Page 37 of If You're Reading This

He leaned back against the uncomfortable plastic booth and let out a deep breath. “I suppose it could be someone associated with Morgan like she indicated in that journal entry. She didn’t name any names, however.”

Andi frowned. “If this is someone association with Morgan, that’s going to make it even harder to find him. Especially if she never saw face, if he was like a shadow.”

“Exactly.” His jaw ached as he said the word.

Logan paused their conversation as the waitress delivered their food.

After lifting a prayer, they dug in, the fried, savory aroma around them tantalizing.

Duke raised a bundle of shoe-string fries between his fingers before asking, “So where do we want to look next? You want to see if Ashcroft really could be our guy?”

He thought about it a moment before shook his head. “No, I don’t think it’s him. He has other ways of making me pay—ways that don’t involve brutal murders.”

“So who then? Or what?” Andi asked.

“I have the video footage from the award ceremony.” Logan picked up a triangle of his thick sandwich. “Like I said earlier, we don’t even know if this guy was at the award ceremony or if he lured Morgan outside somehow. But it’s another consideration.”

“If it was someone from the state trooper’s office or the biker gang, there’s a good chance Morgan would have recognized him, right?” Duke asked.

“There’s a chance. But a lot has changed in the Iron Brotherhood since I’ve been out. They have new blood. As far as the state trooper’s office, people who work there would know how to cover their tracks.”

“We can help you review that footage,” Andi said. “Although clearly we’re not going to recognize the same people you will, we might spot something helpful. I’ve also been going through the list of people at the award ceremony, calling each one. So far, no one saw anything. But I’ll keep trying.”

“That would be fantastic.”

They continued to eat, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

Except Logan was no longer hungry. The thought of someone hurting Morgan . . . he couldn’t stomach the idea.

Andi pushed his plate closer to him. “You can’t just not eat, Gibson. Even brooding state troopers need sustenance, am I right?”

Logan opened his mouth to respond when his phone vibrated against the table. The screen displayed “Reeves,” and he felt a flicker of anticipation. She wouldn’t call unless it was important.

He excused himself and answered.

As he listened to her update, his muscles tightened.

“I’ll be right there.” Logan ended the call and pushed back from the table.

“What is it?” Andi already reached for her jacket.

“They’ve IDed the hanging victim.”

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

Logan tossedsome bills onto the table, anxious to get to the outpost and find out more information. Reeves said he wanted to have the rest of this conversation face-to-face.

“Who was he?” Duked rose from the booth also. “The dead man?”

“Ryan Mercer.” Logan pulled his jacket on. “Thirty-four. He was a high school chemistry teacher in Fairbanks.”

“And?” Duke prompted, clearly knowing there was more.

Logan’s jaw tightened as he remembered the other details. “And apparently, he knew Morgan.”

They all started across the restaurant. A moment later, the three of them burst through the door of Susie’s Diner into the biting April air, the bell jingling discordantly behind them.