He hated that he didn’t catch the gunman, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it. They had to move forward which meant gathering evidence to locate the suspect. “Slug’s in the water.”

  Nate nodded. “I’ll get my team on thermal imaging, and we may get lucky and find it.”

  “What are the odds of that?” Jackson asked.

  “Since it’s soon after the shot, we have a better chance.”

  “And if you don’t recover it?”

  “Then we’ll move on to more expensive options like divers or dredging if my budget can take the hit.”

  “Our team leader is a former SEAL, and I’m sure he’d be glad to do the dive if it comes to that,” Jackson offered.

  “Appreciate it. I’ll also arrange to get the vehicle out of the lake. Then I’ll have my tech guys look into the hack.”

  Eryn possessed skills far superior to the average county computer tech and Jackson wanted her in on it. “Can our tech person work with your team? She’s a former FBI agent and served as a cyber security professional for them.”

  Nate nodded. A good sign when many local sheriffs might resent the offer. “I’d appreciate the help.”

  “Eryn,” Jackson called out. “Mind joining us?”

  She got up, brushed off her pants, and started toward them. Jackson was always thankful for his teammates, but now that he was working an investigation with personal ties, he was even more thankful. And speaking of personal, Maggie smiled at him, and he suddenly remembered that he’d kissed her. Not once, but twice. Could she be thinking about it, too?

  Talk about losing his focus. They’d had one, maybe two minutes to get out of that car, and he paused to kiss her like some middle school boy with a crush.

  Eryn stopped in front of the group, her gaze darting from one to the other. “What do you need?”

  Jackson introduced her to Nate and explained. “Nate will hook you up with his team.”

  Nate nodded, seemingly tongue-tied as he stared at Eryn. She had that effect on men. She was a very striking woman yet tough, exuding strength that warned she could take on a guy in a boxing ring. A combination that took Jackson some time to get used to.

  “So—your people,” she said pointedly.

  Nate pulled out of his trance. “Right. If you want to hang out here until we bring up the vehicle, you can follow me back to the station, and I’ll get you started.”

  She looked at Jackson. “Can you spare me at Summit?”

  He nodded. “We’re not going back there until I have some answers.”

  Maggie frowned. “But I—”

  “Need to help the families,” Jackson interrupted and tried his best not to snap. “I know you’re committed to them. Trust me, I wouldn’t get in your way if I didn’t think it was too dangerous to go out there right now.”

  “Speaking of Summit,” Nate said. “John Doe’s dental x-rays aren’t a match for either of the missing men.”

  “So it’s official.” Maggie’s voice was strained. “We have a third victim. Though we have to suspect John Doe wasn’t a victim of the fire but died before it.”

  Nate gave a quick nod. “I’ll get on the phone with the homeowners of the property where he was discovered and tell them about John Doe. Maybe even try to get them to come back to town so I can interview them properly.”

  “Is it really necessary to cut their vacation short?” Maggie asked.

  “Body language can tell us a lot more about their involvement than I’ll get from a phone call.”

  “Will you show them the sketch for my attacker, too?” Maggie asked.

  “Yes, and I have a deputy showing it to everyone who stops by Summit today. Plus, we’re trying to contact every Summit homeowner to see if they recognize him.”

  “Glad to hear that,” Jackson said.

  “What about missing persons in the area?” Eryn asked. “Can you request dental records for any that might fit John Doe’s build?”

  “Already done. We’re looking at two potential men, and I’ll let you know if they pan out. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll make arrangements for the imaging and the SUV.” Nate spun and strode over to his deputy who stood next to his car, blocking the road.

  Eryn moved closer to them. “Maggie brought me up to speed on your adventure.”

  Jackson nodded. “If only I could have stopped it.”

  “Actually,” Eryn said. “If the ECU’s been compromised, there’s nothing anyone could have done.”

  “ECU?” Jackson asked.

  “Electronic Control Unit.” Eryn widened her stance as she often did when she got going on her favorite subject. “We’re dealing with a very capable hacker here.”

