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woman inside was in the beginning stages of decomposition. She hadn’t been in there for too long. Dax could see her long blonde hair and the clothes she was wearing were still in good shape. Just as with the other victims, it didn’t look—at first glance, at least—as if she’d been raped before being put inside the box. She was completely dressed, her clothes were on straight, and she had no visible marks on her body. She was covered in dirt and the fingernails on her hands had bled profusely. She’d obviously tried with every breath left in her to claw her way out of the crude wooden box she’d been entombed inside.
    Dax shuffled to the next photos. They’d been taken off-scene: the inside lid of the box had claw marks on it, showing how desperately the woman had fought for her life, the inside of the coffin, the picture taken after the woman’s body had been removed, showing body-fluid stains and an empty water bottle. Dax swore and looked up. He hadn’t noticed it in pictures of the killer’s other crime scenes.
    “He put a bottle of water in with this one?”
    The FBI agent nodded grimly.
    Dax ground his teeth together. The Reaper was getting more sadistic as time went by. He wanted to provide some “comfort” to his victims, even though he knew they’d never get out alive. It was a complete mind-fuck on the part of the Lone Star Reaper. Dax quickly finished looking through the rest of the pictures.
    The hole in the ground, tire tracks in the soft grass, the victim lying on the coroner’s table. Dax paused. She’d been pretty. She was slender and had a small tattoo over her left breast, some sort of oriental writing. There was a close-up picture of her hands; her nails had been ripped off in her struggles. Dax put the pictures aside and picked up the medical examiner’s report.
    Dax was impressed with Calder Stonewall’s work. He was thorough and impartial. He’d seen some horrible things, but his reports were easily understood, factual, and to the point.
    Calder’s report said the woman had been killed by asphyxiation; basically she’d run out of air. Her pupils were fixed and dilated. Dax couldn’t think of a more horrifying way to die than to be buried alive.
    He turned to his friends. “Anything new this time…besides the water?”
    “Nothing with the evidence, or the way he disposed of the body, but he did send a note this time.” Agent Livingston held up a piece of paper. “He sent it directly to the SAPD. Quint opened it and immediately bagged it. The original is being analyzed as we speak for fingerprints and whatever else they can get off of it.”
    Dax reached for the note, but Cruz held it out of his reach. “He’s making it personal, Dax. You’re not going to like it.”
    “I don’t like anything this asshole does, Cruz. Let me see it.”
    Cruz handed over the piece of paper as he waited for Dax to read it.
     
    By now youve found my latest prezent. I hope you like it. Im impressed you brought in both the FBI and the Rangers. I must be doing something right. Im watching you. Agent Livingston, Ranger Chambers and Officer Axton. Your in my sights. You better hold tight to your loved ones.
     
    “You have got to be shitting me.” The words came out of Dax’s mouth without thought. “This fucker is threatening us? How in the hell did he get our names?”
    “Hell, Dax, you know the papers are all over this shit. They don’t give a damn about protecting our identities.” Quint’s statement was matter of fact.
    “Dammit!” Dax didn’t have any words. He knew his job was intense, but he never wanted to bring danger to any of his friends in the process. All he’d ever wanted to do was get into the elite Texas Rangers. There were only about a hundred and fifty Rangers in the entire state. There were a ton of specific qualifications an officer had to have to even be able to apply for one of the coveted positions. Dax had worked his butt off and loved what he did, but