Chapter 3

3

Special Agent Fallon Baxter

I t's a little after three in the afternoon as Jack, Buddy, and I pull into the parking lot of the FBI field office in Denver.

Summer is giving way to fall and the Colorado air feels crisp, as if it, too, were bracing itself for the day's events.

Nikki beat us to the lot by minutes. The three of us were enjoying a pizza on my back porch when Hale sent the text. Special Agent Jack Stone and Special Agent Nikki Knight are the shiny new coworkers I acquired when I moved back to Colorado from Nevada.

I was born and raised in Pine Ridge Falls, a cozy little town with a waterfall in the heart of it that's about a twenty-minute drive from Denver. But when my family blew apart and my younger sister, Erin, decided to do a disappearing act in the aftermath, I thought I'd ditch my job as a criminal analyst for a security firm and head to Quantico. I did a two-year stint at the field office in Reno before asking to be transferred to Denver.

The urge to be closer to my mother and my older sister, Riley, was too strong to fight. And I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad I joined this very field office because earlier today Jack and Nikki gave me a new direction in which to look for my sister and the name of someone she was seen with as well.

"Come on, Buddy." Jack whistles and the yellow lab trots out of his truck, joining us as we catch up with Nikki on the steps to the building. All in all, Buddy is pretty great and was worth the trip back to Colorado all on his own.

Buddy is my newly acquired dog. We're still feeling out our boundaries, but for the most part, I give him the run of my cabin and bring him along with me wherever I can. We might be breeding a codependent relationship at this point, but neither of us is complaining.

And on the professional front—Jack, Nikki, and I aren't complaining about our relationships either. We're on the same team and we've already put two cases to bed.

Jack and Nikki are pretty great, too.

Jack Stone is somewhere in his late thirties, tall with dark hair, dark facial scruff, bright blue eyes, a muscular frame, and he seems considerate enough as well.

He checks off all the right boxes where the women are concerned, and as much as I don't like to admit it, he's had my ovaries sit up at attention one too many times.

I'm starting to feel things, things I don't want to feel about anyone right now, and I don't care much for that.

My sole focus is on hunting down my sister so I can slap her a good one, and then maybe hug her before I haul her back to Pine Ridge Falls. I realize she's an adult, just a year younger than me, late twenties, and miles smarter according to her IQ, but I don't care about any of that. I don't care that it's perfectly legal for her to be a nomad for the rest of her life, or to cut her family out of her everyday existence.

We're worried sick. This isn't like Erin. It was as if after my father died, she died along with him.

That violent night filled with bullets and bloodshed comes to mind and I quickly push it right back out.

"Give him to me," Nikki says, taking the leash from Jack. "We all know Buddy should have been mine," she teases as we head into the building and flash our badges before clearing security.

Nikki Knight is a touch older than me if I had to guess, shorter by three inches, with pale skin that burns in the shade and crimson locks that she often wears piled haphazardly on top of her head.

She lives in yoga wear, eats an inhuman amount of pizza and donuts—mostly because Jack keeps plying us with it—and she can hack her way into the Kremlin with nothing more than a flick of her fingers.

Nikki worked in cybersecurity before she made her way to the FBI. And Jack was a detective before he took the federal plunge.

We make our way directly to the situation room, a stark, clinically white space dominated by a long, slender table surrounded by high-backed chairs. At the far end, our SAC, Special Agent in Charge, Grant Hale stands with his back to us, studying the large screens already lit up with a display of various data points and maps.

"You made it." He turns around with a frown. Hale is tall with a paunch belly and bald with a fair amount of gray stubble on his cheeks. He has a serious demeanor and a dry sense of humor and has been nothing but welcoming to me.

Buddy's nails click-clack on the tiled floor as he takes a seat along with us and he manages to garner a half-amused smile from Hale.

"Again with the dog, Baxter?" Hale tips his head as he repositions his laptop screen so he can better see it as he stands at the helm of the table. "Do we need to get him a badge at this point?"