  “How can you tell that?” Maggie asked.

  “Basic car hacking like turning on the radio and fan isn’t difficult, but compromising a vehicle’s so-called Electronic Control Unit—or ECU—that’s tougher. The hacker had to use the CAN network to spoof messages to the SUV’s steering and brakes, and that takes greater skills. The ECU sends legitimate commands to those components, so the hacker would have somehow paralyzed that innocent ECU and sent malicious commands to the target component without interference.”

  “In English, please?” Jackson smiled.

  Eryn wrinkled her nose. “With this hack, the vehicle’s computer is telling it to do one thing, and the hacker is telling it to do something else. This basically knocks the other computer offline, and the hacker takes control. I haven’t seen this complicated of a hack done remotely, but it’s not far-fetched to believe it happened.”

  “Even if it was remotely hacked, the guy had to be tailing us if he knew when to take that shot at Maggie.” Anger at Maggie being in such danger had Jackson seeing red, and he ground his teeth.

  “We’ll need to get a look at any traffic or CCTV cams in the area,” Eryn said. “I can take care of that.”

  Maggie glanced from one to the other, her focus settling on Jackson. “If all of this is true, we’re looking at a fairly talented computer person, right? Scott could’ve been friends with computer students at the college.”

  “Good point,” Jackson said. “When we get back to your place, I’ll review our earlier interviews to see if there’s a lead there. If so, we can head to campus and run it down.”

  Maggie waved a finger between them. “We—as in you and me? Like you’ll actually allow me to leave the house?”

  Jackson resisted sighing. “You know that I’m not trying to be difficult, just trying to keep you alive, right?”

  She ran a hand through her tangled hair. “I know, and that came out snippy. I didn’t mean it that way. I just want to go with you to campus.”

  Given a choice, he’d put her in a bulletproof bubble, but he had no right to let his unreasonable fears dictate his actions as her bodyguard. “Depends on the lead, and if you’re needed. I may not go myself. Might send Alex or Riley.”

  But would he send someone else?

  Not likely. Not with a chance to make some headway on this investigation and get this killer off the street before he struck again.

  7

  In her kitchen, Maggie stood before the crock-pot, inhaling the savory scent of beef that had roasted all day and filled the house with a tantalizing aroma. She shredded the meat and mixed in barbeque sauce for their dinner. As much as she complained about going home instead of returning to Summit, her body ached from the seat belt cutting into her chest and abdomen, and she couldn’t imagine kneeling over the ruins and sifting through debris. She was far better off taking time to recuperate, swallowing some aspirin to bring down the swelling, and returning to work in the morning.

  And of course, getting out of the wet clothes so she could quit thinking about the accident. About the gunshot. About the kiss. Correction—kisses.

  She was shocked at first, but then she readily welcomed Jackson’s kiss. She forgot all about the sinking SUV and their lives being in jeopardy. She returned his kiss for all she was worth. She would always care about him, but until they reconnected, she’d thought all romantic feelings had ended.

  Footsteps approached the kitchen, and she turned to see Jackson entering the room. “Thought I’d find you in here.”

  All those thoughts of kissing him had her gaze traveling to his mouth, and she jerked her focus away. “The kitchen is still my go-to place to relax and unwind.”

  “I never liked to see you stressed, but my stomach always benefited from it.” He patted his perfectly flat abdomen and grinned.

  She didn’t want to smile. Didn’t want to enjoy being with him or she might find herself wanting to kiss him again. But he had the best smile, and it was hard to resist. It was one of the things she’d fallen for on the spot. His whole face came alive. Bright white teeth. Full lips. And eyes that gleamed, the skin crinkling at the edges.

  He took a step toward her. Lifted his hand as if he planned to touch her. She jerked back. His smile fell, a stony look replacing it for a moment, but he quickly cleared it away and took a seat on a stool.

