Rob looked up from his laptop. “Shut the door.”
I went on alert. That wasn’t a typical request. Our Fish and Wildlife office wasn’t overly formal or secretive. I quietly shut the door and took a seat.
“Got a call about a slain animal. Deer. Want you to check it out.”
My brow furrowed. “Hunter that just left it there?”
Rob shook his head. “Not that kind of death. Sounds like someone sliced it to hell. And not the kind of cuts a hunter makes.”
My jaw went hard. “Where?”
“North Ridge trail, about a mile in. Had to let Law know since it’s his jurisdiction. Said he’d meet you up there.”
“Who called it in?” I asked.
“Hiker. Thought it was an animal attack. Just wanted us to know that it was practically on the trail. Didn’t want other hikers to run into any predators.”
“Could be a cougar attack,” I reasoned.
“Could be, but the hiker sent a photo. Cuts look too clean to be tooth and claw.”
My stomach soured, but I jerked my head in a nod and pushed to my feet.
“You want to take Mindy or Oscar with you?” Rob asked.
I just met his stare.
He chuckled. “All right, then. Good luck. Call me when you know something.”
I headed into the bullpen and made my way to my desk. Mindy was still hovering.
“Got a callout?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
“Dead deer.”
Oscar’s eyes narrowed. “We don’t get called out for dead deer.”
I simply shrugged as I grabbed my jacket.
“I could come with you,” Mindy offered. “I don’t have anything on my desk right now.”
“I’m good,” I clipped.
Oscar choked on a laugh, and Mindy glared at him. I made a quick escape toward reception and then headed to the parking lot. The air had warmed a bit, but I still needed a jacket. Climbing into my truck, I started the engine.
It didn’t take long for me to reach the trailhead since our substation was out of town. No one else was parked in the gravel lot, but I couldn’t wait. An unease had settled in my gut that I needed to answer.
Grabbing my pack, I slid out of my vehicle and headed for the trail. The quiet of the mountain wrapped around me, easing some of that feral energy that seemed to take over my muscles and bones. I let the silence soothe me, disrupted only by the rustling of pine branches and the occasional bird call.
A hint of a burn took root in my quads as I pushed up the steep incline. I welcomed the fire. It reminded me that I was alive. Real. Human.
It only took fifteen minutes to reach the fallen doe. She lay half on and half off the trail, her neck bent at an unnatural angle. My stomach roiled as I took her in. Such a waste.
I didn’t begrudge someone wanting to hunt if they were going to consume the meat, but I had no respect for trophy killers—the waste of life for some sort of invisible points on a tally. But this wasn’t that either. This was something darker.
“What do you think?” Law called from down the trail.
I didn’t stand or look back, just continued studying the deer. Rob was right. The gashes hadn’t been made by animal claws. They were too precise for that. Too clean.
“A human being did this, not an animal.”
Lawson cursed as he crouched next to me, looking over the doe’s fallen form. “Definitely a knife.”
He tapped out a text. “Got crime scene techs coming out.”
“Good.” I pushed to my feet.
Lawson followed, surveying the space around us. “Saw you leave right after Aspen last night.”
I stiffened. It was a leading question if I’d ever heard one.
When I didn’t respond, Lawson glanced my way, raising his eyebrows.
I scowled at the forest. “Her car was giving her trouble. I followed her home.”
“That was good of you. Seems like you two get along.”
“What is this? Tea and gossip hour?” I snarled. I didn’t usually have to worry about Lawson probing, especially not when it came to women. Because the last thing he wanted was someone asking him those questions. There were too many skeletons in that closet.
Lawson held up both hands. “Just curious. Aspen’s a good woman. You could do a hell of a lot worse.”
“You want me to start asking you about dating prospects?”
The shutters came down over Lawson’s eyes, and I instantly felt like an ass.
I cleared my throat, turning back to the deer. I wasn’t sure what it said about us that we handled blood and death better than relationships, but we always had. “What do you think?”
Lawson followed my line of sight, taking in the scene again. “Those marks there?”
He pointed to the deer’s neck, and I nodded.
“They’re hesitant as if the attacker still hadn’t fully gotten up the nerve.” Lawson pointed to the deer’s middle. “Those are deeper, more confident.”
He looked up and met my gaze. “Our boy’s getting used to killing.”
12
ASPEN
I stepped onto the front porch as Lawson pulled into my drive. Cady bounced at my side. Her excitement never dimmed when it came to seeing her best friend. It didn’t matter that she’d spent all day at school with him yesterday and then had a playdate afterward.
Lawson hopped out of his SUV as I lugged Cady’s booster seat toward the vehicle. “Here, let me get that.” He had it out of my hands before I could argue.
“Thanks again for doing pickup duty.”
“It’s no problem at all. When is your car going to be ready? I’m happy to take you to get it.”
“Hopefully tomorrow. But Maddie said she’d give me a ride. She’s going to help me with pickup today, too.” Thankfully, I had a day off from The Brew, so I didn’t need to get myself to work on top of everything else.
Lawson nodded as he got the booster seat in place, Cady and Charlie chattering over him. “I’ll leave the seat at school so Maddie can grab it.”
“Thank you. I’m really sorry to call on you so much.” Guilt twisted deep. I was calling on all the people in my life when they had busy schedules of their own.
Lawson straightened. “Aspen, at this point, you’re family. It’s what we do for each other.”
A burn lit behind my eyes and in my throat. Family. I’d wanted that for so long. Hoped Autumn and I would build it together for Cady. And it had all been ripped away. My hand slipped beneath my flannel shirt, feeling the scar there.
I should be finding a way out of Cedar Ridge. Moving Cady to a city where we could be anonymous. But I couldn’t. Not when she was so loved and cared for here. I’d have to find another way. Figure out how John had found our location. Make him think we’d moved elsewhere.
“Thanks, Law,” I whispered.
Concern swept over his expression. “Everything okay?”
I’d almost told him about my past a few times; he was law enforcement, after all. But something always held me back. Part of it was thinking that the fewer people who knew, the better. The other bit was that I liked just being Aspen here. Not a woman who’d been through a horrific ordeal and barely lived to tell the tale.