A sacrificial ritual. A missing boy. And time is running out.

FBI special agents Frankie Johnson and Ben Andrews are fresh off an assignment when they get a call from the Asheville resident agency. A burned body has been discovered in North Carolina’s Nantahala Forest and their services as local profilers are needed.

They arrive to find a disturbing scene: a fire pit enclosed in a circle with a sacrificial bed above it, containing bones that appear to belong to a young human. Then they learn it isn’t the only one. Authorities have discovered a second sight twelve miles away with another victim.

Their initial profile leads them to the nearby Cherokee lands and Chief “Red Crow” Walker, who explains how this ritual most resembles their sacred fire ceremony but insists human sacrifice, if it ever existed, is a thing of the past. Yet he fears someone could be twisting their traditions into a pursuit for something unholy—and they won’t stop until they get to seven.

And now, Chief Walker’s grandson is missing.

Seven clans. Seven sacrifices. One every seven days. Can Frankie and Ben find the chief’s grandson before he becomes the fire keeper’s next victim?

Read the thrilling novella that introduces FBI local profiler Frankie Johnson. She has her eyes on the BAU, but first she’ll have to impress the locals. Read The Fire Keeper and the exciting new FBI Local Profiler series from author Lori Lacefield.

Available only for subscribers. Click the link above to get your copy today!

the rumor - a psychological suspense novella

NOW AVAILABLE IN KINDLE UNLIMITED!

Beth McCallum and Nick Storvik are attending their twentieth high school reunion when they learn of a disturbing revelation. The bones of Missy Ferguson, a high school classmate who disappeared their Junior year, have been discovered in a Michigan wildlife reserve and an autopsy reveals she was murdered. Suspects are scarce, but when an old rumor resurfaces that Missy was pregnant before she disappeared and Nick was the father, Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. Beth swears the allegations about her then-boyfriend and Missy were never true, promising she and Nick were together the entire autumn of that year, but the truth is, Beth can’t remember what occurred those last two weeks of October 1996 at all. As secrets and lies are exposed, Beth and Nick find their marriage tested as each begins to suspect the other has much to hide, including the possibility that one of them is capable of murder.

Buy Now

Burning (adj) - on fire; very hot or bright; very keenly or deeply felt; intense; of urgent interest or importance; exciting...

Burning (noun) - An Anthology of 14 thrilling stories by 14 outstanding authors.

Lori's short story, The Fire Keeper, is available in the anthology, Burning. The Fire Keeper introduces FBI Agent and Local Profiler, Frankie Johnson, the featured protagonist in her FBI Local Profiler series! Get your copy of Burning now, and read 14 outstanding thriller stories.

Buy Now