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Chapter 1

Lyndsee Elisrass The decorative row of bushes in front of her obscured her vision but provided her with cover It was a little after ht with no moon, so unless someone looked very closely they would not see the five foot six inch brunette hiding across the street from the run-down church This was exactly what Lyndsee wanted She wore a black tee-shirt, blue jeans and leather jacket The grey pantsuit she normally wore for her job at the FBI would have been too conspicuous for hiding in the bushes after ht she had tied her hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of her way Nor, wavy hair to thehair would be a hindrance

Although Lyndsee was only an analyst, and not a real field agent, this case was different She had told no one she was tracking Mark Albet, the o when she was only seventeen When this o, Lyndsee was forced to change her naned up for college, got a four year degree in cri progra Albet in secret, it had nearly been a year now and she was sure she had finally found him She had taken a leave of absence and driven nearly two days to get here, she just hoped it was really him this time

Lyndsee crouched down, so up to the church doors across the street She thrust her hand nervously into her purse to check her revolver one more time It was still there and still cold She suddenly realized how cold she was Her knees were going nu but Lyndsee guessed it had to be close She should have ar this now mattered little

Lyndsee watched man in a black trench coat with his hood up walk slowly across the parking lot TheThis was not Albet She couldn’t tell if she was shaking frolad it wasn’t him She wanted to find him and confront him but she dreaded ould happen when she did

A few minutes later anotherlot in front of the church He wore a fleece jacket and jeans He acted very casually as he walked toward the door This couldn’t be Albet Wouldn’t a wanted fugitive be more careful?

The h his pockets and soon found the keys to the door As the man turned the lock he pushed the hood of his jacket back and Lyndsee could she his face His hair was shaved and he had a goatee now but it looked like Albet The nose, the shape of his face, it looked just like him

Lyndsee waited a ot up fro spot and attempted to calmly cross the street to the old church Her stoht be it, it o in the church and shoot the man, kill Albet in cold blood, like he had done to Lyndsee’s un at a shady street vendor, the serial nuht a ss to clean up any DNA or finger prints she left behind She had prepared for this day long before she joined the FBI She had been planning this since she was seventeen, living in a stranger’s house, and tonight it ht finally all be over

Lyndsee tried to calm herself as she reached for the door handle but her hands wouldn’t quit shaking She was sure it was the nerves now, she barely felt the cold anymore The door didn’t make a sound and she silently slipped inside, then shut the door just as silently

The lights in the church were all off except for a s from a door to the left of the pulpit It must be the preacher’s office and that meant it was definitely Albet

Mark Albet had been hiding as a preacher in this small church under the na to be a preacher for the last four years with no one even suspecting him Lyndsee had only found him because of a sht on camera behind a traffic accident that happened on the street in front of his church Strange as it seeave the poor woman CPR until the ambulance arrived She and the drunk man that hit her both died on the way to the hospital but the ca next to one of the paramedics Now that she recalled the picture she wondered if the hooded round of the photo

Lyndsee started tracking this man, like she had over twenty other men that looked like Albet, but this one had paid off She was almost certain it was him This Sean Coates had no pictures on file, had no birth certificate, no social security nuhost in the systeal i at his face, she doubted he was an irant and his likeness to Mark Albet was uncanny