Dungar growled. “What’s happened?”
“Three of the blue-spined younglings are missing.”
“We’re on our way.” Dungar ended the call and slid his phone into his pocket, meeting my eyes. “We’ve got a big problem.”
“Agreed.”
As we hurried back toward the gate, a sinking feeling settled in my stomach. The careful fence cuts, the professional approach, and the frightened animals…
“This isn’t a coincidence.” My investigator’s mind was already connecting the dots.
“No.” Dungar’s expression hardened. “Someone is targeting the luminooks. And now they’ve taken three.”
The implications hung in the air as we locked the gate behind us. If professionals had tracked down rare creatures from the orc kingdom, what else might they be hunting?
Including me.
Chapter 14
Dungar
The setting sun painted Riley’s profile in shades of gold and amber as she crouched beside the broken twigs and disturbed earth. Her fingers traced the edge of a footprint without touching it. I’d seen orcs with decades of experience who couldn’t read a trail like this woman. I was so glad she was on my team.
“See how the soil’s compressed here?” She pointed to an indentation. “That’s not from walking. Someone knelt, probably to secure whatever they were carrying.”
I stooped down beside her, careful to maintain the exact distance that would allow me to see the evidence without disturbing it. “The luminook?”
“Most likely. And here—” Her finger hovered over a smudged patch of soil. “That’s not a boot print. It’s where something was set down. Something cage-like, with flat bars along the bottom.”
My respect for her investigative abilities grew with each observation. We’d been tracking whoever had takenthe blue-spined luminook younglings for nearly two hours, following a trail that led from the wild colony through the grasslands and toward the forest edge. Riley had been the one to spot the bent grass blades, a tuft of iridescent fur caught on a thornbush, and the faintest impression of footprints where the soil was softest from a recent rain.
“They knew what they were doing,” I said, studying the methodical way the thieves had moved. “No wasted movements, minimal evidence.”
Riley nodded, a strand of hair falling across her forehead. Standing, she brushed off her jeans. “We suggested this could’ve been done by professionals but it could be amateurs. People watch investigative shows all the time, and they learn. Though this has planning written all over it.”
The mention of planning sent an uncomfortable prickle down my spine. Just hours ago, she’d revealed the truth about her past. She wasn’t a former police officer but a witness who’d brought down one of the most powerful financial criminals in the country. A woman with a target on her back, hunted by people with unlimited funds and connections.
Could this be connected to her? The timing seemed too coincidental.
I pushed the thought aside for now. First, we needed to follow this trail to its end.
“The tracks continue that way.” I pointed toward the tree line. “Whoever took the luminooks were heading for the forest.”
Riley squinted at the sun, calculating the time. “We’ve got maybe forty minutes of usable daylight left. Should we call for backup?”
“Not yet.” I pulled a flashlight from my belt. I always carried one, along with a multi-tool, compass, emergency whistle, and first aid kit. The familiar weight of my preparedness brought comfort. “Let’s see where this leads first.”
She flashed me a smile that made my heart stutter. “Always prepared, aren’t you?”
“Always.” I handed her the spare flashlight I’d tucked into my back pocket. Our fingers brushed, and electricity shot up my arm.
We continued tracking, moving faster now that the trail had become more evident. Whoever had taken the luminook had grown less cautious as they neared their destination. Broken branches. Disturbed undergrowth. Even a discarded wrapper from an energy bar that Riley carefully collected and stored in a plastic bag from her pocket.
“Potential fingerprints,” she explained, sealing the evidence. “Though they were probably wearing gloves.”
The efficiency with which she processed the scene spoke of years of experience.
As the forest thickened around us, the trail grew more defined until we emerged into a small clearing. There, the evidence became unmistakable.
