Page 42 of Coordinates of Death

“You too, Kord.”

Kordell ended the call and noted Aurora’s smile. “What?”

“I can tell you have a great relationship with him. Your voice changes when you talk to him.”

Kordell put his gloves on. “What can I say? The man changed my world, and I owe him my life. Who knows where I’d be today if he hadn’t intervened.”

“It’s sweet. I’m thinking, though, that Maxwell would say it was all God.”

Kordell huffed. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“Why are you fighting it? God is calling you.”

He gestured toward the park. “How can you say that when you’re in the middle of a madman’s sick game?”

Aurora chewed on her bottom lip. “Don’t get me wrong. I struggle. There are times I don’t understand what God’s doing and I can’t see His light in all the darkness, but I know He’s there.”

Even after all these years under Maxwell’s guidance, Kordell still wrestled with surrendering to an unseen entity. “We best get going.” He opened his door and placed his boot on the plowed parking lot.

Aurora got out and strapped on her backpack. “Keep your head on a swivel. I have a feeling SBK is out there somewhere watching.”

The teens to their right giggled and skied onto the trail.

“Should we warn them?” Kordell would hate for something to happen to them.

“We don’t want to create a panic, so unless we know for sure there’s danger, we get to the site and get out.” She placed her hands on her hips. “Do you think they’d even listen?”

“Probably not. Let’s go.”

After slogging through the deep snow for twenty minutes, they arrived at Jennifer’s crime scene. The area was now covered in a fresh white blanket, wiping away the fact that a female body had once lain propped against the tree.

Kordell did a three-sixty, scanning the area for both another box and spying eyes, but nothing suspicious stood out. “Where do you suppose the clue is?”

Aurora bent low, inspecting the ground. “I have a feeling we’ll know when we see it.” She stood. “But the snow has hidden everything, so we’ll have to dig and—”

An arrow whizzed by their heads and lodged in the tree where Jennifer’s body had been.

Kordell and Aurora both whipped out their guns and pivoted in the direction the arrow had traveled from.

Kordell’s heart rate ratcheted up as he stumbled toward the tree line, but before he could reach it, a machine roared to life and sped away, the engine fading as it departed.

No way they’d catch SBK on foot. He returned to Aurora’s side.

She squatted directly underneath the lodged arrow.

“The archer is gone.” Kordell tucked his gun away. “Do you think there’s something under there?”

Aurora dug around the base of the trunk. “I’m guessing that was SBK’s way of supposedly helping us find his box.”

Kordell kneeled on the snowy ground and dug alongside Aurora. Moments later, he hit an object. “I’ve got something.”

She moved closer and joined in, exposing a metal box. “Another change in MO. His boxes have been more crafty than this one.” She raised a hand. “Wait. Let me take pictures.”

Aurora used her teeth to remove her right glove and brought out her phone, taking several shots. “Will you open it? Keep your gloves on. I’ll take a video while you do it. I don’t want Dirk accusing me of tampering with evidence, and normally I’d wait for his team, but again, a woman’s life is at stake. We’re running out of time.”

Kordell opened the box slowly. “What’s with you and this Dirk guy? I sensed tension yesterday.”

Aurora shook her head before placing her index finger on her lips, dipping her chin toward the box. “Recording now.”