Read Online Blood Ties by Kay Hooper - Free Book Online

in the restaurant too.”
    “The alley on the other side of the street?”
    “Yeah, he’s not as bright as he thinks. Which does not, of course, make him any less dangerous. More so, probably. I let him catch a glimpse of me just to give him pause. Not enough to I.D. me, of course. Anyway, he’s at that fleabag motel. Paid cash, used an alias to check in. John Smith, if you can believe that. I’m figuring he’s down for the night.”
    “Was he today’s shooter?”
    “Pretty sure.”
    “You found his vantage point?”
    “Gabe did.” Gabriel Wolf was a Haven operative. As was his twin sister, Roxanne. And they formed a unique team.
    “Was Quentin right?”
    “Yeah. An old hunter’s blind. No real evidence to be found, including foot-, tire, or hoofprints. Nothing in the blind worth taking to court except one little smudge Gabe believes could have been made by binoculars.”
    “So we were watched all day.”
    “Seems likely. The guy must have hiked in and out, sticking to all the granite outcroppings and ridges to avoid leaving prints. And judging by how good he was at that, and how twisty and difficult his path must have been, our guess is he’s determined and disciplined as hell and he knows his way around these parts.”
    “This area specifically?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Then he probably isn’t the killer we’ve been tracking.”
    “Unless you find something that more strongly ties the bodies here to those we’ve been following, our guess is not. The one thing our killer’s previous dump sites have in common is that they were handy to roads. The two vics today, not so much. But that isn’t really good news. Given the distance between his position and the second dump site, this guy today is a pro sniper, and I mean a well-trained and well-equipped one. Probably military at some point, maybe recently. And soldiers with his type of skills tend not to stop the work just because they take off the uniform.”
    “A private contractor.”
    “The war created a lot of them. And with the current lousy economy, legit jobs are getting harder to come by.”
    “Paid assassin?”
    “That’s our take. DeMarco is a better person to ask about that sort of thing, but it makes sense given the skill necessary to even attempt that shot today. If we’re right, Hollis may have a price on her head. It’s the simplest explanation. Thing is—”
    “The simplest explanation,” Miranda finished, “is seldom the right one in our world. For one thing, why single out Hollis? She’s taken the brunt of things more often than any other agent, but not usually because she was on the offensive. She’s stayed out of the spotlight. She’s made enemies the unit has made, but not on her own behalf. She’s never been a primary agent on any investigation, not so far, and we haven’t sent her in undercover. Under wraps for all the good that did, but not undercover.”
    “There’s that. All that. What we can’t get past is that he watched all day. Hollis was visible a lot of that time, close to motionless long enough and often enough to give him a clear shot—if that was his only goal, his only reason for waiting out there all day. But he did wait. Until late in the day and after the second victim was found. Almost as if that was what he was waiting for.”
    “Maybe hoping we wouldn’t find that victim. Or maybe what Diana suggested. Mind games.”
    “Could be. Especially if he recognized any of you as belonging to the SCU.” There was a pause, and then, wryly, “It’s getting a bit like the Old West these days, only in your case the hotshot young gunslinger riding into town to challenge the famous veteran is a twisted serial killer eager to pit his smarts and skills up against the SCU.”
    “I really hope that isn’t the case.”
    “Yeah.”
    Miranda was silent for long minutes, her gaze roaming absently up and down the quiet, peaceful scene of Main Street, Small Town, USA. Finally she said, “If Hollis was the target,