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“Is that really what you want?” Ashcroft finally asked, his tone shifting from anger to something more calculating.

Logan knew what Ashcroft was really asking. The last trooper who’d taken “personal leave” against the captain’s wishes had found himself reassigned to the most remote outpost in the state upon his return. It was a career dead-end from which there was rarely an escape.

“It’s without question what I have to do.”

He visualized Ashcroft leaning back in his chair, that self-satisfied smile spreading across his face at having forced Logan’s hand.

“Fine,” Ashcroft finally said. “Have it your way. You know you won’t get paid, right?”

“I don’t care about the money.”

“You will when the bills come in.” The smug certainty in Ashcroft’s voice made Logan’s free hand curl into a fist.

The call ended abruptly, Ashcroft having said his piece. Logan lowered the phone slowly, his knuckles white against the black case.

This was all about retaliation. He knew that also. Last summer’s internal affairs investigation had exposed corruption that went all the way up to the deputy commissioner. While Logan had never testified against Durden directly, the captain knew he’d cooperated.

The car theft assignment—a rookie case well beneath Logan’s rank and experience—had been the first of many small humiliations designed to push him out. He knew Ashcroft’s wife had passed away a couple of years ago, and that the man had never been the same since then. Was Logan now paying the price of this man’s grief?

If it continued, Logan wasn’t sure how much longer he’d maintain his career as a state trooper.

But that was a problem for another day. Right now, all that mattered was the woman whose life depended on him finding her before the killer staged his next grotesque display.

Logan pocketed his phone and frowned. He could kiss his career goodbye. He had a promise to keep.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

After speaking to Ashcroft,Logan stood, needing to stretch his legs.

He wandered back out into the living room, where Duke and Andi sat on the couch with their laptops, phones, and two notebooks in front of them.

Duke looked up. “Everything okay? I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but your voice carried out here. Whoever you were talking to . . . it sounded heated.”

Logan’s felt his jaw jump. “Just talking to my captain.”

“You still have colleagues who hate you, don’t you?” Concern etched Andi’s face as she lowered her phone.

Logan’s jaw tightened, but he knew better than to deny her words. Besides, everyone knew that was the truth.

“Things have been rough since we brought Victor Goodman down and Captain Durden was fired.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Andi frowned with what appeared to be regret.

If he had to guess, it wasn’t regret that Victor had been brought down but that Logan had been caught in the crosshairs.

“I know that, in part, we played a role in that when we dragged you into our investigation,” Andi continued.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You didn’t exactly drag me into it. I did so willingly. And corrupt people should be brought down, no matter the consequences.”

Andi’s look showed she agreed with his statement, even if she did still feel remorse at the backlash he’d faced afterward.

Logan rubbed the skin between his eyes, feeling exhaustion kicking in. “We’re doing everything we can to find Morgan, but it’s not enough. It’s getting us nowhere.”

“So far, no one I’ve talked to from the award ceremony saw anything.” Andi yawned, clearly tired. “I’m not saying that someone may know something and not be talking. But my gut is telling me that whoever took Morgan wasn’t necessarily rubbing elbows with us at the award ceremony. Besides, if he was, don’t you think Morgan would have recognized him and said something?”

Logan couldn’t argue with that conclusion. “I would think so.”