Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents 8)

A graveyard? Maybe. He’d be finding out soon.

“I got away.” Her voice was a thin whisper. “Maybe some of them did, too. If there’s another survivor, if we can find her, then we can figure out how the senator fits into all of this.”

Provided Mercer didn’t yank them off the case. Because Noelle had been right about the EOD not handling missing-persons cases, and with a potential serial killer involved— Hell, no, this wasn’t business as usual for them.

Thomas was used to facing terrorists, arms dealers, but this... This was beyond his realm.

But it was exactly where Noelle thrived.

She’d turned back to study the photographs. “He used a Polaroid so that he wouldn’t have to develop his film.” Her fingers hovered over the image of herself. “Technology wasn’t so advanced back then, he couldn’t just snap a picture with his phone, and he wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know what he was doing.”

“It’s possible that all of those images are from at least fifteen years ago.”

She nodded. “But a killer like that, he wouldn’t just...stop.” Softer, she added, “He couldn’t. The compulsion to kill would be too strong.”

This whole situation wasn’t making sense to Thomas. “The guy was a senator. You don’t get much more of a high profile. He had guards, reporters, hell, nearly everyone dogging his steps. Wouldn’t someone have noticed if the guy was abducting girls?”

The image of Lawrence Duncan as a serial killer just wasn’t fitting for him.

“He was a hunter.” Noelle was still looking at the snapshots. “Maybe he just found something that he real

ly enjoyed hunting. Something...or someone.”

Thomas stiffened at her words as memories flooded through his mind. A forest. Darkness. A girl’s scream.

Damn it, he had to tell her. Mercer could fire him; Thomas didn’t care. The photographs changed everything. We always thought it was just her.

But it was now obvious Noelle hadn’t been the only victim.

“There’s something you need to know,” Thomas told her, aware his voice had come out a bit rough.

She didn’t glance his way.

“Noelle, look at me.”

Her body turned. Her gaze found his.

“You were right,” he said. He didn’t know how she was going to react, and in that moment, fear crouched beneath his skin. “We met before you came to work at the EOD.”

She stepped toward him as her brows rose. “When?”

“Years ago.” He exhaled once more. “It wasn’t for long, just an hour, maybe two.” Two hours that changed his life and hers.

“Thomas?”

“The first time I saw you...you were running, in the woods...”

Surprise flashed over face. “What are you talking about?”

“You screamed for me to help you.”

Her body trembled. The little bit of color in her face drained away. He lunged toward her, worried she might be about to pass out. He grabbed her, holding her tightly. “Noelle?”

Her hands twisted so that she was holding him, too. “Why are you saying this? Why are you—?”

The door behind Thomas flew open and crashed into the wall. “I need you two!” Sheriff Hodges yelled. “In the bull pen, now!”

That man had the worst timing in the world. Thomas threw a glare over his shoulder, and he didn’t care if the sheriff saw him basically embracing Noelle right then. “We’re busy. It’s just gonna have to wait—”