Born to Die Read online

He frowned as he let his feet drop to the floor. “Shouldn’t you be getting—?”

  “Just get in here, please.”

  The co-eds seemed to shrink at Boyce’s added presence, which, for Aaron, wasn’t a good thing. Boyce studied them a moment, then tucked himself in a corner of the office, and beckoned for Cassy to continue.

  Getting into a more comfortable position in her chair, Cassy crossed her legs. “Let’s hear it.”

  Faith regained her tough-girl composure and blurted, “If you’re still trying to figure out who killed her family, I wouldn’t put it past Kendra.”

  “Why’s that?” Cassy asked.

  With another glance at Aaron, who seemed content to let her run the show, Faith plowed forward. “Kendra was, pardon my French, a bitch to her family. She treated them like she was a princess and they were her slaves. Didn’t help when her parents spoiled her.”

  “How long were you friends with her?”

  “For about seven years. The start of our senior year I got sick of her crap and dropped her. ’Course, the way she told it, she dumped me.”

  “Aaron, when did you date Kendra and for how long?” Cassy asked.

  He raised his head and blinked at her a brief moment before answering. “A few months when we were juniors.”

  “How did she treat you?”

  He resumed his tiddlywinks game. “At first, like I was her playboy. Then she started getting real bitchy. Told me what to do, where to go, what to buy her. If I didn’t listen, she’d … scream at me.” His hands stilled, and he clasped them together. The knuckles turned white. “Kendra punched me in the jaw and kicked me in the nuts coupl’a times.”

  Shock pulsated through Cassy’s body at his admission. While she wasn’t blind to the fact that women did abuse men, hearing about it firsthand was unsettling. “Did you tell anyone?”

  “No.” Aaron swallowed. “She broke up with me not long after.”

  “Have you dated anyone since?”

  He shook his head and slumped further on the couch. Faith reached over, took a hand in hers, and didn’t let go.

  “Faith, did she ever hit or attack you?”

  Faith shook her head. “If she had, I would’ve laid her flat. I grew up on a farm, wrangling thousand-pound steers and bucking hay bales.”

  “What gave you the idea Kendra was capable of killing her family?”

  “Like I said, she was a bitch to them. Over the summer, I heard her dad finally got a pair and kicked her out of the house.”

  Boyce squeezed Cassy’s shoulder. He was thinking the same thing she was: That was the same time frame Jolie said Ian told her about his new plan in life. Had Kendra and Ian hooked up? If Kendra was looking for someone to cater to her whims, Ian was in a prime emotional state to be sucked into her web.

  “Are either of you familiar with Ian Murdoch?”

  Aaron’s shell dropped a fraction. “He was in our class. He didn’t run in the same groups as we did.”

  “He wasn’t popular?”

  “Ian was a gamer. You know what that is?” Faith asked.

  “I’m familiar with it.”

  “He kept to himself and his small group of friends. I think the only thing he did in high school was compete with the trap team. Heard he was a good shooter.”

  Cassy’s stomach curdled. Ian was a known hunter and shotgun user. If he taught Kendra how to shoot ... they could very well be their duo murderers. But would he go so far as to kill his sister, his one and only supporter? Scaring off Cassy and Jolie seemed more likely than running them into the river. Unless he wasn’t the driver.

  “Was either one of them capable of forcing someone off the road with a vehicle?”

  Faith and Aaron seemed to think hard on that and shook their heads.

  “I have no idea,” Faith said. “Maybe Ian learned how to do it from his games.”

  A knock on the door stirred the occupants in the room to life, and Jennings stuck his head in.

  “Sheriff, we’ve got a situation.” Jennings gave a pointed look at the co-eds then jerked his head to indicate outside the office.

  Hamilton excused himself and stepped outside.

  Cassy pushed out of the chair, her blood slowing through her veins at the hushed and serious tone coming from the other side of the door. “Get these kids out of here,” she said to Boyce as Hamilton veered back inside.

  “Rivers, load up. Hunt, escort these two out as she asked.”

