Page 43 of Hunting the Crossbow Killer

“The DNA profile?” Aidan asked, stepping over a fallen log then lifting Grace over it.

She smiled her thanks, but put her hand on his chest, stopping him.

“Grace, we need to get going.”

“Just one minute, okay?” She kept her voice low. “I want to tell you this before we reach Fletcher.”

He sighed and looked around, actively watching the woods. “Hurry. Tell me what’s so important.”

“Our suspect’s DNA wasn’t a match to the Crossbow Killer. But it was a partial match, a familial match to another profile in the database. There were thirteen core DNA loci between the two, which is why CODIS spit it out.”

He felt the blood drain from his face. “Familial?”

She looked at him with such sympathy that it nearly broke him.

“Just say it, Grace.”

“The partial match was to you. The suspect, the one here in Mystic Lake, is related to you by blood. He shares 50 percent of your DNA. I’m so sorry. It’s no longer just a theory. The shooter we’re looking for is definitely Niall. Your son.”

“I knew it,” he whispered, barely able to get out the words. “But hearing it from you, knowing there’s no room for doubt anymore, makes it so much worse.”

She reached her hands up and cupped his face, her gaze searching his. “I’m so sorry, Aidan.”

He gently tugged her arms down, even though he wanted nothing more right now than to find solace in the arms of this amazing woman. But he couldn’t allow his selfish needs or desires put her at risk for another second. “We really have to go.I’ve done everything I can to draw out the—to draw out my son if he’s hiding on my property. You can’t be out here without your vest to at least offer some partial protection.”

Her eyes widened. “What did you do to draw him out?”

He grabbed her hand and tugged her forward. “Everything but shout a dare from the top of the mountain. Maybe I’ll do that next, after you’re somewhere safe.”

“Oh, Aidan. I wish you wouldn’t be so careless about your own safety. You shouldn’t—”

“Malone? Where are you?” Fletcher walked around some bushes and stopped when she saw Aidan. Her gaze flitted down to where Aidan was holding Grace’s hand.

Aidan tugged his hand free, ignoring Grace’s unhappy frown. He motioned toward Fletcher. “You brought Malone’s vest?”

Grace blinked as if just now realizing that Fletcher was holding it.

“Of course,” Fletcher said. “She ran out of the station without it, risking her life to come find you, I might add. I called Dawson and he told me where you were, so I figured that’s where she’d go.” She gave Grace a hard look. “Even though you aren’t answering your phone.”

“Sorry,” Grace said. “When I saw you calling I turned off the ringer. I had something else on my mind and didn’t want to lose my focus.”

Fletcher snorted. “It’s obvious what, or who, you had on your mind. You didn’t want to hear me say anything bad about him. That’s why you didn’t answer.”

Aidan stepped forward and took the vest from her. “Thank you for bringing this.” He turned to Grace. “Over or under your jacket?”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “Under. Give me a second.” She quickly worked at her buttons.

The barest whisper of sound had Aidan whirling toward the woods off to his left, searching for the source. A flash of white through the trees was his only warning. “Get down,” he yelled, diving toward Fletcher and throwing her to the ground.

“He’s here,” Grace yelled into her phone as she scrambled behind a tree and yanked out her gun. “Dawson, the suspect just shot at Fletcher.”

The policewoman was lying on the ground, looking stunned as she stared up at the arrow embedded in a thick oak tree just past where she’d been standing moments ago. “My God,” she said. “That would have gone right through my head if you hadn’t knocked me down.”

Aidan grabbed her shoulders and yanked her behind the cover of a thick tree. “You’ll have another chance to die if you don’t pay attention and use your training. He’s still out there.”

Fletcher stared at him, then blew out a shaky breath. “Okay, okay. Right. Which way did he—”

A young man stepped out from behind a thick bush not far from Grace. The same young man Aidan only got to see in a new picture once a year through his lawyer.

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