Agent Gift, this is Sergeant Owen. We met at the Masters residence earlier today.

Another one? she asked.

The silence was answer enough but after several quiet moments, Owen answered in a shaky voice. Yeah.

Rachel grabbed the hotel room stationery from the bedside table and a pen from the drawer. The address?

He gave it to her and she scribbled it down. Ending the call, Rachel slid out of bed and started to get dressed. As she slid into her pants, her mind instantly brought up memories of being in the doctors office, of getting the bad news. She wondered if it was just going to be this huge, mental juggernaut and if it would keep stalking her even after shed come clean with it. Was this her life now, defined totally by this one bit of terrible news?

Shaking the thoughts away, she called Jacks number. He answered on the fourth ring and, like Rachel, made very little attempt to sound as if he had not just been stirred awake far too early.

Its barely after five in the morning, he croaked.

I know. But I just got a call.

Again, his response echoed hers from moments ago. Another one?

Yeah.

Even with the cops keeping look-out?

Seems that way, she said, confused over the matter herself.

Ill meet you at the car in three minutes.

***

It started to make a dark sort of sense when they arrived at the crime scene. It was the residence of Hannah and Ryan Kettleman. It was nearly on the opposite side of town from the other two murders. But most significant of all was the fact that Hannah Kettleman had not been a name on the list theyd gotten from Regency Fertility Clinic.

As Rachel and Jack walked around the side of the house to where several police were gathered, it all started to feel similar. A murder in the back yard, just like Lucinda Masters. That was almost enough to kill off any hope Rachel had that the murder might be unrelated. But when they saw the body and the grim looks on the faces of the gathered officers, it died away completely.

She recognized Owen from the Masters residence and approached him right away. Shes not on the list we got from the clinic.

I know, Maters said. All the same, the husband tells us that she was scheduled for fertility treatments tomorrow.

But how

Its a different facility. Not Regency.