  She pounded out of the office, hot on Hamilton’s trail. “What is it?”

  He paused. “Nash found an abandoned vehicle that belongs to Kendra Clyde. It matches the SUV spotted fleeing the bank robbery.”

  “That doesn’t explain the fire drill.”

  “He called in shots fired.”

  “Where?”

  “Murdochs’.”

  • • •

  They found the Murdochs’ house silent.

  Nash had remained with the abandoned vehicle until it could be towed, in case the person responsible for it returned. An Eider squad car was sent over to assist; no one wanted a repeat of what happened to Officer Wallis.

  “How do you want to proceed?” Cassy asked Hamilton as they hunkered down behind their cars, which they’d used to make a perimeter around the house.

  He signaled Jennings. “Call the house.”

  While she waited, Cassy adjusted the shotgun she carried. The weight was unfamiliar, and for the hundredth time, she cursed whoever had ran her truck off the road and into the river. She’d lost more than just her nice vehicle; she’d lost a damn good shotgun and pistol. The one consolation was the fact that the items were weighted and still inside the cab—and hopefully would stay there until the department was able to pull the truck from the river. The weapons couldn’t end up in the wrong hands.

  “No one is answering,” Jennings said.

  “Shit,” Hamilton spit.

  “It doesn’t mean what you think it means,” Cassy reminded him.

  “Rivers, you don’t know that.”

  “And you don’t know they’re dead.”

  The crack of wood against wood made everyone jerk into defensive stances. Cassy peered over the hood of the sheriff’s car, and her heart felt like it’d stopped beating.

  Craned sideways to accommodate her injuries, Jolie waved at them. “They’re gone.” She beckoned them frantically. “Hurry up, I think Dad’s having a heart attack.”

  Barking orders for Jennings to lead three of the Eider officers to the back of the house, Hamilton directed another officer to bring the ambulance closer to the house and motioned for Cassy to follow him. Together, she and her boss blew past Jolie and ran to the kitchen, where Eli Murdoch was lying on the floor.

  “Eli, can you hear me?” Hamilton grabbed the older man’s shoulders.

  Eli’s eyes popped open, and he gasped. “God, it hurts.”

  Ginny hovered over her husband. “Ginny, what happened?”

  The woman’s gaze flew to Cassy, wild fear in her eyes. There were tiny flecks of blood on Ginny’s cheek and neck. Reaching out, Cassy grabbed Ginny’s shoulder and squeezed.

  “Are you hurt?”

  She wagged her head.

  “Where’d the blood come from?”

  “I winged one of them,” Jolie said.

  Hamilton’s head jerked. “You injured one of the shooters?”

  “After they hit Dad in the stomach with a gun stock.”

  Cassy moved around the two men and gripped Jolie’s shoulder. “Do you know who they were?”

  Jolie’s features hardened as she stared at Cassy.

  Giving the younger woman a hard shake, Cassy leaned into her face. “Did you recognize them?”

  With an audible gulp, Jolie nodded. “They wore stuff to conceal their faces, but Ian spoke. I don’t know the one I shot.”

  “Alert the troops, Rivers,” Hamilton ordered.

  She cued up the radio. “All units, be on the lookout for Ian Murdoch and an injured, unknown
suspect. They are considered armed and dangerous, over.”

  “Ten-four,” came the reply from several people.

  Eli twined his arm with Hamilton’s and dragged the sheriff down. “Don’t kill my son,” he gasped between pants.

  “We’ll do what we can.”

  Cassy knew it was the best answer the sheriff could give a man having a heart attack after watching his son try to kill him.

  • • •

  The marshals arrived almost the second after the McIntire Sheriff’s Department pulled out. Boyce aided Liza in the transfer, then insisted she take him to the Murdochs’.

  “What am I supposed to tell Cedar Rapids when they find out you were helping while officially on vacation?” She sped down the paved road, comfortably familiar with the town’s layout now.

  “Let me handle them if they insist on knowing.”

  She parked behind the row of Eider squad cars. “There better not be any more bodies up there,” Liza said under her breath.

