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“ P atrick, you’ve got to come. Quickly. Now.” Deb stuck her head into the conference room, startling them all.

Zeke could tell right away something had broken on the case.

Patrick hurried over to his wife. “What is it?”

“Lindsey Newton just came into the station.” Deb waited for those words to sink in.

“What? You’re kidding.”

“Nope. She claims one of the people who took her dropped her off and told her to tell us everything.”

“One of the people. There are more than one?” Zeke asked.

Deb told him yes. “I’ll let her tell it.”

Zeke jumped to his feet. “Did she mention Sierra or Dawn?”

Deb shook her head. “She’s waiting to speak to you all.”

Zeke and his teammates followed the couple out to the waiting area where the very alive version of Lindsey Newton stood near the door as if ready to run.

“Hang back,” Deb told them all and went over to Lindsey. “Honey, it’s okay. You can trust these people.” She swept her hand over to where they waited. “And we’re going to catch this man who did this to you, I promise.”

“Men. There were two,” Lindsey whispered in a broken voice. “The man who brought me here was nice. He didn’t try to hurt me. He actually tried to protect me.”

Deb put her arm around the young woman’s shoulders. “Let’s get you something to drink and maybe eat?” She waited for Lindsey to confirm she was hungry. “Megan and Hannah.” She waved the two women over. “Lindsey, these two women are FBI agents. They came here to help locate you and two other missing women. One of those is an FBI agent too. Why don’t we all go into the conference room and let’s just talk? You can tell us everything that happened from the moment you were taken until he dropped you off.”

Before Deb had the chance to get the food, a call came in and Deb answered it. It didn’t take long before Zeke realized something had happened. “We’re rolling fire and emergency services now.” Deb ended the call and announced the address for Lindsey to confirm.

“That’s where he held me. I noticed the address on the mailbox. I saw the fire start. There could be others inside the house.”

“Wait, isn’t that Colleen’s old place??” Zeke asked.

Deb’s eyes widened. “It is.”

Megan’s troubled gaze went to Zeke’s “He set the place on fire to destroy evidence.”

“I could smell the gasoline inside,” Lindsey told them.

“Why don’t we talk in the conference room?” Megan led her into the room and pulled out a chair, careful not to touch Lindsey.

They had no idea what she’d gone through. Until they did, Lindsey’s clothes and body represented a crime scene.

Zeke and the rest of the team hung back, letting Megan and Hannah take the lead.

“I was taken from outside my cabin,” Lindsey said. “I was getting ready to go to the diner for something to eat. It was late—I don’t remember the exact time, but maybe nine or nine-thirty.”

Hannah opened her notebook and wrote down Lindsey’s answers.

“Anyway, he came out of nowhere and grabbed me from behind. Before I had the chance to fight back, he jabbed something in my neck.”

The attacker had drugged her. That made sense. Zeke couldn’t understand how he’d managed to subdue Sierra otherwise.

“There are others.” She stopped and started sobbing. “Oh, God, it was awful. He kept them in barrels.”

Zeke froze. His mind tried to untangle what she’d said, but all he could come up with was something unthinkable.

He must have made some noise because Hannah glanced his way before asking how many women were there.

“Eight. Their names had been written on the side of the barrels and . . . they were clear so that you could see them.” She shuddered. “It was awful.”

Zeke sank down to the closest chair. Someone put their hand on his shoulder. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe right.

“Do you remember their names?” Megan asked.

“I do. I memorized them.” Starting with the first victim from twenty-five years earlier, she recited all their names.

Zeke’s head jerked up as he willed her not to say Sierra’s name. Please don’t. Please, God no.

“The last two names were Dawn and then Sierra.”

He covered his head with his hands and tried not to fall apart.

“Only there was something different about those two.”

“Different in what way?” Hannah asked.

“They were empty.”

Empty. The word jumped out at him. Empty as in Sierra wasn’t in there.

“Those two women are still alive?” Hannah said loud enough to make sure Zeke heard.

“I think so. I remember hearing an explosion, but I wasn’t sure if it was real or just part of some hallucination.”

Patrick told them that Henry Postman owned the mine behind the ranch where Colleen had lived at one time.

“But Henry isn’t the name of the ranch’s owner.” Zeke remembered it was owned by George Underwood.

“Henry is sometimes a nickname for George,” Megan said. “Maybe Henry Postman is George Underwood’s alias.”

“Henry’s part of the killing team,” Patrick concluded. “I can’t believe that kind old man is a serial killer. Henry seems to be the nicest person. His wife recently passed away.”

“Maybe it triggered the urge to kill again?” Hannah had gone into profiler mode. “I’m guessing that Henry probably killed Colleen back then. Maybe he left the area and either continued killing or was dormant until he returned to Pinedale twenty-five years ago.”

It made sense. “So why would Henry use an alias . . . ?” The truth dawned quickly on Zeke. “He was afraid his name might be recognized from back in Colleen’s day.”

“Here you go, honey.” Deb came in and brought Lindsey a sandwich and chips along with water.

“Let’s step outside for a second to let Lindsey eat in peace,” Zeke said after the woman’s strange story was out.

“We’ll stay with her,” Megan told them. She and Hannah along with Deb remained with the frightened woman.

“We need to get over to the ranch right away,” Zeke announced as soon as they were out of hearing. “Sierra and Dawn could be trapped inside the mine.”

“He’s right,” Patrick said. “Henry’s been mining up there for years. He’d know how to block up the mine to prevent them from getting away. I’m calling Deputy Drake back as added protection against this unknown part of the killing team. We need to find Henry now. If he dropped off Lindsey, then it sounds like he’ll be cooperative. I’m hoping he will give us the name of his partner.”

“Let me tell Megan and Hannah what we’re doing. I’ll be right back.” Jack returned to the conference room. The rest of the team, along with Patrick, headed outside into a new day beginning to dawn. In the distance, the blaze Henry had set raged.

Once Jack stepped outside, they didn’t waste time getting on the road.

Zeke was in the passenger seat beside Patrick. “Is there much gold being recovered from the mountains?” He realized how little he knew about the gold-mining process.

Patrick turned onto the county road leading to Henry’s place. “Not so much anymore. In the old days, the miners who worked the mountain brought out a lot of gold.” Patrick shook his head. “I still can’t believe Henry is a killer. He’s the county coroner.”

Zeke jerked back. “You’re kidding?”

Patrick’s serious expression confirmed this was no joke. “I’ve worked with him many times. We attend the same church, for crying out loud.” His mouth thinned. “Just goes to show you never know where the devil will appear.”

As they neared the blaze, Patrick pointed behind the destruction of the house. “Henry created a tunnel leading from the house to the mountain.” He turned off the road and traveled down a dirt trail toward the mountain.

Zeke tried to get his bearings. “Where’s Flannigan’s place from here?”

Patrick pointed out Zeke’s window. “A couple of miles that way.”

They’d been so close to where Sierra and Dawn were held. Zeke felt as if he’d let Sierra down by not checking the rest of the houses along the road.

“Does Henry own a tow truck?” Jack asked.

Patrick glanced at him in the rearview. “Not to my knowledge. He may have known about Irv’s and hid it back behind Flannigan’s place in case we started asking him questions . . . Henry owns an older pickup truck. It’s green.”

The pieces were falling into place quickly. The only question now was were Sierra and Dawn safe? And where was Henry and the second member of his killing team?