Page 45 of Burning Justice

“I’ll go with him.” Saxon jogged after Jamie’s brother.

“I guess we have the front.” Crew crossed the grass toward Kane. “You think his arm is really okay?”

Kane scanned the area. “Three stitches? He’s fine.” Tire grooves in the dirt. Trees too close together and too close to the house, which was the worst way it could be if a wildfire came through this area. “They were here.”

“You think they’re gone?”

“This is where her ring is.” Kane kicked the front door because he needed to let out some of this tension, plus he could keep two hands on his gun and get the door open. Thankfully, it wasn’t wired up to blow, because no one needed that.

Arctic entry, plenty of boots and coats. Skis stacked in the corner, and a snowboard hanging on the wall above his head. A place to don cold-weather gear and then leave the dirt and snow outside before you went into the house.

Inside smelled stuffy and wasn’t all that warm. Someone had eaten but not cleaned up. The trash overflowed with beer cans and pizza boxes. Bare wood floors. Wainscoting on the walls. A couple of seventies-era paintings of mountains and bears on the walls, and one of those mechanical fish that sang—until you got sick of it.

“Living room is clear.”

Saxon met him in the hall and tipped his head toward a door beside where he stood.

Kane lifted his chin. “Blood on the floor.”

It disappeared under the door.

Saxon kicked the door open and went in first. A dead man lay slumped in the corner of the room.

“They dragged him in here to hide him.” Saxon stepped back.

“This is where her ring pinged.” Kane looked around. “This location. Maybe Maria did.”

“You think she killed that guy?”

Kane scanned what he could see of the guy propped up in the corner. Blood on his neck and shirt, where it had trailed down from a wound on his head. “Looks like it was quick.”

Saxon glanced over. “You know she would only kill in self-defense. Not sure she would bother hiding a body though.”

“Where is she? And where are the rest of them?”

Crew wandered down the hall. “It looks like they cleared out in a hurry. Maybe they realized what the tracker ring was, and they took her and fled somewhere else.”

“I like the idea of them being on the run,” Kane admitted. “But not the idea we’ll have no idea where to find her.”

“Speaking of,” Crew said. “Where’s Tris?”

Saxon turned and headed for the back door and another artic entry–mudroom type of door. This area would get cold in the long winters, and whoever lived in this house preferred to stay indoors and only venture out when they were fully prepared with gear.

Kane stopped between the back doors.

“What is it?” Crew asked over his shoulder.

“That.” He motioned to what he’d spotted, a smear of blood on the wall. “She was here.”

“You know she was here, but you don’t know that blood has anything to do with her.”

“It’s barely dry.” Kane stepped outside and found Saxon talking to Tristan, over by the trees.

As he approached, they broke off their conversation.

“What is it?” Kane asked.

Tristan said, “I think she ran for it.”

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