ONE LIFE GONE (Special Agent Ricki James Book 3) Read online

  ONE LIFE GONE

  Special Agent Ricki James Thriller Book 3

  C.R. Chandler

  Copyright © 2021 by C.R. Chandler

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also By C.R. Chandler

  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

  Also By C.R. Chandler

  SPECIAL AGENT RICKI JAMES

  (Mystery/Thriller)

  One Final Breath October 2020

  One Last Scream January 2021

  One Life Gone May 2021

  Waiting in the Dark October 2021

  * * *

  Under the Pen Name Cat Chandler:

  FOOD AND WINE CLUB MYSTERIES

  (Cozy Mysteries)

  A Special Blend of Murder 2017

  Dinner, Drinks, and Murder 2017

  A Burger, Fries, and Murder 2017

  Champagne, Cupcakes, and Murder 2018

  Tea, Dessert, and Murder 2018

  For Carrie, Heather, and Jessica, three strong, talented women. Without your knowledge, advice, and unique skillsets, this book, and this series, would never have happened. Thank you. . .

  Prologue

  It was dark. The thick kind of black that could be either a trap for the hunted or a refuge from the hunter.

  The lone figure slowly moved through the inky night, carefully feeling his way, making sure the asphalt of the path was under his foot before taking his next step. He couldn’t see anything, not even his feet, but he knew where he was. That morning he’d walked this path twice, memorizing it, knowing he’d have to travel along it in the dark. He knew the river was on his right because he could hear it rolling past behind the barrier of trees, with another wall of tangled woods just like it rising along the path on the left. Both were separated from the paved walkway by a wide strip of brown grass, overgrown and brittle from long days in the scorching Texas sun.

  He wore dark clothes, a mask, and gloves, blending in with the night. He was here to meet someone, just beyond a curve that he judged to be thirty feet away. He’d come an hour before the agreed-upon time. A deliberate move on his part. A precaution. So was the gun he held down at his side, his finger on the trigger. This wasn’t the first time he’d waited for a stranger in the dark, and he intended to walk away with his life as well as the information he needed.

  But hard experience had taught him that sometimes good intentions were not enough.

  He stopped, leaning forward, listening for any sound that would tell him he wasn’t alone. But he heard nothing over the steady noise of rushing water and tree branches swaying in the wind. Just a few more steps and he would find a place in the grass to hide and wait.

  The flash came out of nowhere, and he automatically raised his gun, firing a heartbeat before one of his legs collapsed beneath him. Pure instinct had him rolling into the grass, vaguely aware of a string of curses coming out of the dark and floating over his head. Blood spurted out of his leg in a small geyser, quickly soaking his pants with a layer of sticky warmth. He clamped his free hand over the wound and pressed as hard as he could against the flow to slow it down.

  He couldn’t die here in this grass. Not here, not now. There was something he had to do. Already lightheaded, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to grab an elusive thought. If he could just remember.

  The tree line. He had to get inside the tree line. His mind latched onto that one goal, giving him the will to drag himself upright, but he couldn’t remember which way he had rolled—toward the river, or away from it.

  He spent precious seconds listening, finally hearing the sound of water over the pounding of his heart. With blood still dripping through his fingers, he turned in the opposite direction, stumbling his way across the grass, gritting his teeth against the waves of pain every time he moved his injured leg. Somewhere along the way he’d lost his gun, but it didn’t matter. One more clue for them to follow.

  Fumbling around, he managed to get two fingers around his cell phone. It was enough. Dropping it into the tall grass, he continued on. The more he left behind, the better his chances of being found.

  The trees suddenly rose up right in front of him, their outlines barely visible as they stood guard over the ground they’d claimed as their own. He fought his way through the undergrowth, breathing heavily in a futile attempt to control the pain that had moved up from his leg to invade his entire body. He knew he was making a lot of noise, but it couldn’t be helped. Just a few more yards. That was all he needed.

  The collapse of his last bit of strength was sudden and absolute. It didn’t make any difference if he’d reached his goal or not. He wouldn’t be getting up again. With a last spurt of strength, he plucked his ID out of his shirt pocket and threw it as far as he could. He used to play baseball as a pitcher, but he doubted he’d managed to throw that small piece of laminated plastic more than five feet. If the shooter came looking for him, hopefully he wouldn’t see it in the dark.

  Sending up a small prayer that he’d gotten far enough into the trees to send his last message, he leaned back against a thick trunk and whispered a silent apology. He should have been more careful. Now it was all up to her. He hoped he’d given her what she would need to find the answers that would bring them both peace. Her in this world, and him in the next. But she would have to search for them alone. He was finished.

