Badlands Beware

by Nicole Helm

  “I think that’s fair. I think you get to have whatever feelings on the matter you need to.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  His arm came around her shoulders, so she wrapped hers around his waist. She sighed and relaxed into him. A good man, with a good heart. “I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

  “It seems we all managed to make it through okay. McMillan’s going to be released from the hospital tomorrow.”

  “And Shay didn’t lose her job, according to Nina.”

  “So, all’s well that ends well, I guess.”

  Rachel thought on that. “It’s not an ending, though. It’s just life. We endured some bad parts. Now, we get to enjoy some good parts.”

  “Good parts,” he echoed. He wound a strand of her hair around her finger. “You know one good part we seemed to have missed? I’ve never taken you out.”

  “Taken me out. Like...a date?”

  “Yeah, like a date.”

  She grinned. There hadn’t been time to talk much about the things that had transpired between them on a personal level. She’d been nervous to bring it up. Unsure. But he was asking her on a date. “I guess you should probably do that.”

  “Tomorrow night?”

  “I’ll see if I can clear my schedule.”

  They stood in the quiet for a long while. It was a nice moment. A settling moment. He was an honorable man, who’d take her out on a date, and take things slow. But he’d take them seriously, too. She liked to think it was what they both needed after this horrible year.

  She turned in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck. “You’re a good man, Tucker Wyatt. You’re all good men. Whether Ace is dead or alive. That’s always been true. Whether you got hurt fighting him or managed to escape unscathed. Who you are doesn’t change. I hope you know that.”

  “I’m getting there. It helps to hear.”

  “I think you’ll find the Knight women are very good at telling you all that.”

  “I guess it’s good I found me one, then.”

  “Yeah, it is.” She moved onto her toes and kissed him. Without fear, without stress. Just the two of them.

  His grip tightened, but the kiss remained gentle. Explorative. Because that’s exactly what they had ahead of them.

  They’d found each other, and somehow ended years of fear. Of worry. Of dark shadows.

  Now, they didn’t have to worry anymore. They could get to know each other as something more than friends, find a way to have a life together. With their family.

  Happily-ever-after.

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A Desperate Search by Amanda Stevens.

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  A Desperate Search

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  Chapter One

  The sun dipped beneath the dense pine forest, casting long shadows across Echo Lake. Thankfully, the temperature had dropped from the midday high of triple digits, but the air was still hot and muggy, with barely a breeze stirring the long tresses of Spanish moss that shrouded the bank. Beyond the shade, in a patch of lingering sunlight, water lilies unfurled in the heat. From this thick carpet of aquatic vegetation, cypress stumps rose like an army of gnomes to form a circle around the rotting corpse.

  Nikki Dresden was glad she’d hauled down her waders from the road along with her kit. The body floated facedown just beyond reach of the bank. She tried not to think about the moccasins and gators that nested in the cattails as she sloshed through the shallow water. The smell of decay wafted on the breeze, making her also glad for the spare clothing and sneakers she kept in a duffel in her SUV. She wasn’t shy about stripping. The navy coveralls she wore now would go in a garbage bag that would be placed in an airtight container for transport back to either the laundry at the lab or the heavy-duty washing machine on her back porch. Nikki had learned early on in her career as the Nance County coroner that once the scent of death invaded the close confines of a vehicle, the odor would linger for days if not weeks. Now she took precautions in every aspect of her job.

  Which was why, upon arrival at the lake, she’d spent the first few minutes scribbling notes and sketching the topography and layout of the scene before donning her gear. Nuances were critical and memory unreliable. Even photographs could later create a false perception. A capsized fishing boat underneath the bridge suggested an accidental drowning, but Nikki knew better than to make a snap, uninformed declaration. What appeared to be an accident might later prove otherwise, and investigators had one shot at processing the scene.

  The first responders had secured the area and Sheriff Tom Brannon had kept law enforcement personnel to a minimum. The crime scene unit searched up and down the bank while a young officer named Billy Navarro took photographs and another officer shot video. The deputies who had arrived late to the scene watched from the top of the embankment. A man Nikki didn’t know sat on a log just outside the perimeter. She assumed he was the one who had reported the body. She’d given him a curious glance as she pulled on the waders and had found him staring back at her. She couldn’t place him, and yet his straightforward regard had unsettled her. Had they met before?

  The question niggled at the back of her mind as she focused on the business at hand. At least it was still daylight, though dusk hovered at the edges of the pink horizon. Night creatures already stirred on the opposite bank, the distant serenade of bullfrogs and crickets mingling with the relentless buzz of the blowflies that had homed in on the corpse once it rose to the surface.

  Off to the right, she caught the glide of something sinewy and silent in her periphery. The lake here was deeper than she’d thought. Stepping off a ledge, she felt cool liquid ooze into the waders, making it difficult to navigate the muddy bottom. She trudged on, trying not to think about what might have slithered in with the water.

  Sheriff Brannon called to her from the bank. “Sure you don’t need some help?”

