by C. J. Miller
Autumn found the keys inside the kitchen drawer. She snagged them and handed them to Ford, hoping she gave away nothing of her hurt or confusion in her movements or in the way she looked at Nathan. He hadn’t asked her to remain quiet about their love affair, but she knew he wouldn’t want it brought to Special Agent Ford’s attention. Or anyone else’s, for that matter.
Keeping their love affair between them was fine with her. She wanted to hold that piece of her life close and private to her heart. She hadn’t had time to process it. Putting a name on the emotion was difficult.
Was it love? No, not love. Love didn’t grow that quickly. He had made her feel differently than any other man had, but now that it was over, would it make it that much harder to move on from the relationship?
“The hikers are staying in cabin seven,” she said to Special Agent Ford. She didn’t look at Nathan, afraid she would react and Ford would read something in her face. “I brought them food and the heat was working fine in their cabin. We’ve talked to them several times and they’ve been safe, just a little bored.”
“I’ve spoken to their worried parents. I’ll talk to them and see if I can knock some sense into them and convince them to go home,” Roger Ford said.
“I let them know to expect the authorities,” Nathan said, his voice deep, hard. He grabbed his jacket, pulled it on and fled her cabin.
Autumn nearly flinched at his tone and his cold response. He was business as usual—no warmth, no emotion—while she was still reeling from the impact of their lovemaking.
Had it meant nothing to him? It hadn’t dawned on her to ask if he cared for her. And now, the questions flooded into her mind, drowning out the rest of the world. She suddenly needed a sign that he cared.
She wasn’t one of those women who fixated on a man after a couple of nights of passion. But now that she’d experienced the intensity of a night with Nathan, she didn’t know how to walk away. And she hated that. She wanted to appear aloof and unaffected, as though the experience had been no more meaningful than doing her laundry. Or taking a shower.
The shower. She wouldn’t think about taking a shower the same way again. Thinking of it brought the images of Nathan’s hands on her breasts, on her hips, lifting her against the wall so he could slide inside her. She’d hooked her leg over his hip and he’d supported her weight on his hands while he’d moved, and the sensations pelted her as if she were still in that moment.
Nathan hadn’t made any promises, but she was spiraling into her feelings, letting them consume her thoughts. She had other priorities. Blaine was missing. The Huntsman was looking for his next victim. That alone was terrifying. Adding the evidence that pointed to Blaine as a suspect, Autumn needed to work faster and find something to clear her brother’s name.
* * *
After checking on the high school students in their cabin, Nathan waded through the snow, thigh high in places where the wind had blasted it into drifts. He checked each cabin, looking for signs that any of the others had been broken into.
The Huntsman’s methods were becoming more ritualistic, more cruel. He was toying with Autumn and the authorities, leaving clues he was lurking and taunting them to find him. He didn’t want to be caught, but it was his game to prove that he was smarter.
A gust of air tore through Nathan’s jacket. Nathan had the oddest sensation of being watched. He turned slowly, scanning the area, peering through the trees. The wind had kicked up, sending flurries of snow from the treetops, limiting visibility. Combined with the sun reflecting off the white snow on the ground, it was nearly blinding. He shook off the sensation, refusing to allow the killer’s head games to affect him.
Nathan pulled his sunglasses from his pocket and covered his eyes. With absolute certainty, he was sure the Huntsman was watching them, and taking great pleasure in staying one step ahead.
Nathan stopped at the steps of cabin twelve, waiting for Ford to look up from the notebook in which he was writing. “Something going on with you and Autumn?” he asked, stopping writing and looking at Nathan.
Talking about him and Autumn and how they had spent the past couple of days wasn’t an option. His sex life was none of Roger Ford’s business.
Would Autumn forget the whole incident had happened and move on? It was the best course of action, and though he considered it, it bothered him she might do the same. It had to be over, but he didn’t want it to mean nothing. “Working the case together.”
Ford sniffed. “Don’t compromise the investigation.”
“I’m not compromising anything. I’ve been investigating and tossing leads your way whenever I get them.”
Ford narrowed his eyes. “Uncle Sam thanks you. But I’ve told you before. You’re too close to this case. You’re not thinking objectively.”
Ford was right on that count, about him not thinking objectively. Nathan was a rational, logical man, but in this case, sleeping with Autumn had crossed a line. Protecting her had taken on new meaning.
“I’ll find this guy,” Nathan said, keeping his tone neutral, shoving thoughts of Autumn away.
Ford patted Nathan’s shoulder. “I admire your persistence. To a point.”
“Nothing’s changed, Ford. I am not planning to back away from this. I will find this guy.”
Ford shook his head as if Nathan was a lost cause.
Nathan returned to Autumn’s cabin, knocking once before going inside. Autumn was curled in a chair with a book open in her lap. She wasn’t reading it, just staring at the wall.
She looked over when he came into the room and closed the book. “Did you find out anything from Ford?” Her eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted. His attention moved from her lips to her chest, rising and falling. The urge to gather her against him, maybe pull her onto his lap, was overwhelming.
