“He’s lawyered up, there’s nothing I can do but allow him to hire one.” Gribbins shook his head as we walked into a conference room and took a seat.

“We can allow him to make the phone call.”

“You know it’s better to call on their behalf. In case they try to reach out to someone.”

“My point exactly.” I rested an elbow on the table as Gribbins lifted an eyebrow. “Now hear me out,” I held my hands up, “If we allow Joel to make his own phone call he may not call his lawyer, he might be dumb enough to call someone else…Clover even.”

“Do you honestly think he’d be that fucking stupid?”

“No, but crazier things have happened.”

“That’s true.” Gribbins sat back and rubbed his chin.

He was debating the idea.

“It could actually work in our favor if Joel was dumb enough to reach out to someone for help. Maybe if he didn’t have an attorney and needed Clover, or whoever to guide him in the direction of who to hire, it would be the perfect time to have a locator on the call,” I continued to ramble how it could play out in our favor, hoping Gribbins would agree.

“I really don’t think Joel would be that ignorant, especially if he’s calling from here.”

“Then we take him to lock up until his attorney arrives. He can call from there. Many criminals do business through prison phone calls, why would Joel be any different?”

“Because he’s a hell of a lot smarter than most criminals.”

“I doubt that. If he was, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to get caught up. Even if he had Lexie kidnapped after the fact.”

Speaking her name was like a knife in the gut.

“It’s worth a shot.” Gribbins leaned forward and hit a button on the conference phone on the table between us.

“Yes, sir.”

“Have Joel transferred to county. He can have his one phone call to his attorney once he arrives. Be sure to have someone triangulate the call. I’m working the paperwork up now and will be taking over myself.”

“Will do, sir.”

Gribbins ended the call and gave me a knowing look.

I held my hands up, “I already know I can’t go with you. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I’m glad it’s finally sinking in.”

I hated being on the backburner during the investigation, but I had no other choice. If me taking a backseat would allow a break in the case and bring Blair home alive then I was okay with that. I’d sacrifice a helluva lot for her safety. I just wish I had been able to do that from the get go so we wouldn’t have ended up in such a shitty situation.

“Gribbins,” Mason stepped into the conference room.

“Yeah?”

“They found another body just inside the Valley of Fire.”

Gribbins eyes connected with mine and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Mason, I need you to finish up the paperwork on Joel’s transfer so I can go with Gavin.”

“If you need to finish it, I can handle this on my own,” I tried to remain calm as I offered; knowing the situation with Joel was just as important as finding out whether or not the body belonged to Blair, Lexie, or someone else.

“Head on out, I’ll be on my way as soon as I finish the paperwork. Mason, can you go with Gavin?”

“I’m fine going alone, really.”

The last thing I wanted was someone riding with me that I wasn’t familiar with. Small talk wasn’t my forte at the moment, and Mason was one to chat. I was hoping Gribbins would get the picture and just let me handle it on my own, but I wasn’t so sure he’d allow it. He knew I’d be in shambles if it was Blair…or Lexie even.

“Okay, Mason, you come with me. I’ll fill you in on what needs to be done with Joel’s transfer as I finish up the paperwork and you can escort him to lock up.”

I gave Gribbins a nod and headed for the door. He stopped me just as I reached the threshold. “It’s not her, I have a feeling she’s still alive.”

“I hope your feeling is right.”

* * *

Just like at every crime scene where there was a body, it lay with a sheet covering her from the elements. The coroner was waiting for us to arrive before they hauled the body to the morgue. She was lying flat on her back, not concealed by the trees or rocks. It was as if they wanted someone to find her quickly, which a hiker had.

“She’s been dead about six hours, I’d say. I’ll know more once I get her back to the morgue.”

“Any identification on her?”

“Nothing. It’s similar to the others, except she’s very malnourished and has a single gunshot wound to the forehead, instead of the temple.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and gave me some time alone. I hadn’t managed to look at her yet, afraid of whose face would be staring back at me. But it was time. I knelt beside the body and uncovered her face. It wasn’t Blair or Lexie, but it was a young woman who had loved ones. I instantly knew her name from seeing her face plastered on missing signs around the city. Her parents had met with Gribbins many weeks prior in hopes that something from their daughter’s disappearance would tie to the murders and give us a clue about her whereabouts. But nothing fit. The last they knew she’d been with some friends out on the town, but we couldn’t find any proof that she’d been to Roulette. No reservation at the hotel like the others. No withdrawals at one of the ATM’s inside the casino or the hotel. Absolutely nothing tied Jamie Mulberry to Roulette or the other victims. Nothing until her body showed up in the Valley of Fire, that is.

“Her name’s Jamie Mulberry.”

“You know her?” Bradley, the coroner, stepped over to me.

“Her parents have been to the office in hopes that something about the night she disappeared would tie to the other victims and give us a shot at finding her, but nothing coincided.”

