He prowled the area while Bo transformed and dressed, taking his turn once his brother stood at the ready. He tossed his bag into the back seat, rolling his eyes when Bo climbed in beside him and lit a cigarette.
“I thought you gave that shit up.”
Bo snorted. “I thought you gave that woman up.”
His jaw tensed. “Just wrapping up loose ends.”
“With an ear scratching?”
His foot heavy on the gas, he kept his attention on the narrow road. “Hoping I gave her enough of a scare to keep her from coming out here alone and unarmed until we finish up business. We don’t need her or anyone out here playing animal rescue.”
Bo flicked his cigarette out the window, the cherry bursting behind the SUV in the darkness. “If we see her out here again, I’ll drive the point home,” he stated, putting his feet up on the dash. “Ryan’ll be down Sunday, right?”
Nodding, he turned onto the highway and cranked the music.
All ties had been severed.
He was ready.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alex groaned and opened one eye, lifting his phone close to his face as he hit the replay button. Satisfied with his song choice, he sank back into the sofa, ignoring his brothers as they stood over him in the small trailer.
“And how long has he been like this?” Ryan finally asked, lifting up the empty bottle of rye tucked under Alex’s arm and setting it on the kitchen table.
“Two nights.” Bo’s gravelly voice was clipped. “Change the fucking song already.”
He grunted, pushing himself upright and reaching beside him for the bottle of vodka he had stashed. He held it up, squinting to get a good view of his audience. “It’s not red. And it’s not wine. But it’s doing the same thing.” He twisted the cap off and tossed it across the trailer. “Won’t be needing that.”
As he brought the bottle to his lips, Ryan snatched it from his hand, sending half the vodka onto his chest. He jumped up, stumbling against Bo for a moment until he braced himself on the table. “What the hell?” he snarled, swaying on his feet before he slumped onto the bench.
Ryan turned his back, dumping the remaining vodka down the sink. “Bo, you can head back to the motel. Call a cab and take forty from my wallet.” He rifled around the sofa until he found another bottle with a few ounces left, pouring it down the drain and setting it neatly beside the others. “I’ll be spending the night here.”
Alex’s head snapped back as he fought to keep himself conscious, glaring at the bills Bo was slipping into his back pocket. “He took sixty,” he slurred, flinging one arm in Bo’s direction and bouncing it off the small storage cabinet. “Goddammit.”
Ryan’s arm slipped behind him, hefting him to his feet. “I’ll take the couch. One foot in front of the other, Lex.”
“Don’t call me that.” He closed one eye and zeroed in on his bed, tripping forward and gripping Ryan’s shoulder. “A mistake. Huge fucking mistake.” He fell onto his bed and rolled onto his back. “Home sounds so awesome right now.”
He flung his arm over his head and closed his eyes, shutting out the light and the quiet discussion Bo and Ryan were having steps away from him.
Huge fucking mistake.
*
Alex gripped his coffee mug, grunting in protest when Ryan attempted to open the kitchen curtains. “Not ready for that,” he muttered, turning his head from the searing rays of the sun until Ryan fixed the blinds.
Topping up his own cup, Ryan sat at the small table, his expression unreadable. “I’ve been speaking with Bo about your condition. He’ll be here shortly.”
“Bender.”
Ryan lifted a brow. “Excuse me?”
Downing the last of his coffee, he pushed his mug across the table and sat back, arms crossed. “Bo has a condition. I was on a bender.” He looked over at the neat row of bottles on the counter and his stomach lurched. “A good one, too.”
Glancing down at his watch, Ryan adjusted his position in the small dinette. “Bo suggested this was the result of an attachment to a local woman.” He reached across to the coffeepot and topped up both mugs. “Is it out of your system now?”
“Treated with a strong dose of booze and self-loathing,” he muttered, slouching down. “Yeah, she’s out of my system.”