He strode to the couch and sat across from her. He wouldn’t bungle this by touching her or confusing her about their relationship. “Ford is still trying to keep us out.”
Autumn inclined her head. “But we told him about the footprints. We’ve been looping him into what we’ve been learning. He has the mettle to shut you out?”
Though it irritated him, Nathan knew where Ford was coming from. Working for the FBI at Ford’s level made it impossible to avoid politics. Missteps, even perceived missteps, would land Ford and his team in hot water. Giving away information to unauthorized civilians counted as a misstep. “He doesn’t have a choice. The stakes are too high and getting higher every day.”
Autumn sighed. “Then what’s the plan?”
He didn’t have one. He’d spent the past two days wrapped in her arms, not thinking much about the case. While he could have been building contingency plans and working to get a step ahead of the killer, he’d been taking a sexual vacation. “The Huntsman is close, watching and waiting. Possibly hiding out. Any ideas where he might take shelter?”
The color drained from her face. “Do you think he’s hiding at one of the campgrounds along the trail? Or at the stops nearby?”
It was possible. “He’s not done here.” Nathan could feel it in his gut. One interrupted murder wasn’t enough to sate him for long.
Autumn looked away and closed her eyes. She took several deep breaths and she turned her gaze to him, her chin tilted up, her shoulders pulled back. “The snow will limit where he could move and find shelter from the elements. Some mountain paths could be too difficult to navigate, even for an experienced climber. That narrows the list of possible locations.”
“Can you point out the locations on the map?”
A long pause passed. “Some of these places are difficult to describe. The map isn’t that detailed.”
His mind jumped from the trail to the Trail’s Edge campground and then to Autumn. She was comfortable out of doors, and she was skilled in traversing the mountains, but the Huntsma
n had proved he was stealthy, strong and quick. Autumn needed a place where she could be safe, and the campground was becoming one of the most unsafe places for her to be. “I think you should stay in town until we find him.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “What? I’m not leaving my home.”
Angry Autumn was better than Dead Autumn. He stood by his suggestion. “It would be safer if you took a step back from this investigation.”
She threw her hands in the air. “You just asked me to tell you about places where he could be hiding and now you want me to leave? I’m as safe as I was a week ago. Is your plan to go alone into the forest and look for a serial killer?”
She was wrong. Some things had changed. Autumn wasn’t a stranger. She was someone he cared about a great deal more than he wanted to admit. The more connections she had to the case, the more letting her look for the Huntsman seemed too risky and unnecessary. Making love had shifted something irrevocably between them and had made her that much more precious to him. “I can do this alone.”
She glowered at him. “Alone? You want to go alone? Not knowing the area and with only a map, you’ll search for a serial killer?” She pushed herself to her feet. “You’ve made your point. I’ll mark whatever you want on a map and you can stumble around until you find it. But I am not walking away from this case. My brother is out on the trail somewhere and he could need me. I know Ford considers Blaine a suspect. I won’t let them pin this on my brother when I know he wasn’t involved.”
What did she want him to say? That he had come to care about her, and the idea of her involved in this case terrified him to a distracting point? That he wanted to put distance between her and the killer, regardless of how uncomfortable it made her? They hadn’t addressed how their relationship had changed, and Nathan didn’t think they needed to say more on the matter except that it had.
A knock sounded on the door, saving him from trying to guess the source of Autumn’s irritation. Nathan stood, but Autumn held up her hand. “I’ll answer it.”
Nathan rubbed the back of his neck. A massive headache was forming at his temples.
He heard Ford’s voice. “We’ve got another vic nearby. Off the Trail.”
Blaine. Nathan surged to his feet and rushed to the door.
* * *
The room tilted and Autumn swayed on her feet. Another victim. “Is it Blaine?” Why else would Ford give her this information if he didn’t believe it was Blaine? Until this point, he’d been closemouthed with them.
Nathan’s arm went around her waist and she sagged against him.
Ford clasped his hands behind his back. “No identity yet. Been dead at least twenty-four hours, probably longer. The ME is having a hard time pinpointing a time of death with the weather and the condition of the body.”
“What color hair?” Autumn asked, a tremble in her voice.
“We don’t know,” Ford said. “The body was burned like the others, but the snowstorm must have extinguished the flames.” Ford looked away from her. “There’s more left than usual. Part of the face remains.”
Blood roared in her ears and her heart hammered so loudly she could barely hear Ford speaking, though his lips were moving. “Can you get a picture?”
“I’m going there now. The rangers have it locked down until I am on the scene. I can get a picture and bring it to you.” To his credit, Ford sounded softer than usual, the hostility and brusqueness gone from his voice.
Autumn closed her eyes for a moment, absorbing the impact of the news. It could be Blaine who was dead on the trail. She needed to see for herself and she couldn’t wait for Ford to return with a picture. “I’m coming with you.”
Shoving away the horrific thoughts of Blaine as the Huntsman’s latest victim, she grabbed her backpack and began throwing items into it. The essentials.
“Autumn,” Nathan said gently.
She didn’t answer him. He would try to talk her out of going or try to convince her it wasn’t Blaine who was dead and alone on the trail in the cold.
