Laying Down The Law
A Texas lawman must face his past and bring a serial killer to justiceDEA Agent Cord Granger knows evidence doesn’t lie. And he knows the serial killer in custody – his biological father – is the Moonlight Strangler. With news of a similar attack, Cord takes the victim, rancher Karina Southerland, into his protective custody.Marred by the Strangler’s hallmark slash across her cheek, Karina is sure Cord’s father is innocent. The real killer is still out there – and he’s coming to finish what he started. At least they can agree that their smoldering attraction is real. Now, if there’s any hope for a future, Cord must solve this murderous puzzle. Before the Moonlight Strangler strikes again.
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A Texas lawman must face his past and bring a serial killer to justice
DEA agent Cord Granger knows evidence doesnât lie. And he knows the serial killer in custodyâhis biological fatherâis the Moonlight Strangler. With news of a similar attack, Cord takes the victim, rancher Karina Southerland, into his protective custody.
Marred by the Stranglerâs hallmark slash across her cheek, Karina is sure Cordâs father is innocent. The real killer is still out thereâand heâs coming to finish what he started. At least they can agree that their smoldering attraction is real. Now, if thereâs any hope for a future, Cord must solve this murderous puzzle. Before the Moonlight Strangler strikes again.
âI went outside to check on the horses,â Karina continued after sheâd gathered her breath. âWhen I stepped into the barn, he hit me over the head. I didnât even see him. Didnât know he was there until it was too late.â
Cord jumped right on that. âBut you could tell for sure that it was a man?â
âYes,â she said without hesitation.
Damn. âWhat happened next?â he pressed when she didnât continue.
Karina closed her eyes a moment. Shuddered. âI screamed as I was falling, and he cut my face.â She reached to put her fingers there, but the paramedic moved them away.
It was the slice on her cheekbone. And the signature of the Moonlight Strangler.
DELORES FOSSEN, a USA TODAY bestselling author, has sold over fifty novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. Sheâs received a Booksellersâ Best Award and an RT Reviewersâ Choice Best Book Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA® Award. You can contact the author through her website at www.deloresfossen.com.
Cord GrangerâA tough DEA agent who believes his birth father is a notorious serial killer, the Moonlight Strangler, but Cordâs quest for justice puts him on a collision course with danger and
a woman who believes his birth father is an innocent man.
Karina SoutherlandâThe last thing she needs is to feel an attraction for Cord, the hot cowboy lawman whoâs gunning for someone she loves, but Cord is also the one person who can save her from a killer.
Willie Lee SamuelsâCordâs birth father, whoâs in jail and charged with being the Moonlight Strangler.
Rocky FinneyâKarinaâs ranch hand, who has plenty of secrets, and one of those secrets could be the reason Karinaâs in danger.
Harley KramerâThis businessman wants nothing more than for Karina to drop charges against him for breaking and entering. But how far would he go to force her to back down?
DeWayne StringerâA cattle baron whoâs had run-ins with Karina and Willie Lee for years. Did he frame Willie Lee for the murders?
Contents
Blood.
Special Agent Cord Grangerâs stomach tightened into a knot.
Since heâd worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration for the past nine years now, heâd seen plenty of blood before at various crime scenes. And a lot more of it than the drops that were here on the floor of the barn.
But this wasnât any ordinary crime scene.
There shouldnât be blood here because there shouldnât be a victim.
Cord cursed under his breath and caught the eye of Sheriff Jericho Crockett, no doubt one of the first responders to the small ranch in Appaloosa Pass. This was the sheriffâs jurisdiction. Jericho normally doled out glares and hard looks to Cord, but tonight he just lifted an eyebrow.
Cord lifted one of his own and felt that knot tighten even more.
âMiss Southerland insisted on seeing you,â Jericho told Cord. âSaid she wouldnât get in the ambulance until you got here.â
Yeah, Jericho had relayed something similar about Karina Southerland when heâd phoned Cord about twenty minutes earlier. Jericho had asked him to come to the rental house on a local ranch and had rattled off the address. As an agent, Cord got plenty of bad calls in the middle of the night, some even from local sheriffs, but this one wasnât DEA-related.
This one was, well, personal.
âKarina said it was the Moonlight Strangler who attacked her?â Cord asked the sheriff.
Jericho nodded. âThe guy had on a ski mask, came at her from behind. It fits the MO, too.â He glanced up at the night sky, where there was a full moon.
The glancing hadnât been necessary, though. A full moon was always a reminder of murder. That could happen when a person had a personal connection to a vicious serial killer known as the Moonlight Strangler.
And when the killer was Cordâs biological father.
It didnât matter that Cord didnât personally know the man. Though they had met. In a way. When Cord had been on the receiving end of the Moonlight Stranglerâs knife only a month ago. But because the Moonlight Strangler had pumped him full of drugs, Cord didnât have many memories of the incident at all.