Ryan continued to appraise him in the stoic way that drove Bo nuts, his brown and amber eyes unblinking as he waited for his victim to give something away. “So Bo embellished the seriousness of your attachment?”
Attachment.
The word sounded so clinical and impersonal, at odds with the intense craving that had coursed through him whenever she was near, the heated anticipation he had experienced when she would lick her lips and trail her fingers along his jaw, tangling them in his hair every time they kissed. It was a term that brought up images of favorite shirts and albums, not warm brown eyes that lit up when he made her laugh or slender fingers that tugged at shirts when she was nervous. It didn’t come anywhere close to describing the staggering fear that had pulsed through him when she’d called from the station a lifetime ago, or the flood of relief he’d experienced every time she texted him after a shift.
He wasn’t attached, and fuck anyone who thought he was.
Running his hand over his face, he shook his head in a futile attempt to clear his mind of the woman who tormented him day and night, drunk and sober. “Nope. Definitely no attachment. All ties are cut, and I’m totally ready for the hunt.”
“You aren’t in love with this woman then.”
The L-word hung in the air for a moment, Alex staring at his coffee while images of the woman in question flew through his head. “Almost. Dammit, Ryan. We need to go home.”
*
“There are too many cameras around to hop the fence,” Bo stated, peering through the chain link fence at the Pirithous rental. “Probably no point in trying to break in, though. The cops would’ve wiped it clean and cleared it out already.”
Ryan nodded, glancing around and stepping away from the security camera’s reach. “I’ll scent it out from here.”
Bo and Alex stood back as Ryan stripped down quickly and transformed, chuffing when the scent of the Pirithous hit him. After a quick perusal of the grounds, he was back and dressing within minutes. “No missing that stench. The bloodline has definitely taken full hold.”
While Ryan’s words held no hint of accusation, his guilt rose. “I should’ve called you down earlier.” He hesitated. “My head wasn’t in the game.”
“Your head was too busy being buried betw—”
Bo was cut short by Ryan’s hand smacking him upside the head. “We’ve hunted them feral before, we can do it again.”
He gave Ryan a grim nod.
Once a Pirithous bloodline went feral, they were harder to track, their movements and kill zones becoming less predictable. They abandoned all modern luxuries, their sole focus on the hunt and kill, their nutritional needs met by the bodies of their victims.
It was unpleasant and messy.
Bo opened the passenger door of the SUV, flipping Ryan off as he got in. “So what’s the plan?”
Ryan folded himself into the back. “Since our window of opportunity to hunt in human form is gone, we’ll need to work from within the park.”
He tried to clear the sudden tightness from his throat. “They’ve reopened the campgrounds. If we pick up some camping supplies and food, we can establish a base inside and go from there.”
*
Charlotte hit the brakes of her work truck, kicking up a plume of sand and dust. She craned her neck to get a better look at the campsite, her stomach sinking as she recognized the color and year of the SUV parked beside a small tent.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered, grabbing her CB. “Jonas? What’s the name on site nine at White Tank?”
The radio crackled as Jonas looked up the information back at the station. “Ryan Echidna, paid for two weeks on a Visa,” he replied. “Pr
oblem?”
Forcing her eyes off the small tent, she pulled back onto the road. “No. Just curious.”
“Since you’re in the area, could you confirm the vehicle plate and make sure the campers have the alert sheet?” Jonas called out. “Save me from driving out there after shift.”
She took a deep breath. “Site looks empty right now. Have Max do it when he finishes the eastern loop.”
“Waste of time,” Jonas responded, his voice cracking on the poor connection. “Sun sets in an hour. Circle up to the northern entrance and hit them up on your way back.”
Dropping her head onto the steering wheel for a moment, she kicked herself for calling it in. There was no way she was in any position to see him yet, no way she would be able to play it cool in his presence. Not when the heavy ache in her chest was still making itself known every time her mind drifted to his soft, skilled lips that moved every time he counted the bar till. Or his fascinating blue and hazel eyes that lit up when he’d caught sight of her from across the room. Or the way he always leaned forward in his seat whenever he was talking about some of his favorite movies, almost giddy whenever he realized it was one she had yet to see and they were definitely going to have to watch it.
