Page 19 of Every Deadly Suspicion

It had been like that her whole life, Nathan guessed. Living under the shadow of a double murderer was what made Hanna want to be a cop. And now she was the youngest chief to ever serve Dry Oaks PD.

He tried to shift his thoughts and review the case file in front of him. Shortly, he’d be testifying. He’d recorded some spontaneous statements that were incriminating. He’d need his thoughts centered on this case, not on Joe Keyes from years ago. And not on Hanna, who he hoped to be spending a lot more time with. She was the real deal as far as Nathan was concerned, the one he knew he could spend the rest of his life with.

This was one of the more straightforward cases he’d handled as a homicide detective. Boyfriend shot his girlfriend, there were witnesses, and they had the murder weapon and a lot of forensic evidence that assured victory.

His phone buzzed. The prosecution wanted him in court.

“You up?” Manny asked, his eyes open now.

Nathan nodded and stood. “Yep, here we go.” File under his arm, Nathan opened the courtroom door, prepared to testify.

CHAPTER 10

HANNA HAD HIKED UPa long steep incline of Buttonwillow Trail. She wiped sweat from her brow, pushing damp hair off her forehead. Even Big Red couldn’t make it up the narrow trail to this spot. The parched, dry air felt suffocating even as hot wind swirled around them.

Peering over the cliff, she could see the motionless ten-year-old boy lying perhaps thirty feet below. Braden had fallen into a gulch and landed on an outcropping. If he would’ve missed that, the next stop was two hundred feet down to the bottom.

The boy’s small dog paced back and forth next to his master. A good sign? If the dog escaped the fall unscathed, perhaps the boy’s injuries would be minor. Hanna hoped so. She refused to consider this mission simply a recovery.

Braden Buckley had to be alive.

“Is he dead?” Cassidy, Braden’s sixteen-year-old babysitter, stood watching Hanna. She’d been chewing on a thumbnail, crying and pacing the entire time Hanna had been there.

“No,” Hanna said, “I don’t think so.”

“I’m so sorry. I should have been closer to him. I—”

“You called us right away. That’s a good thing.”

Cassidy sniffled and went silent.

“You ready, boss?”

Hanna turned to Asa. He was her only sergeant and twenty years her senior. The volunteer EMTs looked like high school kids. They’d been waiting at the trailhead when she got here. Like most of the county’s first responders, the regular day-shift patrol unit who served the community of Dry Oaks was currently providing mutual aid for the Crest Fire, which raged close enough that she could see a plume of smoke in the distance.

And it was a deadly fire. Two California Department of Forestry personnel were killed when their vehicle overturned as they were trying to escape fast-moving flames.

This rescue was up to Hanna and Asa. Hanna was okay with that because she knew her strengths and limits and she trusted those she worked with and around. They were well trained and conscientious.

Now, if she could just get the request about Joe off her mind. It was Jared Hodges who barged in on her train of thought once again. He and Hanna had done a lot of climbing as teens, some as young adults, and he was a stickler for concentration.

“A lapse in concentration means a fall, and neither one of us will bounce.”

She took a deep breath, shook away Jared’s face, and recalled something the chief she’d replaced had taught her.

“Keep your world small.”

Retired military, Chief Barnes had served in combat, and while he never talked about specifics, he gave her plenty of tips on how to not just survive but thrive in stressful situations. Keeping your world small was one tip. It meant concentrating on the square you’re in, not puzzling about any squares down the road.

It was not unlike something she’d heard often in church:“Don’tuse today’s strength worrying about tomorrow’s troubles.”She’d appreciated all the tips.

“I’m ready.” She’d quickly donned a climbing harness and was set to rappel to Braden.

The outcropping was large enough for her to reach the boy. She double-checked the anchor, set up her backup, and then put on her climbing helmet.

As she backed up to the ledge, Dave and Paulo, the EMTs, along with Asa moved forward to monitor her progress. None of them had ever done any climbing. So she prepared for the descent. A situation like this was why she went through extra training.

She unclipped her anchor and stepped off the ledge. Balancing with her legs, Hanna controlled her descent, gripping the rope in her strong hands. She touched the cliffside two times and then landed easily on the ledge a short distance from the boy’s feet. She willed herself not to look at what was below the ledge. If Braden was seriously hurt, she didn’t want to be distracted.

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