Her mind fired denials at the idea of Blaine being a victim. It wasn’t Blaine. Blaine had to be safe. He was the only family she had left.
“Autumn,” Nathan tried again. “You don’t know it’s Blaine. It could be anyone. It probably isn’t. Males aren’t his targets.”
Autumn whirled on Nathan, a jolt of outrage charging through her. She aimed a finger at him. “If it was your family, would you accept that and wait around for news? Or would you go and see for yourself?” She waited a beat. “Exactly,” she said to his silence, and kept packing.
“Let me know when you’re ready to go. I’ll drive,” Nathan said.
She paused for a minute and looked at him over her shoulder. “You’re coming with me?”
“Yes.”
Some of the tension unwound from her shoulders, and the hottest flames of fury quieted in her stomach. “Thank you, Nathan.” At least she wouldn’t have to do this alone.
* * *
Autumn watched the minutes tick by on the dashboard clock as Nathan drove the twenty minutes it took to reach the access point to the trail closest to where the victim had been found. The location was south of the Trail’s Edge. Blaine liked hiking in Maryland. Could he have been in the area? If he had, why not stop by to see her? Or had he been planning to do just that before a killer stopped him?
Autumn had to believe that Blaine was still alive. Blaine was reckless, but was he wasn’t stupid enough to go off trail into a killer’s hunting ground. He had to have heard about the killer from other hikers and he would have taken the proper precautions.
Being familiar with the area, Blaine would have been cautious especially with the weather being volatile in the winter season. He would have seen the weather reports of snow, or at least seen the clouds, and stuck to the Trail. Blaine had a sixth sense about nature, knowing when it was most dangerous.
As much as she tried to convince herself that Blaine knew better, that someone as smart as him wouldn’t tempt fate, a voice in her head taunted her.
Autumn squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to let tears spill down her cheeks. Keeping it together and staying strong would get her through this.
Nathan reached across to her and set his hand on her thigh. “It’ll be okay. You can do this. I’ll be right next to you.”
She could scarcely draw a full breath, the emotions of the moment pressing on her chest. Anxiety. Fear. The connection to Nathan her only savior, the only thing keeping her from breaking down.
Nathan turned into the parking lot and pulled into a parking space. The trailhead was locked down, allowing only the authorities entrance. The authorities and anyone who could ID the body. A cold shiver piped down her spine.
Was the Huntsman watching them, having a private laugh at their expense? While she and Nathan had been holed up in her cabin, the killer had been loose in the mountains, stealing another life. Though she couldn’t have stopped him, guilt sliced through her.
Ford pulled into the parking spot next to theirs. He appeared concerned for her, borderline compassionate. It was an emotion she didn’t associate with him, but she appreciated that he was allowing her to see the victim.
Nathan got out and popped the trunk to grab their gear. He pulled on gloves and a hat. “How long will it take to reach the scene?”
Ford touched the gun strapped to his side. “Thirty minutes, give or take. The ice and weather complicate matters.”
Autumn tossed her pack onto her shoulders. The hiker couldn’t be Blaine. She kept her tenuous grip on her sanity by repeating that to herself and relying on Nathan for strength.
“Autumn, can you do this?” Nathan asked, setting his hand on her upper arm, studying her face.
Her heart overreacted at the casual touch. “I can do this. I’m fine. I need to see the body so I know
it isn’t Blaine.”
Nathan didn’t argue with her about the chances the killer’s last victim was Blaine. It wasn’t something she could allow to fully penetrate her mind. As when her mother had left them and Autumn had waited by the front window for her to return. As when her uncle had disappeared into the fringes of society and every holiday for years, Autumn had believed he would come home. As when her father had died, she thought there had been some mistake.
Her heart wasn’t prepared to break again.
Forty minutes later, hot under her coat, her cheeks cold and numb, she waited with Nathan behind yellow tape surrounding the scene. The tape was wrapped around tree trunks, marking the area, and a small green tent was constructed around what Autumn knew was the victim. If the victim had been left in the manner Sandra had, at least the body had been taken from the tree.
Helicopters flew overhead, searching the area for the Huntsman, but he wouldn’t be found. He was either long gone or blending into the terrain, undetectable from the air.
As she watched the agents process the scene, her muscles twitched. She was anxious to look at the victim, desperate to know if it was her brother. She shifted back and forth on her feet, trying to burn off the nervous energy that hummed in her blood.
“A couple more minutes,” Nathan said, his voice low and soothing.
But her stomach was churning, her mouth dry and the thumping in her head deafening. “Why are they making us wait?” An unneeded torture.
“They don’t want us to compromise the scene. They have to make sure they’ve secured the evidence they need.”
Autumn had half a mind to storm the scene. So what if she was arrested? She couldn’t take this for much longer.
Finally, a man lifted the tape near where she was standing so she could duck under it. Her nerves tightened. “Please stay on the path, ma’am.”
Autumn walked toward the green tent, aware of Nathan behind her. He was staying close, his hand on her shoulder, lending his support, his guidance. Having Nathan behind her took the edge off her terror.
