He’d left his Belgian Malinois, Ben, a military-trained K-9, in the conference room. His dog hated being left behind, but persistent barking during the exercises with the women had made it necessary. Ben was very protective and couldn’t tell the difference between women attacking him in a play fight and the real thing. Not wanting to confuse his loyal companion, he’d left him behind. The moment he got to the office he headed up the stairs and took down a bag of the dog’s favorite food from the storeroom. Ben’s excited barks came from the conference room, and when Raven threw open the door, the dog told him all about his day, all the while turning around in circles. He laughed and filled Ben’s bowl with food. “Have something to eat. We’re going walkies.”
The dog’s ears stood up on end and his intelligent dark eyes focused on Raven before he dived into the plate eating ravenously. Raven leaned against the desk, watching. He didn’t want to get Ben’s harness just yet because it meant serious work. It turned a normal dog into a military machine, fierce and loyal. Ben would put his body in front of him to protect him without a second thought. He would stay beside him if he became injured and go for help if ordered. It hadn’t always been this way. He met Ben flying a medevac chopper during a military mission to rescue Ben’s seriously injured handler and was in the process of transporting him to safety. Unfortunately, enemy fire took down the chopper, and the soldier died in the wreck. He’d suffered injuries as well, and if not for a special forces sniper, he and Ben would have died at the hands of the rebels. He’d dragged the injured, distressed dog along with him. Somehow, they’d formed a bond. It had been fragile, but the dog seeing him injured had made the canine want to protect him.
During his convalescence he’d spent his time learning how to train K-9s. Working with dogs helped his PTSD, but when the military discharged him, he made a request to take Ben with him. They’d been together ever since. This was the main reason why he trained dogs for protection for vulnerable people. The partnership helped both of them. The person had a loyal companion who would look after them, and the dog a home it desperately needed.
His phone chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the screen. “Did you find her?”
“No, she’s not here.” He could hear the roar of the Beast, Kane’s tricked-out black truck, behind Jenna’s voice. “We’re heading for the parking lot by the mountain trail at Bear Peak. Grab a few survival packs and meet us there. We’ll wait for you.”
Raven nodded. “Copy that. I’m on my way.” He took down the harness from the peg behind the door. “Come on, Ben, it’s time to go to work.”
He found Jenna and Kane examining a vehicle when he arrived. He slid out of his truck and opened the back door for Ben. A few spots of rain splattered his cheeks and he stared at the dark clouds swirling across the sky. The expected storm would arrive soon. Ben gave a happy bark and walked around Duke, excited to be out in the forest. “That’s Jan’s truck. She usually drives to my place when she comes to work with Greta.”
“There’s no sign of her anywhere.” Kane moved to his side. “The house is clear. There are no signs of forced entry and no disturbance whatsoever. Inside it’s as neat as a pin.”
“The vehicle is locked. She’s left a pair of day shoes inside on the passenger-seat well.” Jenna pulled up the hood of her jacket against the buffeting wind. “There is one set of footprints leading from the vehicle toward the trail. She came here alone. I wonder what happened to prevent her arriving at your place. What time did you expect her?”
Raven stared at the trail leading into darkness and wondered what made Jan risk going into the forest alone. “Around seven-thirty. I needed to be at the town hall at nine-thirty to assist with the classes.” He removed his Stetson and pushed a hand through his hair. “The thing is, this woman is like a scared rabbit. I can’t imagine what prompted her to go into the forest alone at that time of the morning. If she’d mentioned she’d planned to walk to my place through the forest, I’d have headed out to meet her along the way.”
“Here.” Jenna handed him a plastic bag with a pair of socks inside. “See if Ben can track her. Dave will give Duke her scent as well. We’ll find her.”
Raven opened the bag and held it to Ben’s nose. Tracking was new for Ben, but Blackhawk had worked with him and he’d gone from okay to amazing in a few weeks. The dog sniffed the air, sneezed, and then headed toward the trail. Raven looked at Jenna. “He’s on it. Let’s go.”
Three
The smell of rain came on the buffeting wind and the trees groaned like an old squeaky gate as Jenna followed Raven and Kane into the forest. She shook her head, unable to comprehend why a frightened woman would walk along a dark trail alone. Many hiking groups enjoyed it for the outstanding scenery along the way, but it wasn’t a place where she would enjoy walking alone. Bear Peak had a terrible reputation. Murders had occurred there from way back before she became sheriff. She’d witnessed the results of a few that happened over the last few years, and even though she’d begun her time in law enforcement as DEA Agent Avril Parker, she never imagined that when she started her new life as Jenna Alton in Black Rock Falls that she would encounter so much carnage. It seemed that the dense forest in this area of the mountain offered a number of places for serial killers to either hide or dump their victims’ bodies. As she increased her pace to keep up with her deputies, she constantly scanned the shadows, aware that not only wild animals roamed the woods but also psychopaths.
