Page 20 of Shephard

Or maybe they’d wanted the body to eventually be found.

I was playing detective again, something Greg had warned me against vociferously. This wasn’t the Charlotte, North Carolina area where there were more murders than people realized or were reported on. I’d been assigned a high crime district while there, a mixture of drug deals and petty crimes all in a typical day. Our department had been tasked with at least two murders a week. But I was no longer a detective.

Still, my gut had never steered me wrong. Something told me we hadn’t seen the last of our killer.

What was needed was additional expertise. Maggie was great at her job, but she had a department to run along with being the only coroner for two counties. She reviewed results at various trials and also taught a class at the local community college. She was a busy lady.

“What are you thinking?” Cane asked when he returned, obviously not suffering from our earlier encounter.

“I’m thinking we need to protect the body and the evidence.”

“Oh, come on. You have a theory about everything.”

I threw him a look and held my tongue.

“You’re thinking the two bodies are connected. Aren’t you?” He was very happy with himself.

“Fine. Yes, I do, but it’s not something you can repeat. It’s a hunch and nothing more.” Along with my gut telling me more bodies would drop. Why and by whom? I hadn’t heard about any horrific crimes in any of the nearby cities, Roanoke and Blacksburg being two of the closest on the Virginia side. But it wasn’t unheard of for certain criminals to travel a long distance for the right dumping ground.

Right now, I’d keep my notions to myself.

Plus, there were no experts I could think of in the area, including a criminal tracker. And there was nothing at this point that would be a draw to hire one of the big guns from a larger city.

“Let’s get this tape off and lights in position. It’s getting dark. And we’re going to keep our mouths shut about this, Cane. Aren’t we?” When he said nothing, I took long strides toward him. I was positive he’d been the one to leak the death of the other victim to the press, although I hadn’t been able to prove it.

The speculation when the information had dropped within Danger Falls had been ridiculous, bogus calls from concerned citizens coming at all hours of the day and night. Thankfully, it had finally died, all the guessing about the victim’s identity dead wrong.

“Sure, Denise. Whatever you say.”

We had a reporter in town who also covered several counties, doing whatever it took to get her fifteen minutes of fame so she could get the hell out of here.

I had my doubts they weren’t beyond platonic.

“That’s what I say and I outrank you.”

At least I had that going for me.

Shephard

When you were stationed in a jungle setting, sleeping a couple of hours in the day while keeping watch at night for insurgents creeping through the dense, wet foliage, you didn’t need a watch. Also, when hunting prey, as my handler had called it, you often found yourself in different time zones, uncertain the state or country, let alone the time.

Now, here I was, a forty-three-year-old man with accommodations out the ass, significant money in several banks, a traveler who’d seen the world both good and bad, and I was being forced to give a shit about time.

I had a fucking resort to run.

It had taken me less than an hour to pack up the rest of my shit back east, heading back to Danger Falls on the same day. Pops had handed each of his boys sets of keys to three private cabins. Thankfully, each one was miles away from the other, but all three were surrounding the fifty acres of resort. It was clever to have a tripod formed, but I wasn’t interested in clever, cute, or any of the derivatives.

At least I could use the diver’s watch I had owned for two decades to my advantage, ticking down every day until mypenance was over. I laughed at the thought, now regretting agreeing to this.

What the hell did I know about running anything other than a dangerous mission? I doubted my training or areas of expertise as a marksman would come in too handy in Hicksville, USA. Yeah, I was selling the entire town short, but I didn’t care at this point. I wasn’t planning on making friends or calling this home. I’d use the town for supplies and nothing else.

What bothered me was that the cabin I’d been provided with was more like a palace to me. I was so used to maybe two rooms and a closet-sized bathroom, I doubted I would ever get comfortable in the place. While completely furnished with a fully renovated kitchen, all the food and drink I could want, leather furniture and king-sized beds including in the guest room, I still felt like a visitor.

At least my father drank the same kind of whiskey, the bar stocked with bottles. Hell, there were even fluffy towels and thick comforters. The only other thing I was glad to see were stacks of wood ready to be cut for the fireplace and the woodstove.

I’d kept the lights out, only the glow of the fire adding any light. I’d even glanced through the documentation on the resort while sitting on the hearth.

Tomorrow I’d make an appearance in the place. Great. The news was likely already out about the takeover. From what I’d heard from my mother, nothing occurred that wasn’t known within minutes.

---