In a Heartbeat Read Online Free PDF Page B

face.”
    “We’ll find her,” Ethan said, although Brad knew the words were lip service. There were no guarantees. And so far, no concrete leads.
    “I’ve made a list of all the men I’ve crossed in the past five years,” Brad said. “I’m running their names to see if anyone might be on parole or have connections nearby.”
    “Good plan.” Ethan shrugged into his jacket. “Have you thought about talking to Lisa Langley?”
    “Hell yeah, I’ve considered it.” Brad threw down his pen and scrubbed his hands over the back of his neck. “But I can’t put her in jeopardy again.”
    Ethan jammed a cigarette into his mouth, but didn’t light it. He’d been trying to quit smoking for months, but kept falling back on the habit in times of stress. Not that their job wasn’t always stressful. “I know you don’t like it, and neither do I, but we have to do everything we can to save this girl.”
    As if Brad didn’t know that.
    But bringing Lisa out of hiding to do so didn’t seem like the smartest idea. Besides, he wasn’t sure she could help.
    Or maybe he was losing his edge again. His perspective.
    Because Brad Booker, man with no mercy, had found a heart when he’d heard Lisa’s tale of horrors. And when he’d pulled her from that grave and held her, he’d felt a personal connection.
    He couldn’t afford to have a heart. Not with Mindy’s life on the line.
    “You’re right.” He loosened his tie, cleared this throat, swallowed back bile. “I won’t tell Lisa on the phone. I have to see her in person.” He owed her that much.
    Ethan nodded. “Keep in touch. I’ll call you after I talk to White’s cell mate.”
    Brad pocketed his cell phone. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was track down Lisa and inform her that another Grave Digger was haunting the city, or make her relive the nightmare of her attack.
    But he had to save Mindy’s life. And if Lisa remembered anything new that might help, he needed to talk to her.
    LISA MUST HAVE IMAGINED the shadow. Still, she couldn’t fall back to sleep, so she sat in the rocking chair for hours, staring at the window.
    Early morning, the shadow reappeared. Footsteps clattered outside.
    Lisa reached for the phone to dial 911 when a knock sounded at the door. She nearly jumped out of her skin.
    For a few seconds, she could barely move, the fear she’d grappled with for the past four years paralyzing her. Then sanity returned, and she dragged in huge gulping breaths, trying to calm herself. A serial killer wouldn’t announce himself at the door.
    Only hers had four years ago. She’d actually been dating him and hadn’t known it….
    Besides, how had the window gotten open? And why had she lost power when it hadn’t been storming?
    The knock jolted her again, and she raced to her bedroom, yanked on a full-length cotton robe and belted it, then pushed her disheveled hair from her face as she hurried to the door.
    She rarely had visitors. Mrs. Simmerson from across the valley occasionally stopped by with homemade goods, and occasionally Ruby dropped by for a visit, but never this early in the morning. Someone had rented the cabin about a half mile down the road, but she hadn’t met him yet. She didn’t intend to, either.
    “Miss Long, it’s your new neighbor. Name’s Aiden Henderson.”
    She tensed at the sound of the man’s voice. It was deep. Scratchy. A smoker’s voice. “What do you want and how do you know my name?”
    “The real estate agent told me.” He cleared his throat. “I…the power went off, so I thought I’d check and see if it was just my place or everyone else’s.”
    He could see hers was off, too, couldn’t he?
    “My phone isn’t connected yet,” he continued. “Or else I’d call it in.”
    She stood on tiptoe and looked through the peephole. The entire mountain and valley were dark. “I’ll call in the power loss. Someone probably had an accident and hit a transformer.”
    “Probably.” A tense second