Page 45 of Ghost

“They weren’t betting on ushaving Rocko on hand. It would have been near impossible for anyoneto find the body out here so far away from the truck,” Conorsaid.

“Wait, a deputy came outhere with Shaw and Rocko, right?” Ray asked.

“Yes.”

“Can the deputy be trustedknowing how Rocko was able to find Cross’s body?” Rayasked.

“Yes. Elias had adiscussion with the four deputies a while back. They’ve been vettedand can be trusted,” Brick answered.

“Let’s do this,” Strykersaid as he shut the engine off and opened the driver’s door. Everthe man of action.

Ghost followed Ray out and up to thecrime scene. A sheet covered Cross’s body while Rocko and Shawleaned against the cruiser, and the deputy stood talking to thecoroner. Elias was pulling up as they approached theteam.

“Good work, Rocko. What dowe have?” Brick asked.

“Single shot to the back ofthe head close range,” Shaw reported. “No ligature marks on hiswrists or ankles.”

“He knew his killer andallowed them to get close before the fatal shot,” Bricksaid.

“Likely,” Ray answered.“Let’s have a look.”

Ray walked through the long grass anddown into the hollow. Ghost looked around, not a building in sight,confirming that the odds of finding Cross’s body were slim and ifhe hadn’t been found the animals would’ve gotten to the body first,destroying any clues and compromising evidence.

Watching Ray pull the sheet off thebody without emotion reminded Ghost of how the life of a detectiveinvolved situations like this regularly. He imagined Ray had seenworse a time or two before. Seeing a man he’d known with half hisface missing was much more jarring for Ghost.

He’d seen enough and decided to have alook around the area. The farther away from the body, the better.He wondered how people like Ray dealt with such violence day in andday out without breaking. He guessed, based on Stryker's generousgift of the millions his late mother left him, donated to TheWounded Warrior Program, that mental trauma and scars abounded andsupport was difficult to find.

In Jericho’s case, it seemed he’dreturned a changed and traumatized man. He’d likely suffered fromPTSD in some form, and it was well recorded he’d drowned himself inalcohol on the daily, maybe to blur the memories and pain. All theycould do was speculate at this point, and Ghost hoped they wouldsoon get some definitive answers and lay the poor man’s memory torest.

Ghost wandered through the long grass,aimlessly lost in his thoughts, until something caught hisattention. At first, he dismissed it as nothing, but as Ghost gotcloser, the reality of what he saw shocked him. Awallet?

“What the hell?”

Ghost walked over to the worn, blackleather wallet and knew better than to touch it. It lay partiallybehind a rock, and he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps it fellout of someone’s pocket when they were out here dumping Cross’sbody. That would be too easy, but he could hope.

“I’ve got something overhere,” he yelled.

Ghost turned when he heard footstepscoming up behind him. Brick, Elias, Ray, and Rocko joined him andsurrounded the find.

“Hell, they couldn’t havebeen this dumb,” Ray said. “Could they?”

“Considering that Jacksonguy from the hardware store took shots at us for a very vaguereason,” Ghost said, “I don’t think we’re working with the cream ofthe crop here. He seems more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pantskinda guy to me.”

“Could be Cross’s,” Rockosaid.

“Checked already,” Eliassaid. “Still on the body.”

Ray pulled out a pair of gloves andcarefully picked up the wallet. Ghost vibrated with nervous energyas he watched him open it to find the owner's identity beforeturning it to show Elias, whose eyes widened upon seeing thename.

“Well, holyshit.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ray

“You want to tell me whyyour wallet was found near the body of Mr. Cross?” Elias asked, histone deadly. He wore an earpiece to hear Conor, who was watchingthrough a live feed in another room.

“Lost it months ago,” Jakegrowled from across the table in the interrogation room.

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