Shadow Dragon by Lance Horton Read Free Book Online Page B

and she slumped against him, sobbing. He held her gently, waiting until she cried herself out.
    Finally, with tears streaking her face and her eyes red-rimmed and puffy, she leaned back and looked at him. “What am I to do now?”
    Not knowing what else to say to her, Kyle said, “We’ll find out who did this. I promise you.” It was the best he could do.
    They had yet to locate Larry Henderson, and determining his whereabouts, whether dead or alive, was currently their top priority. It had been almost two weeks since the murders, and more and more, it was beginning to appear that either Henderson had killed the other men and then disappeared, or else he was also dead. The border patrol had been provided with photographs and descriptions of Henderson. With the cooperation of the media outlets, his photo had been printed in the newspapers and broadcast on the evening news in virtually every city in the Pacific Northwest. He had also been featured on the FBI’s “missing persons” website.
    The report from the behavioral profiling team in Quantico—while not ruling out that the murders could have been committed by an individual staying with the men—had suggested that the crime had most likely been committed by a small group of people. The serial killer theory didn’t fit the pattern, because almost all serial killers acted alone and their victims were predominately female. Also, it seemed unlikely that a single individual could have overpowered four grown men—at least one of which had been armed.
    All indications were that the attack had come swiftly, in a militaristic strike, perhaps by a paramilitary group like the Montana Freemen or other domestic terrorists. Marasco, with the assistance of the sheriff’s office, was in the process of investigating those organizations that fit the profile, but so far, he had not managed to come up with anything substantial.
    After he promised to keep her informed of the status of the case, Kyle returned to the car as more of the cold rain fell on him.
    Looking in the rearview mirror, he used his hand to brush the water from his hair. He then took out his cell phone and hit the speed dial number for Angela. He got her voice mail. “Hey, Angela, just called to see how things are going. Give me a call when you get a chance. I could use the sound of a friendly voice.”
    Kyle sighed as he hung up. It had been at least a week since they had talked, and then only briefly. With both of them having such hectic schedules, they kept missing each other. Fortunately, Angela was in the last year of her residency. Once she finished, the plan was for her to move to Seattle, but Kyle had sensed something different about her lately. She had seemed more distant and aloof when they had talked, as if she was having second thoughts.
    He flipped down the visor and looked at the picture of Angela he kept there. He had taken it on a catamaran trip from Cancun to Cozumel. Her head was tilted back as she laughed, her golden hair shimmering in the sunlight. Even though he wasn’t an experienced sailor—he had never owned anything over twelve feet long—it was still a dream of his to buy a sailboat someday and to move to the southern coast of California or maybe Florida. At times like this, he would look at that picture and imagine himself and Angela on the deck of his boat, basking in the warmth of the midday sun while Jimmy Buffett played in the background.
    After he started up the car, he turned on the heater and sat there while the drizzle trickled down the windshield.
     

CHAPTER 10
    Denver
    “To Brandi!” someone called out, and everyone at the table lifted their glasses for at least the third time in the last hour. Carrie joined them in the toast, careful not to spill any of her green apple martini. There were eight or ten people from the office around the table, all gathered to give Brandi Utley a fond farewell—but mostly to take advantage of the boss’s open tab. They were in a trendy,