Page 26 of Their Haunted Hearts (Detectives Kane and Alton #27)
Twenty-Five
Emily glanced up and grimaced. Dark clouds bounded across the sky, threatening rain or early snow.
By the sudden drop in temperature, she reckoned it would be snowing by the end of the week.
She settled her backpack on her shoulders and reached for her forensic kit.
Her hand brushed over Raven’s as he lifted it and hooked it over one shoulder. “I’ll carry it.”
“I’m sure you can.” Raven looked at her and raised one eyebrow. “Do we need to have this argument every time I want to do something for you?”
She stared at him for probably a few seconds too long, taking in the overall strength of the man, his good looks, and charm.
He could be a serial killer if she didn’t know better.
“I figure being the oldest kid in the family, and taking responsibility for carrying stuff is just something I do without thinking.” She smiled at him. “Thank you, I appreciate the help.”
“My pleasure.” Raven waved her ahead of him into the dark forest.
Emily paused. It was as if everything inside of her was screaming at her not to go in there—but she must. An eerie stillness cloaked the forest as they walked.
The birds suddenly fell silent and the only sound was the slight rustling of leaves as Kane and Jenna walked ahead of her.
The trail became steeper as they climbed and steam puffed around her with each breath.
In the silence her breathing appeared loud and her steps heavy.
Ahead mist swirled across the pathway distorting her vision and changing the shapes of trees along the trail.
She stopped walking and fear gripped her as something appeared to be crawling out of the leaves, but it was only the mist moving around an old rotten log.
She took a few deep breaths as Raven caught up to her.
“Everything okay?” Raven scanned the forest. “Don’t worry, Ben will alert us if anyone is near.”
Glad to have Raven and the dog close by, Emily nodded. “Yeah, the mist is making me see things, is all.” She peered along the trail. “I can barely make out Jenna.”
“See the large boulder just ahead the women mentioned? Jenna probably went around it and into the forest.” Raven ushered her forward. “Look left just ahead and you’ll see them.”
Stepping carefully over exposed roots and a tangle of dead bushes, Emily turned into the forest, just making out the fluorescent yellow writing on the back of Jenna’s jacket reflecting in the dim light. “I see her.”
Shadows closed around her and she increased her pace along the narrow path, but all around her branches reached out to tangle in her clothes and pull at her hair.
A light breeze brushed cool against her heated cheeks and twirled the mist, making it dance across the pathway in spirals.
With it came the unmistakable stench of death.
Ahead in the gloom a slowly swinging shape emerged from the mist. It appeared to be human, naked and hanging by its feet.
“Hold up.” Raven’s hand closed around her arm. “Kane will make sure it’s safe.”
Brushing his hand away, she turned to look at him. “If it’s a body, I need to go and examine it.”
“Wait for the all-clear to go in.” He moved closer to her. “It could be a trap.”
Unease crept over Emily as she stared into the dark forest watching Kane step closer.
The beam of his flashlight revealed a pale curve of flesh.
She followed the light down to the gaping slash across the neck and the round snout and large nostrils of a pig.
She turned to Raven. “It’s a pig. A pink pig. How did that get into the forest?”
“They escaped captivity many years ago and seem to be able to outwit the predators.” Raven shrugged.
“I’ve killed a few myself to eat.” He shook his head.
“Whoever killed this one left it to rot. I wonder how long it’s been here.
” He walked toward Kane and looked back at Emily over one shoulder.
“It wasn’t field-dressed here. The ground below is clean. ”
“No footprints we can use either.” Kane ran his flashlight over the surrounding ground. “It’s been disturbed by animals trying to get to the carcass.” He unwound the rope and lowered the pig so Emily could examine it. “Do you need to look at it, Em?”
Emily pinched her nose. “A pig? It doesn’t need an autopsy. Someone cut its throat. Case closed.”
“What’s that?” Jenna pointed to the pig as it swung back and forth as if someone had pushed it. “There hanging down from its neck.”
