“Yeah. We had a good time. Like ... did you know that his favorite movie of all time is The Godfather? I don’t think I’ve even sat through that movie from beginning to end.”
“That’s a total guy movie,” Tyler replied as they labored to climb a hill. It was early in the day, but the heat was already growing. “I don’t really get the appeal of The Godfather either. I think that I’m missing key reserves of testosterone or something.”
Hannah snorted. “I think you’re perfect the way you are. Although ... what’s your favorite movie?”
“Mean Girls.”
She waited for him to start laughing, convinced it was a joke. When he didn’t, she frowned. “Are you being serious?”
“Yup. I love it. What’s your favorite movie?”
“The Exorcist.”
He stilled and fixed her with a surprised look. “That movie didn’t come out until well after you were born.”
“No, but my mother loved it and she let me watch it when I was way too young. I had nightmares about vomiting up pea soup for weeks. My father was furious. Still, she loved it ... and I think that’s why I love it.”
He rubbed his hand over her shoulder. “That’s kind of sweet, the pea soup notwithstanding. I ... .” He broke off when something caught his attention to the east.
Hannah followed his gaze, frowning when she registered the strange lump on the ground. Even Jinx had given up chasing butterflies and was heading in that direction. “Do you think that’s the goat?”
Tyler didn’t immediately answer, instead taking a moment to scan the horizon to make sure they were alone. When he was certain there was no threat creeping up on them, he let loose a pent-up breath. “I think it’s my goat.”
He increased his pace and cut through the field, making sure to keep an eye out for snakes. When he arrived at his destination, he found Jinx sitting next to the fallen goat. The dog almost looked mournful.
“What happened to it?” Hannah asked as she appeared at his side. She looked as upset as the dog. “Did a predator get it?”
Tyler was careful when he shifted the dead animal, frowning when he felt the texture of the goat’s body. “I don’t see any large wounds.”
“It didn’t just die for no reason.”
“No, but ... here.” He pointed toward a spot on the back of the goat’s neck. “Those look like puncture wounds to me, although they’re fairly small.”
“You just said you didn’t see any wounds,” she pointed out.
“I meant like missing limbs or gaping chest wounds.” Tyler traced his fingers over the puncture marks and lifted his chin, grim. “He feels lighter than he should.”
Hannah had no idea what to make of that. “Meaning?”
“Meaning that I think he’s missing a lot of blood ... or maybe all of his blood.”
Hannah’s stomach rolled at the thought. “So ... you’re saying some sort of creature caught your goat and drank his blood?”
“That would be my guess. I’m going to have to get him back to my office to take a better look but, yeah, I think he was drained.”
Hannah made a face. “You’re not going to make me help you carry a dead goat, are you?”
He shook his head. “I’m going to carry him. I don’t want to linger too long, though. If something took out my goat, that means it’s big enough to take out Jinx, too. We should head back.”
He was serious enough that Hannah knew better than arguing. “Let’s go right now.”
COOPER STAYED WITH BOONE LONG ENOUGH to drop by the medical coroner’s office. Unlike the assistant they’d been dealing with the night before, Jerome Blankenship — one of the three top pathologists in the state — was on duty today. Boone couldn’t help being relieved when he saw him.
“I guess they called you in special, huh?” Boone stuck out his hand by way of greeting. “This is Cooper Wyatt. He heads up security at Casper Creek. He was on the street when she jumped last night and her boyfriend is one of the workers up there so he has a vested interest in the outcome.”
Jerome nodded in understanding. If he was uncomfortable talking in front of a civilian, he didn’t show it. “The missing women in these parts are cause for concern and the governor wants this one solved as soon as possible. He called for me himself and asked that I come up here when he heard what happened.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Boone offered. “I’m confused on this one and I’m not quite sure what to do. I assumed we had a predator on the loose when all three women went missing. They’re a certain type, after all.”
“Type?” Cooper lifted his chin, his interest piqued.
“All women in their late twenties. All blonde and blue-eyed. All slim and fit. All could be described as beautiful.”
Cooper’s heart constricted. “Like Hannah.”
Boone shot him a look. “Don’t go getting worked up. We just saw Hannah two hours ago. She’s out with Tyler looking for a wayward goat. What could be safer than that?”
Cooper let loose a low chuckle. Boone had a point, although he would never admit it out loud. “It was just an observation.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Boone waved his hand and focused on Jerome. “What can you tell us?”
“Well, for starters, she has any number of injuries that could’ve killed her,” he replied. “She has a significant head wound, two broken arms, one broken leg, eight broken ribs. The fall was great enough that there was no way she could survive.”
“We kind of figured that out ourselves,” Boone noted. “Please tell me you have more than that.”
“What are you looking for?” Jerome asked reasonably.
“What about toxicology reports? I know the big ones take weeks, but you must’ve done a rapid result one.”
“I did and I can say there were no drugs in her system.”
“Well, that’s a bummer. I was hoping at least to be able to blame this on drugs.”