  He watched her for a long time, his index finger tapping on the granite countertop. “You asked earlier if I thought we did the wrong thing by splitting up and not working through our loss together. Is that what you think?”

  Wow, she didn’t expect him to bring that up right away. “I don’t know. Maybe. What about you?”

  “I’ve been giving it some thought. I doubt staying together would’ve helped. Not with the way you blamed me.”

  “Blamed you?” She rested her hands on the island. “I never blamed you. The accident was my fault. If I hadn’t gotten mad and grabbed your arm, the car would never have gone off the road. It’s all my doing. We would have a beautiful daughter if I hadn’t lost my cool.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t be so quick to take the blame. If I’d stepped up to my responsibility as a father right off the bat, we wouldn’t have even been in the car that day, much less arguing. I blew it when I said I wasn’t ready to be a dad. Made it worse when I took off and left you alone to figure things out on your own. That’s the real issue here.”

  She sighed, letting out years of anguish in one breath. “We’re both to blame.”

  “I guess,” he said, but he sounded skeptical.

  She sat on a stool and swiveled to face him. “You don’t think so?”

  “Maybe…I don’t know. If I’d just done the right thing—”

  She grabbed his hand. “Stop. Now. You did nothing wrong. It just took you time to react to the news. But you came back to do the right thing. That’s what’s important here. Forgive yourself and let it go.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Like you’ve forgiven yourself?”

  She jerked her hand away.

  He spun to face her. “That was uncalled for, I’m sorry. I’m just lashing out at you when I’m mad at myself.”

  She slid closer and took his hands in hers. The touch of his skin reminded her of the day they’d split up, and she’d grabbed his hands to beg him to reconsider his decision. She was so young and foolish. She thought she could change his mind. But now she knew he’d had to walk away back then and figure things out in his own time. “Seems to me that even if we didn’t break up that day, we would’ve had this same talk over and over and eventually split up.”

  He stared down at their hands. “You’re probably right. Maybe we can never get past it.”

  “Couples do learn to accept a loss like this and stay together. All the time.”

  He flashed his gaze to hers and held. “And they don’t, too.”

  Her heart hurt at the pain she saw in his eyes, and she wished she could offer comfort somehow. But she never found it for herself, so it wasn’t hers to offer.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  She shrugged.

  “Come on. You can tell me anything. You know that, right?”

  “Once, maybe. Now?” She shrugged again.

  “That hasn’t changed. I still want to know your thoughts.”

  “I just wish…my faith. I should’ve been able to find comfort there. Let it help me through the loss, you know? But no matter how hard I prayed, I felt like I was falling and falling. I waited to hit ground and find firm footing, but even after all this time, I’m still falling. I still think God got it wrong. That I wasn’t supposed to lose Alison. I mean, we only had a month to go. Just thirty days, and she would’ve been born.”

  Sudden pain like a knife to the chest stabbed Maggie’s heart. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t know. Maybe God wasn’t watching over me that day. Or maybe He was punishing me.”

  Jackson didn’t say a word, but stared at her for the longest time, emotions racing over his face. “I thought the same thing. Except it was my fault. We shouldn’t have been intimate before marriage. But I know God wasn’t punishing you. Me, maybe, but not you.”

  “I was there, too, right along with you.”

  “So maybe He wasn’t punishing either of us. Maybe losing the baby was just a tragic fact of life. Many people lose loved ones in accidents. Maybe God didn’t protect us, but I know He wanted us to turn to Him afterward for healing and comfort.”

  “Did you do that?”

  He sat back, breaking contact with her and resting an elbow on the countertop. “I suppose it made me who I am today. But getting close to God? Turning to him? No…I went the other direction. Doubting Him at every turn.”

  “Yeah, me, too. I mean, honestly, I think of Alison every day, but I try not to analyze things anymore. I’m afraid if I do, I’ll go back to that terrible time again when she died, and I can’t go back there. I almost didn’t make it. Emotionally, I mean.”

  “I’m so sorry, honey.” He lifted his hand to cup the side of her face.

