Copyright © 2020 by A.J. Rivers
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The Girl and the Deadly End
A.J. Rivers
Contents
The Girl and the Deadly End
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Epilogue
Staying In Touch With A.J.
More Emma Griffin FBI Mysteries
The Girl and the Deadly End
Prologue
Two years ago…
He never thought he would be here again. Feathered Nest, a little town of secrets. He never thought he would see these trees bloom new and green again in the February sun. The sun was still bright. That never changed. Spring weather had melted away the icy edges of winter. There was still enough cool in the air for him to pull the collar of his jacket up over the back of his neck and appreciate the warmth from a cup of ink-black coffee on his palms after returning from walking the trails in the forest.
He never got used to the shift in weather from place to place. He could go for weeks at a time, spending only a couple of days here or there in any given climate, yet it always seemed like a shock to shift from place to place. The last time he’d been here, it had only been for a few days, and it would be the same now. Once his work was done here, the gradually thawing Virginia spring would soon disappear into the already stifling heat of Florida. He’d get only a day there, then jump to the top of the country, still buried in the snow.
But that jump would never happen. He didn’t know yet that he’d never see the snow.
His heart started beating harder the further he drove down the narrow, winding road. He’d been down it so many times he could have done it without looking, but he knew this would be his last time. This was to bring closure. To end what started sixteen years before. He never meant for it to take this long. He never meant for Emma to go through all of this.
The crunch of the gravel under his tires slowed and stopped. A breath dragged into his lungs, bringing in the heat rolling off the car’s engine. He looked at the cabin in front of him. There was little daylight left, but what was still there illuminated years of change on the slumbering building. It wasn’t what it used to be. It never would be again.
But if he closed his eyes, it could all come back. He could see Mariya walking to the bottom of the steps. Turning to glance over her shoulder at him, her blonde hair shimmering in the sunlight. Even this far away, he could see the blue of her eyes. It had been so many years since she’d danced, but her body never forgot it. Every movement was fluid and smooth, almost like it was choreographed. In many ways it was. Everything she did was carefully planned. Precise, neat. Everything went exactly according to plan. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. There was too much risk involved to gamble anything.
She always thought about the risk for the others. Those who had faced enough risk and who relied on her to rescue them from it. Never once did she think of the risk to herself. It just never crossed her mind. Or, at least, she never would admit to it. She never shared it with him. Or Ian, or anyone. The danger was an illusion, and her work was too important to hold it in her mind.
But he never thought about anything but. The danger was his life. He absorbed the danger so she could live her life without fear. That was his purpose, his entire reason for being.
That time with her, so many years ago, wasn’t the first time he saw the cabin, but it was supposed to be the last. She was there to say the work was done and to be seen there one more time. After that, she would return twice more, but not to the cabin. That way, no one would make the connection. Without a thread, nothing could unravel.
But their plans had been destroyed. The monster came for her first. And he didn’t see it coming.
It took him sixteen years, but he found his way back.
He wanted to stay there, but he couldn’t risk being seen yet. He still had to wait, but the train had arrived on schedule, so it wouldn’t be long. Backing down the drive, he paid close attention to his surroundings. He wasn’t fully out of the woods when he noticed movement to one side. Something was there. It moved like a flash across his periphery, but he knew better than to stop and look. All too often, a signal for help is nothing more than bait. Instead, he kept his eyes focused ahead and drove out of town.
His eyes flicked up to his rearview mirror. The car behind him was there each time. Sometimes close enough for him to see the swell of the dark blue top, sometimes falling back so far, he could only see the exhaust. He didn’t feel his stomach sink until it fell out of sight. Leviathan were closing in now. They’d been hunting him for almost a year, and he knew coming here would put him in their crosshairs. But he couldn’t avoid it. This is what had to be done. No matter how it ended.
There were only a few cars in the parking lot of the hotel. He swept the area