“When I say no drugs, I mean no drugs,” Jerome stressed. “She was on regular birth control and there were no signs of that in her system. No multivitamins. No aspirin ... or Advil ... or cold medicine. She was completely clean.”
“Basically you’re saying she was so clean it becomes strange,” Cooper said.
Jerome nodded. “She’d eaten about two hours before her death. Fried chicken and mashed potatoes.”
“Which seems to indicate that things were normal up until right before it happened,” Boone mused.
“We don’t actually know that,” Cooper argued. “We just know that she ate. That’s it. She could’ve been forced to eat for all we know.”
“You’re convinced she was taken for the week she was missing, aren’t you?” Boone queried.
Slowly, Cooper nodded. He’d gone over it in his head during the drive to the coroner’s office. “I do. It’s the only thing that makes sense. She was out with friends, having a good time, and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Her car was gone. She never returned to her apartment for a change of clothes. She had a good relationship and was in love with her boyfriend. She had a good job. There was no reason for her to voluntarily take off.”
“There doesn’t always have to be a reason,” Boone offered. “She could’ve simply been masking her feelings.”
“I guess but ... that doesn’t feel right to me.”
“There is one more thing of note,” Jerome interjected, drawing their attention to him. “There was a strange compound in her blood, one I haven’t been able to identify. I’m sending it to multiple labs to see if I can get any ideas from them.”
“What can you tell us about the compound?” Boone asked.
“Nothing yet. There’s literally nothing I can tell you because I’ve never seen it before. I don’t know what it does because I’m not even sure what we’re dealing with.”
“Can we get our own sample of that?” Cooper asked.
Jerome looked taken aback by the question. “For what reason?”
“I have military contacts,” he repl
ied honestly. “They might be able to offer some help.”
“Oh,” Jerome took a moment to think it over and then nodded. “I don’t see why not. Right now, it’s a mystery ... and it’s one that might take more time than any of us are comfortable with to figure out.”
“We’ll definitely take that sample,” Boone agreed. “Until then ... keep at it. I’m not sure where to point myself next, but I think answers are extremely important.”
“Especially for those other missing women,” Cooper said. “I mean ... if June was kidnapped and held for a week, there’s a possibility the others are still alive. Maybe there’s some purpose these women are expected to serve.”
“I think that’s stretching it a bit,” Boone groused. “We have no reason to believe this wasn’t a straight-up suicide.”
“And no reason not to continue to search. We need answers. We don’t have them yet. That means we can’t shut down any possibility, Cooper added”
“I hate to admit it, but you’re right. We’ll keep digging because that’s all we can do.”
6
Six
Becky was loitering near the downtown area when Tyler and Hannah returned with the goat. The look on her face when she saw the dead animal was one of confusion.
“Why did you kill it?”
Hannah shot her a withering look. “We didn’t kill it.” In the end, she helped carry the goat after all, but only because she couldn’t shake the feeling that the hills had eyes ... and they were being watched. She was nervous enough to risk touching the goat if it meant they could move faster. “Is Cooper back yet?”
“I thought you would psychically know that since you guys are so in tune with one another,” Becky drawled.
Hannah didn’t have time for a verbal hair-pulling contest. “When he gets here, send him to Tyler’s office right away.”
“Oh, now you want both of them?”
Hannah wasn’t sure how she was supposed to respond. She couldn’t ever remember being in a situation similar to this one and she was feeling frustrated. Thankfully for her, Tyler was not having the same issue.
“They’re together, Becky,” he snapped. “You’ve got to suck it up. We need Cooper when he gets back. It’s important.”
Becky looked taken aback to be talked to in that manner. “Since when are you her cheerleader, too?”
“Since she helped me carry a dead goat back to town and I’m pretty sure something bad happened to it in the hills surrounding the town.” Tyler wasn’t in the mood for nonsense ... and it showed. “We need Cooper when he comes back.”
Becky straightened, perhaps realizing that Tyler meant business. “I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”
“Great.” Tyler and Hannah shifted the goat. “Let’s get him to my office so I can take a better look. Maybe there’s something I can find under a microscope.”
“Come on, Jinx,” Hannah ordered, causing the dog to stop chasing a squirrel on the walkway in front of the saloon. “You can play with the other goats in the paddock.”
Jinx looked mournful at the prospect but obediently followed his mistress. Becky watched the threesome go for a long time, conflicted. Part of her was still angry at Hannah. She couldn’t help believing that something was somehow stolen from her, and Hannah was the thief. The other part was curious. If something out there really did kill the goat, that might mean a fight was on the horizon. If that was the case, it would be another chance for Becky to show off her growing witch skills to Cooper. He might be impressed this time and ... .
The sound of a truck pulling into the parking lot disrupted her reverie. She recognized Cooper’s vehicle. For once, she had an excuse to seek him out that wouldn’t make her look needy, and she was excited to put it to good use ... after talking to him a few minutes, of course.
“Hey, Coop.” Her smile was shy as she approached. “You weren’t gone very long.”
