Nothing to Fear Read Online Free PDF

pulled his gym bag and Ethan’s laptop from his front seat with a sigh. “Hell. Please say they have air-conditioning.”
    “It’s better inside,” Ethan confirmed, his nerves settling. Clay was in. He led Clay directly to the kitchen where Randi sat with the phone on her lap and Stan paced the floor, a glass of whiskey in his hand.
    Randi looked up at the sight of them, her face still so pale. “You’re Ethan’s partner. Thank you for coming.”
    “I served with Richard,” Clay replied simply. And that was all he needed to say. Marines took care of one another. Even when they no longer wore the uniform.
    “Richard and I served with Clay during our deployment to Somalia, right out of the Academy,” Ethan explained. Stan’s spine stiffened. Stan had never understood Richard’s dedication to the Marines and it had become a source of division between the brothers. That it was a common bond Ethan and Richard had shared only served to widen the gap between Stan and Ethan. Richard’s death turned that gap into a chasm.
    “Good old Semper Fi,” Stan said bitterly, tossing back what was left of his whiskey. “Hell of a lot of good all that brotherhood and devotion does him now.” He slapped the glass on the countertop and stalked from the room.
    Randi closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
    Ethan squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay.”
    Clay crouched down in front of her chair. “Randi, who knew you’d be here on vacation?”
    Randi’s eyes flew open at the implication. “Oh, God. It could be somebody we know.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “I don’t know. I can’t think.”
    Ethan rubbed a comforting hand over Randi’s back. “You sit here and try to think of anybody that knew you’d be here, and more importantly, anybody that knew you’d be gone to Annapolis the last few days. I’m going to take Clay outside, then I’ll trace that e-mail.”
    She flinched at the word outside, but nodded. “All right.”
    Clay waited until they were on the path to the shed. “They got an e-mail? When?”
    “Came through Thursday morning at seven forty-five from Rickman’s e-mail address. It said Alec was alive and reminded them not to call the cops. It came with an attachment.”
    “It came from Rickman’s e-mail address?”
    “Yeah. Her laptop was missing from her room. So was her digital camera.”
    Clay shot him a sideways look. “And the attachment? Picture of Alec, bound, gagged?”
    “Yeah. Taken at night against a background of trees that looked like northern pine.”
    “Ethan, I know this boy is important to you, but this is a job for the FBI. You know it.”
    Ethan knew. He also knew what was inside the shed. “Just wait another minute.” In another minute they arrived at the little wooden shed. “There’s no light inside.” He bent down to retrieve the flashlight he’d left next to the shed. “Use this.”
    Clay opened the door and for a moment there was only the sound of the night wind and the waves gently lapping at the sides of Stan’s boat, moored at the dock. His partner shone the light around, lingering on the body inside.
    “His name is Paul McMillan,” Ethan said quietly. “He was an architect in Baltimore. He and Cheryl Rickman planned to get married next Valentine’s Day.”
    Clay switched off the light. “Any chance Rickman had anything to do with this?”
    “We can’t rule it out, but it seems unlikely. Randi swears Cheryl would protect Alec with her own life and there’s been a hell of a struggle in one of the bedrooms. Lamps smashed, pictures knocked off the wall. There’s a slug in the bedroom wall. From the size of the hole it looks like it came from a nine mil.”
    “The shotgun they used on McMillan is old and rusted, but they didn’t need too much accuracy for this,” Clay said grimly. “They wouldn’t have carried a weapon like that for themselves. It’s useless except in the way they used it. They planned ahead to leave McMillan behind, which