Page 235 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

Austin parked and joined them. “Seems suspicious to me. I doubt we can rule out foul play.”

“Maybe we should look for her before we make any wild accusations.” Emily tilted her head. She thought it was suspicious but wasn’t ready to vocalize her concerns.

“Shall we split up and search the forest surrounding Boulder Field?” Austin asked.

“Let’s start with the closest deer trails,” Emily said.

“I’ll trudge around the outskirts until I get to the marked trail. Maybe she was injured hiking it,” Pete said.

“Or maybe she ran into an angry bear,” Austin said.

“Unlikely, but possible. I’ll never forget my training ranger describing the bear attack where those three campers were chased near Hawk Falls. The bear covered the woman with brush. It’s a wonder he didn’t do more harm. Who knows what those people were thinking when they decided to camp there in the first place, but then to leave open food out?” Austin shook his head.

“You have to wonder about the intelligence of some people.” Pete smacked his palm to his forehead. Without another word, he sauntered off. To start searching, she presumed.

Emily watched him make his way around the field to the trailhead. Austin followed a barely visible deer trail to the right of where they stood, so she chose another one to her left.

Emily trippedover a tree root and reached out a hand to steady herself against a pine. Realizing her mistake, she rubbed the sap onto her uniform pants, but some clung stubbornly to her palm. The fresh scent of pine comforted her despite the sticky mess.

She glanced at her watch. Eight o’clock. The heat was stifling despite the early hour. Her short-sleeved uniform shirt clung to her skin. The elevations generally stayed cool until mid-morning, but this day was an exception.

She stepped forward, and her foot lodged in a hole. Her ankle twisted awkwardly and pain radiated up her leg. She bent down to rub it. She’d come at least a half mile down the narrow path and would need to hobble back out. She rolled her foot a few times. It wasn’t as bad as she’d first thought. She should be able to walk on it. Hoping to find a tree limb she could use as a walking stick, she looked around until she spotted a long enough branch. She grabbed it, and it dislodged something that at first glance appeared to be a large rock, but it didn’t feel like stone. When she looked closer, the empty eye sockets of a human skull stared back at her.

She bit down on her fist, seeking a calm that eluded her. It wasn’t their missing hiker, but it was a person. Someone was searching for him or her. Probably a woman, but she couldn’t say for sure. If the woman had died out here of natural causes, her body would be intact and recognizable barring an animal attack. She inspected the skull closely. It was weathered, so it had been in the elements for some time. She radioed in her discovery and waited for backup.

She hoped she’d found an ancient grave uncovered by animals, but she knew better.

While she sat there guarding the possible crime scene, a woman was lost in the woods. Protocol being what it was, she’d stay put until they secured a perimeter, but it felt like a colossal waste of time. Who was going to disturb the skull on an unmarked trail?

Leaning against a tree, hair sticking to her face and neck, she reached into her pocket for a ponytail holder. This was shaping up to be a brutal day. Normally, she wouldn’t mind the twelve-hour shift, but she wished she could go home and call her friend Sam to vent over what was quickly becoming her worst day on the job.

She jerked her head up when she heard a shuffling sound nearby. “Austin, you frightened me.”

“You were expecting me, weren’t you?”

“Sitting beside a human skull is disturbing. You try it for a while.”

“I barricaded off the parking lot and since all of us DCNR rangers are otherwise occupied, I asked Jerry to block Boulder Field trail down by Hawk Falls and put up a sign letting visitors know it's closed to the public today.”

“Creepy Jerry from maintenance?”

“His name is just Jerry, but yeah the guy from maintenance.”

He lifted a giant roll of crime-scene tape out for her inspection. “Shall we?”

“Yes. Let’s.”

They worked together to cordon off the area and then hiked back out to the lot.

Emily ditchedthe walking stick as she and Austin arrived back at the parking lot. Two state police vehicles were pulling in, both Ford Interceptors like the DCNR rangers drove. Austin hurried to remove the barricade and let them through. The troopers parked, and she and Austin greeted them.

The first trooper slid out of his SUV. “I’m Trooper Cunningham.” He shook hands with each of them in turn.

Emily took note of his firm grip and direct eye contact. “Any relation to Pete Cunningham?”

The trooper grimaced. “He’s my cousin.”

“Not his biggest fan?”

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