"Might as well," Jack says, giving Buddy a quick pat on the head. "He's probably sniffed out more leads than half the rookies."

" Aww ," Nikki coos. "Just make sure his badge is as shiny as his coat."

"How about a weapon?" Jack teases.

"Please," I say as I pull out my laptop, as do Nikki and Jack, ready and set to take notes if need be. "I sleep with the guy. Believe me when I say, his body is already weaponized."

"That's because of what you're feeding him." Jack shakes his head at the thought. "You need to let me buy his food."

"Says the man who just fed him a slice of pizza," I counter.

"He likes pizza." Jack gives a little wink my way as he says it and my stomach cinches.

There go my hormones misfiring again and I do not approve one bit.

I turn to Hale. "How many dead, how many kidnapped?" The message he sent said two dead, one injured, one missing from the scene. "Any updates?"

"All right, let's get down to business," Hale begins as he shifts to a more serious demeanor. "We've got a complicated situation out at Sugar Pine Lake. Early this morning, local law enforcement received a distress call from a cabin—two dead, one injured, and one missing." He nods my way. "We're still keeping tabs, Baxter. Thank you for caring."

Jack shoots me a half-smile. And seeing that Jack Stone's smiles are very hard won, I consider it a win indeed.

"The cabin belongs to Damien and Lydia Cole." Hale points to the screen where a drone image of a secluded cabin surrounded by dense forest is displayed. "He's a known thriller writer, and his wife is a writer as well. Not sure what genre. No children between them. Word is, they were hosting another couple that was in the area for the Sugar Pine Thriller Fest which starts next week. Damien woke up this morning after sustaining some sort of head trauma. He found his friends dead and his wife missing. He also sustained a gunshot wound to his hand."

"Brutal," Nikki growls at the thought.

"Brutal indeed." Hale sighs. "The deceased are Cornwall and Cynthia Beck. Both are mystery writers as well. Their adult children were notified. All are out of state. As for our victims, I'm guessing all four have significant digital footprints we can delve into."

Jack grunts, "Any leads on the missing wife or the motive?"

Hale switches to another slide, which shows a photo of the scene and a list of initial findings.

"Not much to go on yet. The scene was chaotic with signs of a struggle but no clear forensic leads. The local sheriff's department has secured the area, and CSI and forensics are at the scene. The coroner's office is taking its time with this one, so my guess is the bodies will still be on site if we leave now. We're coordinating with the sheriff's department for a deep dive."

I glance over at Nikki, who's already busy jotting down notes.

"We need to look into their backgrounds, any recent threats or unusual interactions they've had," I say.

"Agree, and already going there," she says as her fingers click away at the keyboard.

"Exactly." Hale taps his keyboard lightly. "Baxter, Stone, I want you to get to Sugar Pine Lake. Start with talking to the neighbors and any family members you can reach. Nikki, dig into their digital footprints, see what the Coles and their guests have been up to these past few months. Whoever did this had a mission. You don't take a captive on a whim."

The briefing wraps up and we quickly gather our things.

Jack nods toward Buddy, who's already up on all fours with his tail wagging. "Think he's ready for field duty? Maybe he should lead the investigation?" he says as he picks up the leash.

"Only if he promises not to eat the evidence," I shoot back, giving Buddy a quick scratch behind the ears.

Nikki shakes her head. "Or maybe he should be in charge of interrogations. We don't have to tell anyone he's all bark, no bite."

"Very funny," Hale flatlines. "If that dog sniffs out the kidnapper before you do, I'm giving him your badges."

"Deal," Jack says. "But if he solves the case, I think he should get your office."

"Not with my view, he isn't." Hale lifts a brow. "I want reports from all of you within a few hours."

"I'll be up in forensics," Nikki says. "I'll have their digital footprints cracked and laid bare before you get back."

"I know you will," I say with a nod.

Jack and I speed our way out of the room with Buddy trotting alongside of us, proud to be the center of attention.

We head out into the harsh light of day, ready to tackle whatever waits for us.

And whatever waits for us is evil incarnate.