Page 10 of Hunted By the Mountain Man

He couldn’t be more right, yet anger flashes inside me, hot and hard. “I wouldn’t call her a dumbass, just overly optimistic about the whereabouts of the hikers. Like a lot of people in town.”

He shrugs. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Beau. You’ve got a knack for finding where the bodies are buried.”

“Guess you could say I’m one notch above the Grim Reaper.”

As a professional tracker hired on by the sheriff’s department for search and rescue, finding the bodies marks the end of my official duties with the department. But before I leave, William takes me aside, speaking in hushed tones. “If I don’t get a break in this case soon, I don’t know.” He shakes his head.

“Thisisthe break,” I say.

“Yeah, but Ted Wesley Craven can’t rise from the dead. So, who’s copying him?”

“That’s the million-dollar question.”

William asks, “How can some people be so depraved?”

I shrug. “After seven years in the Corps and another five helping you guys with these cases, I’m all out of answers.”

“I hope you’re not out of time to help with the manhunt,” William says, leveling his subdued gaze on me. “And possible clean up...”

By cleanup, he refers to the unspoken things I do for Vengeance County when duty calls. Like mete out backwoods justice, the kind that doesn’t require lawyers, judges, or juries.

I grunt, nodding. “When it comes to protecting innocent lives, I’m your man.” Especially the redhead from the lake, whose memory obsessively wraps around my mind.

“And I’ve got your back,” he grumbles, looking like the weight of the world is squarely pressing down on his shoulders. Offering his hand, he adds, “Nice job today, Forester, though I wish the outcome were different.”

“Agreed,” I mutter, letting go of his hand and wheeling back around to start my descent to the trailhead.

“Oh, and Beau,” William calls after me. “This goes without saying, but no comment is the best comment when it comes to dealing with the media.”

“Sure thing, Will,” I say, turning around with a nod of the head before jumping the black and yellow caution tape and disappearing into the woods. I need a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. But first, I need to do my guardian angel thing with Brynn one last time.

ChapterSix

BEAU

Motherfucker! I stand next to Brynn’s white Toyota 4Runner, pacing back and forth. It’s three in the morning, and the curtains are pulled in the back. The woman’s sleeping in her car, parked along a side street near the Paradise Inn, begging the copycat murderer to come for her.

I saw her parked here on my way home from the crime scene, pulling my truck in front of her vehicle. I can’t let her stay out here alone. Of course, how do I know she’s alone at all? She could be getting it on with some random guy in the back. After what I’ve seen from the woman this week, however, I highly doubt it.

Thoughts run through my head of next steps. I push the car back and forth slightly, feeling it rock. No e-brake. I could hook her up to my truck and tow her back to my place. But the thought of the woman waking up in a panic as I’m driving makes me reconsider. Instead, I knock on the back window.

Nothing.

I knock again and again until finally a thin, shaking voice says, “I am fully armed and capable of protecting myself. What do you want?”

What she means by fully armed, I can only imagine. After all, California’s not an open carry state and getting a concealed weapons permit is highly difficult, though her father is a former law enforcement agent. The curtain tugs open slightly, and she eyes me.

“I want to talk about your current sleeping arrangements, Brynn.” To my utter amazement and horror, she unlocks the trunk. I lower the tailgate, sit on it, and stare at the sleeping beauty cuddled up in her sleeping bag.

“What are you doing out here so late?”

“On my way home from discovering two dead bodies near Lake Florence. You sleeping in your car was the last fucking thing I needed to see. What in the hell are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed?”

Her eyes round. “So, you found the missing hikers?” she asks in breathy tones.

“We found two recently deceased bodies wearing feminine clothing. The coroner still has to do a full investigation, but I’d say decomposition was in keeping with seven days. And they were found in the right location. So, you tell me, Brynn, do you think those are the missing hikers? Or would you like to go on pretending there’s no one in this town who wants to hurt vulnerable women?”

She crosses her arms. “I’m well-armed and taking all necessary precautions. Women get abducted from homes, too, you know.”

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