“Are you scared? Do you think that I’m in danger?”
She considered his question for a moment before answering. “I’m not sure. You’re right that the killer never seemed to be anywhere near you or the others. But…if Ava is right, what is this all about, Reed? If he’s angry about Wade Bryson’s death then he should be especially mad at you and Logan. You were the main ones there that night. You brought in the other men that were with him. None of this makes any sense to me. He killed surrogates. Why? Why would someone do that?”
“For many killers, their victim is really a stand-in for someone else,” Reed replied. “You’ve seen this in your research. Some killers hate their parents or the girl that rejected them in high school. But they don’t murder their mother, they murder a surrogate. It happens all the time.”
“Do you think it’s a Bryson follower?”
“I think that’s our best answer right now. That’s why Jared is monitoring the true crime message boards. We might get lucky. Personally, I think Logan and Eli are right about this case. It will be solved with forensics.”
“And Tag?”
Tag had been charged with driving under the influence but had made bail. Drake’s deputies were keeping a close eye on the man.
“We’re checking him out thoroughly. So far, we haven’t come up with anything but we’re not done yet. I don’t think those wallets magically appeared in his trunk. He’s connected to this in some way.”
Reed just didn’t know how yet.
“What are you thinking?” he asked Kaylee. She was staring out at the view, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.
“I’m thinking that I hope he’s done and moved on. I hope there are no more victims.”
Reed agreed but he couldn’t help but wonder…
What had set him off to begin with?
The sunset that first night was gorgeous, all pinks, oranges, and purples striped across the sky. The entire group had sat out on the beach and watched the sun sink into the horizon. The sun set every single night of the year no matter where they were, but this one seemed special. Maybe it was because they were all together again, although Griffin and Jazz wouldn’t arrive for a few days. Ava had missed her friends. She saw Kaylee and Misty on a regular basis but she didn’t see the others often. They were all so busy with jobs and kids it was hard to make time for themselves. They’d all been tired from traveling so they’d turned in early, even the teenagers.
The next morning they all straggled out one by one to the sandy shore with their chairs, towels, and beach umbrellas. With her fair skin and red hair, Maddie had put on about four coats of sunscreen and then sat in the shade. Her daughter Amanda’s hair was more auburn so she braved the sun with only two coats of SPF 100. The rest of the kids didn’t want to put any sunscreen on at all so all the mothers had to put their foot down, reminding their offspring that they didn’t want to be sunburned and miserable for the rest of the vacation.
It’s going to be a full-time job to keep the kids from getting burned.
Ava settled into her lounge chair, stretching out her legs and wiggling her toes, covered in sand. The sun felt so good on her skin, the warmth a balm to her agitated soul. She wouldn’t stay out in it too long. She’d seek the shade of a cabana eventually.
The other ladies congregated together as the husbands played with the kids on the water’s edge. A few Frisbees were flying through the air and Reed and Josh were playing a game of beach tennis. Several of the kids were playing a game of bocce ball just a ways down the beach.
“I’m exhausted just watching them,” Presley said with a loud sigh. “I feel like I could sleep for a week and still be tired.”
“That’s what you get for having three kids and a successful business,” Josie said with a grin. “That’s why Evan and I kept it to one. And even he’s been kicking our asses lately.”
Tyler was nine going on forty-two. He was incredibly intelligent and also a handful, constantly asking questions and wanting to help Josie and Evan with the research for their latest thriller novel.
“That kid is going to be no trouble whatsoever in his teenage years,” Rayne declared, taking a sip of her mimosa. They’d popped open a bottle of bubbly earlier, declaring it officially vacation time. “He’s an old soul. You can see it in his eyes. Hope, on the other hand, she’s brand new. She’s going to be the death of me and Dare. Or maybe just me. Both the girls have their father firmly wrapped around their finger. He barely disciplines them. I always have to be the bad guy, which is ironic, don’t you think?”
Dare had a reputation for being grouchy and always in a lousy mood but he was a complete softie for his daughters.
“Hope is a model of decorum compared to Lulu,” Presley said. “She takes after Seth as a wild child. A part of me loves and admires it, and then the rest of me realizes that I have to parent her and keep her out of juvenile hall. That’s when I want to drink.”
Maddie giggled. “Your husband is the sheriff. She’s not going to end up in juvie.”
“She could go to another town.”
“And he knows all the other town sheriffs for three counties,” Maddie countered. “She might be wild but she’s going to be fine.”
Kaylee nodded toward Amanda talking to Josh. “Your little girl isn’t looking very little anymore. She could be a model.”
“She’s five-nine and she may not be done.”
“I just can’t believe how grown up all the kids look,” Misty said with a shake of her head. “Every time I see them it seems like they’ve grown a foot and look more adult. Even the younger ones. I just want to know one thing. When did we get old? Did it happen when we weren’t looking?”
“Fifty is the new thirty,” Rayne snorted. “Haven’t you heard? We’re in the prime of our lives.”
Misty wrinkled her nose. “I don’t feel thirty.”
