Ambushed at Christmas by Barb Han

Author:Barb Han
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-09-23T15:33:02+00:00

* * *

THIRTY-TWO HOURS went by before Leah heard from Deacon again. His text said that he was nearby and wanted to see if she was awake so they could talk.

A knock at the back door shouldn’t have caught her off guard, considering she knew Deacon was on his way. She jumped despite herself. Answering the door, seeing him shouldn’t have made her stomach perform a gymnastic routine. It did.

“I already put on a pot of coffee.” She tried to hide the flush in her cheeks and most likely failed miserably.

He greeted her and then reclaimed his same seat from the other night.

“Everything okay at the ranch?” There were dark circles underneath his eyes and scruff on his chin like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days.

“There haven’t been any new injured heifers since I last saw you. We’ve been keeping security tight and taking extra shifts patrolling.” That must account for the look of no sleep. “But that’s not why I’m here. We didn’t get a chance to finish our conversation the other night.”

“That’s what you said in your text.” Leah handed him a cup of fresh brew. He took it and thanked her. Their fingers brushed and she ignored the electricity causing hers to tingle and pulse. She sat down across the table from him and did her level best to avoid prolonged eye contact.

“Is what the media printed about the second murder true?” he asked.

“Yes. It was her right foot and cut clean off.” Revisiting the details sent a chill racing down Leah’s back.

“Just like Jillian Mitchell.” Deacon white-knuckled his coffee mug.

She nodded confirmation.

“Is there a positive ID on the victim?” He took a sip of coffee.

It was colder outside than it had been all week, which was saying a lot. She’d nearly frozen on her jog.

“Delaney Richards. She was twenty-nine years old.” That and the other information she was about to share had been kept out of the news. “She has a similar description to Jillian Mitchell, and with the same MO we have every reason to believe the cases are linked.”

“Is Detective Dougherty keeping you in the loop?” He didn’t look up at her when he asked so she couldn’t read his eyes.

“More or less.” She shrugged. “He tells me some information and the rest I’m picking up from colleagues.”

“How long had she been in the river before they found her?” he asked.

“Less than twelve hours.” Leah sipped her coffee.

“We were on that same trail, on the same night,” he said.

“I know.” Could they have stopped it?

“I didn’t hear anything.” His voice was so low when he said it that she almost didn’t hear him.

“If we’d known, we would’ve prevented it. We were far enough away that even if she screamed, which she may not have, we wouldn’t have heard. The victims might know this guy personally. Dougherty is working on finding a link but there’s nothing on the surface. He still says Elijah Henry is guilty, although there’s no evidence connecting him to the crime.

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