Occupation: Texas Ranger

One hundred and nineteen.

That’s how many murder cases I’ve cleared. A perfect record—maybe the only currently unbroken streak in the Texas Department of Public Safety. It’s what landed me this job—Texas Ranger, the best of the best Lone Star law enforcement has to offer.

Three months on, I’m still getting the coffee. Well. That, and guarding autopsy reports.

That’s what I’m doing in Austin this morning—dropping off a DNA and tissue toxicity report on Jessa DuGray, a pretty coed who sent the whole city into chaos when she disappeared last summer. Her remains weren’t found until late February, burned beyond anything but a dental ID outside a cave in as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get around here.

Not that the lab found anything. Just because nobody told me to read the report doesn’t mean I didn’t. Archie Baxter is as good as it gets when it comes to hunting down cagey criminals, but this won’t help him find Jessa’s killer.

Pulling my worn black leather Laredo boots on, I grab the fat blue folder and head for the hotel lobby, where they keep the good coffee. A hot cup with two sugars in hand, I climb into my truck and steer through familiar streets toward headquarters.

Weird, being a hotel guest in my hometown. I had to move an hour and a half north to Waco to take this job, and some days, I wonder if it will ever be worth it.

Most of the time, though, I’m good at keeping my eyes on the prize. I’ve worked my ass off to get here: women aren’t exactly plentiful in my line of work, and I’m one of fifteen to ever wear the sacred silver star. The lieutenant may not think I can hack it here, but I’m good at proving people wrong—my father would happily swear to that on a whole stack of Bibles in front of a room full of judges.

Patience. That’s what got me here. What led me to half of the killers I’ve put away.

And I know in my bones it’s what will catch Jessa’s murderer—I followed the coverage of her case from the disappearance to the remains discovery. Whoever Archie is after here is clever. Depraved. Possibly hiding in plain sight, and more likely to find a new victim with every day that passes. This type of actor wants us to notice how smart he is, but that hunger is usually what drives the little mistakes that help us pick up a trail. Those are the things I’m good at spotting—the tiny errors that are easy to overlook.

Whipping the truck into a street spot in front of headquarters, I flip to the first page of the report one more time. Jessa’s family deserves an answer. It’s a special ring of hell, living with not knowing what happened to someone you love. I keep digging in murky cases long after a lot of other folks give up because I understand that in a way I hope most of my colleagues never will.

Closing the folder, I raise my eyes to the brown, variegated bricks of the building. Like a big old mixed up tone-on-tone Rubik’s Cube. A puzzle I haven’t figured out how to solve.

Yet.

I’ll get it, though. All I need is one boot in the proverbial door.

You can read more about Faith in Fear No Truth, the first book in the “Faith McClellan” traditional mystery series.

Two dead girls. One determined Texas Ranger. Three horrifying truths.

After a series of murders, newly-minted Texas Ranger Faith McClellan races to unmask a killer lurking in one of Austin’s most sacred institutions. But the insidious truth at the heart of this case is darker and more dangerous than she ever imagined.

“Terrific. Surprisingly edgy and with a twist around every corner, the skilled and talented LynDee Walker sets the reader on an unstoppable ride. Authentic, witty and compelling—I could not put it down.”—Hank Phillippi Ryan, Nationally Bestselling Author of Trust Me

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About the author
LynDee Walker is the national bestselling author of both the Nichelle Clarke and the Faith McClellan series of crime novels. Her debut, Front Page Fatality, was nominated for the Agatha Award, and reviews have praised her work as “well-crafted, compelling, and fast-paced,” and “an edge-of-your-seat ride” with “a spider web of twists and turns that will keep you reading until the end.”

Before she started writing fiction, LynDee was an award-winning journalist who covered everything from ribbon cuttings to high level police corruption, and worked closely with various law enforcement agencies that she reported on. Her work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the U.S.

Aside from books, LynDee loves her family, her readers, travel, and coffee. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is working on her next novel when she’s not juggling laundry and children’s sports schedules.

You can find her online at lyndeewalker.com, and connect with her on Facebook or Twitter at @LynDeeWalker.

All comments are welcomed.