The District
IN THE CITY BY THE BAY IT’LL TAKE TWO EXPERIENCED FBI AGENTS TO BRING AN END TO A SERIAL KILLER’S REIGN. The quicker Special Agent Christina Sandoval brings a serial killer to justice, the sooner she can get back to her daughter. Reason enough for the FBI to send her a partner - who also happens to be her ex-fianc[unknown-233], Eric Brody. While Eric’s own kidnapping as a child has left him with a sense of justice that never failed, his relationship with Christina had. Now the deeper they dig into the current case, the more personal things get. Trying to capture an elusive killer who seems to know more about Christina than Brody ever did, they’ll both need to stop holding back. Or fall victim to this private war, waged without boundaries[unknown-8230]
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Eric still had her by the waist where he’d grabbed her just as the car whooshed past them, spewing exhaust and burning rubber into the air.
Christina had stumbled back against Eric’s chest, and he pulled her tightly against his body. “Are you okay?”
“That was close.” Her voice shook and she cleared her throat. “What’s the matter with that guy? Didn’t he see us?”
“He saw us, Christina.”
Her heart pounded in her chest and her breath came out in short spurts. “That’s crazy. We’re the FBI, for God’s sake.”
He held out his hand. “Do you want me to drive? Your hands are trembling.”
She dropped the keys into his palm without a word. If he wanted to play the big, strong protector, who was she to argue?
CAROL ERICSON lives with her husband and two sons in Southern California, home of state-of-the-art cosmetic surgery, wild freeway chases, palm trees bending in the Santa Ana winds and a million amazing stories. These stories, along with hordes of virile men and feisty women, clamor for release from Carol’s head. It makes for some interesting headaches until she sets them free to fulfill their destinies and her readers’ fantasies. To find out more about Carol, her books and her strange headaches, please visit her website, www.carolericson.com, “Where romance flirts with danger.”
For Deputy Chief Greg Huber, one of my many go-to guys for research
Contents
Chapter One
Nine times out of ten a dead body will win a staring contest.
Christina blinked and looked away from the lifeless eyes of the twentysomething vic, a gruesome slash across her throat, a tarot card shoved between her stiff fingers.
Tarot cards—Christina knew a thing or two about them. She would’ve expected death on his white horse in this case, but the killer had left the maiden and the lion, an indicator of strength.
Her gaze shifted away from the body and skimmed the trees, their leaves rustling with impatience. “Has anyone checked the surrounding area yet?”
Lieutenant Fitch with the San Francisco P.D. waved his pale hand. “You go right ahead, Agent Sandoval.”
She ground her back teeth together, adjusted her shoulder holster and tromped toward the tree line. If not for that tarot card, she wouldn’t even be here.
The dense nature preserve enveloped her in a cool embrace, muting the voices of the crime scene investigators in the trail behind her. The weak San Francisco sun, still shrugging off the fog, penetrated the foliage in wisps and strands, throwing a beam of light here and dappled shadows there.
She inhaled the scent of eucalyptus, which cleared her senses and ramped up her adrenaline. The murder victim had been jogging on the trail either early this morning or sometime last night. The predator had surprised her, flying at her like an animal on the prowl—lying in wait.
Her nostrils flared and she scanned the underbrush. Lying in wait. He must’ve been watching, waiting for his prey.
Hunching forward, she crept farther into the darkness, her footfalls silenced by nature’s carpet beneath her, the strands of a willow brushing her face. She veered to the right, aligning herself with the body on the trail.
She cranked her head over her shoulder and detected flashes of color and movement from the cops and techs milling around the vic. He could’ve seen her coming from here, but would’ve had no time to prepare his attack.
She looked up. A live oak tree towered a few feet in front of her. She approached it, studying the ground around the base of the trunk. Something had disturbed the leaves layered on the dirt, but plenty of creatures roamed this area—not just the two-legged, deadly kind.
She reached out, running her hand down the rough bark that scratched her fingers. Here and there she traced smooth areas of the trunk where pieces of bark had broken away from the old tree.
Stretching her arms out, she wedged her palms against the tree trunk and hung her head between her arms. She closed her eyes.
The subtle sounds of nature came to life—the rustle of a bird’s wings, the creak of a branch, the scurrying of an insect across a log.
And then it slammed into her chest. The evil. She felt it like a palpable curtain dropping around her, smothering her. He’d been here.
She jerked her head up, her eyes narrowing. She shed her jacket and secured her weapon in her holster. The bark of the tree chaffed her palms as she grabbed the first branch with both hands. She hoisted herself up and planted the rubber soles of her practical shoes against the trunk. Walking up the tree trunk, she lunged for the next branch and then swung her legs over the side of it.
Straddling the branch, she could just see over the top of the lower bushes and trees that bordered the jogging trail. She pulled herself into a crouch and reached for the next branch that curved against the trunk—a natural seat, a window on the world.
