Page 54 of Death Valley

“A message for who?” Red asks, keeping his distance from the grisly display.

“For us,” Eli says, his voice unnaturally calm.

“Someone’s been watching us,” Jensen says. “Following our trail.”

“Or they’ve been here all along,” I counter, scanning the tree line with renewed wariness. “Waiting for us somehow.”

Everyone else follows my gaze.

“The blood’s still liquid,” I go on, noting the way it pools rather than freezes in the snow. “This is recent. Hours, not days.”

“Well, well, well. Since when did you become Meredith Grey?” Red comments with a hoarse chuckle.

I would have laughed at the fact that Red watchesGrey’s Anatomyif only his eyes weren’t narrowed at me in suspicion.

“Could have happened during the night,” Cole suggests. “While we were at the cabin. Maybe it wasn’t as cold.”

“No,” Jensen says with a certainty that draws my attention. “This was done this morning. After we set out for here.”

Suddenly, Duke throws his head back, yanking his reins free from the sapling with enough force to break it. A shrill whinny cuts through the cold air as he bolts, heading toward the tree line at the basin’s edge.

Oh fuck, my ride.

“Duke!” I call, already starting after him.

Jensen’s hand closes around my arm, stopping me. “Let him go.”

“Are you crazy? We can’t just?—”

“Something spooked him,” Jensen cuts me off, his grip tightening. “Something that might still be out there. We stay together. He’ll be back. He’s not dumb. He’ll find his way to us.”

I wrench my arm free, anger flaring hot and quick. “That’s my horse! I’m not leaving him.”

“Jensen is right,” Eli says, his calm voice a counterpoint to the tension crackling between Jensen and me. “If Duke ran, there was a reason. Probably ran back to Angus at the cabin.”

“You don’t know that and it’s all the more reason then to find him before something else does,” I argue. “I’m going and you can’t stop me.”

A standoff ensues—me against Jensen and Eli, with the others watching from the sidelines.

Jensen moves closer, lowering his voice so only I can hear. “Aubrey, listen to me. We’re not abandoning Duke. I love that horse to death. But something out here is playing games with us, and I’m not letting you walk into a trap.”

The intensity in his eyes gives me pause. There’s genuine fear there, not for himself but for me. After what happened between us last night, I can’t dismiss it as merely professional concern.

“Fine,” I relent, though it costs me. “But what do we do? We can’t just leave him out here.”

“We’ll circle back toward the tree line together,” Jensen says, motioning to the others. “Everyone stays close, weapons ready.”

Red and Cole draw their rifles, while Hank produces a revolver from inside his coat. Eli stays close to the horses, keeping them calm with low murmurs and gentle touches. Once again I wish I had my weapon on me. Maybe I could ask them for a spare when we get back.

As we move toward the trees, I notice Jensen studying the snow intently, eyes tracking something invisible to me.

“What do you see?” I ask quietly.

“Tracks,” he replies. “But not Duke’s.”

I follow his gaze, squinting against the snow’s glare. At first I see nothing, then subtle indentations in the otherwise pristine snow, leading toward the same stand of pines Duke had bolted for.

“Human?” I ask, though something tells me it’s not.

---