She drove along the paved road, scanning the terrain as she linked up to Max’s radio, cringing when his music crackled through the speaker. “I need a favor.”
“Jonas already radioed in and told me to say no,” Max answered. “What’s the problem?”
She groaned. “I’m pretty sure it’s Alex’s SUV.”
Max turned down his music. “Whoa.”
“Pretty much my thought, too,” she huffed, pulling off the road and squinting into the setting sunlight at a couple posing beside a large rock. “Advise me, king of unattachment.”
*
Alex hefted a jug of water from the back of his SUV and set it beside the small camp stove. “Told you we should’ve grabbed a larger pan,” he said as Bo flipped the two burger patties wedged side-by-side. “It’ll be an hour before we eat at this rate.”
Taking a long drink from his beer, Bo nodded in Ryan’s direction. “Don’t look at me. Blame the streamline junkie over there.”
Ryan placed a lamp on the picnic table, pointedly ignoring Bo. “After we eat, you can lead us through the area the last kills were found,” he said, opening the cooler and pulling out the cheese slices and condiments. “I grabbed a handful of maps at the visitor center that we can use to plot out our runs.”
Setting a stack of paper plates beside Bo, Alex straddled the picnic table and opened a bottle of water. “Sheep’s Pass is close. We’ll start there and make our way to the Keys.” He frowned as the lights of a vehicle turned onto the campsite road and passed over them and pulled into the site across from them. “Damn. I was hoping we’d be the only ones… Ah, hell.” He gripped his water tighter as the door to the familiar truck opened.
Bo straightened up from the stove. “Is that—”
“Yup.”
His throat tightened as Charlotte stood beside her truck, her shoulders squaring before she turned toward them and walked across the dirt path, stopping beside the SUV.
The need to run slammed through him, but whether it was to run away from her or toward her, he didn’t know.
She looked so goddamn beautiful in her uniform; it physically hurt to look at her.
“Welcome to Joshua Tree,” she said, her voice stronger than his would be. She knelt down and locked her eyes on the back of the vehicle. “I’m just grabbing your plate number for our system and dropping off some information packages about the park.”
Bo took a step closer to him as Ryan stood and approached her with his hand extended. “I can take those.”
Charlotte rose to her feet and passed a handful of papers to Ryan, her face tilted away from Alex, hidden by the brim of her hat and the faint light of the lantern.
Not that it mattered.
He knew every curve of her face, every freckle, every expression.
Seeing it here, now, would only add to the plethora of images of her that cycled through his mind on a loop.
“You’ve probably heard we’ve had a string of murders in this area,” she stated, stepping back out of the light and clasping her hands behind her back. “We’re asking campers to remain vigilant to their surroundings, report anything suspicious to one of the stations listed on the back of the brochure, and to travel in groups of two or more at all times.”
Alex looked over at the truck, his jaw tensing when he confirmed she was once again alone on the trails. Unguarded. He shrugged Bo’s hand off as it settled on his shoulder. “Why isn’t Max with you?”
Her breath hitched before she continued her spiel, her thumbs hooking into the cuffs of her shirt and tugging her sleeves down over her hands. “We’re also reminding visitors to stick to established paths and to clean up all traces of activity prior to leaving the area. If there are no questions, have a great night and enjoy your stay at Joshua Tree.”
He hopped off the table and took a step toward her. “Charlotte.”
She pursed her lips, finally turning to look at him. “Question?”
He took another step, his stomach knotting when her eyes hardened and she retreated back. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Bo swore under his breath while Ryan watched Alex with a mixture of wariness and concern.
