Page 3 of Eden

It was Bethenny’s turn to raise her eyebrows now as her gaze dropped to his feet. He wore black jeans and black trainers. He had half the ensemble. “You’re going to run with me?” she asked.

“Sure: run and walk,” he said. “Mitch, we’ll make a start. You can coordinate the crews, right?”

Mitch nodded. “Sure thing, leave it all to me,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Bethenny grinned at his feigned annoyance, but Lachlan seemed not to notice, or not to care. “Let’s do it,” he said, taking a step forward.

“Thanks, Mitch,” Bethenny said, tapping the car door. “There’s no cell service up there, but if you get to Devil’s Throat, you’ve gone too far. We’ll listen for the vehicles,” she said with a nod.

“I’ll buy you a burger when we’re done. Those legs of yours are going to need it,” he said with a soft smile.

“Thanks.” Bethenny was glad he was her new boss. He was the calmest person she’d ever met, and right now she needed that in her life.

She turned to see Lachlan waiting for her.

“What’s Devil’s Throat?” he asked, reminding her he was relatively new to Redwater.

They stepped forward in unison.

“A red gorge... I don’t know if that’s the official name, but that’s the name the locals use because all the fauna is red—and, of the few murders that have occurred in Redwater, the bodies have almost always been found there.”

BETHENNY

Lachlan shook his head slightly. “This is a strange place.”

“Not really,” Bethenny said. “Every town has a history of murder.” It was true; some were just more publicized than others.

“How does it feel to be back?” Lachlan asked, glancing sideways.

“Fine,” she said, shutting down that conversation. Bethenny had a hard time opening up to anyone, let alone to someone she’d just met. Admittedly, she didn’t get the sense that Lachlan was prying but rather making polite conversation.

“Fine is good,” he said, and she felt his eyes on her again.

As they neared the forest, he said, “You lead the way.”

Bethenny led, keeping her pace quick but steady. The first part of the trek was the steepest, and truthfully her legs were already aching. She had not anticipated a twenty-one-mile run this morning and would give anything for a strong coffee right now. But work came first, as it always did.

They walked in silence, the forest residents the only ones talking. At first Bethenny felt the need to fill the silence, but the more they walked the more comfortable she felt in his silent presence.

Forty-five minutes in, they took a break. Bethenny leaned one hand against an old tree trunk, slowing her labored breath. She looked to Lachlan, who had barely worked up a sweat. Granted, he hadn’t already run fourteen miles that day.

He pushed up his sleeve and his eyes dropped to his watch. Bethenny’s eyes weren’t on his watch, but rather his muscular forearms.

She shook her head. She’d come home to simplify her life, not complicate it.

“We’re making good time,” he said with a charming smile.

“You seem surprised by that,” she said, raising an eyebrow playfully.

He gave a slight chuckle. “I thought you might’ve tired out by now. How often do you run?”

She shrugged. “A few times a week. Given my job, it seemed a good idea to be able to run if I ever needed to,” she joked, taking the bottle of water he passed her. She took a small sip, the cool water easing her parched throat, then passed it back to him, but he shook his head. “Keep it, you’ve earned it.”

She took a deep breath and looked up at the next steep section of the trek. She was too tired to run, so they’d have to walk it. “Let’s get this over with,” she said with a sigh, tightening the lid on her water bottle and tucking it into the pocket of her forensics backpack.

Bethenny trudged forward, keeping her eyes on the path, carefully stepping over the bulging tree roots and loose vegetation—then spun on her heel when a squeal echoed behind her. Lachlan spun too, his hand going to his hip where his pistol was cradled.

She paused, not drawing a breath as she strained to hear.

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