“Don’t,” I said quietly. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” Lawson argued. “I can see you winding tighter and tighter. I know it’s new for you, having feelings like this, but I don’t want it setting you back.”
“How would you feel if you were in my shoes? Your person being attacked. People spreading vicious lies about her that could lead to anyone acting out. Would you just shrug and turn it off?”
It killed that they’d seen me do that before. When shit hit the fan for all my siblings, I’d been able to keep going. But Aspen had unlocked something in me, and I couldn’t put things back in the bottle.
A muscle under Lawson’s eye fluttered. “Well, I don’t have a person, do I?”
Shit.
“That’s not how I meant it.”
He huffed out a breath, his fingers stretching around the wheel. “I know you didn’t. But if I’m honest, it’s one of the reasons I don’t. Having three kids I love more than life is hard enough—knowing what’s out there, all the things that could hurt them. I can’t add more to that plate.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Lawson’s ex had messed with his head in ways I wasn’t sure he’d recover from. And he blamed himself for a lot of the shit that was hers and hers alone. But he wouldn’t be able to hear that now. He never could.
“Sometimes, it’s worth the risk,” I said quietly.
As twisted up as I was currently, I’d never give up a single moment with Aspen and Cady.
Lawson’s jaw clenched, making that muscle twitch again. “Not for everyone.”
He pulled into a spot at the trailhead and shut off the engine. The parking lot was already teeming with vehicles and various forms of law enforcement. There was a presence from CRPD, Harrison County, and Fish and Wildlife.
I slid out of the SUV and shut the door. Whoever this was had been impatient this time. The body was right in front of the map and welcome sign.
My gut roiled at the sight. The body wouldn’t be identifiable by facial features.
This was pure rage.
Nash grimaced as we approached. “Never seen anything like it, and I hope I never have to again.”
“I take it we don’t have an ID?” Lawson asked.
He shook his head. “Luisa and the techs are working now, but we’ll have to confirm with dental records if he isn’t in the system.”
He. That was all we knew.
Lawson jerked his head in a nod. “I’ve got the print scanner in my SUV if you want to grab it.” He handed Nash the keys.
“Male. That’s a hell of a different type,” I muttered.
“Also, they didn’t drag him up the trail. Either it was heat-of-the-moment, or the unsub was too angry.”
“He was definitely angry,” I said, inclining my head toward the decimated body.
Lawson’s hands clenched and flexed. “Understatement. Hopefully, he was pissed enough to leave some evidence behind.”
“Got it,” Nash called as he jogged back.
As we approached the body, Luisa looked up and shook her head. “Gotta stop meeting like this, Chief.”
“I don’t disagree. Any idea on time of death?”
“I’m guessing sometime late morning,” she answered.
“Same knife?” I asked.
Luisa glanced my way and grimaced. “There’s too much damage to the body for me to know from visuals alone. I need to get him back to the morgue.”
Hell. This was beyond bad.
“Can I run a print?” Nash asked.
Luisa nodded, motioning him over. He made a conscious effort not to look at the worst of the gore, and I didn’t blame him. This would give everyone who saw it nightmares for weeks.
Luisa lifted a single finger and pressed it to the electronic pad. Nash repositioned the scanner a few times to guarantee a complete image, then pulled it back.
One of the techs offered him an alcohol wipe.
Nash thanked him and cleaned the screen. “Let’s see if we can connect to cellular.”
We weren’t that far out of town, so hopefully, it would work.
We all waited as Nash stared at the screen. A minute later, a ding sounded. My brother’s jaw went slack. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Lawson barked.
Nash turned the screen around, and a driver’s license photo and name appeared.
Tyson Moss. Steven’s podcast partner.
Lawson guided his SUV down the mountain toward the rental Steven and Tyson had been staying in. “Dumb luck or related?”
It was the question I’d been asking myself since the ID came in. I wanted it to be dumb luck. It was a small town, after all. There were a limited number of potential victims.
But something niggled at the back of my mind. Something that said there were no coincidences in life.
“When they broadcasted Aspen’s location, they could’ve brought anyone here. Someone who liked John for all the wrong reasons,” I said. My fingers twitched. I’d already texted Holt and asked him to head to Aspen’s. I needed more eyes on her until we figured out how everything was linked.
Lawson’s jaw worked back and forth. “Exactly what I’m afraid of.”
“We also need to take a longer look at Oren Randal.”
Lawson’s gaze flicked to me. “You think he’s capable of this?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. There’s a real sick rage there.”
“You’re right. I’ll do some more digging.”
He flipped on his blinker and turned into the long drive we’d been down before. The familiar van was parked in front. Lawson pulled in behind it, and we climbed out.
Lawson rested a hand on his weapon as we approached the house. I did the same. Neither of us said out loud that we could be walking up on anything. We didn’t need to.
I lifted my hand and knocked.
No sounds came from inside.
I knocked again.
“Keep your fuckin’ pants on,” Steven shouted as footsteps sounded.
A second later, the door jerked open. He looked like hell—hair sticking up at every angle, dark circles under bloodshot eyes.
The moment Steven saw us, he scowled. “I haven’t broken any damn laws, so get off my property.”
“Not actually your property,” I muttered under my breath.
He started to close the door, but Lawson put out a hand to stop it. “We need to talk to you about Tyson.”
Steven’s scowl deepened. “What’d that prick tell you?”
My brows lifted at that. “Trouble in paradise?”
“He’s a fuckin’ traitor. We had a thesis for our podcast. We were going to get John’s case overturned. Then we’d have movie deals and book tours. We’d be set. And then he was all, ‘But what if she’s telling the truth?’ Who gives a damn? So, I punched him. It barely landed. I can’t believe he called you assholes.”
“He’s dead,” Lawson said.
Steven reared back. “The fuck you say?”
“Tyson is dead. We found his body two hours ago.”
“Y-you’re wrong. I saw him this morning. I—there’s no way.”
“I’m sorry, Steven.”
I had to give it to Lawson, he sounded like he meant it. And he probably did. The guy might’ve been an asshole, but he didn’t deserve to die.
“How?” Steven rasped.
Lawson took a breath. “We’ll get to that in a second. I need to ask you a few questions to get a timeline. When did you last see Tyson?”
“Around ten a.m.,” Steven mumbled.