this world.”
“I remember we talked briefly about our faith during our training. Do you feel that God called you to do this?”
“I do.”
“And we do what we do because this world is full of sin and evil that needs to be stopped. Because we want to see good thrive and justice reign.”
“Yes,” Madison said. “But sometimes the darkness seems so much stronger than the light.”
“Maybe, but God is so much bigger than the darkness. You have to keep remembering that.”
“I know. Sometimes I need something tangible, you know? Like now, when my sister’s being threatened. What if I can’t keep her safe?”
“I’m here. I’m listening. The battle is fierce, but we know who wins in the end. And in the meantime, we’re going to go out there and find Barrick and put an end to this.”
She sucked in a breath at the reminder, but he was right. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For listening.”
“That’s what partners do.”
She nodded as Sheriff Hill walked up to them, a frown on his face.
“Sheriff?” Jonas said. “Is everything okay?”
“I’ve got some news, but you’re not going to like it. We found a body. It’s Ryan Phelps.”
Fifteen
The sick feeling that had taken root in her gut deepened. Ryan Phelps was dead.
“You’re sure it’s him?” Madison asked.
The sheriff nodded. “We double-checked with his DMV photo, but yeah, we’re sure.”
Jonas cupped her elbow with his hand. “Madison?”
She allowed herself to lean on him. A man was dead, and someone was going to have to tell Katy Phelps her husband wasn’t coming home.
“Where did you find the body?” Jonas asked.
“A local hiker and his dog stumbled across it. I assume that your felon thought he could bury the body in a shallow grave, and no one would discover him until he was long gone, but he chose the wrong spot. Buried him too close to a favorite local hiking spot.”
The weight of their decisions pressed against her chest. She’d told Katy Phelps there was no reason to believe anything had happened to her husband, and yet somehow she’d known. Known Barrick wouldn’t hesitate to kill the man if he came between him and his freedom.
“How did he die?” Jonas asked.
“The coroner will do a full autopsy, but because of some defensive wounds on the body, it looks as if they got into some kind of altercation and then Barrick shot him.”
“He could have just taken the car and left him alive on the side of the road,” Madison said.
But instead darkness had won again.
“There’s more,” the sheriff said. “We also just got Phelps’s phone records and found something interesting there you’re going to want to see.” The sheriff held up a piece of paper. “According to phone records, the last call made on Phelps’s phone lasted three minutes. Because of the time stamp, I’m pretty sure we can assume that Barrick made the call.”
“Which makes sense,” Jonas said. “He didn’t expect anyone to connect him to Phelps, or for us to find his body anytime soon, so he thinks he’s in the clear for now.”
“Exactly.” Madison nodded, knowing she needed to channel her anger into action. Barrick might have won the round, but they were going to take him down. “So he thought he was safe and used the man’s phone. Who did he call?”
“A woman by the name of Mary Margaret Parker in Stanley, Wyoming.”
“Where is that?”
“About fifty miles from Casper.”
“Do you know anything about her or the town?” Jonas asked.
“A quick search didn’t come up with anything.”
“I don’t remember seeing her name in any of the files,” Jonas said.
“I don’t either.” Madison turned to Jonas. “We need to go there ourselves. Like you said, Barrick has no idea Will saw the car he stole, or that we can connect him to Ryan Phelps. This gives us a small advantage. And if he doesn’t think we can connect him to Mary Margaret, he thinks he’s going to someone totally off the grid.”
Jonas didn’t look convinced. “All we know is that he called. We can notify local authorities, but there’s already a BOLO out on him.”
She hesitated, understanding where he was coming from, but she was still convinced this was the right next move. “What do we have to lose? An hour if we fly? In the meantime, we keep following up with everyone he knows and might go to. One thing we do know is that he’s long gone from here, and this is our best lead at the moment.”
“Okay.” Jonas shoved his hands into his pockets. “I trust your