Page 11 of Manhunt in the Narrows (Red Rock Murders #1)

The killer couldn’t be that far ahead.

Sayles ignored the exhausted burn in her legs, pushing one foot in front of the other. They hadn’t made it far but already she could feel the intensity of Elias’s attention between her shoulder blades. The same sensation she’d experienced when she’d woken on his chest this morning.

Her body had absorbed his warmth more efficiently than that of the hand and toe warmers, and for the first time in…

a long time she’d slept through the night.

No panicking sense of survival. No urge to reach for the multipurpose tool she kept stashed under her pillow.

She didn’t even remember dreaming. The same sense of freedom she found on the trails these past few months had filled the tent last night.

And she was already craving more. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

It wasn’t because of him. No. It’d been the stress of chasing after a killer.

That was all this was. She’d been exhausted.

She’d survived drowning, and her body had crashed the moment she’d let it.

Elias Broyles had nothing to do with it.

Well, except for the fact that he’d kept her from drowning and the effects of hypothermia.

“So are we going to be completely awkward around each other now, or are you just not a morning person?” Elias’s shift through the water hadn’t stumbled or slowed in the past thirty minutes since they’d left their small island of rock. The gauze and medical tape was doing its job.

Sayles closed her eyes against that calming balm of his voice.

How did he do that? What the hell kind of witchcraft convinced her nervous system he was safe?

Nobody else had managed to get under her skin since she’d escaped to Zion, especially not Risner.

Not that she was interested in him or any other man, but a woman couldn’t isolate herself—or her libido—forever.

Her heart rate descended as though she’d sunk into a hot bath, and she gripped her pack straps tighter.

“I’m usually on the trails when the sun comes up. ”

“Awkward it is.” His laugh surrounded her, closed in by the canyon walls until there was no escape for its effects.

Damn him and his voodoo. “You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about.

So you cuddled your sworn enemy in the tent last night.

I’m sure you were just looking for a heat source last night when the warmers stopped working. ”

A flare of prickling cascaded across the back of her neck, almost pulling her to a stop. If she turned around, she might shove him into the river, and that was not very ranger-like. “It’s awfully presumptuous of you to believe you made the list of people I consider enemies.”

“There’s a list?” His resulting smile bled into his voice.

Detach. Detach. Detach. She didn’t like him—didn’t like what he stood for—and had no reason to trust him. No reason to smile back. But her mind supplied the retort and made the decision for her. Traitor. “There is. And you’re slowly working your way to the top.”

“Who do I have to beat out on this list?” This was a game to him, and she couldn’t help but fall right into Elias’s hands. It was the distraction she hadn’t expected to enjoy. “Ex-husband? Wait, no. That’s a hard position to hold on to if you’re dead.”

Sayles craned her head over one shoulder to put the agent in her sights. “Who says he’s dead?”

“I imagine a lot of people, considering you were arrested for his murder.” He picked up his pace to keep in stride with her, slightly deeper into the river at her right. “Unless… He faked his murder just to have you arrested. How?”

Was she really doing this? Trusting a man like Elias with the secrets she’d held on to all this time. For what? Because he made her laugh? Because her body was convinced of the safety he radiated? She’d fallen for that once before.

Her ex had been everything she’d ever wanted.

They’d dated for years during high school and college.

He’d convinced her and her family he’d love and take care of her forever.

But the moment she’d said “I do,” everything had changed.

The man behind the mask had started appearing in small ways at first. Commenting on her clothing choices, suggesting she avoid that second lemon bar.

Bypassing her password on her phone to look something up when he had a perfectly good device provided by the government.

The control had only tightened from there.

Banning her from reaching out to her parents to apologize after a particularly hateful fight at the last family dinner ended in tears.

Detailing who she was allowed to text, what she was allowed to wear, portioning meals, watching what she spent.

No more coffee dates with friends. No more movie nights with her sisters.

No more going to school. Sure as hell no more contact with male colleagues or friends.

She didn’t need to finish her art history degree when he was more than capable of providing for their every need.

For years, the noose tightened around her neck.

Inch by inch, and she hadn’t even noticed.

At least, not until it’d been too late. That was when the calls started.

The ones he answered in the middle of the night and left their bed to take.

When he started coming home later and later.

Working a case, he’d told her. He couldn’t talk about it.

Lies. All of it had been a lie she’d voluntarily swallowed to avoid facing the hard truth.

In the end, she’d been the one to pay the price for his crimes. Still was.

“He had help.” Sayles diverted her gaze above, distracting herself from the tightness in her chest, to the dark cloud that’d slipped overhead without her notice. It was heavy and gray. Full of dangerous potential that could force them to go back. “Friends he recruited from his office.”

“You mean federal agents.” Elias’s words barely registered over the lighter crash of falling water as they approached one of the seasonal waterfalls—in full effect—ahead.

The 200-foot cascade was tucked in a small branching canyon off the main trail and created a trail in its wake, silencing the torturous memories in her head.

This. This was why she’d fallen in love with Zion, why she’d applied to become a ranger with no experience, no outdoor skills and meager survival know-how.