“I wanted to make sure Jon was settled at home and then Boone and I went to the coroner’s office,” he replied, distracted. The town wasn’t yet bustling with activity and he was annoyed that he was stuck dealing with Becky without an audience. He was convinced she was a problem in the making and intended to talk to Hannah about her. That would obviously have to wait … for now.
“How is Jon?” Becky feigned sympathy. “I can’t imagine being in his situation. I mean ... that’s the worst thing ever. Can you imagine having someone you care about go missing? He probably assumed she was dead, but then to find out she’d been alive until the very end and then chose to kill herself? That’s the stuff of nightmares.”
“Yeah,” Cooper rolled his neck and heaved out a sigh. “Are Hannah and Tyler back with the goat?”
The fact that he couldn’t talk to her for more than two minutes without inquiring about Hannah was enough to set Becky’s teeth on edge. “Did you get any good information from the coroner?” she asked, skirting the question.
“We got more questions,” Cooper replied, his eyes clear. “Hannah,” he repeated. “Is she back?”
“Does every conversation we have need to revolve around Hannah?” Becky’s agitation was on full display. “I know she’s the new element in town and men love it when they have something shiny and new to fixate on but ... come on. There’s more happening around here than Hannah.”
Cooper was officially at the end of his rope. “Listen, I don’t know what your deal is. I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish here. I need to see Hannah, though. If you’re not going to help me, then I’m simply going to track her down myself. All you’re doing is delaying the inevitable ... and pissing me off.”
Becky narrowed her eyes. She didn’t like his attitude. Not one little bit. She also recognized that he was serious about picking a fight. “She’s in the examination room with Tyler,” she said finally. “They found the goat ... and it was dead. They seemed worked up about it.”
Cooper’s eyebrows knit together as he started shaking his head. “Why didn’t you tell me that from the start? I mean ... what the hell?” He was frustrated as he started moving toward the barn. “I think we should have a talk about this later, Becky.”
She brightened considerably. “You want to head out and have a talk? That’s awesome.”
“No,” he shook his head, firm. “I think we — meaning you, me, and Hannah — should have a talk about whether you can continue out here if you’re going to keep putting this attitude on display.”
Becky’s mouth dropped open as the reality of what he was saying washed over her. “You want to fire me?”
“I don’t, no. You’re making things far too difficult, though. You can’t keep walking around with those wounded puppy eyes. We were never together. We were never going to be together. Your attitude with Hannah is uncalled for. She’s your boss now and she doesn’t deserve this.”
“Why is it that our conversations always revolve around Hannah?” Becky queried bitterly.
“Because you turn them in that direction.” Cooper refused to back down. “You have a choice to make. You’re going to want to make it soon. The longer you keep this up, the more obvious it becomes that something is going to have to give out here ... and it’s not going to be the owner of the business who needs to leave to make things more comfortable.”
It was only then that the truth behind the words settled on Becky’s shoulders. “I ... um ... .”
“Get it together,” Cooper instructed. “That’s your only option.” He turned away from her and pointed himself toward the barn. This was already a long day and it had barely started. “If Boone shows back up, which I’m not expecting, but it’s not out of the question, send him to the barn. Do you understand?”
Even though she’d been jolted, Becky scowled. “I’m not an idiot. I can send him over there.”
“That would be great.”
COOPER LET HIMSELF INTO THE BARN without announcing himself. He was familiar with the set-up and pointed himself toward voices. Hannah and Tyler were talking in grav
e tones when he approached.
“I feel really bad,” Hannah announced. “I mean ... really bad. This poor goat wasn’t doing anything but minding his own business and now he’s dead. We have to figure out what did it.”
“We do,” Tyler agreed. He had a lighted magnifying glass over his eye so he could check out the goat’s wounds more closely. “These look like teeth marks ... but no teeth I’ve ever seen. I’m going to need to get photos. Can you hand me the camera over there?”
“Yeah,” Hannah bobbed her head and retrieved the item in question. “This is really horrible.”
Cooper watched her for a beat, admiring how serious she was and willing to lend a hand, and then he cleared his throat to make his presence known. Hannah was the only one who looked up because Tyler was focused on his job.
“How did things go on your end?” Hannah asked.
“They were okay.” He moved to give her a hug, but she held up her hands to stop him. “I carried a dead goat and haven’t washed yet. You might want to hold back.”
He shook his head and reached for her again. “I’ll risk it.” He was happy to wrap his arms around her, if only for a few seconds, and he briefly pressed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he found Tyler watching with speculative eyes and he slowly released her. “You guys are okay, right?”
Hannah bobbed her head. “We’re fine. We weren’t injured. It didn’t even take us very long to find the goat. Tyler figured he would’ve headed for the river.”
“That’s where I’ve found them when they’ve escaped before,” he volunteered, returning to his work. “They’re little escape artists. This one didn’t make it all the way down there. At least ... we don’t think he did.”
Cooper sent Hannah a reassuring hand squeeze before moving closer to Tyler. “What do you have?”
“I don’t know.” Tyler was as frustrated by that answer as Cooper looked. “It’s weird. We were only about a quarter of the way to the river when we found him.”
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