  “I’m good.” She tried to keep her balance as she flicked a mosquito from her eyelash. The last thing she wanted was to fall on her butt in front of a bunch of snickering deputies, but the lake bed was slippery, the waders cumbersome, and Nikki had never been known for her grace. She grabbed one of the cypress stumps and propelled herself forward.

  “What do you see?” the sheriff asked.

  The body bobbled as she pushed closer. “Victim is male Caucasian. Gray hair, slender build. Older man, the best I can tell.”

  “Any idea how long he’s been in the water? Or who he is?”

  “All I can say for certain is that the body is bloated and floating.” Meaning as the corpse had decomposed underwater, the release of gases had caused him to rise to the surface.

  “Gotcha,” Tom said. “What about wounds?”

  “Nothing visible. The arms and legs are still partially submerged. I can’t see much more than the back of his head and torso.” Nikki took a camera from a waterproof bag and snapped a few shots before she glanced back at the sheriff. “Let’s get him to the bank.”

  The stranger rose as if intent on offering assistance. Instead, he paced back and forth for a moment before resuming his place on the log. He seemed...not exactly nervous, but on edge for some reason. Finding a dead body could do that to a person. His gaze remained fixed on the water. Was he looking at her or the corpse? Nikki wondered.

  Don’t flatter yourself.

  Decked out as she was in rubber waders and shapeless coveralls, hair pulled back in a sloppy bun, face red and sweaty from the heat and humidity, she was more a curiosity than an attraction. Female coroners were still something of a rarity in rural East Texa
s.

  “I’ll need the hook,” she called.

  Billy Navarro set aside his camera and extended a telescopic pole out over the water. Nikki grabbed the end and affixed one of the prongs to the victim’s belt. As two of the officers pulled, she tried to guide the body through the tangle of hydrilla and lily pads in order to minimize further damage and to preserve what might be left of any trace evidence.

  Once they had him on the bank, the smell intensified in the steamy heat. One of the deputies coughed and turned his head. Another gagged. Nikki hunkered beside the body, relieved to be back on dry land as she took note of decomposition, animal predation and pruning in the deceased’s hands.

  “No identification?” Tom crouched on the other side of the body and waved aside a fly.

  “Not in the back pockets,” Nikki said. “Wallet may have fallen out in the water. Let’s turn him over.”

  Tom motioned for help and the two officers who had manned the hook moved in to assist in rolling the victim and then backed out of the way. The water had done a number on the victim’s face. His blanched features were so distorted he could have been a complete stranger lying on the bank beneath a feathery canopy of cypress leaves. He wasn’t a stranger, though. The twinkle in the blue eyes had frosted, but the nose, the mouth, the small caduceus tattoo on the inner left wrist sent an icy shiver down Nikki’s spine. Recognition knocked her back on her heels.

  Billy Navarro leaned over Tom’s shoulder. He was young and inexperienced, but he handled himself with far more poise than some of the seasoned deputies at the top of the embankment who were still struggling to keep down their last meals. “Madre de Dios. Is that who I think he is?”

  Tom nodded. “Kind of hard to tell with all the bloating. Something’s been gnawing on him, too. But I’d swear on my daddy’s grave that’s Charles Nance.”

  “It’s him.” Nikki touched a gloved finger to the dead man’s wrist. “I recognize the tattoo. He once told me he got it on a dare during med school. His watch usually covered it.”

  Tom Brannon swore under his breath as Billy moved in for a closer look. “This is bad, Sheriff. Really bad. This man delivered me. My grandmother said I came early and my mother and I would have both died if not for Dr. Nance.” He spoke with a note of reverence and fear, as if that fragile connection might somehow cause the dead man’s misfortune to transfer to him.

  “Yours isn’t the only life he saved,” Tom said. “His death will be a blow to the whole community.” He glanced up then and caught Nikki’s expression. His voice lowered. “Sorry, Nikki. I wish you hadn’t had to see him like this. You two were pretty tight, weren’t you?”

  “He was like a grandfather to me,” she said numbly. “A mentor, a hero. A drill sergeant when I needed one. I wouldn’t have made it through med school without him.”

  Tom nodded. “I know how you feel. He helped out a lot of people in this county. He was a hero to many of us.”

  Nikki fell silent as she gulped in air. Already she could feel grief gnawing away at the shock of disbelief. Sheriff Brannon meant well, but there was no way he or anyone else could understand the depth of Nikki’s loss. Charles Nance had not only been a friend and mentor, but one of the few people in the town of Belle Pointe, Texas, to ever give her the time of day. She’d grown up a misfit and loner, a troubled girl who’d flirted with darkness and courted disaster. When Tom’s father had considered her a suspect in the disappearances of two of her classmates, Dr. Nance had stepped in and set the first Sheriff Brannon straight.

  You’re barking up the wrong tree, Porter. You and I both know you’re targeting this girl and her friends solely for the way they choose to present themselves. Wearing black doesn’t make them bad kids. Nor does the music they listen to. Nikki’s been through a lot and is coping the best way she knows how. I suggest you back off if you don’t want to find yourself on the wrong end of a malicious harassment suit.

