Page 74 of Fatal Intent

Grant inclined his head toward the notepad. “Let’s make a list of things we need to check further. The detectives go at the top of the list.” Especially if the other members of Red Dawn and their families had been attacked.

Rayne grabbed the pen and made a few notes. “Who are the detectives in charge of the case?”

“Hal Leonard and Wyatt Dorsey.” After entering their names into the Fortress database, he gave Rayne their contact information. “If we can’t find the answers we need any other way, I’ll contact Eileen.”

“Do you think she’ll talk to you?”

“There's only one way to find out.”

Rayne flipped to the next page in the notebook. “Who’s next?”

“Isaac Hill.” Once again, Grant entered the name into the database and waited for the information to fill his screen. What he saw made his heart sink. “Oh, man.”

“What is it?”

“Isaac’s dead, too.” He glanced at Rayne. “So is his wife. They didn’t have children.”

“What happened to them?”

“Isaac’s wife, Julie, was murdered two days after Beau was killed. One shot to the heart. Two days after her death, Isaac was shot through the heart.”

Rayne frowned. “Did they have relatives who were killed or attacked?”

Grant forced himself to focus and skimmed the police report on the death of the couple. “No relatives close. They were only children born to families with older parents who were also only children. There was an elderly aunt on Kimmie’s side, but shedied a few days after Kimmie and Isaac. The apparent cause of death is complications from pneumonia.”

“At least she wasn’t shot to death,” Rayne murmured. “Do we keep going through the rest of the team assigned to Red Dawn?”

“We have to know what we’re dealing with.”

She looked at him for a moment. “A killer with an agenda and patience.”

“Why did you call him patient?”

“Think about it. How long has it been since the Red Dawn mission?”

“Twelve years.”

“Why did he wait so long? He could have planned murders that looked like accidents, and probably no one would have known the truth. You can’t pass off a shot to the heart as an accident.”

No, you couldn’t. The killer wanted to be acknowledged for his prowess in carrying out the murders. “If we’re right, now that he’s started, he won’t back down until every member of the Special Forces team is dead.” And that meant members of Echo were at risk. Grant wouldn’t allow anything to happen to his teammates. They were like family to him.

“Then let’s figure out which members of the Red Dawn mission are already dead and which ones are at risk.”

“Looks like he’s already targeting me, and that means the rest of Echo is also at risk. We have to find this guy before he strikes at one of them.”

“While we check on the other members of the team, think about that twelve-year gap before the first murder. There has to be a reason for the gap. It’s possible the killer wanted to lull the members of your unit into believing they were safe, but twelve years is a long time to delay revenge or justice if that’s his agenda. What is the next name?”

For the next two hours, they continued checking the list of military personnel against the Fortress database. When they finished, Grant scrubbed his face with his hands, stunned at what he and Rayne had discovered. He’d wonder why no one notified him and the rest of Echo unit except the mission was classified and no information should have leaked. Obviously, someone had talked, and that person had a lot of blood on his hands.

He closed the lid of his computer and set the machine on the coffee table beside his empty coffee mug. “I need a minute.” Grant walked out onto the balcony, hoping the fresh air would clear his brain fog.

As he scanned the area, searching for changes to the landscape or a person out of place, he thought about his friends and colleagues on the Special Forces team responsible for the success of Red Dawn. The men on that team were American heroes and should have been treated with the utmost respect. Although they’d been awarded medals, no public acknowledgment had come with it. Only their superiors knew of the bravery of the men.

Instead of being hailed as heroes, they’d been transferred to other units or separated from the military, and now they were dying in obscurity at the hands of a person with a deadly agenda. Even worse, now Grant knew without a doubt that his family and Rayne had targets on their backs. If this killer wanted to hurt him, the best way to do it would be to take out Grant’s family and his woman.

His heart ached at the thought of so many lives lost. Since no one made the connection, no one was looking for a serial killer with a lethal plan.

Rayne was right. The twelve-year gap was curious. What had delayed the murder spree? Twelve years was a long time to wait for revenge. That bothered him. In his experience as a detective,many deaths were crimes of passion. These were cold, calculated murders and made the killer more dangerous. As evidenced by the lack of an arrest, the killer was organized, patient, and careful.