Page 9

Eight

As Raven’s SUV patrol vehicle climbed high into the mountains, Emily gazed out of the window, enjoying the lush beauty of Black Rock Falls in summer.

Being apprehensive about going alone to a potential crime scene had eased a little with Raven beside her.

After all, Jenna did this all the time and her dad would never send her into danger alone, and yet as the dense forest enveloped them, knowing a killer was out there sent cold chills down her spine.

She concentrated on the spectacular view to push away the fear threatening to spoil everything.

She’d never live down the embarrassment of losing her nerve in front of Raven.

She stared into the trees, searching for a glimpse of wildlife.

The various shades of green, bathed in sunlight filtering through the dense canopy, seemed surreal, almost magical.

Why did someone always spoil it by committing murder in the forest?

“Are you concerned about what we might find?” Raven looked at her.

She turned to him. “Not at all. I’ve spent my fair share of time at body farms and at some nasty crime scenes and I haven’t puked yet.” She shook her head. “It’s just—well—it would be very unusual if someone has tied human body parts to a tree.”

“How so?” Raven flicked her a glance.

Emily waved a hand dismissively. “We’ve already had a killer using that MO in Black Rock Falls.

I don’t recall his name, but the dismembered bodies were left during the winter.

I recall Jenna and Kane were on vacation at the ski resort when the body parts were discovered.

The case was solved and the perpetrator would either be dead or in prison. ”

“That’s good to know.” Raven kept his attention on the winding road ahead. “I don’t recall ever visiting the ski resort in summer. It’s very peaceful here and the scenery is magnificent, isn’t it?”

In truth, dread at what they might find hung over Emily, but she brushed it away and forced a smile.

“It sure is. I’ve been in the mountains before in summer but never this high.

It won’t be long before the place is bustling with skiers.

The ski lodge has certainly had its share of serial killers, but the tourists keep on coming, year in and year out.

” She turned around in her seat to peer down the mountainside.

At this position, she could see all the way to town, including the rivers and the lake, all springing from the falls.

“This would be a wonderful place for a picnic, don’t you agree? ”

“Absolutely.” Raven rubbed his short beard and glanced at her. “Although you might think differently when we arrive at the crime scene—it could be a field-dressed animal hung in a tree to keep it away from the bears.”

Her thoughts drifted momentarily to the crime scene they were heading toward and she turned in her seat to look at him. “Dad mentioned you were in the military before joining the sheriff’s department. Were you deployed overseas?”

“Yeah, I served as a medic.” Raven gave his head a little shake as if talking about his service was a problem.

“I flew a medevac chopper and saw a lot of action, but it prepared me well for this kind of work. Before you ask why I left before my twenty years, I suffered from PTSD and decided that being involved with K-9 training would be a good way to rehabilitate. That’s how I come to have Ben.

I believe that saving rescue dogs and training them for personal protection is a good community project that also makes me a living. ”

Emily enjoyed his company and getting him to open up about his past was surprisingly easy.

She’d spoken to Dave Kane about him, after her dad had informed her that Raven had asked if he could take her on a date.

The idea had both thrilled and annoyed her.

To think that in this day and age a man figured he needed to go to her father to ask his permission.

So after giving her dad the stink eye and refusing to discuss Raven with him, she’d gone to her ally.

Kane had informed her that in his opinion Raven was an open book.

A “what you see is what you get” kind of guy.

However, she’d made a point of keeping him at arm’s length.

As an independent grown woman, she didn’t need her father interfering—or choosing her dates.

He’d been overprotective since she’d attended kindergarten, and if he approved of Raven or not, who she dated was none of his business.

Dragging her mind back to the conversation, she smiled at him. “I imagine everything was going really fine until you found my sister in a plane wreck.”

“Indeed.” Raven barked a laugh. “My life has completely changed since then. I will still train the dogs, and now that I have Atohi Blackhawk as a partner, their training and well-being will continue when I’m working for the sheriff’s department.”