  “We won’t know until we get there.”

  An ambulance was backed up to the house, the bus’s doors left wide open. Boyce spotted Nash and Jennings encircled by a group of police officers off to the side of the porch. He and Liza were about to mount the steps when the paramedics clattered onto the porch guiding a gurney with Eli Murdoch strapped on. Ginny Murdoch trailed them, wringing her hands.

  Boyce and Liza stepped aside so the medics could lower Eli down the steps and into the bus. A familiar figure in the doorway caught Boyce’s attention.

  Wearing winter camo-print clothing, with a shotgun slung across her back, Cassy met his gaze. She frowned then turned as Hamilton joined her.

  “What happened here, Sheriff?” Liza asked.

  Behind them, the ambulance doors clapped shut.

  “Ian Murdoch and an unidentified assailant made an attempt to kill the Murdoch family. Dispatcher Murdoch managed to wound the unknown suspect before they could succeed. It seems her quick thinking scared them off. But Eli Murdoch is suffering a heart attack.”

  With the sirens going, the ambulance pulled away.

  Boyce mounted the steps. “Any thoughts on who the injured assailant is?”

  “We suspect it’s Kendra Clyde.”

  “What’s your next course of action?” Liza asked.

  “Corralling them. Their escape vehicle is being towed to the impound as we speak. We’re heading out to track them. Deputy Jennings found some blood spatters crossing the pasture.” The sheriff left Cassy standing in the doorway and stomped down the steps toward his deputies, Liza trailing him.

  Cassy grabbed Boyce’s arm. “Don’t even think about coming out with us. You’re not dressed for it, and officially, you can’t be involved.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it.” He cupped her cheek. “Are you sure you’re up to this? If they headed into the timber out there … ”

  “I’ll be fine. I’ve done it three times now.”

  “They’re going to be like wounded animals, more dangerous than before.” Boyce fought back the urge to drag her into his arms. “Watch yourself.”

  She gave him a weak smile. “I’ve got backup this time.”

  “That doesn’t reassure me. If your sister went out there with you, I’d feel a lot better.”

  Cassy rocked up on her toes and kissed him hard. “I’m a Rivers. Never forget that.” With one last peck, she left him on the porch and headed over to her fellow law enforcement officers.

  He loved her, and he was damn well scared she might be killed without ever knowing his heart. Yet, here on the porch he stayed, keeping his thoughts to himself, because to spring the revelation on her now would be detrimental. She had to stay focused and alert. Carrying his admission of love into those woods meant she’d be torn, unaware of what could be going on around her. This was Cassy, who had a hard time shutting down her emotional side to use her logical side.

  He sank into a crouch, watching as the group tromped off into the snowy field. For the first time in his life, he prayed, hard, that she walked back out of those woods alive. Because if she didn’t, God only knew what Boyce would do to himself.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Cassy and crew converged on the place where Jennings found the blood trail. Out here the cattle had trampled the snow, leaving no discernible trail. Further out, the snow had drifted into piles in places and left the ground exposed. Everyone circled up.

  “Here’s where we split up, people,” Hamilton said. “Murdoch’s confirmed Ian is one of the shooters. We also believe Kendra Clyde is with him and is considered to be the more dangerous of the two. The unknown suspect is the wounded one; we don’t know how badly, but it’s going to slow them down. Remember there are dead spots out here, so no cell-phone activity. Jennings thinks the radios should continue to work, but just in case, you’ve all got walkie-talkies. Pair up, and let’s move.”

  Cassy chanced one last look back at where she’d left Boyce. She couldn’t see him but sensed his gaze on her. Hamilton’s words stayed with her.

  Did she love Boyce?

  Shaking her head, she pushed all thoughts of him aside. She had to focus on the task at hand, and that was capturing Ian and Kendra.

  Cassy paired up with Jennings on this trek, and together they hoofed it south, out of the cattle pasture and straight into the timber that bordered the fence. She stared at the tops of the bare trees as she entered their domain. The trepidation she’d felt the first time she’d walked into a wooded area wasn’t spiraling through her now, but in the back of her mind she couldn’t stop the memory of that cabin in the middle of nowhere.

