Free Hell Is Burning by Morgan Kelley

it, and the others, transferred to our office. Steele Bentley has the new victim, and he’s doing the autopsies as we speak.”
    He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Really? Emma didn't check in with me. What’s going on?” he asked. He wanted to be irritated, since he really didn't like Feds, but in this case, he genuinely had a fondness for his detective and her husband.
    He’d give them the benefit of the doubt.
    “We have a big problem.”
    “What?”
    “You have to promise me to keep this locked down. We’re running against the clock on this one. Silence is going to be our best friend. That’s why I’ve come here personally.”
    He leaned forward. “I promise, and?”
    “The body that was pulled in today was Brynn Westmore-Briggs.”
    Ford actually gasped. “You’re kidding. This killer went after a cop?”
    He nodded.
    “Shit! Shit! Shit!”
    “Yeah, we know. That’s why I’m here. Emma and Mace are holed up in my office working, Steele is going to keep this on the DL, and I’m here to ask for your help.”
    “Are you sure it’s her?”
    He pulled out his phone and handed it to the man. As Chris Ford scrolled through the pictures, his face softened. “Oh, Detective, what did you get yourself into?”
    Croft watched him. The badass boss wasn’t looking so intimidating. In fact, he looked tired all of the sudden. The weight of this was now on his shoulders too.
    “I didn't want to transfer her to vice,” he offered. “When she came to me with the papers, I didn't really believe she wanted to go. When I pushed, she said it was best for her husband and her. She wanted me to expedite them.”
    Yeah, there was guilt for both of them-- Chris because he sent her to the new team, and Greyson because he’d gotten her hurt on her last case with Emma.
    “Yeah, Agent Briggs blames me for her getting taken. I’m the reason she left. This one is on me, so get in line for the guilt train. I'm up first.”
    “How did this happen?” Chris asked. “From what I know about this case, Emma just got those two bodies. I hope this isn't going to become a case of targeting cops.”
    Yeah, him too.
    “We don’t know what’s going on yet, but we have to keep this quiet. First, Curtis doesn’t know yet. He’s my next stop. If the media gets their hands on this, it’s going to be a shit fest. They’re going to plaster her face, and my wife’s, all over the news. You know that it’s going to be about us being crooked and corrupt. They’ll assume my illegal activities got her killed.”
    Ford felt for the man. He knew personally that neither Emma, nor Greyson, gave a shit about the money. If they did, they’d be packing it in and laying low on some beach in a third world nation that they now owned.
    Yet, here they were in the trenches with the rest of the poor working slobs. It spoke of their character.
    That was good enough for him.
    “On top of that mess, once the cops in her house find out that she’d been murdered…”
    Chris understood. “They’re going to want the LVPD investigating it, not the FBI.”
    “Well, that’s where it gets tricky. Emma is yours, but she’s also mine. Once they see me involved, they’re going to scream cover-up of some sort. That’s why I’m here. I need your help. I’ll owe you one. Just keep them off my wife’s ass, so she can do her job. It’s bad enough we’re battling Marianna and this asshole who wants my head on a pike, but now this too. We’ve already been tried in the media. Half the town loathes us, the other half is curious as hell about us.”
    It had to be irritating. That would have driven Chris insane the second it started.
    “You’ve got your deal on one condition.”
    Greyson waited for it. “What?”
    “I want in. She was one of my detectives at one time, and I have some personal time coming. I can take a few days off and help out. It’s been a while since I was out in the field, but I think I can manage. It’s like riding