Page 109 of Fatal Intent

“Nothing,” Iona said. “We finished our lists and took a break while you were with Rayne.”

He turned to Seth. “What’s the plan?”

“First, we need to finish running deep background checks on every person on our lists. Our second priority is to track down all the soldiers who are off the grid and dig deep into their backgrounds as well. We can’t dismiss them as possible suspects because they’ve disappeared. We don’t have proof that Donovan Vance killed your cousin and shot your father.”

“Not yet,” Andre muttered. “Appears all the facts are leaning that direction.”

“He has a point.” Elias dropped onto the floor next to Iona and rested his back against the wall. “All Special Forces soldiers are trained to be accurate shooters, but we aren’t as good as Donovan.”

“That brings me to our third priority,” Seth said. “We need to find out if Hal had another stepbrother or sister who might be Donovan’s partner, or if Donovan recruited one of the other soldiers to aid him.”

Grant’s stomach churned. Had one of the Special Forces soldiers from Red Dawn turned on the survivors? Man, he hoped that wasn’t the case. They’d been trained to have each other’s backs on those missions. To find out someone they trusted had turned on them would be devastating.

“Andre and I will take on the search for another sibling,” Riley said.

“Elias and I will hunt for the locations of those soldiers who went off the grid.” Iona frowned. “We may not make much headway from the hotel, though.”

“Once we figure out if there’s another step sibling, Andre and I can help you,” Riley said.

Grant said, “Rayne and I will dig hard into the backgrounds of those off the grid.”

Seth nodded. “Good. Teagan and I will give you a hand.” He shifted his gaze to the rest of the team. “Anything else to add to our list of priorities?” When no one spoke up, Echo’s team leader said, “Get busy. The clock’s ticking.”

The couples went to different parts of the living room to work on their assignments.

Grant and Rayne researched Gino Savage and Barry Fritz, peeling back layers of information until they uncovered everything, including their location.

He studied the computer screen, eyes narrowing. “They’re two hours from here, and they’re together.”

Rayne turned to Grant. “Did you know they were so close?”

He shook his head. “They’re not from Tennessee. Savage lives in Alabama. Fritz is from North Dakota.”

“So why did they come here?”

“The only way to find out is to ask them.”

Seth turned. “Are your two men holed up near here?”

“They’re together, two hours away. What about yours?”

“Same.”

“That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Nope,” Seth agreed. “Looks as though the four soldiers contacted each other and hid together so they could watch each other’s backs.”

“It’s a smart idea,” Grant admitted. He would have done the same with members of Echo unit in a heartbeat.

“If you can trust your teammates,” Teagan said.

“No bodies have turned up so I’d say they chose wisely.”

“So that’s four of the five soldiers still alive along with Echo unit,” Rayne said. “What about Rex Lawson?”

Seth grimaced. “We need to look into Lawson and Eileen Reed. Lawson isn’t part of this group’s plan to hide out. He and Eileen are living in her and Beau’s house right out in the open. Lawson doesn’t seem worried about being surprised by the killer.”

“Doesn’t make him the partner, though,” Grant said. “Perhaps just foolish.”