RUBERT HOLLACE WAS an asshole, and he had always been. Of the dozen or so men Ezra had worked closely with in his time overseas, Hollace was the nastiest of the lot. Not just in attitude, but in personal hygiene. That hadn’t changed much since discharge.

He was the adult version of the school-yard bully, using his massive strength and size and bad attitude to force people to do what he wanted them to.

Hollace had tried that with Ezra and been shot down quick. Hollace might have outweighed him by about sixty pounds, but Ezra was equally as tall. And not easily pushed around.

They’d battled daily until they’d settled into an uneasy truce.

He had been the number one person in their unit Ezra had not wanted to keep in touch with. Yet there he sat, across from Ezra.

“What’s this about?” Hollace demanded.

“You hear about Geoff and Nils, Holl?” Ezra asked quietly.

Chalmers was at his left, not saying much. They’d agreed Ezra would handle this interview, but Chalmers would sign off on it.

“No. Can’t say I’ve kept in touch. What about them?”

“Geoff’s dead, Nils is in the hospital. You see anything on the news about the long-distance serial killer we’ve had here in town?”

“It’s all over everywhere. How many people dead now?”

“Nine. Twenty-two wounded. Geoff was killed instantly, and Nils got lucky he moved. Their girlfriends were also wounded—one pretty badly—as were an FBI agent and her companion. We don’t know if they’ll pull through.”

Hollace’s face tightened for a moment. It was the only outward sign that Ezra’s words had struck home at all. “That’s sick shit, man. Thought we’d seen the end of that over there. Ambushed and never knowing what in the hell was about to happen.”

“I know. We suspect the killer was targeting Geoff and Nils, and possibly used everyone else as a forensic countermeasure.” Pure speculation at this point, but it was a lead. The only one they currently had.

Unless Shannon could find something on the videos.

Hollace stared at him for a moment. “Why the hell would this guy do that? Sounds damned stupid. Risky. Why am I here, Hahn?”

Ezra had two directions he could go in. “We are contacting everyone from our unit. See if they know why this could have happened. It’s thin, and we know it. Chances are good it was something else between Geoff and Nils that led to this. It’s been six years, after all. And to give you a heads-up to watch your back. If this guy has targeted our unit for whatever reason, you need to be careful. There’s no way to get out of this guy’s range. We both know that. You got some place you can go out of town for a while?”

“Hell, Hahn, I haven’t spoken to Geoff since our flight landed stateside that day. I ran into Nils in Kansas City two—maybe three—years back. Enough to say hi. That was about it. We didn’t even follow each other on Facebook. I can take the wife and kids to the in-laws, but it’ll take me a while to get things arranged. My oldest has a band competition she’s at right now.” Hollace paled and visibly tensed. “This guy isn’t going to go after my kids, is he?”

“Not that we can tell. But you and your wife may be targets. We’ll have a protective detail on you. Or, if you prefer, we can set your family up in a safe house.” They’d get Hollace out of the way in a contained area, then could evaluate what happened next. See if they could connect him somehow. Or rule him out. But Ezra’s gut was telling him it wasn’t the man in front of him. Hollace was just a middle-aged, slightly chubby family man now. He’d see what Shannon could find to support that—while the bureau kept Hollace’s family safe. “What about Sefton, Leghari, and the rest? You ever talk to them?”

Hollace shook his head. “Put all that behind me. Listen, I just wanted to forget it all and move on. I get an email now and then from Sefton, but we were never really friends. That was all in his head. But from what I can remember, he was more than happy to turn his rifle over. Doubt he’s ever touched a weapon since. Unless it was controlled by a game controller.”

“You know we have to check into the paperwork. But we’re also checking every communication Nils and Geoff shared.” They had nothing to hold Hollace on. Ezra had known that before they’d brought him in. But if his instinct was right, having the man in a safe location could keep Hollace alive. “We aren’t even certain this goes back to the entire team. It may be random or something they’ve gotten into recently. Watch your back, Hollace. I’m going to get you with Agent Djorn. He’ll get the details of the safe house for your family. It’s just a precaution. If you hear from anyone else on the team, let me know.”