  Slipping a hand into his pocket, he curled his fingers around the small burlap bag he always carried with him. He’d left a note tied to it, just in case. She’d know what to do with it.

  As the last of his life drained out of him, one of the FBI’s best and brightest agents stared blindly into the darkness and died.

  Chapter 1

  Was there anything better than waking up at daybreak to the lush sounds of wind playing along the treetops, or feeling the strength of a river rushing loud and steady as it wound its way through a deep forest? Silently answering her own question, Ricki shook her head, sending a long fall of dark hair sliding across her back.

  She’d already gathered it up into its usual ponytail, anchored securely by an elastic band at the base of her neck, before exiting the one-man tent and wandering down to the narrow river, an empty bucket in one hand. There, she’d dipped the edge of the rim into the gentle edge of the current, scooping up the cool, clear water that only the mountains could produce. r />
  She set the bucket on the ground at her feet before rolling the kinks out of her shoulders. Standing with her legs braced apart and her hands tucked into the pockets of her lightweight jacket, her deep-blue eyes stared at the water noisily rolling along only a few feet from the tips of her well-worn hiking boots.

  Tall, skinny trees, their crowns reaching for the sky, crowded down to the edge of the water, flanking the river as far as the eye could see. Moss-covered rocks made a jagged, uneven wall along the banks and blended in with a mixture of light-and-dark-green foliage, topped by a sky tinged with gray and the promise of rain. It was as perfect a picture as you could get as far as she was concerned. A beautiful spot in a place filled with them, made all the better by the lack of any human noise or presence other than her own.

  She’d grown up next to the huge national park, set on the uppermost peninsula of Washington state, and didn’t want to live anywhere else. Not anymore. This was where she’d run when her life had taken a turn south, and the majesty and pure energy of the park had gone a long way to healing the emotional scars she’d limped home with.

  It was coming up on a year and a half since her partner and best friend in the US Marshals Service had been killed in an ambush. Ricki grimaced at the thought of the night that had changed everything for her, but then forced her shoulders down, relaxing again as she let the peace of the river and the forest take over once more.

  This was no place for bad memories.

  Her partner had often tagged along with Ricki on her visits home. Marie had grown to love Olympic Park as much as Ricki did. A smile had always lit up Marie’s face and had stayed there for every minute they’d hiked up and down the trails together. On occasion Bear, Ricki’s husband, had come along too, especially once Marie’s fiancé, Josh, had joined their small, tightly knit group. Ricki shuffled her feet and sighed, the sound lost in the soft breeze flowing around her.

  Those days had disappeared as completely as the wind following along the river. Now she and Bear were divorced, Marie was gone forever, and Josh had disappeared to who knew where. Still, the memories of the days spent hiking the park’s trails were good.

  “Worth holding on to,” Ricki said softly to herself, nodding at the river that kept on flowing by, uncaring about the problems of the lone figure on its banks as it made its way south toward the broader and deeper waters of Lake Quinault.

  The sound of footsteps breaking through the undergrowth told her she wouldn’t be enjoying the idyllic scene alone much longer. Ricki turned her head slightly and listened for a moment before a knowing smile touched her lips. When the newcomer drew closer, she called out softly, “Good morning, Bear.”

  Her ex-husband stepped up beside her and grinned. “Your hearing is still as good as ever.”

  Lifting an eyebrow, Ricki glanced up at him. Still sporting the build of the linebacker he had been in high school and college, Ben “the Bear” James stood well over six feet, topping Ricki’s slender five-foot-eight frame by more than six inches. “And why wouldn’t my hearing be good?”

  Bear lifted his wide shoulders in a shrug and crossed his arms over his chest. “With all that shooting at the bad guys that you’ve been doing lately, it stands to reason you might be losing some of it just from being so close to all that noise.”

  Ricki let out a snort. She knew it was a knee-jerk comment. Bear had never liked her being in law enforcement. “Which shooting are you complaining about? The one that saved your life or something else?”

  “Okay, fine. Point taken.” Bear ran a wide hand through his thick brown hair, leaving several strands standing on end. “But what happened up on that cliff aside, I’m talking about that other gunfight that had you running through the woods up near Massey. It could have turned out a lot worse.”

  “Not really. The suspect couldn’t shoot worth a damn.” Before he could say anything else, Ricki bent at the waist and picked up the bucket. “If you’ll scare up some dry kindling and small logs, we can get a fire going and breakfast started. I’ll set up everything we’ll need for the group so we can break camp sooner rather than later.” She glanced up at the sky. “We’re in for some rain.”

