Page 13 of Crime Lab Cold Case (Pacific Northwest Forensics #2)

Michael kicked a tree stump with the toe of his hiking boot. He’d promised himself not to come out to this spot again. What good did it do? There were no answers among the trees. No clues left on the trail.

If the cops got wind of his nighttime sojourns out here, he’d probably make it back to the top of their suspect list. The news from Detective Ibarra today had tilted him off course, had crushed his theory about a stranger homicide.

Raine had been hanging out with some shady characters, but murder? The cops had already checked out her boyfriend, and he’d had a better alibi than Michael.

Maybe Natalie had been right. Maybe Nicole took additional pills on her own.

She’d had no self-restraint. She could’ve reasoned the more pills the better.

Some stranger had taken advantage of her disorientation and killed her.

There had been no sexual assault, but her clothes had been ripped.

She could’ve fought off her attacker’s sexual battery, and he’d struck back and killed her.

He tipped back his head and yelled to the night sky, “Enough!”

As he turned to leave, a sickening thud echoed through the forest. That was no animal, unless some critter had recently acquired a metal coat.

He jogged down the path, back to his car, which was parked just off the road. He got in and turned on his headlights, then eased forward, sweeping the empty highway. Looking in his rearview mirror, he saw smoke rising from the forest on the other side of the road.

He threw his car in Reverse and backed up several feet. Then he pulled it off the road and jumped out. His nostrils twitched at the smell of burning rubber. As he got closer to the smoke, his flashlight picked out skid marks on the road leading into the forest.

He ran into the underbrush, where a car had just forged a new trail. He followed the broken branches and flattened bushes into the woods, and his adrenaline ramped up even more when he spotted a car, its front end crumped against a tree.

Smoke continued to pour from the damaged vehicle, and the smell of gasoline permeated the air. He scrambled toward the car and peered through the driver’s-side window.

His heart slammed against his chest as Natalie pushed against the airbag, which was pinning her to the seat. He tried the door handle, but the lock was engaged, so he pounded on the window.

Natalie turned her pale face toward him, and several seconds later, he heard the locks click. He yanked open the door and pulled her out of the car and away from the airbag.

He shouted, even though she was right next to him. “We need to get away from the car. I smell gasoline.”

“My purse.” She reached around him.

“I’ll get it. Move.” He ducked into the car and grabbed her purse and a plastic bag from the floor of the front seat.

He stumbled back and joined her several feet away. “Let’s keep moving toward the road and call nine-one-one. Are you alright? Can you walk?”

“I’m okay.” She dabbed her fingers against an abrasion on her forehead.

When she swayed on her feet, he swept her up in his arms and carried her back toward the highway.

As he tromped down the trail her car had blazed through earlier, her head fell on his shoulder, the curly tendrils of her hair tickling his chin.

The ease with which she fit into his arms, and against his chest, didn’t surprise him.

He knew, from at least this afternoon, when she’d sensed his turmoil, that wrapping his arms around her would feel right.

A crackling noise behind them spurred on Michael’s footsteps, and he didn’t put Natalie down until he reached the asphalt.

Clinging to his shirt, she craned her head around. “The car’s on fire. Oh, my God. You saved my life. I couldn’t get out from under that airbag. I thought those things were supposed to protect you.”

“I think you were just panicked. You would’ve eventually shimmied out from under it.” He slipped his phone from the pocket of his jeans and tapped it for 911.

“Don’t downplay your heroism. If you hadn’t come along when you did, I’d probably still be stuck in that car, which is now burning.” She tilted her head back and sniffed the smoky air.

Michael spoke into the phone to the 911 operator, asking for an ambulance.

When he hung up, Natalie said, “I don’t need an ambulance. I’m okay.” She examined her forearms. “I think I’m going to have some bruises from the airbag, but I never lost consciousness, and I’m not injured anywhere.”

“Never hurts to get checked out, and you should be grateful the airbag went off, or you might have gone through the windshield into that tree. What the hell happened, anyway? I assume you were coming home from Nicole’s place.”

