She nodded, rifling through the notebooks for a clear one on the bottom. “Yes. Statistically, Alaska has more missing persons than any other state in the Union, and several are from this area. I started thinking about the victim wearing the EVEjacket, about Wyatt’s allegations, and then figured maybe there’s a connection. So, I added another section to my current load.” Then she looked up, her blue eyes clear and bright. “After I solve those, there are more cases, as you know. No wonder the FBI assistant director wanted somebody brought into this place.”
Brock rubbed the scruff on his jaw. “Alaska has so many missing people because it’s Alaska. Some come here tobecomemissing. Others succumb to the wilds and the weather. Statistically.”
“Maybe,” she allowed. “Although if I wanted somebody to disappear, this is where I’d bring them.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He took another drink of his vanilla-flavored coffee. How did Flossy create delicious coffee every time? “So. What do you want to know, Agent?”
Ophelia clicked her pen to write. “Let’s start with your brother, Christian. Is it possible he murdered the man we found in the snow with his eyes gouged out?”
Ophelia waited patientlyafter hitting Brock with the first question.
His smile surprised her. Slow, smooth, and amused. “No.”
She blinked but made sure not to look down at her blank paper and show weakness. It didn’t help that the former Navy SEAL had probably been trained by the best to withstand interrogation. Nor did it help that he was the sexiest man she’d ever seen outside of movies…and he’d saved her life the other day, getting her naked for survival and being a perfect gentleman the entire time. The feeling of his hard—incredibly hard—body bracketing her all night had given her dreams thatshould embarrass her. “If your brother requires assistance, I want to help him,” she said quietly.
Brock’s gaze softened to a mossy green. “If my brother needs help, I’ll get it for him.” His hand looked big and broad around the large coffee mug. “Christian has never been good with people, and he lives off the grid because it’s his choice, not because he wants or needs to hide. If he wanted somebody dead, he’d kill them with either one bullet or a clean slice across the jugular.”
Ophelia swallowed. “You’re okay with the fact that your brother could be a killer?”
Brock’s eyebrows drew down—barely. “Honey? What do you think we did in the Navy?”
“I see. Your contention is that Christian didn’t kill that man because the scene felt too bloody and, well, downright strange?”
Brock lifted one powerful shoulder. “Sure. Plus, there’s no reason Christian would want that guy dead. It doesn’t make sense.”
Fair enough. “Wyatt said he saw Christian that day,” she reminded Brock.
“Wyatt was out of his mind,” Brock returned. “The guy might’ve seen Christian another time.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I don’t know about that. It seems to me that if Christian doesn’t want to be seen, then he isn’t.”
“Good point. Maybe Wyatt didn’t see Christian at all.” Brock kicked back in the chair.
Nice deflection. “That’s not where I was going, and you know it.” She tapped her pen on the paper. “What was Wyatt talking about? What mythical creatures only come out at night?” Although she’d been exhausted the night before, she’d spent time on her laptop searching for legends about the area and finding nothing. Dangerous wild animals included bears andwolves, but neither were known to just gouge out eyes. “Talk to me, Brock.”
“Honey—” he started.
She held up a hand. “You can’t charm me, SEAL boy. Don’t honey, darlin’, or sweet cheeks me. It won’t work.” Although, she was a complete liar. Something about his rugged voice and the endearments made her go all gooey when she really couldn’t afford to do so. “All right?”
“Sweet cheeks?” Amusement glimmered in the impossible green of his eyes.
She gave him her best federal-agent glare.
The amusement deepened. “All right. Here it is. There are legends, told by parents to keep kids from venturing out into the Alaska wilderness at night, about creatures that kill and gouge out eyes. The truth is that most scavenger animals instinctively target soft tissue first because it's easier to consume. This means that areas like the eyes, lips, and internal organs are often the first to be eaten, which is why victims' eyes are usually missing when scavengers have been involved.”
It was a plausible explanation. Almost. “The victim from EVE hadn’t been dead long enough for scavengers to attack. Whoever killed him took his eyes.”
Brock nodded. “Yep.”
“That seems ritualistic, don’t you think?” she asked, her mind running.
Brock exhaled slowly. “Yep.”
“There are more than the average number of serial killers in Alaska, you know,” she said, her instincts flaring wide awake.
His frown drew his eyebrows all the way down this time. “How many serial killers are there?”
She pursed her lips. “Not as many as people think, but I believe Alaska has its share.”