“I’d say the same person who committed the other murders, killed Jamie.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The way her body is laid. Peaceful, with her hands at her sides. The bullet hole has been cleaned, like the other victims. Her face has fresh powder on it, as if they were trying to make her look new rather than deceased.” Bradley knelt down and pointed to the bullet hole. “You see the ridge around where the bullet entered?”

“Yeah.”

“There’s makeup smudged into the hole. They felt a sense of remorse for her death. The person who’s killed the other victims has shown indicators of remorse with every single body. It’s the same guy.”

“Where have you been all this time, Jamie Mulberry?”

If only it was as easy as her responding. Then all the secrets the sick bastard was hiding wouldn’t be so secret anymore. My phone vibrated in my pocket so I removed the glove from my hand and retrieved it. Gribbins' name lit up the screen.

“I was just about to call you.”

“I take it, it wasn’t Blair.”

“It wasn’t Blair, or Lexie.”

“As bad as it sounds, I’m relieved.”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved myself. Do you remember Jamie Mulberry, her parents met with you about a month ago to see if their daughter’s disappearance was linked to the murders?”

“Please don’t tell me it’s her.”

“Unfortunately, it is her.”

“What did Bradley say?”

“He will have more once he gets her to the morgue, but he feels it’s the same guy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. So, we may want to look into the night Jamie went missing a bit more. Maybe see if we can run facial recognition on the cameras around the city. I know it’ll be long hours and quite a bit of manpower, but maybe we could recover something.”

“I’ll see what we can do. First I have to contact her parents.”

“You aren’t leaving that to local P.D.?”

“No, I need to do it this time. They came to me for assistance and I let them down.”

“You did all you could. We didn’t think the two were connected, and the bodies popping up all over the city were a higher priority for the FBI than a missing girl. That was local P.D.’s case.”

“I know, but I still feel at fault.”

“Guilt is a bad emotion to feel, believe me; I feel it daily.”

“I’ll pulling in now, so I’ll see you in a second.”

“Okay, boss.”

“Boss? That’s odd coming from you.”

“Yeah, don’t get used to it,” I chuckled before disconnecting the call.

I walked back over to Bradley beside Jamie’s body, “Gribbins just pulled in. He’ll want to review the body and then it’s all yours.”

“That works for me.”

Usually I didn’t spend much time with the victims, but I couldn’t help myself. My mind wandered to whether Jamie had met Blair, if they were being held in the same place, and where that place was located. Hopefully something would be found if Gribbins could get us access to the city's surveillance cameras, which I’m sure the Mayor would oblige. He didn't like the fact that fifteen bodies had shown up throughout his city in the past six months.

I noticed Gribbins was alone as he headed in my direction. These crime scenes had become the same song and dance, so there was no need to have a swarm of agents at each one. The CSI unit did a helluva job collecting everything that was needed, and Bradley finished the report once he looked the body over at the morgue. Everything ended up handed to us at that point anyway, so we’d been advised to take a back seat until we received the information. That was until one of our own agents had gone missing.

“By yourself?”

“No, there are some agents checking out the surroundings to make sure we don’t miss anything.”

I nodded.

Gribbins knelt beside Jamie’s body and pulled the sheet from her face; He lowered his head against his hand and took a silent moment for himself. I knew this death was hard on him. I’d heard when I was first assigned to Gribbins that he’d lost a young girl in his earlier years at the Bureau. She had a gun to her head directly in front of him, but the perp killed her before Gribbins could make a move. He got a shot off and killed the bastard right after, but it was rumored that Gribbins had gone a little off the deep end for a while after that, which was understandable.

He removed the sheet from her entire body and slipped a pair of gloves on as if he was searching for something. What exactly? I wasn’t sure. I watched as he turned her wrist over, followed by the other one. He placed them gently back like they were and moved to her ankles. She was dressed in thin linen pants and a matching tee shirt. I hoped wherever she’d been kept was warm.

Gribbins sat each heel back against the ground and stood, pulling his gloves off in the process. “Bradley.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Be sure her clothes make it to my office.”

“Of course.”

“She’s all yours.”

Bradley nodded.

Gribbins didn’t say another word as he turned and began walking in the direction he’d came in from. I jogged to catch up to him. “Why the clothes?”

“They're an expensive taste, and not something the other victims have been found in.”

“So, what are you thinking exactly?”

“Maybe those clothes can lead us back to who purchased them.”

“But how?”

“They’re made at a high-end shop just off the strip.”

“And how exactly do you know that?”

“Man,” Gribbins laughed, “you’re full of a lot of questions.” He clicked the fob on his keychain to unlock his SUV. “I have some myself, and before you say anything smart, they were a Christmas present one year.”

A large grin spread across my face as I held in my laughter, “Okay.”

Gribbins gave me a knowing look as he shook his head and got into his vehicle. “You headed home or back to the office?”

“I find myself in a better frame of mind at the office.”

He nodded in understanding, “See you at the office, then.”

“Yep.” I shoved my hands into my pockets and headed toward my own vehicle. My heart was a little less heavy knowing Blair and Lexie were both still out there…most likely alive.