Prologue
Aspen Grove, Louan, Montana
Tuesday
“You. Get out here. Now!”
Startled, Sophie Wood dropped her phone and gaped at the man holding a gun to her father’s head. She shot up from the bed, alarmed by her father’s bruised face and red eyes. “Daddy what’s happening?”
“Do what the man says, Sophie.” He didn’t meet her gaze and his hands shook.
“Yeah, do what the nice man says, Sophie.” Dark brown eyes peered through the skull-like holes of a balaclava. The man dressed in black slid his attention to her little sister. “You too. Go down to the kitchen and wait with your mom. Better run before I spray the wall with Daddy’s brains.”
Sophie’s heart raced in terror but one look at Jody’s wide eyes and trembling bottom lip gave her courage. She needed to protect her sister. Taking a firm hold of Jody’s hand, she hurried into the hallway. The man shoved her dad and they followed close behind but her dad was stumbling as if deliberately slowing him down. Maybe he wanted to give them time to escape? She scanned the family room as they descended the stairs, but the closed front door had the deadbolts in place. How had the man gotten inside the house? Her dad was so careful about locking up at night. Beside her Jody sobbed out a wail and broke away from her. The little girl ran ahead and then stopped dead at the kitchen door.
“Mommy?” Jody took a step back and looked up at Sophie, her eyes wet with tears. “Is Mommy okay?”
Fear gripped her stomach as she peered around the door. Sitting at the table tied to a chair, her mother didn’t respond to Jody’s cries. Her head hung on her chest and a constant stream of blood dripped from her nose to her ripped dress. Heart thumping like a big bass drum, Sophie swallowed hard and then towing Jody behind her, ran for the backdoor. Frantically, she fumbled with the lock but then the man’s voice came from behind her. He was calm and in control and gave orders with no emotion as if he was ordering takeout.
“I’ll shoot your daddy and then your mama if you don’t come and sit down. I’m leaving as soon as y’all behave yourselves.” The man thrust her father into a chair and aimed at the back of his head. “I won’t stay to keep you company but I’d like to.” He pressed the muzzle of the gun hard into her father’s head. “Ain’t that right, Daddy?”
“You have what you came for, now leave us alone.” Her father’s eyes flashed with anger. “If you touch my girls, I’ll—”
As if in slow motion, Sophie stared as the man raised the weapon and brought it down in a sickening crack across the back of her father’s skull. Finding it hard to breathe, she pushed Jody behind her. “Leave him alone.”
“Or you’ll do what? There isn’t a darn thing you can do, princess. Best you do as you’re told.” The man used the gun to beckon her. “Come here and tie your daddy to the chair. Use the zip- ties your mama kindly supplied for me.” He waited for her to comply. “Good, now do the same to your sister.” He leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest but he still had a hold of the gun. “That was easy and see, no one got hurt.”
Sophie stared at him trying to remember everything about him, how tall, his build and eye color. She kept running the description through her mind to tell the sheriff. White, as tall as Daddy, strong, brown eyes. She started when he banged on the table and lifted her gaze to him. “What else do you want me to do?”
“Set the table.” He aimed the pistol at her. “Do it nice like when someone is coming to dinner.”
Sophie cast her eyes over her unconscious parents and then glanced at her sister, who sobbed gently. She eyed the carving knives and wanted to grab one but then he’d shoot her father. In silence, she collected plates and set the table. She rested a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Hush now, Jody, it will be okay. He’ll be going soon.”
“She’s telling you the truth. I’m leaving.” The man bent close to Sophie and sniffed her. “You smell all fresh from the shower. Now turn around and I’ll tie your hands.” He thrust the pistol into the waistband of his jeans, pushed her hard against the wall, and dragged her arms behind her.
She struggled against him. “No!”
“Do you want me to hurt you?” His breath brushed her cheek. “Was that a ‘yes’?”
Pain seared into her back just below the ribs taking her breath away. White spots danced before her eyes from the shock of the blow, her knees buckled and she gasped in air. “Don’t hit me. I won’t fight you.”
“Good.” He tied her ankles together and then covered her mouth with duct tape. “Sit there and don’t move.” He went to the backdoor and returned with a bag and a can of gas.
Too scared to breathe, she watched him as he shoved the bag into the family room, opened the gas can, sniffed it, and then placed it on the floor and kicked it over. Fumes filled the room as the gas ran over the tiles. She stared at her sister’s crumpled face, wanting to tell her it was okay. She’d do whatever he wanted and he’d leave them alone.
“Stand up.” He grabbed her arm. “Be good and I’ll walk out of here.”
In one swift movement, he had her over his shoulder. Air rushed out of her nose as his bones pressed into her stomach. She wriggled to no avail. He had her in a vice-like grip. Where is he taking me? Her stomach ached and she tried to scream as he ran outside but couldn’t suck in enough air. The next moment he’d dumped her face down on the dusty back seat of a car. The vehicle sagged as he climbed in and the next moment they sped away. She could hear him counting as they bounced along the uneven dirt road.
Terror rushed over her and with her face pressed into the smelly fabric of the back seat, she fought against the zip-ties binding her hand and foot. Tears streamed down her face but she had to stay calm. The tape covering her mouth made it difficult to breathe and if her nose blocked, she’d suffocate. As the car sped into the night, she pushed onto her knees and peered at the house getting smaller by the second. An almighty explosion ripped through the night and a mushroom of orange flames engulfed her home. Behind the gag, she screamed in horror. He’d killed them all.
One
Black Rock Falls
Wednesday
Deputy Dave Kane stared out the windshield of his truck to watch the vehicles go by on Stanton Road, and wondered how he’d become a traffic cop. His previous employment as a bodyguard to POTUS had ended after he’d been involved in a terrorist’s car bomb attack resulting in the death of his wife, Annie. He’d had a good career in special forces. As a sniper and one-man killing machine, he’d been perfect to protect POTUS but to guard him from terrorists, intent on revenge, the powers that be informed the world he’d died and even buried an empty coffin beside his wife. He’d arrived in Black Rock Falls with a metal plate in his head, a new face and identity, and with the position of Deputy to Sheriff Jenna Alton, an ex-DEA Agent with a secret past. That was some years ago now and he had to admit, he usually enjoyed his work. The murders in Black Rock Falls since his arrival had been horrendous but they’d caught all the perpetrators. However, the last action he’d seen had been before Christmas and now it was June. Tourists had started to flock to the many attractions in the county and everyone was behaving themselves. It seemed the mountains had given a huge sigh of relief as the warm rush of summer had arrived without a psychopath in sight.