The Texas Ranger's Bride (Lone Star Lawmen 1)

“Sure. I’ll put it on her desk.”

“Thanks. See you later.”

Cy took off for his office upstairs. On the way down the hall, Vic saw him and called him into his office. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve got stuff to show you that will blow your mind. Look what the database brought up from the sketch you entered.”

Intrigued by Vic’s excitement, Cy grabbed a chair and sat next to him. “Thirty-two matches came up on the computer.”

“Is there one from Oregon?”

“No.”

“My first hunch was wrong, then,” Cy muttered. “How about Utah, Montana, New Mexico or Texas?”

“None of those states.”

Damn.

“Give me a second. I’m refining these for exact similarities.”

Cy watched the screen. They both made sounds when two faces came up. After studying them he exclaimed, “They’re the same person with different rap sheets. How in the hell did that happen?”

Dean Linton Michaels, aliases Dan Linton, Dan Michaels, Michael Linton, Mick Linton, Delinn Michael, twenty-eight, latest known address in Flossmoor, Illinois, is wanted for the murder of two women. The first account is for the stalking and strangulation of a twenty-four-year-old woman, Lucinda Rosen, in Chicago, Illinois. The second account a year later is for the stalking and strangulation of a nineteen-year-old woman, Mary Ferrera, in Memphis, Tennessee. Charges include Aggravated Kidnapping, Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution, Aggravated Sexual Assault. No. 10 on the FBI’s most wanted list.

Vic darted him a glance before he scrolled down. “Take a look at this rap sheet.”

Lines marred Cy’s features as he found himself looking at what appeared to be the exact same man. This one had longer hair.

Andrew Dunham, aliases Denny Andrew, Andy Dunham, Drew Denning, Donny, twenty-eight, latest known address in New Orleans, Louisiana, is wanted for First-Degree Murder in the stalking and strangulation death of a twenty-three-year-old woman in Charleston, South Carolina, thirteen months ago. Charges include Aggravated Kidnapping, Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution, Aggravated Sexual Assault.

Cy shook his head. “It’s amazing how closely these two men resemble the sketch. There has to be a mistake since both pictures have to be the same person. Three murders in three years. Kellie needs to see these pictures. If he’s the same man and the one she can identify... Let’s get on the phone to the agents working those cases while we figure this out.”

Over the next two hours they held phone conferences with the FBI agents from Illinois, Tennessee and South Carolina. In all three instances, the agents praised the Rangers for their detective work on Kellie’s case and pledged their help.

After Cy’s last call, he waited until Vic got off the phone. “I’ve sent both sets of fingerprints to Stan to verify if it’s the same man. They say every person has a double somewhere in the world.”

“I wonder if that’s really true,” Vic murmured.

“Who knows? I need to learn as much as I can before I show Kellie these photos. Even though the artist was able to find us a match, maybe he only bears a superficial resemblance to the man she saw.” He printed out both photos. After folding them, he put them in his pocket. “Want to go down to the lab with me?”

Vic jumped up. “Try to keep me away.”

When they entered the lab, Stan told them to come around to the table where he was working. They passed Rafe’s office. He looked up. “I’m working on this voice analysis. Give me until tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

They moved toward Stan.

“You got some good prints lifted from the condo and the car,” he said. “Several belong to the victim, and several others belong to the mother. One partial print you lifted from one of the buttons of the keypad for the garage doesn’t match anyone’s.”

Cy eyed Vic. “That’s interesting. Maybe we’ll find the person who left it. Right now we’ve got a new puzzle for you to solve. I just sent you the photos and fingerprints of two wanted fugitives who appear to be the same man from the IAFIS data base. But if they’re the same man, why didn’t the computer pick it up?”

“Let me see.” Stan pulled up the information on the computer.

“Their cases have been built from two different areas of the country with different names. Their photos closely match Jim’s sketch of the man stalking Kellie. How long will it take you to determine if both pictures are of the same man?”

“Give me a few minutes and I’ll check right now.” He put both sets of prints up on the screen and used his loupe and counter. He examined them for a while, and then his head came up. “Well, what do you know? Those men aren’t the same person. This is a case of identical twins, but as you know there’s no such thing as identical fingerprints.”

Cy sucked in his breath. “That means both brothers are killers.”