But she’d been a fast learner. From the very first time she’d stepped into the Narrows, she was reminded of the woman she used to be.

The one who trusted herself, who had goals and dreams, who’d figured out the solution to any problem.

Staring at this waterfall, she’d remembered who she’d been before her ex had taken over.

Strong but a little bit wild. Carefree yet caring for those who deserved her love.

From mere minutes of studying this exact waterfall, something had clicked into place.

She’d become obsessed, learned everything she could about the park and the skills needed to become a ranger in a matter of weeks.

She still wasn’t sure why Risner had offered her the job based off her nonexistent résumé, but she would always be thankful he’d given her the opportunity.

Even if it meant suffering through his pitiful attempts to raise the bar on sexist pigs.

“We can rest here for a couple minutes.” Her body relaxed into that space where the past didn’t exist and all that mattered was the next step forward as she splayed her hand into the waterfall.

Cold water slapped into her palm, kept her from disappearing completely.

“My ex was very good at reading people. Always seemed to know the exact right thing to say. He could win any argument, despite evidence contrary to his perspective. If he hadn’t made a career with the FBI, I think he might’ve been a great lawyer in another life.

I think it’s how he was able to convince so many people that he was the victim in our relationship.

That he was being emotionally abused and isolated and controlled. Not the other way around.”

Elias stepped up into her, unaware or unconcerned with the spray of water coming off the rocks. “The police had to have something on you to show a history of abuse.”

“They did. Turns out those friends I thought could see what he was doing to me—people I’d invited into our home for dinners and holidays and barbecues—had provided testimony on my ex’s behalf.

” Her stomach soured. They’d been her friends, too.

Once. Only now she realized just how deep her ex had his claws in them.

“The GPS in my car told police I’d been following him to those motels where he met up with women, keeping track of who he was with.

There were texts sent from my phone to his colleagues but later deleted showing how much control I had over his life.

He lied to his partner about arguments and punishments and financial abuse I held over him. But it was all a lie.”

“But you were the one being abused,” he said.

“Not physically. He never hit me, but some scars aren’t visible.

” Sayles pulled her hand free from the crashing water.

Back to reality. Back to chasing a ghost in hopes of keeping him from hurting anyone else.

“I’d wanted out. A few days before I was arrested, I asked for a divorce, and in return, he faked his death. ”

“That kind of planning takes time.” Elias didn’t retreat from the waterfall, squinting up at the source 200 feet up.

His expression relaxed as if he were soaking up every moment, memorizing it, enjoying it.

In the short amount of time they’d been partnered, she hadn’t seen him look so…

free. Very unlike an FBI agent who might turn on her, and something released from around her rib cage.

“You can’t just frame someone in a day. Or without a body. ”

She’d figured that out while sitting in a jail cell.

Somehow her husband had known her intentions.

Or maybe he’d just always had an escape plan designed for moments he didn’t get what he wanted.

She’d never know. Sayles directed her attention back to the main part of the river.

“No. You can’t. Somehow, my ex had gotten a hold of a body roughly the same size and weight as him.

It’d been…burned beyond recognition, but his wedding ring, the one I’d had engraved for him, was recovered with the remains.

Neither fingerprints nor DNA could be recovered to make a positive identification, and the teeth had been damaged.

Based on his wedding ring and his friends’ testimonies, police arrested me. ”

Elias unwrapped a banana that wouldn’t last him an hour calorically considering his size and muscle. “How’d you find out he was still alive?”

“One of the friends he’d asked to perjure himself had a change of heart.

” It was the first domino to fall in a long line of lies unraveled over several months.

Months wasted in a prison cell that she’d never get back.

“He came forward and gave up my ex’s plan.

Texts and voicemails he’d kept just in case.

After some dealing with the DA’s office, he gave up my ex’s location.

My darling husband had paid for a death certificate, bought a new identity, became someone else—all while I rotted away behind bars. I was released after eight months.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through.” Those dark eyes pinned her in place. Held her up with invisible arms like nothing else had since her release. “But I give you my word, I will not fake my death and frame you for my murder as long as we’re partners.”

Maybe Elias Broyles wasn’t so bad for an FBI agent, after all.

“That would be greatly appreciated.” Spatters of rain hit the brim of her hat, and she turned her face up to the sky.

The cloud had taken over the thin sliver of blue in the past few minutes, and her stomach lurched.

The chances of surviving—outrunning—another flash flood were slim.

They had to go back. “Another storm is moving in. Come on. We have to get out of here.”

Sayles didn’t wait for his response as she headed downstream. Back toward that sliver of rock they’d taken solace on last night. There was no telling if it would be enough, but there was no flash flood escape in this corridor. They would die if they pushed through.

“What are you doing? Our killer is this way.” Elias pointed upstream. “He’s close, Sayles. The bag he dropped is proof. We can catch him. We can stop him.”

“Not if we’re dead.” The rain picked up, stinging her face as the winds barreled down the canyon as though in warning. She studied the rapids. Waited for the debris and the mud and the roar she couldn’t forget. “There’s nowhere to run—”

A loud boom filled her head.

Elias’s mountainous body collided with hers.

Dragging her beneath the river’s surface.