  “You doing good, Rivers?” Jennings asked.

  “I’m fine. Why are you asking?”

  “Just checking is all.” He veered to the right to inspect the ground and underbrush.

  Scowling at his back, she did the same to the left. “Isn’t there a creek that cuts through their property back here?”

  “I thought so, but I’m not sure how far out it is and what direction it moves through the area. The others might run into it before we do.”

  They moved along, methodically searching the ground for signs that Ian and Kendra had come this way. All the officers who had come out here for the sweep were in agreement to stay in a straight line and push forward. Even if they couldn’t see each other through the trees, they had a general idea of where everyone was, and each officer was tagged with bright orange identification bands around the arms. It might give them away to the fleeing suspects, but it also kept them from friendly-fire accidents.

  Jennings’s arm shot out, and he slapped his hand into Cassy’s chest. She halted as he pointed at a tree. They crept up to inspect.

  “Blood,” Jennings whispered.

  More like a bloody smear. Kendra? The injured one of the pair had come this way.

  “Call it in,” Cassy said. “Make sure you tell them it’s still uncertain whether our suspects came this way.” She pressed on, listening to Jennings announce their finding to the other officers.

  What they needed was a K-9 tracker out here, but there had been no time to wait for the dog and handler. She was seriously considering becoming one after this.

  She shifted her direction more southerly and then halted to scan the area around her.

  Jennings joined her. “What is it?”

  A hum of anticipation buzzed through Cassy’s senses. Was it possible? She pointed in the direction she wanted to go. He nodded, and they pressed on. About a hundred yards farther, they took a knee at a footprint in the snow.

  “I’ll be damned,” he said.

  “Do you think after they found out we took away their escape vehicle, they split up and planned on meeting somewhere?”

  His features turned pensive. “It’s what I would do. But is the injured one Kendra Clyde?”

  “From what her former friend and ex-boyfriend said, I’m seriously thinking it is her and she’s the one behind all of this.” Cassy stood. “Ian won’t leave her. H
e might agree to splitting up to divide the trail, but he’d meet up with her.”

  Rising, Jennings looked back the way they’d come. “It’s possible one of the other groups could catch up with Ian.”

  “Possible.” But in her gut, Cassy knew the two were getting back together. And it was somewhere up ahead. “Come on.”

  Blood saturated a large spot in a mound of snow 150 yards later. Judging from the size of the imprint, the injured party had fallen here.

  “I think the wound is more serious than they thought.”

  “If it’s an artery they don’t have much time,” Jennings replied.

  Which meant their suspect could be running out of energy and might give up trying to escape.

  “Hear that?” Jennings asked.

  Cassy stilled, tuning in to the environment of the woods. Her senses prickled. It was too quiet. She lifted her shotgun into both hands and straightened out of her crouched position. Tapping his shoulder, she pointed for Jennings to go right while she went left.

  She hadn’t gone more than five steps when a blast shattered the silence. Jennings hollered, going down. Cassy ducked behind a fat tree just as another shot peppered the trunk. Pressing her back to the tree, she looked for Jennings. He was pulling himself along the ground to another tree; a bloody smear in the snow followed him and the leg he was dragging. Cassy banged the back of her head into the bark and hauled in a breath.

  Another shot echoed through the trees, but it sounded farther away. The two suspects were on the move.

  “Jennings?”

  He grunted, collapsing behind the tree, and lay there panting.

  Adrenaline pumping wildly through her veins, Cassy yanked her walkie-talkie from her belt. “Officer down. Damn it! Officer down!”

  “Where are you?”

  “Seven hundred yards from the tree line, straight south.”

  “We’re coming.”

  Swallowing, she rammed the radio back on her belt then hunkered down.

  “Rivers, don’t,” Jennings croaked when he guessed her intention.

  “Shut the hell up, Jennings.” She swung her body around the tree and raced to him. No shots followed. She slowed and dropped to her knees, sliding a few inches across the snow and stopping next to him.