“She stopped here.” Raven turned to look at her as she came along the trail behind him. “There are footprints along the edge. They don’t look disturbed or panicky. I figure she stood here to admire the view.”
“Yeah, I can see where she turns and walks away. The stride is measured and normal.” Kane crouched to get a better view.
“This woman is frightened of her own shadow, and if she got this far without being scared, she was doing really well. I recall her telling me that she enjoyed taking videos of the surrounding countryside. Maybe she stopped here to capture the scenery?” He indicated to Ben to continue and the dog took off at a trot.
The trail widened and Jenna moved closer to Kane. “Neither of the dogs seems to be acting as if anything is wrong. They’re sniffing the air and following the scent.”
“The thing that concerns me most is she didn’t arrive at Raven’s ranch, and if she got there after he left, Blackhawk is working with the dogs today and would have contacted Raven to let him know she was late arriving.” Kane gave her a side-eye. “If she’d changed her mind halfway and turned back, the dogs would have led us back to the vehicles. The fact that her truck is still in the parking lot is cause for concern.”
Jenna scanned the ground ahead. Pine needles and leaves scattered across the rocky mountain trail, making any footprints impossible to discern. Only the soft soil at the edge of the mountain offered the opportunity to discover footprints. The trail was very popular and any number of people could have come by this way over the last few hours. In fact, it was the perfect opportunistic area for anyone intent on murder to hang out on the off chance they could grab someone. The trail was shrouded in long patches of darkness and then would break into bright patches of sunlight so intense they blinded hikers. The free publication offering maps of the local hiking trails gave a stern warning about traveling through the forest alone due to the large quantity of wild animals. Although in all her time as sheriff, animal attacks had been very few and far between. Very occasionally, someone would stumble over a grizzly and its cubs, but most hikers took precautions and remained vigilant.
The men and dogs walked at a rapid pace. Jenna sucked in deep breaths of the cool mountain air as she paced alongside Kane. With each step the gradient got steeper and covered with tree roots and loose gravel. The latter came from the runoff from the melt, carrying with it small rocks and other debris across the trails. Ahead, Ben’s bark shattered the silence of the forest, sending birds flying high into the air. Behind him, Duke sat down, signaling that he had found something. As she got closer, Ben scratched at the edge of the mountain and Raven dragged him back by his harness. “What’s he found?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Raven gave a few short orders to Ben and the dog sat motionless. “The ground along the edge here is churned up.” He looked at Kane. “Grab me by the belt. I need to hang over the edge of the ravine. Maybe she took a tumble and fell?”
“Wait.” Kane handed Duke’s leash to Jenna, pulled out his phone, and moved along the edge taking photographs. “This looks like a scuffle to me. We need to record it before it rains. This might be a crime scene… Okay, done.” He moved closer to Raven, grabbed him by the belt, and spread his legs. He used his other arm to grip the trunk of a tree. “Okay, I’ve got you.”
Jenna held her breath as Raven leaned out over the massive drop to the valley below. She found it hard to believe that Jan had ignored the posted warning signs and walked too close to the edge. No one could possibly be that stupid.
“Pull me back in.” Raven staggered backward and turned to look at them, his face grim. “I see a body. There’s nowhere I can see to get to it by foot. I figure I can get the chopper close enough to drop a team down to retrieve it.”
A wave of emotion hit Jenna. This poor woman was trying to face her fears and had accidentally fallen over the edge of the ravine—or was she pushed? “Can you tell from this far away that it’s a woman?”
“I figure it’s Jan. Every time I’ve seen her this winter she’s been wearing the same pink parka, blue jeans, and hiking boots. I can see blonde hair spread out over the rocks. I figure it must be her.” Raven glanced at Kane. “We’ll need to call Wolfe. After the last time you rescued me and Emily in the chopper, she’s not going to get into one again soon.”
“The weather is closing in. Are you happy to do this, Raven?” Kane gave him a searching look. “It’s been a long time since you flew in an updraft in a ravine this close to the mountainside. I’ve been in a chopper with Carter and he’s just about the most experienced military chopper pilot I’ve ever met, and he has difficulty.”
“During many deployments, I flew the same type of missions with the enemy firing at me, and I managed to bring the boys home safe all but one time.” Raven shrugged. “Sure, I’m a little rusty after a couple of years without flying but I completed a full refresher course. I’ve been out with Wolfe many times and we’ve flown through the mountain pass to make sure I could handle any situation. He’s happy with me and I passed all the requirements to the satisfaction of the licensing board.”
“Wolfe is experienced too, and if you have any doubts, he could pilot and you and I could retrieve the body.” Kane stared at him, hands on hips. “You’re a doctor, and you’ve retrieved a ton of bodies in your time.”
