Nevada had interviewed Kevin Wyatt’s mother, Vivian, and she had appeared shocked and stunned as she listened to the details of her son’s crimes. Vivian had known nothing about the Deep Run country house or the graves. She had lawyered up quickly, agreed to be available at their request, but had packed up Tyler and left for Richmond.

When Macy and Nevada went to talk to Greene again, he’d not answered his front door, though his car had been in the driveway. Nevada had gone around back and found the former lawman sitting with his back to an old oak tree. He’d shot himself in the head. In his hand was a note that read, simply, “I’m sorry.”

Evidence suggested Greene had protected the Dream Team from both rape and murder, and once his cover-up had been discovered, the prospect of going to prison had been untenable to him. Brooke and Matt Bennett were standing their ground and staying in Deep Run. DNA had confirmed that Kevin Wyatt was Matt’s biological father. Bennett had always worked hard to shield her son from the truth, but now that it was out, she was trying to help him deal with it.

It was one thing to learn a hard truth like that in your thirties but quite another as a teenager. Macy had shared her own story with Matt and Bennett and had offered to talk anytime either needed it.

Macy’s phone rang. “Agent Crow.”

“You’re now up to forty-one cases. Congratulations,” Ramsey said.

Macy had remained in Deep Run the last week coordinating the case details, but had supplied Ramsey with daily updates. “Thanks.”

“I send you down to crack one case, and you come back with a bushel of them.”

“I had a lot of help.”

His laughter rumbled through the line. “I’m going to need you back here by Monday. We need to do another face-to-face debrief with the team.”

The team. “Does that mean I’m officially a part of the team?”

“Do you still want it?” Ramsey asked.

Getting back into the game had been all she’d wanted. But dying a second time had shifted priorities. She had been living at Nevada’s house this past week and had discovered she didn’t crave the big-city hustle or need to chase criminals. Some of her most peaceful and beautiful moments had been spent alone with him.

But could she live out here full time and walk away from the game? Could she turn down her ticket to the big leagues? She wasn’t so sure.

“The answer would have been a slam dunk two weeks ago,” she said.

“And now?”

“We’ll get into the details when I return to Quantico.”

“Fair enough.” His chair squeaked, and she imagined him staring out the window in his office. “Hell of a job, Crow.”

It was high praise from a man notorious for giving out few compliments.

As much as she wanted to revel in Ramsey’s praise, she couldn’t quite call this a victory until she knew what had happened to Cindy Shaw.

The rumble of tires drew her attention outside. Nevada parked, and as she stepped outside, he spotted her and strode toward her with a determined gait that still made her heart beat a little faster.

Because they were on the job, he didn’t wrap his arm around her, but stood close enough so she could feel his heat and energy. “They’re going to start excavating the back field today.”

“Hopefully, Cindy’s there,” she said.

“She was nobody’s angel, Macy.”

“I can’t excuse what she did,” Macy said. “She caused a hell of a lot of pain, but the deck was stacked against her from the beginning.”

Several agents and deputies fanned out onto the field, each carrying shovels. Macy and Nevada followed them and watched as they moved past the overturned soil in the top field toward the untouched lower section.

“They’ve pledged to dig up the entire field,” Nevada said.

“Good,” Macy said. When the Texas graves had been excavated, she’d been in the hospital fighting for her life. This time, however, she was here to bear witness.

Shovels cut into dirt at the far end of the field, which remained undisturbed. Each man with a shovel dumped his soil into a single pile beside the orange flag that the forensic team would sift through later.

Shovels continued to dig in the rich black dirt. This went on for another hour before one of the men in the field yelled out, “I have something.”

Cold autumn wind cut across the field as Macy and Nevada strode through the knee-high scrub toward the group of men huddled around. The site was eighteen inches deep.

Exposed was a human skull. Its right orbital glared upward. As Macy looked at the remains, she scanned the bone structure. The skull had a low forehead, a narrow nasal passage, and a high cheekbone.

Tests would have to be run, but Macy had worked with enough pathologists to know this victim had likely been a female Caucasian.

For a moment all the agents and deputies stood silent. A tarp was brought over and laid beside the grave as a technician got down on hands and knees and began to work the skull free with a small trowel.

Macy had no proof of the woman’s identity, but she had an overwhelming feeling it was Cindy.

The excavation of the grave went on for several hours, and it wasn’t until techs were sifting through the dirt that they found the small arrowhead necklace Bruce had given Cindy.

Macy leaned closer to Nevada, savoring his scent and looking forward to going home with him.

“I couldn’t have done this without you,” he said.

“It was a team effort. We work pretty well together,” she said.

“Yes, we do.” He looked down at her, his smile softening his hardened features.

She loved looking at his face, and the idea of not being with him again worried her. “If I have more of those crazy dreams, I’ll understand if my craziness is too much for you.”

He shook his head. “You’re going to have to try harder than that to scare me away. I’m in this for the long haul.”

“I sure hope so.” There was no guarantee the dreams would stop, or that their jobs wouldn’t take them in different directions. But in this moment, she didn’t want to worry about any of that. Grinning, she said, “One thing is for sure. It’s never going to be dull for us, Nevada.”