“No,” Casey croaked. She shook her head, and her gaze shifted from Jordan’s face to a point just over her right shoulder. She yelled out a warning.

Jordan’s skin tightened as she reached for her gun. The barrel had barely cleared the holster when she heard a man say, “Too smart.” And then she felt a blunt object strike the back of her head with a savage force.

The pain was bone rattling and lit up all the pain receptors in her body. Her grip on her weapon slackened, and her body crumpled. She fell onto her side, hitting the wooden floor hard.

Jordan looked over at Casey. Wide, desperate eyes blinked back tears. Fear and sorrow ricocheted toward her.

That was the last image Jordan saw before her world went dark.

“You didn’t wait. Shit! I knew you wouldn’t wait,” Spencer growled.

He slowed as he passed Jordan’s empty vehicle parked near the house. He gunned the engine and did not hit the brakes until he was just feet from the porch. Behind him the lights of the deputies’ cars grew brighter as he reached for his weapon.

In the distance, tire wheels sped over dirt as he leaped over the steps onto the porch and moved toward the open door, the soles of his boots striking hard, as two deputies sprang out of their vehicles, weapons drawn. Both advanced behind him as he pushed through the front door. His gaze swept left and right. In the distance he heard wheels scraping over a driveway.

His first instinct was to pursue, but it vanished when he saw the plastic sheeting discarded near the small kitchen. He raced across the dusty wide-plank floor and around the corner.

That was where he found Jordan Poe.

She lay on her side, her head haloed in a pool of blood, her body so still and lifeless. His first reaction was anger toward her attacker and also her. It was not logical for him to be mad at her, but there it was.

He holstered his weapon and knelt beside her, pressing his fingers to her throat. He did not detect a heartbeat. His world narrowed to his fingertips and his search for any sign of life.

As a deputy approached, he shouted, “Call for an ambulance! If there’s a med flight available, even better. And search the grounds for the missing woman and the killer.”

The deputy immediately ordered medical assistance and search crew deployed as Spencer repositioned his fingertips against the soft skin of her neck, now speckled with blood. His fingers grew slick as he rooted around for any sign of life.

“Why the hell didn’t you wait another minute? Just one damn minute.”

And then he found it. The beat was faint. Erratic. But it was there.

“Hang in there, Jordan. Do not leave. Do you understand? Do not leave.”