Emily nodded. “That’s good to know. It must have been quite an adjustment coming back to civilian life. Dad mentioned that you fly a chopper and that one is available for you now.”

“Yes, and with all the additional training I’ve received, I’m one of the team now.

” Raven cleared his throat. “I figured with everyone being so close and all, acceptance would be a problem, but everyone has been amazing and Kane is like my big brother. I was resistant to join society again. I liked living in solitude with my dogs, but I’ve found a new purpose here.

” He slowed to take a tight bend. “What made you want to follow in your father’s footsteps? ”

It wasn’t a difficult question, but Raven didn’t know how the family had suffered before moving to Black Rock Falls.

Watching her mother slowly die of cancer, and seeing how her dad carried the burden for everyone and then respected her mom’s wishes by creating a new life for them, had been all the inspiration she needed.

She looked at Raven. “He started off like you, you know, flying medevac choppers under fire. Then he became a handler for a special forces operative, who unfortunately died. He decided the only way to keep himself busy during the long nights he stayed awake nursing my mother was to finish his studies in forensic science and then apply for certification as a medical examiner. The one thing that made up my mind to follow him was that he always told me he did the job because there was no one else to speak for the victims of crime.”

“That’s very noble.” Raven whistled through his teeth. “Now he has found Norrell. They seem like a perfect fit for each other.”

Emily remembered her mother, a day or so before she died, insisting that she encourage her dad to move on with his life.

It should come like a slap in the face to think that anyone could ever take her mother’s place—they couldn’t, of course, and she knew that now.

Norrell was more like a really good friend and it had taken her father a long time to get the courage to ask her out.

She’d seen Norrell with her little sister, Anna, and the way she encouraged her to remember their mom.

She turned to look at Raven. “We all believed they’d be perfect together but my father is old-school and took forever to take the first step.

He had some stupid notion that he was too old for her.

There is only seven years difference between them and they were best friends long before they got involved. ”

“I’m kind of old-school too.” Raven flashed her a smile. “I don’t see anything wrong with respecting women and their families. I’m more of a slow and easy kind of guy, rather than jump in boots and all.”

Laughing, Emily looked at him. “You sound too good to be true, but then I believed Dave was hiding behind a mask for a long time, but he’s the real deal. It must be military brat syndrome. I don’t need to ask if you were raised in a military family. It’s kinda obvious.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned. “I followed in my dad’s footsteps as well.”

Emily’s smile froze on her lips as they turned the next bend to see a couple of hikers, pale and wide-eyed, sitting on a boulder beside the dirt road.

They pointed to the trees on the opposite side of the road.

She looked past them to the tree adorned with body parts.

The victim was a young woman. The head faced the road.

Her long dark hair flowed in the breeze, making her appear almost alive.

All around her, body parts hung from the branches of a pine tree.

Emily swallowed the bile rushing up the back of her throat.

She hadn’t prepared herself for a sight as barbaric as this.

The killer had wanted them found and placed them so they were visible from the road.

She squinted her eyes and made out a message cut deep into the flesh of the torso: not mine .

“Oh, that’s not good.” Raven drove under the cover of trees alongside the mountain and pulled the vehicle to a halt.

He turned to her. “Stay sharp. We don’t know who’s out here.

Call your dad and update him. I’ll go and speak to the witnesses.

They need to be anywhere but here. I’ll get their story and then cut them loose. Jenna can follow up later.”

Grabbing her phone, Emily sighed with relief when Jenna answered her phone. Her dad would be in the river with Kane and Carter recovering bodies. “I’m on scene. It’s a homicide. Do you recall the serial killer who cut up his bodies and displayed them in the forest. It was during winter?”

“Vividly.” Jenna blew out a long sigh. “It can’t possibly be him. So we have a copycat.”

Emily stared at the body parts shifting macabrely in the breeze. “Yeah, and this one is leaving us notes.”