“It’s a gold locket.” Kane pulled out his phone and took photographs of the pig and the locket. He bent and unclasped the chain and held it up in gloved fingers for Jenna to see. “I recognize it.”
Trying to ignore the acrid smell of rotting pig, Emily moved closer and a shiver slid down her spine.
The killer had been here. This was his idea of a sick joke.
“Me too. It’s in the photograph we have of Darlene Travis.
” She stared at Jenna and then scanned the shadows. “He’s here, isn’t he? This is a trap.”
“If he’d wanted to kill us, he would have tried by now.” Kane’s voice was just above a whisper. “We’ve been out in the open, and anyone who can aim a rifle could have hit at least one of us by now. I figure this is a ploy to keep us out of town, for whatever reason.”
“How would they know we’d take the call?” Raven looked skeptical. “Or the women would spot the pig and call it in?”
“Because he has a trail cam close by.” Jenna waved a hand at the densely packed pine trees. “He could place it anywhere along the trail and we’d never see it. He doesn’t need to be here; he’d pick up the feed on his phone.”
Three gunshots rang out and echoed through the forest. Both men went for their weapons and pushed Emily and Jenna to the ground. The forest floor vibrated and the sound of distant hoofbeats thundered toward them. The loud cracking of branches breaking was getting louder by the second.
“Stampede. Get up, run. We can’t turn the herd. There’s no room. We’ll need to make it to the bridge.” Kane grabbed Jenna’s hand and they sprinted toward the river.
“Come on.” Raven took Emily’s hand. “Run.”
Leaping over fallen logs and dead bushes, Emily ran.
Ahead, Jenna and Kane made a sharp left and bounded through a clearing.
They ran along the edge of the ravine. She stared down in horror.
Thirty or so yards below them, the river pounded toward the falls.
Cold air cut painfully into Emily’s lungs as she ran, the agony increased with each breath.
Muscles in her legs screamed with overexertion as she gasped for air.
She couldn’t stop to take a breath. The noise of the stampede thundered behind them and Raven’s hand held her tight.
He ran so fast she could hardly keep up with him.
Roots tangled around her feet and the next moment she fell.
Without a word, he stopped, picked her up, tossed her over one shoulder, and kept running.
She gasped, trying to pull air into her lungs. “Put me down.”
“Look behind you.” Raven picked up speed.
Her chest bounced painfully against his shoulder.
Tree branches tore at her clothes and hair and whipped her cheeks.
Her ribs ached but she lifted her head to look behind her and fear gripped her by the throat.
A wall of elk, some of them with bleeding stumps where they’d torn off their antlers against the dense trees in their desperate rush to get away, headed straight for them.
In seconds they would be crushed to death.
There could be no escape. Where was Kane heading?
“Go, follow Jenna across the bridge.” Raven skidded to a halt and dropped her to her feet at the edge of the ravine.
An old footbridge, the cables rusty and the wooden slats wet and covered with moss, swung across the boiling river. A huge rusty sign with red writing warned do not cross .
Emily gaped at the rotting dilapidated footbridge, and then at Kane and Jenna.
Her friends moved swiftly, picking their way slowly from rung to rung.
She couldn’t make her feet move toward the open holes where the slats were missing.
How could she hold on? One of the guide ropes hung down toward the river.
Panic gripped her as she looked down. Beneath her, the river bubbled and churned and ahead the old bridge swung dangerously back and forth.
To her horror, green slimy slats fell away behind Jenna and tumbled end over end into the bubbling firmament below.
Terrified, she cried out paralyzed with fear.
Even with Raven’s encouragement, she couldn’t make her feet move. “I can’t.”
“You must. It’s our only chance.” Raven stepped past her, grabbed her hand, and pulled. “Walk in my steps. If the elk try and follow, they’ll destroy the bridge. Hold on tight to me. Move it. Now!”