C.J. Miller - Capturing the Huntsman

Ben shrugged. “If the sheriff and the Feds turn on their flashers and start piling up the mountain, someone is bound to notice. There’s nothing up here but the Trail’s Edge, and that will have people curious.”

Small towns. Nearly every place Nathan had been in the past few months had been near a small town where the residents kept watch for their own.

Autumn wouldn’t like reporters poking around. Would this bring a fresh wave of rumors crashing down on her, giving her more reasons to isolate herself at the campground? Though she hadn’t mentioned the reasons why, she seemed to want to isolate herself at the Trail’s Edge. Being away from it made her nervous. Was it social anxiety or something more?

Ten minutes later, another car pulled in to the campground. Nathan watched from the front window. “Your rangers are here.”

“That’s my cue. Let’s lock this place down for the Feds,” Ben said.

Ben stepped away from Autumn and joined the other rangers, leaving Nathan and Autumn alone.

“Will you stay with me? At least for now?” Autumn asked.

Nathan slipped his arm around Autumn’s shoulders. He wanted to be outside, listening to whatever he could gather from Ford. “I’ll stay with you.” It would be at least thirty minutes before Ford arrived. He couldn’t put Autumn’s needs above Colleen’s.

Nathan steered her to the couch and sat down, pulling her feet onto his lap. He rubbed her feet, trying to force her to relax. “You’re safe here.”

“Ford didn’t think he would come back,” Autumn said.

If the intruder had been the Huntsman, it could be another break in his pattern. More erratic behavior, which ultimately meant more dangerous behavior. Or perhaps they were filling in the missing details of their profile. “He has never killed on two separate occasions in the same location.”

Autumn rubbed her temples. “That’s not comforting.”

He agreed with her statement, but didn’t add to her lost sense of security. “We have no reason to think he returned to the Trail’s Edge to harm anyone.”

Autumn shot him a look. “How do you do this?”

“Do what?”

“Stay calm. Have a job hunting killers,” Autumn said.

His sister had asked him the same types of questions. Colleen had been a dental hygienist. She’d built her life around her two kids, and she’d thought Nathan would have the same fate and not spend his days looking for murderers. His devotion to his job had ended his marriage. His ex-wife couldn’t understand what he did and why it was important. He couldn’t talk to her about the horrors he saw, and it had slowly destroyed communication between them. “I can’t let the Huntsman kill anyone else.”

Autumn seemed eager to talk, so Nathan listened as Autumn spoke about the Trail’s Edge. Nervous chatter, but it seemed to be calming her.

The Feds arrived with sirens screaming and lights flashing. They weren’t concerned about keeping their presence under wraps.

Autumn drew the blanket closer around her.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“A little. It’s getting better.” She reached out her hand and laid it on his.

The casual touch evoked an immediate physical response. Desire turned into the hot blaze of arousal. It wasn’t the time or the place, yet his body had its own ideas about what was important now. Spending the evening with her, touching her, being alone with her had set anticipation to a slow simmer.

Nathan drew his hand away. He couldn’t allow this heat between them to roar out of control.

Autumn leaned toward him. “Do you think he’s still here? Watching me?” She came to her feet, dropped the blanket and walked to every window in the cabin. She checked the latches and pulled closed the curtains, overlapping them so no one could see inside.

“This place will be swarming with Feds in a few hours. Unless the Huntsman wants to be caught, he’s gone.” How long or how far gone, Nathan couldn’t predict.

A knock at the door had Nathan rising to his feet. “I’ll get it.”

He pulled open the door and came face-to-face with Roger Ford, and from his expression, he was angry.

Ford let out a string of curses. “I knew having you involved would bring trouble.”

Nathan set his feet apart and refused to step back or allow Ford inside. “How does my being here control what the killer does? Is this the thanks I get for calling you first?”

Ford swore again and rubbed a tired hand over his face. “You’re too close to the case. You need to step back and let us handle this. Tell me what you know and then take a break.”

Nathan had heard the same line so many times, he expected it from every Fed he talked to about this case. “I’m not interfering with the investigation.”

Ford set his jaw. “I don’t need to tell you that I’ll have to speak with you and Ms. Reed individually about what you saw and heard.”

Nathan shrugged. “I’ll be happy to tell you what happened tonight. You can speak to Autumn, as well. Why don’t you talk to her first? It’s late, and she’s had a tough day.”

Ford cocked his head. “A tough day? We’re trying to solve a murder here. Get over having a tough day.”

Autumn set her hand on Nathan’s back, coming up behind him so quietly, he didn’t have time to prepare. His body reacted—strongly—to her touch. “I can talk now. Or later. It’s not like I’ll be able to sleep anytime soon.”

Ford looked between her and Nathan. “Fine. Let’s talk now. Do you mind talking outside?”

“Not at all.” Autumn stepped onto the porch and followed Ford down the cabin steps. Too far away to hear what they were saying, Nathan watched them. Autumn’s arms were folded over her chest and she kept glancing over her shoulder at the spotlights the Feds were setting up around the area. Her face was solemn, her fear obvious. The scene was similar to the night before, and he wondered if she was experiencing flashbacks.

Ford leaned toward her, listening and nodding, asking a few questions.

After about ten minutes, Ford walked Autumn to the foot of the stairs and inclined his head toward Nathan. “Let’s go.”

Nathan followed Ford to the same place where he’d spoken to Autumn. Nathan related the details of their night, starting from when they’d left the Wild Berry and what they had seen in the woods. He could feel the heat of Autumn’s gaze on him and knew she was watching, waiting.

“What’s your relationship with her?” Ford asked.

Nathan didn’t have a relationship with her, outside the professional one they were developing. “I’m renting a cabin from her.”

Ford narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t believe Nathan. “I saw you two together. You’re doing more than renting a cabin.”

“We’re working together.”

“So now you bring a civilian onto the case?”

“She’s lending her outdoor experience.”

Ford pointed a finger at Nathan. “Don’t get in my way.”

He didn’t remind Ford again that he had called him first to let him know about the intruder. Nathan’s priority wasn’t to be top dog on the case. Colleen deserved to have her killer brought to justice however that needed to happen. “I don’t plan on it.”

Ford rocked back on his heels. “You know, you should get back to work and get assigned to a case. You’re a good investigator, and the distraction would be healthy for you.”

“I wouldn’t be assigned to this case,” Nathan said, knowing Ford’s fake flattery was an attempt to get Nathan to back down. Men who were more manipulative and influential than Ford had tried to talk Nathan out of pursuing this case. But Nathan was dedicated. He wasn’t stopping his pursuit of the Huntsman.

“You’d be assigned to a case where you can do some good,” Ford said.