“I was.” Hugging her purse to her chest, she said, “The brakes on the car went out. It was kind of a perfect storm. I was coming out of an incline and a curve, and an animal ran into the road. I swerved to avoid it and crashed through the tree line. Luckily, I met bushes and underbrush first before running into the first tree. I think the car was slowing down by the time I hit the tree.”

“Brake failure? On a new rental car?”

“I’m no mechanic.” She held up her arms, which were already turning blue with bruising.

“But I pressed on the brake pedal, eased it on and finally stomped on it. At first it was spongy; then my foot went right to the floor. Maybe it’s a good thing I saw that animal and pulled off in a relatively safe area. It’s almost as if…”

“As if what?” He plucked a leaf from her hair, his fingers lingering over a soft curl.

“This place, this area.” She bit her bottom lip. “It’s where…”

“It’s near Devil’s Edge.” Where Raine was murdered and where Natalie’s friend had disappeared. Did she think the animal was infused with Katie’s spirit and had saved her?

He opened his mouth, but an approaching siren saved him from spilling the beans and admitting he’d spied on her. Too bad she couldn’t trust him enough to tell him. He’d trusted her, and it had been a while since he felt he could trust a woman.

“Is that why you were nearby?” She placed a hand on his arm. “You went back?”

“I did, but I’m done with it. I’ll let the sheriff’s department do its job and find the answers that are evading me.”

“I’m glad you did go back. If you hadn’t, I might not be standing here beside you.”

He put an arm around her and pulled her close, whispering in her hair. “And that would’ve been a tragedy.”

He didn’t get to gauge her response, and maybe she didn’t even hear him because the emergency vehicles pulled up, bathing both of them in red lights, assaulting their ears with wailing sirens.

An hour later, the fire department had doused the car fire, and an EMT had checked out Natalie’s vitals and injuries. She’d escaped what could’ve been a disaster pretty much unscathed.

He’d had to explain to the cops that he’d been out for a drive, but nobody seemed to think it odd that his drive had taken him past the exact spot where his wife had been murdered.

Natalie had called the rental-car company to give them the bad news, but they’d been more concerned about the faulty brakes and a possible lawsuit than blaming Natalie. They’d promised her a new car delivered to her hotel first thing in the morning.

As the emergency personnel wrapped up and cleaned up, Michael took Natalie’s arm. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Clean bill of health from the EMTs.” She dusted her hands together and winced.

“You’re gonna have some wicked bruises on your arms and probably your chest from that airbag.”

She pressed her fingers against her chest. “Feeling it already.”

“I’m driving you back to your hotel. Do you have everything?”

She held up her purse and the plastic bag. “Got my purse and my leftover Indian food from Nicole’s dinner.”

“You mean I risked my life going back into that car for Indian food?”

She winked. “You obviously have never had the biriyani from Taj Majal.”

“I have, actually. It all makes sense now.” He yelled over to a deputy. “Are you done with us? I’m taking Natalie to her hotel.”

The deputy waved back. “All good.”

Michael opened the door for her and had to help her inside as she stiffly lowered herself to the passenger seat.

When he got behind the wheel, he said, “I hope you have some ibuprofen in your room. You’re going to be sore.”

“Going to be?” She rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s already kicking in.”

When they arrived at her hotel, Michael hurried to the passenger side of the car to help her out. He snagged her purse and bag of food from the floor, then wrapped his arm around her waist.

As they walked through the sliding doors of her hotel, she extricated herself from his hold. “Thanks, Michael. I can manage from here.”

“No way. I’m not getting on the bad side of the FBI by neglecting one of its agents. I’ll see you up to your room and get you settled.”

“You don’t have to get home?”

“Ivy was sleeping when I left, and my sister was ensconced in her bedroom perusing dating apps on her phone.”

Natalie wrinkled her nose. “Brave girl.”

She didn’t object again when he placed a hand on the small of her back and steered her toward the elevators.

As they rode up to the third floor, he said, “I don’t expect to see you at the lab tomorrow. You should rest.”

