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Chapters (41)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. EPILOGUE
  41. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

If he had known today was Walker’s bail hearing, either he had forgotten or the newest murder had shifted it down the priority list. Likely the latter. “The body’s in an abandoned house on the east side of Austin, five blocks from the first Jane Doe. Body’s wrapped in plastic. Victim appears to have died of suffocation.”

Though she had foreseen this trend, she felt no satisfaction. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Jordan, if this is the same guy, then we could have a real problem,” Captain Lee said.

“Two weeks between kills is a quick turnaround.” Most serial killers—and neither she nor Lee would dare utter that moniker yet—had a cooling-off period. They needed time to process, come down off the adrenaline high, and relive the crime. Only when the memory was worn out and threadbare did a killer like this go hunting again.

“Let me get to the scene, and I’ll see what we’re dealing with,” she said.

“If it’s the same guy, I’m not delaying,” Lee said. “I’m calling the Rangers.”

“Don’t be so quick to hand it over. Let me get to the scene.”

“Call me within the hour.”

“Right.”

She shoved her phone in her pocket, and her pace quickened as she approached her unmarked vehicle. Within feet, she noticed the long scratch along the driver’s-side door. Shit. Her car had been keyed. Her first thought was Sunday. If he had not personally done this, he had found someone to do it for him.

She glanced around the lot for any security cameras and found none. “You’ll have to try harder, Sunday,” she muttered as she opened the door.

The Jane Doe case felt really personal, and for that reason alone she would not let it go.

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

Monday, April 12

11:00 a.m.

The forensic team was on scene when Jordan arrived at the old house in Southeast Austin. Like the first murder scene, this house had a sign in the front yard for a local real estate development company announcing work would begin April 15 on this property. Again, the killer would have known crews were scheduled to be at the house and the body would be found.

This house was a ranch, one story, and painted a fading gray. The yard was overgrown, and a tree in the front yard drooped long branches over a rusted oil tank once attached to the house.

She donned full PPE gear before she climbed the stairs, pausing long enough to introduce herself to the uniformed officer. She recognized Sergeant Dave Saunders. He had been on the force thirty years, and when she had been in uniform, she had been under his command. “Sergeant Saunders.”

“Detective Poe.”