  Nikki had been astounded by his passionate defense. With the exception of her real grandfather, who had died when she was nine, she’d never had anyone take up for her the way Dr. Nance had. He’d cared enough to look beyond the dyed hair and heavy makeup, beyond the sullen demeanor and the chip on her shoulder. Maybe he’d seen a younger version of himself in Nikki. He’d taken her under his wing, encouraged her interest in science and had been instrumental in helping to secure the scholarships and grants that had made the dream of college and medical school a reality. His influence on her life had been immeasurable. His death would be the same. It would be days, months, perhaps even years, before Nikki would be able to process the impact.

  She drew another breath as reality settled heavily around her heart. “This doesn’t make sense. He spent a lot of time out here on the lake. He loved to boat and fish. He was an excellent swimmer.”

  “Anything can happen on the water,” Tom said. “Especially if you’re out here alone. He was getting on up there in years.”

  “Seventy-three,” Nikki murmured. “With no sign of slowing down.”

  “Maybe that was the problem. He could have had a heart attack or stroke. Who knows?” Tom’s shrug was far from nonchalant. “But it does make you wonder why no one called in a report. You and I both know he’s been in the water for days. Someone must have missed him. Friends, patients, his housekeeper. Someone.”

  “They probably thought he was out of town. He told me last week he was headed to Houston for a medical conference. He planned to take a few extra days to get in some deep-sea fishing out of Galveston while he was down that way. But none of that explains how he ended up here.”

  “Last-minute change of plans, maybe? It happens. How did he seem to you?”

  Nikki thought about that final meeting and Dr. Nance’s usual ribbing.

  Sure you won’t humor an old man and come with me? This time next week we can be out to sea, not a care between us. Might even go out deep enough to catch a big blue. Unlike my patients, yours won’t complain if you take a little time off.

  “He seemed in a fine mood.” She tried to control the tremor in her voice. “He was looking forward to that fishing expedition in the Gulf.”

  “No hint of trouble? No health complaints? Nothing out of the ordinary that you can remember?”

  Nikki paused. Had he seemed distracted or was that hindsight playing tricks? Had he looked a little pale, been a little subdued despite his usual teasing?

  “Not that I noticed at the time,” she said. “But I was in a hurry to get back to work and now I’m second-guessing that whole conversation. Maybe he was sick.”

  “Don’t do that to yourself. There could be any number of explanations as to why he changed his plans. Maybe he backed out of the conference and decided to hide out at the lake for some R & R. God knows he deserved to.” Tom trailed his gaze over the water. “I’ll check with the conference registration about a cancellation. If his vehicle is at the cabin, that’ll tell us something about his plans. Maybe we’ll find his wallet and watch there, too. In any case, I think you should let Dr. Ramirez handle the autopsy.”

  She nodded her agreement. In addition to her duties as the Nance County coroner, Nikki also worked as one of three full-time pathologists at the Northeast Texas Forensic Science Center. In the state of Texas, any death that couldn’t be explained by medical history or visual examination required an autopsy. The lab serviced all the rural counties in the Piney Woods area, so she and her colleagues stayed busy.

  “I still can’t believe he’s gone.” She was no stranger to loss. Her beloved grandfather was long dead and the grandmother who raised her had passed away two years ago. Her parents were still alive, as far as she knew, but she hadn’t seen or heard from either in years. Now Dr. Nance was gone, too.

  “It’ll take some time to sink in,” Tom said. “Memorial Hospital won’t be the same without him. His great-granddaddy built the original hospital. There’s been a Nance in charge fo
r as long as anyone can remember. Hell, the Nances were some of the first settlers in these parts. His death coming so soon after all that other trouble...” He shook his head. “The community’s already on edge and people tend to think the worst when something like this happens. We need to head off speculation before the rumor mill starts to grind. We owe Dr. Nance that much. I’d like to call a press conference as soon as possible. Be a good idea if you were there, too.”

  Nikki glanced across the body to where Tom still hunkered. She shuddered at the very notion of speaking to reporters about Dr. Nance’s death. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait until after the postmortem?”

  “When will that be, do you think?”

  “I’ll talk to Dr. Ramirez about prioritizing the schedule, but tomorrow is Friday and we’re swamped. It’ll probably be Monday morning at the earliest.”

  “The news will be all over town by then,” Tom said, worried. “I don’t want to let people stew about it all weekend. At the very least, I’ll need to issue a statement. I’ve got a little pull with the paper these days. They’ll accommodate us as best they can in both the print and online editions.”

  Nikki nodded, vaguely aware of his impending nuptials to Rae Cavanaugh, whose relatives owned the Echo Lake Star. But her attention was caught once again by the stranger’s brooding scrutiny. “What’s his story?”

  “He told one of my officers that he was walking along the lake when he spotted the body.”

  It was hard to read Tom’s expression behind his mirrored sunglasses, but something in his voice troubled Nikki. “You don’t believe him?”

  “I’ve no reason not to.”

  “Then why that tone?”

  Tom’s mouth tightened. “We’ve had our share of trouble in Nance County. Drug trafficking, disappearances, murder. I guess I’m just naturally wary of strangers who happen upon dead bodies. But then, he’s not really a stranger.”