Game of Fear (Montgomery Justice #3)(85)

Whitney double-checked her file. “That’s what it says. They could be lying. A lot of shell corporations do.” She looked back at Deb. “God, I’m sorry. I may have given you hope for nothing.”

Deb could barely breathe. Disappointment smothered her like wet wool. Her throat closed off. She couldn’t speak. She just gave Whitney a nod, pressing her lips together. She couldn’t say it was okay, because it wasn’t. If Ashley wasn’t in Winslow, where was she?

“Don’t give up yet,” Zach said. “I’m pulling the exact coordinates. Maybe it’s underground. Let’s see what we can find.”

Gabe made a U-turn. Deb rolled down the window. The cold air blew into the car, but she had a clearer view. It did nothing to quell the growing fear that this was a wasted trip.

“Less than a tenth of a mile,” Zach said.

Deb squinted, finally spotting something dark and square on the ground, far in the distance. “Stop,” she shouted. “There’s a concrete slab or something man-made out there.”

Gabe slammed on the brakes, backed up a few feet, and pulled off onto a barely visible dirt road, driving up within ten feet of the desolate site.

They piled out of the car.

A huge, cleared area lay before them. The concrete—charred, pitted, and cracked—was slowly being reclaimed by the desert. There had been a warehouse here all right. They strode over to the remains of the manufacturing site.

Gabe knelt down. “Fire decimated whatever was here, and it burned hot.”

“Military grade,” Deb said. “I’ve seen it before in Afghanistan.” The truth that Ashley wasn’t here pierced Deb’s heart. She bent over, her hands propped on her quaking knees. “God, Ashley.”

Gabe tucked his arm around her. At least he didn’t say anything. God, where did they go from here?

“Oh man,” Whitney whispered from the center of the slab. She crouched down.

Deb stood up. She and Gabe started toward Whitney.

“Don’t move,” she said, her face grim. “We’re on a crime scene.”

Deb looked down at the ashes.

A small whitish bone poked out. Deb stumbled back, her body quaking. She shook her head. “It can’t be.” She fell against Gabe. “Ashley!”




The park down the road from the sheriff’s office was deserted. Tower slammed his door closed and stalked to the waiting man near a Rolls-Royce SUV.

“Sheriff Tower, so glad you could make it.” Jeff Gasmerati smiled, his expression much too friendly.

“We agreed not to meet again until Luke Montgomery ended his investigation. Or he was eliminated.”

Gasmerati pulled off his leather gloves. “Your job was to divert Montgomery’s attention, Sheriff. You have failed. Rather spectacularly, I might add.”

Tower stiffened. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to retire. You’ve gone soft. The eager sniper who took out that girl in the bus terminal eight years ago is dead. You don’t see the betrayal of those around you. Even in your own command. You’ve outgrown your usefulness.”

A chill emanated from Tower’s core and spread to his limbs. His hand eased closer to his weapon. “I can retire, if that’s what you think needs to happen. I can even disappear if you want.”

“Oh, you’ll most definitely be going away.” The crack of a single gunshot split the air.

Sheriff Tower fell back, blood pouring from the wound to his chest.

“Guess he forgot about the last sheriff’s retirement plan,” Jeff said to Sly. “Dump the body in Montgomery’s parking lot. That should give the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI something else to stew about. It’s time to clean house.”




Gabe paced beside the rental car while Whitney contacted the Phoenix field office. His half sister was something pretty special. Tough, smart. Hell if he didn’t like her. Zach seemed to, as well. But how would their brothers react to her existence? Or his mother?

At least he and Zach had seen her in action and her professionalism warranted respect.

He walked over to Deb and put his arms around her. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head, but didn’t speak, just burrowed in closer to his chest. He enveloped her protectively. “I thought she was dead. I thought those bones . . .” Deb’s voice trailed off.

“Whitney’s sure they’re at least five years old, maybe ten.” Gabe rubbed her back. He had to stop getting caught up in his own drama and remember what Deb was going through. She was so strong that it was sometimes easy to forget she needed him—even if she didn’t admit it. They’d all hoped to find Ashley here, or at least a lead. No one had expected bone fragments.

Whitney walked over to the two of them. “The Phoenix office is bringing a forensics team out. We’ll figure out what happened.”

“Can you tell how many?” Deb asked, her voice thin.

Whitney shook her head. “I’m not a forensics expert and the bone shards are small. But . . . too many. There were a lot of people killed there. The fact that a massacre happened in secret and no one knew . . .” Whitney didn’t finish the sentence.

Gabe tightened his hold on Deb.

“We’re nowhere closer to finding Ashley, are we?” she said, despair dripping from every word. Deb straightened. “There has to be some kind of lead out of this.”