched. “He considers Jaci his possession.”
Mike muttered a curse. “She needs to leave until we find this sicko.”
Rylan gave a short laugh. He wanted nothing more than to put Jaci on a plane and take her to his condo in California. There was no place that would be safer. Well, maybe the Pentagon. But he didn’t even bother plotting how quickly he could get her packed and to the airport.
He knew Jaci well enough to suspect she’d partially chosen to go to college at Mizzou with the hope of ending the harassment. And that if she left again, she would feel as if she’d allowed herself to be run out of her home.
Besides, if she left, the killer might simply disappear into the shadows.
Which not only meant that countless women would be in danger, but that Jaci could never return.
That was unacceptable.
He shook his head. “She won’t go.”
“Fine.” Mike glanced toward the nearby farmhouse. “I’ll stay with her.”
Rylan snorted. “Not a chance in hell. I’ll stay with her.”
Mike pointed a finger in Rylan’s face. “I’m holding you responsible for her safety.”
“Nothing’s happening to Jaci as long as I’m alive,” Rylan swore.
Mike sighed as the clouds rolled in, the threat of rain once again hanging heavy in the air.
“I need to notify Anne’s sister.” He sent his chatting deputies a resigned gaze. “Before the gossip reaches her.”
Rylan nodded, half turning toward his father’s house. He was finding it increasingly difficult to think of anything beyond getting to Jaci.
“I’ll look through the security tapes. We might get lucky.”
“If not, you might try to make a list,” Mike suggested, reaching into his pocket to pull out the keys to his nearby patrol truck. “Who knows that you installed the cameras?”
Pretend You're Safe Page 18