“That’s the last thing I need to do. If I lie down for hours, my body is going to be too stiff to move. The EMT told me to stretch and move around.” She tapped her keycard against her door, and it clicked open.

“Don’t know how much stretching and moving around you’re going to do at the office.” He bent over and opened the tiny fridge. “You want the food in here or did your near-death experience make you hungry?”

“You can put it away, but if there’s a small bottle of wine in the minibar, I’ll take it.”

He studied the minibar. “You want something stronger?”

“No, but help yourself.”

He plucked a bottle of chardonnay from the fridge and twisted off the cap. “Only the finest. Is there a glass somewhere?”

She bounced on the edge of the bed and held out her hand, wiggling her fingers. “I’ll drink it from the bottle.”

He handed it to her, and she placed it to her lips and took a long draw from the bottle.

Cupping the bottle between her hands, she said, “That was scary. I’ve never even been in a fender bender before.”

“I’m glad you’re okay. Maybe I was meant to be in that spot one last time.” He sat in the desk chair and hunched forward, his elbows on his knees. “How was your dinner with Nicole, otherwise?”

“It was good. Food was delicious, and the conversation flowed. She knows a lot about crime.” She picked at the label on the bottle. “Nicole told me about her husband. That’s awful. Did it happen here or before she moved here?”

“It happened here, just around the time I started at the lab. I’m surprised she told you about it. She usually doesn’t talk about her husband’s death.”

“I’m afraid I asked her. I saw the wedding picture and assumed she was divorced like me. Just used it as a conversation starter, and it had the opposite effect.” She took another sip from the bottle. “She said he was a cop. Was it a depression thing?”

“He was a cop. You met Jacob Reynolds, our part-time gofer. His dad, Max Reynolds, was Frank Meloan’s partner.”

Natalie put a hand to her throat. “Wow, so many connections in this town.”

Michael knew exactly what Natalie was thinking, as Max Reynolds had been assigned to Katie Fellows’s case. It felt weird having this deception between them. Why wouldn’t she just tell him? Did she think he’d report her to the FBI to get her off the audit and out of their hair? She must.

He stood suddenly and stretched. “I’d better get going. Nobody is going to raise their eyebrows if you don’t show up.”

“I’ll be fine.” She scooted off the edge of the bed and put the bottle of wine on the credenza. “If my neck gets any worse, I’ll take a trip to urgent care. Otherwise, the rental-car company is delivering another car tomorrow morning, and I’ll be there.”

“You could sue the company, you know. How do brakes fail on a newish rental car?”

“I suppose they’ll have to do some accident investigation first to make sure I wasn’t at fault. You know the cops had me blow into a breathalyzer. Good thing I had just one glass of wine at Nicole’s and plenty of food.”

As she stood in front of him, he could smell the fruity aroma from the chardonnay on her breath. Good thing she hadn’t downed a mini bottle before getting in the car.

He placed one hand on her shoulder. “I’m just glad it wasn’t more serious for you.”

Her eyelashes fluttered, and her lips parted.

Was he going to do this? How could he with secrets between them? He’d had enough deception from Raine throughout their marriage. He’d vowed never to accept that poison again…no matter how tempting the fruit.

Obviously not hampered by the same principles, Natalie decided for him. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on his lips. “Th-that’s a thank-you. Or maybe that’s the wine.”

He’d stood frozen just in case it was the wine, but she kissed him again, pressing her soft lips against his and winding one arm around his neck.

He kissed her back this time but kept his hands to himself, sort of a half-assed compromise between his ethics and his lust.

She drew back, placing her hands on his chest. “Bad idea? I thought, you know, we had something.”

“We could have something.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “But I already had a relationship built on distrust, and I’m not going there again. It almost cost me my freedom.”

Her fingers curled against his chest. “Distrust? Is it because I’m doing an audit of your lab? It’s my job, Michael. It’s not personal.”

“Oh, I think it’s very personal, Nat… Nat Cooper.”