Rayne tapped her head. “It’s a state of mind. You have to convince yourself.”
Ava lost track of the conversation as she sipped her drink and stared out at the hypnotic waves, pushing and pulling at the sand. She wasn’t at peace, however. She could feel something heavy on the back of her neck that had her squirming nervously in her chair. It almost burned but it couldn’t be the sun. It was in her eyes.
She sat up in her chair, twisting around so that she was staring behind her. She didn’t know what she was looking for, she was just looking for…something. Or someone.
Kaylee sat up as well, her gaze following Ava’s, her brows pinched together in a frown.
“Do you see something?”
“No.”
This time Maddie looked, too.
“Okay, I’ll ask. Then why are you staring at the building?”
“I thought—I felt—“
Ava wasn’t sure she wanted to admit it.
“You felt?” Kaylee prompted. “What?”
Taking a deep breath, Ava exhaled slowly. “Like someone was watching me. I swear I could feel it on the back of my neck.”
Both women’s eyes went wide and they craned their neck to see but there wasn’t anything there. Ava could see for herself that no one was watching them. Of the few people that were milling around, they were all busy and not paying a bit of attention.
“I don’t see anyone,” Maddie said. “Maybe they left.”
“Or maybe I’m losing my mind,” Ava admitted. “I’m letting the case get to me. Now I’m imagining people are watching me.”
“You’re not crazy,” Presley said. “We’re all a little spooked, to be honest.”
“Are you worried that it’s not over?”
“Yes, I don’t want anyone else to be murdered but Seth assures me that it appears to have stopped. Besides, even if our guys were in danger, which they swear they’re not, the killer wouldn’t know where we are.”
“So taking a vacation was a good thing,” Misty said with a smile.
“Seth also pointed out that being in law enforcement isn’t exactly the safest job in the w
orld. Technically, he’s in danger every day. If not this crazy, then some other one. Our guys have put a lot of bad people behind bars over the years. One of them just might decide that they want revenge.”
That was true. In a way, this was just any other day in their crazy lives.
“There’s no sign that the killer is going after our husbands,” Maddie pointed out.
“Killers use surrogates all the time,” Kaylee said. “We see it in our research.”
Ava gaze slid back to the spot in front of the condo. There was no one there.
I’m letting myself get way too paranoid.
With a shake of her head, Ava laid back down on the lounge chair. She was letting all of this mess with her head. The ladies were right. Their husbands were in danger every single day and she didn’t let it get to her like this normally.
There was no one watching her and her husband wasn’t being hunted. She just needed to relax and enjoy the beach.
The killer was thousands of miles away in Montana.
16
The new room was scrubbed and ready. There wasn’t a particle of dirt to be found.
There was a brand-new chair and a stack of tarps from the hardware store. Even some zip ties for their wrists. It was going to be messy.
It was almost time.
He’d hoped to have more practice and become perfect but he couldn’t pass up this opportunity. It was too good and it may never happen again.
Logan Wright wouldn’t be alive much longer.
Logan shoved the last bite of bagel into his mouth and washed it down with a hot cup of coffee. This was the first full day of vacation and it was barely ten o’clock but the twins had already worn him out. He’d played Frisbee and bocce ball, and now he needed a breather.
“Logan, do you have a minute?”
Jared had knocked on the door and then stuck his head in.
“Sure, come on in. Are you hungry?”
Shaking his head, Jared pointed to the pot of fresh coffee. “I’m good but I wouldn’t mind another cup of coffee. I think I need the energy. Lizzie and Nate barely slept but they were up with the birds so they could hit the beach.”
“I’m not sure we’ll ever have that kind of energy again.”
Logan pulled down a mug for his friend and filled it with coffee. Jared sat down at the small breakfast table, adding sugar and cream to his drink.
“I came to talk to you up here because I didn’t want anyone else to hear this.”
Jared had every bit of Logan’s attention now. What on earth could his friend want to keep a secret?
“Then I definitely want to hear it. What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
For a moment, Logan had a vision of Misty or one of the kids being sick.
“It’s about Wade Bryson. Or more specifically, his family.”
Logan stiffened, his fingers tightening on his own cup. “You want to talk about Wade? That’s new. Usually no one wants to talk about him.”
“I want to talk about his family,” Jared said. “Not him directly. I know that this case has brought up a lot of shit for you, and I heard you talking out loud to Reed about wondering what ever happened to Bryson’s wife and kids. If they’re okay and all. So I did some digging.”
“And you found them?”
Logan didn’t admit out loud that he’d tried a few times over the years, rather half-heartedly. He hadn’t been able to follow the cold trail, however. When Nancy had left, she’d been determined not to be found.
He didn’t blame her. The intense press had been more than most people could handle. She’d been called out by the media, asking how she’d married a monster and didn’t know it. Or some tried to hint that she had known the whole time. Perhaps she’d even helped him.
“I did. The only reason I’m even mentioning it is because you and Tanner happened to pick a town to vacation in that’s less than two hours from where they live.”
Logan laughed even though it really wasn’t all that funny. It was just plain weird.