She stilled for a moment, her attention on the empty campsite beside him. “One minute.” She turned her back to him and walked over to her truck, wrapping her arms around herself in a familiar defensive move that knocked him in the gut every time. “Go.”
“You know why we’re here,” he said quietly, stopping a fraction closer to her than needed.
“Yeah, I figured as much when I saw the three of you together.” She gave him a tight smile, her gaze averted. “Hopefully you’ll have more luck than the FBI.”
He reached to her instinctively, yanking his arm back at last minute and shoving his hands into his back pockets. “I don’t want you out here alone until we catch the guy.”
Her attention locked on something just past his shoulder and she yanked her keys from her pocket. “You don’t really have a say in that, do you?” When he didn’t respond, she exhaled and straightened her hat. “I’m turning a blind eye to you three. Clean up after yourselves, don’t get yourselves killed while I’m on shift, and don’t make me regret this.”
She got into her truck and pulled the door closed, backing out of the site without another glance his way. He watched the taillights until they disappeared into the darkness, digging his knuckles into his chest in a futile attempt to relax that tension that had settled there, to relieve himself of the constant ache he’d endured since he’d walked out of her apartment.
Scanning the darkness with the faint hope she’d doubled back to him, he took a deep breath and returned to his campsite, silently accepting the burger Bo handed him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“How much fucking area can one guy cover?” Bo groaned, waving off the map Ryan was holding. “Skull, Chasm, Keys…why don’t we start crossing off the places we haven’t scented him and go from there?”
Alex spun his car keys on his finger and continued to stare out into the desert. “His stench is too strong around here. He has to be keeping a local base and traveling out to pick them off,” he murmured, forcing his thoughts away from the ranger he knew was driving the trails alone. “What towns had bodies parts dumped this week?”
Ryan passed the map over, the three towns circled in bright red marker. “The FBI set up to the north,” he said, tracing a line from their campsite. “Their focus on the cities will keep them out of our hair unless another body turns up around here.”
Glancing around before he stripped down, he tossed his clothes into the tent and dropped to all fours to transform, recoiling when the overpowering odor of the Pirithous line hit him. He barked a warning to his brothers, stalking through the site until they joine
d him and latched on to the trail.
The bastard had been close. Too close. He fell back as Ryan took the lead, following the scent trail through the boulders and sand before he hit a stretch of flat terrain, the imprints of a motorbike marking the final leg of the path.
The brothers doubled back, fanning out to scour the area for any signs of where the Pirithous had holed up until they reached their campsite, taking turns transforming, dressing, and standing guard.
“Well, he knows we’re here,” Ryan stated. “Do we hunker down or move?”
Bo laced up his boots, knocking the sand off on the seat of the picnic table. “We hole up here and take him down the next time he comes around.”
Alex nodded. “We’re low on food and water. I say we go to town, fuel up, and prepare to lock down until he finds us.”
*
Charlotte blocked Max’s hand as he reached for her fries, pulling her plate closer to herself and holding her fork out in defense. “Don’t mess with me, boy,” she growled. “I’m tired, I’m hungry, and in this state, I hold no responsibility for my actions if you try that again.”
Max returned his attention to his own plate, poking at the baked potato he had insisted looked better on the menu. “When can we go back to eating at the tavern?” he moaned, gripping his knife to slice through the tough steak. “I want real food.”
“When hell freezes over?” she offered with a smile, passing him a pity fry. “Jonas mentioned there’s a new bartender, so maybe we can hit the place up tomorrow.”
Max scarfed down the fry and looked longingly at her plate. “The site was renewed for another two weeks under that Ryan guy.” He chewed his steak, disgust crossing his face as he swallowed. “Don’t know what they’re doing every day. The campsite’s deserted every time I go by.”
She sighed and pushed her plate over to the partner who had taken over the northern loop of the park for her. In exchange for daily meals. “I don’t want to know. Out of sight, out of mind, right?”
Junkyard Dog Page 18
