Jenna sighed with relief. “Soon as I grab Seagull, I’ll call it in. The phones should work now the storm has passed.” She hurried to her mare and slid her rifle back in the scabbard attached to her saddle.
The wind was blowing the smoke down the mountain, fanning the roaring wildfire closer to town. Fear clenched her belly. So many people lived off the grid in Stanton Forest. Hundreds of houses lined Stanton Road, and schools and the hospital would be in danger if the fire wasn’t contained. Trembling from shock and looking all around, she called Rowley and tried to keep the hysterics from her voice but, in truth, her flight response was in overdrive. Right now, she wanted to be anywhere but here and not ten yards from James Stone’s dead body. “I’m on the ravine trail near Bear Peak. James Stone was in the forest along with three of his disciples. I took him down and Kane took out the second, the other one burned up in the wildfire. We have three bodies and one man still at large. What’s the situation with the fire?”
“We heard shots, and knew something was going down. We’ve been trying to contact you since you left town. We know about Stone’s escape. I’m with Rio on the opposite side of the river from you at Bear Peak, not far from the firebreak. You won’t believe who I have in custody—John Foster and he hasn’t stopped talking. Stone recruited him to kill you and Dave, which makes the other two dead guys Adams and Long. They were all involved just as you figured… including Stone. He sure didn’t fool you, though, did he?” Rowley cleared his throat. “Latest news is that the fire is being contained, there are crews from all over surrounding it now. It hasn’t crossed the firebreak below your position, and the fire chief is convinced it won’t get past the falls. Crews are on their way to your position now in case the wind changes.”
Jenna turned to look at the massive orange glow in the sky and shook her head. “It sure doesn’t look contained. We’ll need to retrieve the bodies, but it’s too high risk at the moment. Call Wolfe and let him know the situation and we’ll do the retrieval once we get the all-clear from the fire department. Stay where you are. We’ll come to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley disconnected.
Jenna pressed her com. “Rowley has John Forest in custody on the other side of the river. He’s admitted to being involved and is singing like a canary. We’re good to go.”
“Copy.”
Footsteps pounded on the trail and she swung around, reaching for her weapon. She dropped her hand at the sight of Kane bending over Stone, checking his vital signs. When he straightened and turned toward her, she waved. Once Kane had wrapped crime scene tape around the trees surrounding Stone’s body, she led the reluctant Seagull onto the trail. The mare bucked and danced sideways, snorting. The fire and smoke had terrified her. Jenna heaved a sigh of relief as Kane hurried toward her. She stared at him, so glad to have him in her life. He’d taught her so much, protected her with his life, and all the while living with a secret misery. How he’d remained steadfastly by her side when she’d given him such a hard time she’d never understand, but that was the essence of Dave Kane. She fell against him when he walked to her side. “I can’t believe they were all involved.” She held up her hand and closed her index finger an inch away from her thumb. “They came this close to killing us, Dave.” She shivered. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
“It didn’t show.” Kane hugged her. ?
?The way you handled Stone was by the book, Jenna. He’ll never hurt anyone again.”
Jenna tapped her phone. “I recorded everything. I’m sure the FBI will want to know what went down here, but right now we need to get more distance between us and the fire. We can’t do anything about the bodies. Shane will want to see them in situ, and right now we need to concentrate on getting out of the forest.”
“I’m sure Duke is getting anxious too.” Kane picked up the mare’s reins and took Jenna’s hand. “I’ll lead Seagull as she’s in such a foul mood.”
They ran up the trail and Jenna kept her eyes straight ahead as they passed the body of Stone. Kane had kept the mare on the outside and shielded her from the gruesome sight. By the time they’d rounded the corner and Warrior came into view, shock hit Jenna in a tidal wave of tremors. “Wait up.” Her voice was shaky to her ears.
“Just a bit further and then we can ride the rest of the way.” Kane pushed on. “Seagull will settle down once she’s with Warrior.”
Breathless, she pulled on Kane’s hand. “Slow down, I need a drink of water. The wind is blowing the fire down the mountain. We should reach the river by horseback in no time.”
“Okay.” Kane stopped and pulled a bottle of water from her backpack and handed it to her. His concerned expression moved over her face. “Take a minute and catch your breath. You’re sheet white.”
The horror of the last hour slammed into Jenna. Tears welled in her eyes and she brushed them away, angry at herself for being so girly. She’d looked away, but eagle-eyed Kane had noticed.
“It’s over.” Kane pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair. “If you hadn’t taken the shot, I would the moment his finger went to the trigger.” He held her away and looked into her eyes. “The world is a better place without him.”
Jenna burrowed into his chest and held on tight. “Today I watched a man burn to death and shot another. The forest is on fire. Everything is going to hell. So many killers come to Black Rock Falls, all out to prove they can take us down. Are we doing the right thing staying here? How many more people are going to die, Dave?”
“Don’t you believe we’ve been sent here for a reason?” Kane rested his chin on the top of her head. “Not by POTUS, I mean by fate or whoever pulls the strings. We both know that murders were committed way before we arrived here and those killers escaped justice. The bones found in the forest would be the tip of the iceberg. The killers don’t come here to challenge us, Jenna, they come here because our county is vast with millions of places to hide, commit murder, and dispose of bodies.” He sighed. “Over six hundred thousand people go missing in the United States every year, and there are currently way over two hundred thousand unsolved murders, so how many were the victims of serial killers? It may seem like we have way over our quota of cases in Black Rock Falls, but in truth, we don’t touch the surface—and so far, we’ve caught every darn one of them. I’d say we’re doing a fine job.”
Still shaken, Jenna leaned back to look up at him. “I’m not sure what I’d do without you, Dave. You always say just the right thing to make me feel better.” She held her breath as Kane hugged her, rubbing her back. When he released her, she stared into his eyes. “You make me feel safe.”
“I like that.” Kane tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Reluctantly, Jenna stepped away and looked behind him at the flames waving high above the distant pines. “Come on, we need to keep moving away from the fire.”
“Sure.” Kane pulled down his facemask and whistled for Duke. “Even Duke knows to be careful when shots have been fired.” He waved a hand toward his dog as he made his way through the trees, keeping low. “See? Duke is careful.”
Jenna didn’t have time to reply. Duke launched himself at them, backside wiggling and making snuffling sounds. Laughing, she rubbed his ears. “It’s good to see you too. Maybe Dave will teach you how to bite the next person who tries to steal you.”
“Somehow, I think he’s learned that all by himself.” Kane rubbed Duke from head to tail. “Haven’t you, boy?” He straightened and looked at Jenna. “He warned me someone was close by. He went ballistic.” He offered Jenna his linked hands to hoist her into the saddle. “I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”
Epilogue
Sunday, Week Two
Halloween
The first rain had arrived to help extinguish the wildfire before Jenna and her team had left the mountain on Friday. It lashed the forest right through Saturday, sending torrents of ash-filled rivulets of water down the mountain to muddy the pristine rivers, but the discoloration wouldn’t last for long. Black Rock Falls would replenish the lakes and rivers with clean water in no time. The fire had left a blackened scar, but after winter the forest would renew and it would become a distant memory. Although the horror of Friday would stay with Jenna for a long time.