“Are you kidding me? That is so fucked up. I swear I didn’t know they moved down here.”
“They originally moved to Texas and then a few years ago moved here to Florida. They’ve changed their names more than once along the way.” There was silence for a long moment. “Nancy is dead. She passed about six months ago.”
Fuck, Logan had always liked Nancy. She hadn’t had it easy even before Wade turned out to be a serial killer. He’d never been a decent husband or father and she’d had to carry that load for both of them. Wade had at least kept her in a lavish lifestyle, but that probably didn’t make up for the fact that he’d been a shitty husband from day one.
“She’s gone? Shit. What about the three kids?”
“That’s the thing, my friend. There aren’t three kids. There are four. Turns out she was pregnant when she disappeared.”
Logan’s head jerked around, his gaze on Jared. “What? She was pregnant? I never saw any sign of that. Are you sure?”
“Completely sure. I guess she hid it but there is definitely a fourth child, born just a few months after Wade was found guilty.”
Sinking into a chair, Logan cradled his head in his hands. It was almost too much to take in. He’d tried to help Nancy. He’d wanted to…do something, but she’d looked at him with such cold eyes. As if she hated him. Hell, she probably did. He’d brought an end to the life she’d known; instead she’d had to hide out like she was a criminal, too. It hadn’t been fair.
But it hadn’t been his fault either. That title belonged to Wade himself.
“Boy or girl?”
“A girl. Birth certificate said her name was Trisha Darlene.”
Darlene had been Nancy’s mother’s name.
“What else do you know about her?”
“That’s it. I can’t find anything else. I guess she would be seventeen about now, but I can’t find anything. They’ve probably changed her name several times since she was born.”
“What about the other three?”
“The oldest daughter graduated college and teaches math at a local high school. The younger daughter dropped out of full-time college and works in a clothing store while taking a class here and there. She’s getting close to graduating with a business degree. The son, well, he hasn’t done quite as well. He barely passed high school but still manages to make a decent living. He lives with his younger sister and apparently takes care of the house they rent. Neighbors say that he’s always outside when it’s nice weather, working in their yard or the neighborhood yards. That’s how he makes his money. Apparently, he’s really gifted when it comes to getting plants to grow.”
“Wade liked yard work.”
It was funny the things a person remembers. The memory had come into his head out of nowhere but he knew it was true. Yet, he hadn’t given it a single thought in over a decade.
“How did Nancy die?”
“Cancer.”
Logan took a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee. “I’m not sure how I feel. I’ve always wondered if they were okay. I wanted to help them but Nancy…”
“So now you know. They’re okay. They’re not rich or famous or anything but they’re living good, law-abiding lives from the looks of things. I couldn’t find so much as a parking ticket. It sounds like they didn’t inherit Bryson’s criminal leanings.”
“I wish I’d known about Nancy.”
Jared shook his head. “Dude, there was nothing you could have done. She didn’t want you in their life. Period. She pushed you out.”
“She was angry at me.”
“Maybe. Or perhaps she was angry at herself. She picked him, after all. She married him and had kids with him. Then it all came tumbling down and she had to admit that she had lousy taste in men. That she didn’t see whatever signs there might have been. And there might not have been many of them. I think that you - and Ava - were walking, talking reminders that she married the wrong man. So she just didn’t want you around. Sure, sh
e was angry that she couldn’t play the lady of the manor anymore but I think she was more pissed off at herself.”
“You sound like a shrink.”
“I only play one on television,” Jared joked. “But I’ve done enough research into the human mind to know that anger is often directed outward, not inward. Maybe she did hate your guts, but I think it’s more that she didn’t like herself very much.”
“What about Lindsay, Aaron’s wife? And the kids? And don’t say you didn’t look into her because you don’t do a half-assed job at anything.”
“Lindsay and the kids moved to Salt Lake City. She already had a teaching degree for elementary-aged children and she went back to work. Eventually, she met an attorney and remarried. They had two additional kids, a boy and a girl, plus his two kids from his previous marriage. From what I can see, they’re all happy and healthy with their blended family.”
“Does her husband know?”
Jared shrugged. “I have no idea. Is it important that he does? She changed their last name when she moved. She’s not that person anymore.”
There was only one more. Did he dare?
“And Mary?”
Ava’s sister and Lyle’s wife. How long had it been since they’d seen her? Years. It didn’t bother Logan, but he knew it hurt Ava. She loved her sister, even if she didn’t always like her. At the best of times, Mary was a hard person to get along with. Ava’s mother was a damn saint for putting up with Mary’s crap constantly.
“She lives in Las Vegas,” Jared replied. “I don’t know what you know but she remarried a few years after Lyle’s death. He owns a couple of fancy restaurants and had three kids from his previous marriage. They’re grown now and out of the house for the most part. He lost his wife when the kids were teenagers. They seem happy. They have friends and an active social life. He makes a good living so they’re financially comfortable.”
Anger. That was the emotion that Logan was feeling. He easily recognized it, the heat at the back of his neck quickly growing white hot.
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