Showdown in West Texas by Amanda Stevens

about a car?”
    She shook her head. “I didn’t even think to look.”
    â€œAny suspects?”
    â€œMy parents had no enemies, and we certainlyweren’t rich so there was no reason for someone to think there’d be cash in the house.”
    â€œWas anything taken?”
    â€œNothing.”
    â€œHow did he get in?”
    Cage thought for a moment she wouldn’t answer. Then she drew a breath and slowly released it. “I left the front door unlocked.”
    Now it was Cage who remained silent.
    â€œI’d left my bicycle out in the driveway and my dad was afraid my sister, Rachel, would hit it if she came home early from her sleepover. She used to do that sometimes. Even after she was old enough to drive, she never liked spending the night away from home, which is strange, because after she left for college, she never came back.”
    â€œAnd you’re sure you left the door unlocked when you came back in?”
    â€œI must have. I was the last one in that night. And there was no sign of a forced entry. Just that unlocked front door.”
    â€œYou were only ten years old,” he said softly.
    â€œI know.”
    â€œYou can’t blame yourself.”
    â€œI don’t.”
    But in spite of the denial, Cage was willing to bet that unlocked door had tormented her for years.
    â€œWhat about fingerprints or tire tracks? There must have been some kind of trace evidence.”
    â€œThere was nothing.”
    â€œThere was something,” Cage said. “There’s always something left behind. It just didn’t get found.”
    Grace shrugged. “That was twenty-three years ago. We didn’t have the kind of forensic technology we have these days. And even now, we both know it’s never as easy as those CSI shows make it seem. Especially in a place like Cochise County.”
    â€œMiss Nelda said the authorities were convinced it was someone local because of other incidents that happened. She was kind of vague about that.”
    â€œShe must have been talking about the other murders,” Grace said, and she gave him another quick glance.
    â€œWhat other murders?”
    â€œEllen and John Lomax. They were ranchers, too. They were found murdered on their kitchen floor the year before my parents were killed.”
    â€œSame M.O.?”
    â€œSimilar, except they were killed in the middle of the day. They’d just sat down to lunch. The table was set for three and there was still food on the plates and coffee in the cups. Whoever it was, they had invited him to sit down and eat with them. Their sixteen-year-old daughter got sick at school that day and came home early. She must have seen the killer. Her truck was found in a ravine a few miles from the ranch. She was headed back toward town when her vehicle was forced off the road. She got out to run, but he caught her and shot her in the head. Left her right where she fell. If he was able to do that to her…” Grace swiped another strand of hair from her forehead. “I’ve often wondered why he spared Lily and me when he must have known we were there that night.”
    â€œEven a monster might have a hard time killing two little girls in cold blood.”
    â€œHe didn’t seem to have a problem killing the Lomax girl.”
    â€œShe was older and that was in the heat of the moment. And it is possible he didn’t know you were hiding under the bed.”
    â€œIf it was someone local, then he had to have known we were somewhere in the house. Just as he knew that Jenny Lomax would be in school that day.”
    â€œAnd the police were convinced it was the same perpetrator in your parents’ case?”
    â€œThe M.O. was close enough that it seemed likely.”
    â€œWhat did the ballistics reports show?”
    â€œThey weren’t a match, but that doesn’t mean anything. Almost everyone in Cochise County owns more than one gun.”
    Something about