Read Targeted (Callahan & McLane Book 4) for Free Online

him. Zander had never spoken of his feelings to her, but she’d always felt a vibe of admiration from him. She liked to believe it was a result of her work ethic. Not romantic interest.
    Oddly, her close work relationship with Zander didn’t bother Mason. If anyone was to be the jealous type, her slightly redneck, old-fashioned-values cowboy fiancé would be the man. But he liked Zander and wasn’t threatened by his presence. Ava had eyes for no one but Mason.
    I should set Zander up with Cheryl. Her neighbor was also her wedding planner. She could see the two of them as a good match.
    Hmmmm.
    “We could be on a wild goose chase,” said Ava, putting matchmaking out of her head. “The masks could be pure coincidence. You ran a VICAP search with horror masks as one of the criteria?”
    “I ran several using a blend of different key words. I didn’t find any other crimes with horror masks and law enforcement in common.”
    “What about without the law enforcement terms?”
    “Some oddball things turn up, but nothing that feels right.”
    “What’s Weldon’s history with depression? Has he tried to commit suicide before?” Ava asked.
    “He has a few years of counseling and medication. His wife thought it was well under control. She says he had a pill swallowing incident in his late teens when he was away at college.”
    “He did?” Ava asked sharply, surprised he’d made it through the FBI’s rigorous testing and background checks.
    “She says he never told anyone, didn’t go to the hospital, and the police weren’t notified, so there’s no record.”
    “It’s just her word.”
    “His mother verified his wife’s story. She knew about the pills and says her son admitted it to her about a year after it happened. He’d appeared to have turned his life and mental state around, so she chalked it up to a bad month.”
    “A bad month,” Ava repeated, the words souring in her mouth. If only the rest of the world had her experience of living with someone with serious mental illness. She understood her twin was an extreme case, but it helped her see people living with lesser conditions in an understanding light.
    “I know,” said Zander. “But we don’t know how Weldon behaved when he lived with her. From the outside he could have appeared symptom-free and never let her know what was going on. They might have had very normal lives.”
    She felt him studying her and stared straight over her steering wheel.
    “How’s Jayne?” he asked.
    “She’s good.”
    “How’s she really doing?”
    She glanced over at him. Nothing but concern showed on his face. She forced her apprehension at her sister’s name to fade away. “I get an email from her once a week and I always write back.”
    “As you should.”
    “She’s watched very closely. We were lucky to get her into such a good facility. I communicate regularly with her treatment coordinator, and she’s optimistic for Jayne’s health. Jayne even found a shop that was willing to show some of her paintings.”
    “Her watercolors? She had enough to show?”
    Ava was pleased that Zander remembered Jayne’s passion. They’d had a lot of discussions about her twin. “She made some new ones recently. I was impressed enough to buy one and another shopper bought one while I was there.”
    “Her art doesn’t suck,” stated Zander.
    Ava grinned. “No, not at all.”
    “What’s her doctors’ plan for her future?”
    She was silent for a long moment. “To slowly move her into independence. Keep her on medication and therapy schedules.” It was nothing new to Ava. She’d dealt with the same plan for her twin a dozen times. Would it work this time?
    “And your plan for you?” he asked softly.
    “Keep my distance. Keep my eyes on my own life.”
    “Her suicide attempt nearly destroyed you.”
    Ava said nothing. Zander had witnessed part of her emotional collapse from the strain of Jayne’s death wish. “Can we not talk about it right now?” she