C.J. Miller - Capturing the Huntsman

Maybe seeing that tree, even in the dark, would begin to scrub the image of a body hanging from it out of her mind.

Allowing Thor to lead the way, Autumn pulled him to a stop near the yellow tape surrounding the crime scene. The wind blew, shaking more leaves from the treetops. Autumn let her flashlight pan over the scene, starting high, giving herself a view of the tree without someone hanging from a branch.

A crunching of leaves had her swinging the flashlight lower. A movement near the trunk of the tree caught her eye. She moved the flashlight to see more, frustrated that the narrow beam illuminated so little at this distance. It didn’t help that she was shaking and Thor was twisted for her to let him off his leash.

A shadow, looking very much like a man, was lurking near the base of the tree. If the light hadn’t given them away to the intruder, then Thor’s barking did. Nathan snatched the flashlight from her hand and pinned it on a figure moving away from the tree. The intruder ducked beneath the crime-scene tape on the side opposite them, running between trees, barely a shadow and impossible to track.

Nathan drew his gun and it made a clicking sound. Was he planning to shoot at the figure? “Stop!” he shouted.

The intruder ignored him, almost becoming a ghost and disappearing. Nathan vanished as he gave chase, the bobbing of the flashlight through the woods eerie and unsettling. And growing dimmer. Nathan was gone. It would have been safer for them to run or call for help. Fear and panic tightened her stomach. Autumn reached for Thor, drawing him against her, her shaking vibrating the both of them. She hugged him to her.

She was alone in the woods in the dark. Nathan was chasing a madman. Could she find her way to her cabin and call for assistance?

The campground that she had called home now felt threatening. The dark felt ominous, the cold chilling, and the trees and brush were places for a murderer to hide.

* * *

The Huntsman had returned to the scene. Perhaps he was looking for another victim, perhaps he wanted to relive the killing and hanging or perhaps he was hoping to finish his ritual by starting a fire. It could be a teenager on a dare or the media snooping around, but his gut told him the killer was close.

He had to find and stop him. As Nathan chased the figure, it grew more difficult to see. The trees were close together, providing too many places to hide. Nathan stopped and shone his light around the area.

It was still and quiet.

Autumn! He’d left her and Thor alone. The Huntsman could have circled back to attack her. It hadn’t escaped Nathan’s notice that she fit the profile for the Huntsman’s victims.

How far had he run? How long had he been gone?

Nathan whirled, calling to Autumn.

His sister’s face flashed into his mind. Colleen had died at this madman’s hands. He wouldn’t let him hurt another woman he cared about.

Nathan pushed his body to move faster as his brain tripped over that thought. He cared about Autumn. He’d known her a short time, but he’d had an undeniable connection with her.

“Autumn!”

Thor barked in response. Nathan was desperate to hear Autumn’s voice. Was he too late? Had he made a critical error leaving her alone? His gun felt heavy in his hand. It did no good to shoot in the dark, but he would shoot to kill if Autumn was in danger.

When he yelled her name again, this time she responded. He moved in the direction of her voice.

When she came into view, relief rushed over him. She was squatting on the ground with her arms around Thor.

He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Thor growled as if chastising him for his mistake.

“Are you okay?” he asked into her hair.

“Except for being left in the woods alone in the dark after being scared by a psycho, I’m fine,” Autumn said. “Was it the Huntsman? Did you see him?”

He hadn’t seen enough of his face to provide any more details of the man they were pursuing. The glimpse he’d gotten had been quick. “I think it was the Huntsman.”

“We should call Ford,” Autumn said.

A crackling of a branch. An animal? Or the Huntsman stalking them? “Let me take you back to your cabin,” Nathan said. He didn’t want to alarm her further, but in their current position they were easy targets.

It was dark in an unfamiliar place, he had Autumn and Thor to protect and they were on the Huntsman’s hunting ground. He hated to admit it, but Nathan knew when he was outmatched.

* * *

Nathan took Autumn’s keys from her clammy palm and opened the door to her cabin. She walked inside, her face frozen in horror, her body tensed and her hands shaking. He guided her to the couch in the living room.

“Sit down. Let me fix you something to drink.”

She nodded numbly and he retrieved a glass of water, setting it in her hand. She took a few small sips.

“I’ll call Ford.” As much as he hated to involve the FBI, they had equipment and crime-scene investigators who could lock down the scene and look for footprints and evidence. If it was the Huntsman, he might have left evidence behind, having been startled at the appearance of Autumn and Nathan.

Nathan pulled a throw blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around Autumn’s shoulders. He took the lighter from the mantel and lit one of the starter logs she had set in the hearth. After the fire had spread the length of the log, he laid a few pieces of wood around it, hoping it generated some warmth.

“You know how to start a fire,” she said quietly. She kicked off her shoes and they hit the floor with matching thuds.

“I took a class on it in FBI school.”

“Really?” she asked.

He sat next to her on the couch and slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his body. He intended the gesture to offer comfort, but it had the unintended side effect of feeling good. Too good. “Nah, it’s something I picked up.” Nathan pulled out his satellite phone and dialed Roger Ford. Ford answered on the first ring. After explaining the situation, Nathan disconnected the call without waiting for Ford to bark commands at him.

Thor trotted over and sat next to the growing blaze, soaking in the heat. Autumn shifted next to Nathan on the couch, drawing her knees to her chest and leaning in to him.

After a time, the cabin grew warmer and her tremors faded.

The sharp knock on the door had Autumn jumping to her feet. Nathan caught her before she raced for the door. “Let’s be cautious, okay?”

Autumn nodded her agreement. Nathan peered through the peephole, and seeing a park ranger on the porch, he opened the door.

The man stepped inside, pulling off his hat revealing bleached blond hair. His goatee was dark and neatly trimmed. “I received a call from Special Agent Roger Ford to check in and see if everyone is okay.”

Autumn slipped past him and hugged the man. “Ben, thanks for coming out so late. I’m sorry you were pulled into this.”

Nathan watched the interaction, unsure of the relationship between the two. They seemed close. Were they friends? Something more? Earlier that night when he’d suggested they pretend to be a couple, she hadn’t mentioned she was otherwise involved with someone.

Nathan shoved aside his jealous line of thinking. It didn’t matter what relationship Autumn and Ben had. It was irrelevant to the case, and justice for Colleen was all that mattered.

Nathan stepped back, allowing Ben farther inside.

Ben threaded the brim of his hat through his fingers. “I have a couple more guys coming to the scene and the FBI should be here soon. If the media hears about this, I’ll try to keep them off your backs.”

Nathan lifted a brow. “You think the media already knows about this?” If they did, how?