for. We have reason to believe he’s killed several people across the country from Florida to Montana, and who knows where else. He’s a hired contractor. An assassin.”
“And you’re here to find him?”
“Yes. I got a tip that he’d possibly been sighted in Montana. Several assets reported seeing him around the state. He came here either to hide out or to take a job. He killed an informant we’d hidden to testify against a major drug ring in Texas.”
“Killed, as in before you could move the informant into the witness protection program?”
“Yes, and we’re not proud of it. We were moving him to a new location when someone shot out one of the tires on our transport vehicle and snatched the witness, after shooting two of our officers. They both survived, but didn’t see the shooter.”
“I took a different jogging path and came up on them tonight,” Nina said, a delayed reaction coursing through her body. She set her coffee on the table and held her hands in her lap so he wouldn’t see how they were beginning to shake. “I didn’t have my weapon. Not even a Taser. I should have at least had that, or pepper spray. I didn’t identify myself as FBI, but I did my best to stop him from killing her.”
“You had Sam,” he replied, his astute eyes watching her.
“Yes, my strongest weapon. That and lots of prayers.” Sam was resting in his kennel in the training area while they talked. “I planned to order him to attack, but the man turned and shot at me and then turned the gun on the girl. Then I needed Sam to protect us while I tried to...save her.”
She’d taken her shower while Thomas talked to some of the other agents, but she could still see the blood on her clothes and hands, could remember the girl’s cold, pale body. A shiver moved down Nina’s spine, reminding her how close that poor young woman had come to being murdered.
Help her, Lord. Help this poor girl so we can find out what’s going on.
“And you did save her,” Thomas said, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “She’s alive because you came along at the right time.”
“She’s in surgery, so let’s hope everything will be okay. He planned to kill her and dump her just like the others.”
“So you think the other two females were killed by this same man?”
“I don’t know. I’m speculating. But it makes sense because he purposely brought her to that spot, from what we can tell. I’m waiting to hear from the medical examiner regarding their cause of death and their IDs. We’ll have to notify their next of kin, too.”
“A grisly undertaking,” Thomas replied. “My gut tells me Russo is your man for all three crimes.”
“I’ll have to wait to concur with you on that, but yes, it’s looking like a possibility.”
He nodded. “Understood.”
She leaned forward. “Sam must have picked up a strong scent, because after the shooter shot the girl and ran away, Sam immediately alerted on the two other graves. Shallow graves, a little over a foot and a half deep. The gunman knew that would keep anyone from detecting the scent of decaying bodies. Until Sam got a whiff anyway. I can’t say how long they’ve been there, but the ME said maybe months.”
Putting her head in her hands and raking her wet hair back, she said, “Sam and I have jogged by those woods for months now and...those girls were out there. All alone. Now, I’m questioning if Sam tried to alert me before and I maybe thought he’d seen a squirrel or some other animal. I should have caught this sooner.” Lifting her head, she added, “The killer must be using that site as his burial ground since, according to the ME, one body has been there longer than the other one.”
“Sam knows his business. He wasn’t working when you jogged by before and he could have false alerted, since he was on downtime. But tonight, like you said, he picked up on the dangerous situation. The shooter’s scent—maybe a cologne or aftershave, or maybe even from the coat he was wearing—caused Sam to search the area, and then he alerted on the bodies. Which makes it highly likely the same man killed those two.”
“Not good news for any family, especially this time of year.”
“No,” the marshal said, his expression grim. “But it sounds as if you have a strong faith to carry you through. That’s a plus.”
“I couldn’t do this without it,” she admitted.
“I hear that,” he said, that long Texas drawl moving like gentle fingers across her heart.
Nina didn’t talk about her faith much but it was there, instilled in her by a strong, loving family. She was glad to hear Thomas apparently had the same shield.
They continued to talk about the details until she’d given him as much information as she could and he’d done the same for her.
“I think I’m going home,” she said, standing to stretch. “I’ll pick back up on the details there, since I probably won’t get any sleep.”
“I’ve got a room at the Wild Iris Inn,” he said. “Sounded like a nice out-of-the-way spot. I didn’t want to stay in Billings.”
“The inn is the only place available near Iris Rock, and not far from my house,” she said with a grin. “But you’re in good hands. Miss Claire still works there part-time, but she’s turned over management to Penny Potter, soon to be Penny Morrow. Penny plans to marry one of our agents—Zeke Morrow—on Valentine’s Day next year.”
She went on to tell him how Jake Morrow had been a double agent and how his half brother, Zeke, had come to help track him and had been in on his capture and death. But in spite of the horrible tragedy, several of the team members had somehow found true love. Why Nina had decided to share the joy with the marshal, she didn’t know. Except that she wanted to believe in hope and love, even if she didn’t have a significant other in her life right now.
And she didn’t need anyone. She had enough trouble trying to prove herself as an agent.
“This year was rough for all of you,” Thomas said, bringing her back to reality. “I’m glad everyone is safe and sound.” They’d reached the doors to the parking garage. “Speaking of that, I’m walking you to your vehicle.”
Nina blinked and stared up at him. “I’m parked near you, anyway, and I have Sam.”
Thomas shook his head. “Look, let’s get this part over with. I know you’re strong and capable and tough or you wouldn’t be here, but...a killer saw you tonight. You’re a witness to an attempted murder by a very dangerous man. You’re gonna need someone to watch your back.”
She turned when they were almost to her vehicle. “Have you appointed yourself for that job?”
Before he could respond, a shot rang out and the windshield of the car next to them shattered. Thomas threw his body over Nina and pushed her to the ground. Another shot rang out, blasting a nearby wall.
Nina’s heart pressed beats against her lungs. She couldn’t breathe. And she couldn’t get past the sure knowledge that Thomas had probably just saved her life.
* * *
An
