Fatal Secrets - Desiree Holt Page 0,56

knows who he is. They just keep quiet about it because it doesn’t matter to them. If he’s one of Roger’s friends, I can tell you they’d all overlook just about anything. They all have more money and/or power than you can imagine, and they think they are untouchable. It’s time for it to stop.”

“You’re a good reporter, Jenna,” he told her. “You’ve won some prestigious awards for your work. You’ve written two very successful true-crime books. Chances are he’s aware you’ve been digging into these cases. It’s very possible he’s paying someone in the sheriff’s office to keep him in the loop. That’s why none of the cases ever go anywhere. What if he’s been keeping an eye on you all these years, especially after your awards and your very successful books? If you show up in his playground, you might as well paint a target on your back.”

“Truthfully? I think he’s arrogant enough to believe I have no idea who he is, or that I’ll find out. Or if I do, that despite everything I’m too scared to tackle him or he’s too untouchable.” She blew out a breath. “Maybe if I can finally identify him and nail him, I’ll have some peace myself and be able to get on with my life.”

She’d been carrying this bag of heavy rocks for a long time, and she desperately wanted to get rid of it. She knew for a fact she’d never fully heal unless she did.

“You’re sure he lives in that area?” he asked again.

She nodded. “I am. Believe me, I’ve thought about it a lot. Too much. He could have been one of the many elite of the world who flew in for the high-dollar events my stepfather liked to host, but I just have the nagging sense that he lives around there. All the girls who came forward lived in that area. And something he whispered in my ear made me think he was local. It kills me that I can’t remember what it was.”

She gnawed on her thumb, a bad habit she wished she could break.

Grey shook his head. “I can’t say this enough times. If this guy is killing anyone who comes forward on a rape, what’s to stop him from going after you? You’re kicking up dirt in his playground. And no one was ever charged, with either the rapes or the killings.”

“Which is why he keeps getting away with it.”

He nodded. “I just want you to look at every angle here. If it’s someone as powerful as you think—and I agree with you on that—he’ll have his eye on everything and killing is obviously not a problem for him. A couple of the girls who were killed were just visitors in the area.”

“Fresh pickings,” Grey pointed out.

“It baffles me that he’s still free.”

“Because he leaves no evidence and kills victims who speak out. All those cases are still open investigations.”

“Going nowhere,” she reminded him.

“I’ll say again, he has to have an inside track somewhere. Go out there and you don’t know who or what you’ll be stirring up.” He studied her with those eyes that could see everything. “I just wish you’d change your mind.”

“Grey, someone went to the trouble of emailing me and drawing me into this. There has to be a connection. I have to follow it.”

“You sure you’ll be okay out there? I mean emotionally. Revisiting the scene, as they say.”

“I won’t be going anywhere near my stepfather’s ranch,” she assured him. “Hey, we haven’t even exchanged two words since I left there. You can bet he was damn glad to get rid of me. Maybe he’s forgotten all about me by now.”

He shook his head. “How can he not even want to know what’s wrong?”

She shrugged. “I’m nothing to him. I hated him from the day my mother married him. When I was thirteen, he was already looking to arrange a business marriage for me as soon as I turned eighteen. And my mother was no help at all. She couldn’t understand why a marriage into wealth and status didn’t appeal to me the way it did to her.”

“That’s something I don’t understand.”

“I loved my mother, but she never got over my dad leaving her, and she was swept off her feet by a real asshole asshole. Roger Holland is arrogant, filthy rich, and travels in high society. She thrived on being the society hostess and rubbing elbows with the world’s elite. He knew I hated him and, when