Rachel had called in Nate as well, and he closed the door behind them. Rachel said, “We have a break in the flood case.”

Lucy had been assisting the Bexar and Kerr County Sheriff’s Offices over the last two months in the case of four unidentified skeletons unearthed during the flash flooding over Labor Day weekend.

“IDs?” Lucy asked.

“Yes. It’s more complicated than we thought, which is why I want you to partner with Nate. We’re taking lead, the sheriff here is fine with it. I just got off the phone with his office, but Kerr might have some issues.”

Until now, Lucy’s role in the investigation had been more logistical, as the Bexar County crime lab was working closely with the FBI lab at Quantico. All they knew at this point was that the victims were four Caucasians, a male in his forties, a female in her forties, and two teenage females. The San Antonio ME brought in a forensic anthropologist from the university who said they’d been dead slightly over three years. All four had been shot twice in the back of the head and evidence indicated they’d been killed where they were found, but with the contamination of the burial site, they couldn’t confirm.

“And?” Lucy pressed. “A family, right?” That had been the logical assumption, but DNA testing couldn’t be done overnight.

Rachel nodded. “The Albrights. They disappeared just over three years ago, last seen on Friday, September 21. Denise Albright was an accountant suspected of embezzling three million dollars from a construction company, which had just landed a federal contract for a major public works project. Because federal funds were missing, the AUSA opened an investigation, but it was put on hold when they believed she fled to avoid being questioned. While the theft wasn’t discovered until after she disappeared, the owner of the company had scheduled an independent audit the day she was last seen. It isn’t a stretch to believe that she thought she would be caught.”

“No one knew she’d been killed?”

“Her vehicle was tagged crossing the border in Brownsville the night they disappeared. She and her husband both withdrew the maximum they could from their ATMs that afternoon, used his credit card to fill up with gas in Brownsville and buy supplies at a camping-goods store.”

“So this wasn’t planned—they were running on the fly,” Nate said.

Rachel nodded. “So it appears.”

“Were they suspicious of her?” Lucy asked. “Is that why the owner wanted the audit?”

“I don’t know. His contact information is in the file, so you can reach out.”