  Bear followed her gaze and studied the blanket of solid gray above them. “Yeah. You’re right. We’ve been lucky so far this trip, but I’m betting we’re going to get wet before we make it back to the trailhead.” He looked over his shoulder toward the campsite and the small collection of tents. “At least they’re all from Seattle, so they’ll be used to the rain.”

  “Used to it, yes,” Ricki agreed. “Hiking in it? Probably not so much.”

  Despite the divorce, and the occasional argument on the best way to raise Eddie, their fourteen-year-old son, they still managed to run a small business together. Adventure Tours offered personalized, group hiking trips into the national forest. Since rejoining the ISB, the Investigative Services Branch of the National Park Service, in her old job as a special agent, Ricki no longer had the time to accompany most of the tours, which left her the much more tedious job of keeping the books and ordering supplies during her off-duty hours.

  But she’d managed to finagle a few days off so she could come along on this trip, which meant Bear hadn’t had to hire a friend to tag along and help out. It saved them money, and she was all for that.

  The small diner she owned in town, the Sunny Side Up, had been badly damaged in a fire, and was still in the middle of repairs, which meant no income was coming from there at the moment. But that didn’t mean her other bills stopped with it.

  The invoice for the assisted living facility where her mother was being cared for appeared in her mail every month like clockwork. And of course, a burnt-out diner didn’t mean her mortgage on the place had stopped, or that she no longer had to support herself and her son. Even with Bear helping out by taking on more than his share of Eddie’s expenses, it still took money to keep everything going, and while the steady salary from her regular job helped out plenty, the monthly budget had become even tighter than usual. So not having to shell out for extra help on a guided hike was definitely a plus, even if she suspected her ex would have rather picked out his own company for this trip up to Enchanted Valley.

  Lately his favorite hiking companion was his new girlfriend, which generally suited Ricki just fine. The petite blond had kept her ex busy during the “nothing booked” days, effectively stopping all Bear’s obvious hints that he’d like to get back together with his former wife.

  Even though she knew that Bear made those thinly veiled suggestions more out of habit than anything else, ignoring him had become increasingly uncomfortable. But now it was no longer an issue thanks to a petite blond named Cathi. Despite the woman saving her from weird relationship exchanges with her ex, Ricki rolled her eyes at the thought of Cathi, with an “i”.

  She was the very image of a former cheerleader, and exactly who anyone would have pegged as a perfect match for Ricki’s ex-husband, as opposed to a tall woman who was more on the thin side than boasting sexy curves, and had long dark hair and deep-blue eyes that could pin you in place with a cop’s flat stare. Nope. On the surface, she and Bear had never been an obvious match at all.

  Not liking her mental comparison between the perky blond and herself, Ricki shook it off and managed to take a couple of steps back toward camp before Bear stopped her by wrapping his hand around her forearm.

  “Before we head back, can we talk about Cathi?”

  Ricki blinked and then frowned. “You want the two of us to talk about your girlfriend?”

  “Yeah. I mean, no.” A tide of red bloomed across Bear’s cheeks. “Not about her being my girlfriend. About hiring Cathi as a part-time guide. You said you’d think about it.”

  Bear had asked her while the group was loading up the van before the drive to the trailhead. She hadn’t liked the idea much three days ago, and still didn’t, although if she were being honest with herself, she really hadn’t given it any thought since they’d started out on the hik
e.

  Ricki studied his expression and reddened cheeks. “Why do we have to hire her on, and have the extra expense of her salary? Not to mention the additional payroll taxes to the state?”

  “Peace of mind that we have someone available when we need her, instead of me having to scrounge up a qualified body for a last-minute booking because you’re off somewhere fighting crime,” Bear said.

  Not buying it, Ricki stared back at him. She might not be his perfect match, but she still knew this man inside and out. Bear wasn’t a liar, but he did tend to leave out a fact or two whenever it suited him. Without saying a word, she waited until he began to shift his weight from one foot to the other, a sure sign he wasn’t telling her something. She narrowed her gaze on his face. “Are you pushing for this, or is she?”

  Bear sighed. “She is. But she has a point.”

  Ricki started tapping her boot against the ground. “Uh-huh. What about her job at Mountain Outfitters? Would she be able to get out of work whenever we’re running a tour, especially if they’re longer than a couple of days?” She gestured in the direction of their temporary camp. “Like this one. Four days. Can she get off work four days in a row, maybe more, whenever we need her? And she lives in Tacoma. That’s a ninety-minute drive from Brewer. Will that be doable if we end up with a last-minute, immediate booking?”