  She welcomed his touch now and leaned into the warmth of his palm.

  “If only I’d stayed around for you,” he continued. “Sure, we might’ve broken up later, but I could’ve held you after Alison died. Tried to make things better for you.”

  “Jackson, I…” She didn’t know what to say, but his touch felt so emotionally healing. Like a salve for the raw pain. The ache that she’d tried to bury, and yet it remained close to the surface. She couldn’t pull away.

  He looked deep into her eyes and slid forward on his stool. She should turn away, but couldn’t even if she wanted to, and she didn’t. Just like in the sinking SUV, but then she’d been terrified and wanted to cling to him. Now? Now she just wanted him to move closer. Slide his arms around her waist and draw her into his arms. To feel the way she once felt with him.

  The timer dinged. The sandwich rolls she’d previously baked and froze were done toasting in the oven. The timing couldn’t have been better.

  “I need to get the rolls,” she said and fled from him as if he was her attacker and not the man she clearly still had feelings for.

  Okay, how was Jackson going to do this? To go on with Maggie as if nothing had passed between them in the kitchen while his heart ached over her anguish. With his own pain, too. It didn’t really matter, he supposed. Not when they still shared so many issues over losing the baby. After all these years carrying the guilt and grief, he doubted he would ever let it go. It seemed as if Maggie felt the same way. So, a future for them? No, it wasn’t possible.

  He glanced around the dining table where his teammates devoured the barbeque beef sandwiches, salad, and sweet potato fries as if they hadn’t eaten in years. The closest most of them came to home cooking was dinner at Gage’s house. After he married Hannah, she took pity on the team and started a weekly dinner. Jackson had to admit it not only fed their stomachs, but their souls in a way, too. Seeing Gage, Hannah, and the kids so happy gave them all hope for such a life. Likely Hannah’s ulterior motive.

  Hope, yeah, right. His hope was in vain. Hannah and Gage hadn’t lost a child. As he and Maggie discussed, even strong couples struggled to survive such a loss, and he and Maggie were far from a strong couple.

  “Any updates on my SUV?” Maggie set her sandwich on her plate. She’d only taken a few nibbles and pushed the rest of her food around her plate. Jackson was starting to worry about the small amount of food she consumed at each meal. She had to keep up her strength.

  “It turns out there was a software recall for that model a few years ago,” Eryn said, her fork mid-air.

  “I didn’t own it back then,” Maggie said. “I bought it used just six months ago. Guess the people who sold it to me didn’t pay attention to the recall.”

  Eryn nodded. “If they had, this hack wouldn’t have been possible.”

  “Does this mean automotive companies have found a way to prevent computerized vehicles from being hacked?” Maggie asked.

  Eryn reached for her iced tea. “No, that was just one little patch for this particular model. Computerized cars can still be hacked. And are. There’s bound to be more in the future. That you can be sure of. So pay attention to recalls.” She looked around the group. “That goes for all of you. You guys might think you’re invincible and a little recall doesn’t mean a lot, but Jackson can tell you that it does.”

  “We need to listen to Eryn.” He paused to place emphasis on his next words. “For once.”

  He grinned, and the guys laughed.

  She swatted a hand at him but looked at Maggie. “See what I face on this team? I get no respect.”

  So she said, but her tone didn’t convey the same meaning. She knew they were teasing her like a kid sister, and she always rolled with the punches. She was a great teammate and totally one of the guys.

  But he would take pity on her and move them on. “Maybe now would be a good time for you to update us on anything you learned about the hacked computer.”

  She took a sip of tea and set the glass down. “First, you should know that Nate’s forensic team recovered the bullet from the lake, but without a weapon it doesn’t do us much good right now. Second, they found a GPS tracker in a wheel well.”

  Jackson slammed a fist to the table, making everyone jump. “Sorry. I don’t like the thought that this creep knew where we were today.”

  “Explains how he found you to take a shot at Maggie,” Riley said in disgust.