C.J. Miller - Capturing the Huntsman

He guided her toward the entrance to the restaurant, and the sound of country music seeped through the door and covered windows into the parking lot. As he opened the door, the music grew five times louder, nearly deafening. Nathan scanned the restaurant and the patrons, a few who looked from their beers to Autumn and him, most who ignored them. After entering the bar, they found an open table near the window. He held Autumn’s chair, waiting for her to sit.

The formality was intentional. Everyone in the room would recognize this was a date. Once Autumn took her seat, Nathan did the same.

A waitress with blond hair nearly to her waist tossed two menus on the table, and then set her hand on her hip, jutting it toward Nathan. “Hey, Autumn, who’s your friend?”

Nathan caught a fleeting look of annoyance on Autumn’s face.

“This is Nathan Bradshaw. Nathan, this is Francine.”

Francine turned her attention to Nathan, letting her gaze linger on his face. “Nice to meet you. Can I get you a drink?”

“I’ll have an iced tea,” Autumn said, folding her hands on her lap, an edge in her voice.

What was the dynamic between Autumn and Francine? The waitress seemed friendly enough.

Francine looked at Autumn as if forgetting she was there. “Okay, sure thing. And for you?” Francine faced Nathan, giving him a smile he’d bet had earned her a good number of dinner dates.

“Same for me. Thanks.”

Francine jammed her pad into the apron tied around her waist. “I hear you had some trouble up at the campground.”

Autumn’s eyes flashed with momentary panic.

“Not at the campground,” Nathan said, keeping his voice low and calm.

Francine leaned in. “I heard you found a body in one of the cabins.”

Autumn looked horrified, but Nathan chuckled, dismissing the lie. “Rumors can grow out of control quickly.” He’d promised to run interference on rumors, and he would do just that.

Francine opened her mouth, but the look Nathan gave her had her clamping it shut. He wanted to stoke her curiosity without making Autumn uncomfortable or causing her problems at the Trail’s Edge.

“We’ll come over to the bar a little later to talk,” Nathan said, looking across the table at Autumn.

Francine sighed. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.” She spun on her heel and strutted away from their table.

Nathan moved his chair closer to the table. Autumn’s jaw was set and she glanced over in Francine’s direction a few times.

“You two don’t get along?” he asked.

Autumn shifted in her chair. “We went to high school together. She was the prom queen and I didn’t go to prom. She’s friendly when she wants to be.” Autumn heavily accented the word friendly . “She’s currently dating my ex.”

Nathan caught something in her tone. Jealousy? Francine might be a good resource. Though she had come to their table and dug for information, she’d probably heard more rumors around town than he had. “Is your ex here?”

Autumn glanced around and then shook her head. “No. He’s not.”

Sensing she wasn’t in the mood to talk about her former relationship, he changed the subject. “We’ll give our waitress time to let the crowd know they might get a firsthand account of what happened at the Trail’s Edge. Best way to drum up rumors about the killer and conversation about the trail.”

Autumn studied his face, and he could see she didn’t care for the idea of rumors flying. She blew out her breath. “I don’t want everyone talking about me.” Worry tinged the corners of her eyes.

“They won’t be talking about you. They’ll be talking about the Huntsman.”

Autumn brought her hand to her forehead. “I have a business to run. It’s bad enough what’s going on at the trail, but encouraging more rumors only fuels the fire.”

“I don’t want to cause trouble. I need information.”

“I don’t want the Trail’s Edge or my family caught up in this disaster,” Autumn said.

Protective of her family. Nathan filed that away in understanding her family dynamic. “You and Blaine are pretty close?”

Autumn shrugged. “We’re all we have. It’s been the two of us since my dad died a year ago.”

Nathan had lived with his share of grief over the past year. The closeness of family was a concept that resonated well with him. “I’m sorry. That must make it doubly hard for you to be alone.”

Autumn folded her hands in her lap and lowered her head. “I’m not totally alone. I have Thor.” She let out a quiet burst of laughter. “You know, that sounds a little pathetic. But the truth is, I don’t come into town much. I prefer being at the campground with Thor.”

He heard something in her tone and he ran with it. “Why’s that?”

Autumn looked away from him for a long moment. “I thought you were here to find out about the Huntsman, not about me.” She lowered her voice. Not that their conversation could carry far over the noise of the music blaring through the speakers.

“I am. But before we get into that, I want to get to know you.” He regretted the words if only because of the flare of mistrust in her eyes. What had happened to make her this suspicious of him? Some people had a problem with authority. Was it that he worked for the FBI? Was it men in general who bothered her?

She cleared her throat and glanced around. “You’re only around for a short time. You shouldn’t waste it getting to know me.”

He shifted closer under the guise of hearing her better. He sensed being here was making her uncomfortable. “Do you want to leave? We can go somewhere else.” It was the first time he was putting the case behind other priorities. At the moment, that priority was Autumn’s well-being. He ignored the twinge of guilt. Nothing should come before justice for Colleen.

He laid his hand on her arm and she looked from it to him. Something lit in her eyes. Heat? Desire? Mistrust? Their eyes locked and held and pressure built in his groin. Under other conditions, he would act on that heat. He’d grab her, kiss her how a woman was meant to be kissed and let it lead somewhere smoking hot.

Autumn leaned away and, sensing her discomfort, he dropped his hand from her arm.

Francine appeared, setting their iced teas on the table. “Ready to order?”

Nathan hadn’t looked at the menu, but he scanned it. “I’ll have the cheesesteak with onions, mayo, tomatoes and fries on the side.”

Autumn ordered a Reuben.

Francine jotted down the order. “Coming right up,” she said, moving to another table and letting her hand brush over Nathan’s shoulder as she collected the menus.

Autumn watched her leave. She straightened and pushed her hair over her shoulders. “She doesn’t even care that we might be together. She intends to make it clear she could have you if she wanted you.”

“That won’t happen.”

“She’s dating Daniel now,” Autumn said. She shrugged and drew her shoulders in as if making an attempt to take up less space.

“Daniel? The town sheriff? He’s your ex?” Talk about adding another layer of complexity to the case.

“Yes.”

“He pointed suspicion at Blaine,” Nathan said, trying to get a sense of the subtleties.

“Yes. He and Blaine had a falling out.”

Over her? “Why?”

She shrugged. “Nothing to do with the case.”

She was making it clear personal questions were off-limits. He went another way. “I want to talk to anyone who loves to gossip.” Deciphering the bull from the truth wasn’t easy, but every now and then, he got lucky and caught a good lead.

Autumn glanced around the bar. “Loves to gossip? That’s half the town. This is a small place. Not much exciting happens in Smithsburg and when it does, it’s all anyone talks about.”