“Colton.” Her gaze sucked him in and they stared at each other. “Related to Jacob?”
“My brother.” He nodded once, because of course she’d be acquainted with National Park Services personnel. His brother was the reason he had a job.
“That’s a tick in the pro column, then,” she said, with an eyebrow lift. “He’s one of the best they’ve got at NPS.”
“I have another brother and some cousins running around Dark Canyon, too,” he threw in, just in case that counted toward an invisible tally that would land him her phone number later.
Because he was definitely asking her for it.
“Thanks for coming out so quickly.” She gestured over her shoulder, all business now. “I can show you the approximate location, but the rockslide changed the landscape. I’m not even sure where to start.”
Perfect. This was what he did best—solving puzzles. Just not the kind that led to hard-hitting exposé pieces. “That’s what Dancer’s here for. But first, walk me through exactly what you saw before the earthquake hit.”
He pulled out his field notebook, the waterproof one with the pencil that wrote on anything, wet or dry.
Officer West eyed his setup. “I have that same one,” she commented with a thread of appreciation. “The rest of these yahoos like their electronic tablets, but I’m old school.”
Noah grinned. “Never needs charging and works even if you end up in the river.”
“Which happens more often than you’d think.”
Oh, yes, he did like this woman a whole lot. “Exactly what I was about to say.”
Her answering smile put a very nice hum in his gut. He scrubbed at his beard to refocus his attention on the job at hand. Plenty of time for flirting later.
“Here’s what you can write down in your notebook. I was searching this area for missing hikers when I spotted something reflective.” She pointed to a section of rock and debris. “The body was there, partially hidden behind that outcropping. Then the earthquake hit.”
The investigative journalist in him wanted to pepper her with follow-up questions: Had she identified the body? Did there appear to be foul play involved? Any history of other bodies turning up in the area?
But that wasn’t his role anymore. Focus on recovery. Leave the investigation to others.
Noah studied the rockfall pattern, already mapping potential search grids in his mind. The slide had created an unstable cone of debris—they’d need engineering support before any excavation could begin. But first, they had to pinpoint the location.
USFS personnel and some other uniforms—cops—milled around near the rockslide. One of them, a beefy guy in a USFS uniform that matched Officer West’s in style strode over, clearly having overheard what they were talking about.
“West, we’ve accounted for all registered hikers,” he said, bracing his hands on his hips. “Are you sure you actually saw a body? The earthquake could have affected your perception of things.”
Wow. Talk about lack of professional courtesy. Not to mention a severe inability to read the room. Noah had known this woman for all of fourteen seconds, and even he could see she didn’t miss much.
Officer West pivoted to face the man, her chin lifting. Somehow, she managed to drop the temperature with nothing more than the disdain dripping from her expression. Which was saying something, considering the already frigid weather.
“The victim wasn’t a hiker, Bonner. She was wearing regular shoes and a light sweater.” Her voice sharpened with razor precision. “But please, don’t let that stop you. Continue explaining to me how I don’t know the difference between a rock and a dead body.”
Noah hid a smile, secretly cheering her on, becausedang.
The guy she’d called Bonner clenched his teeth. “Just remember, resources are limited. Let’s hope this isn’t a wild-goose chase.”
Oh, no, he hadnotjust spoken for Noah without permission. “Since the resources are me and my dog, you might want to step that back a notch before I decide you calling me limited was an insult.”
Officer West crossed her arms, a grin on full display because she didn’t seem to be the type to hide much of anything. “You heard the man. Step back. And then do it again until you’re inside your vehicle. This is a one-woman show.”
Okay, that decided it. Noah officially had a raging crush on Officer West.
It was a little surprising that he’d never met her before, but he worked with NPS all over the state, not solely in Dark Canyon, so he traveled a lot. Jacob worked as a special agent for Parks Services, and had often called Noah in for his recovery expertise, which he’d spent four years building to fill the void that walking away from journalism had left.
Noah clicked his radio to the search channel. “Command, Colton on scene. Beginning search setup. Need updated terrain stability report and scene documentation before we start the grid.”
While uniforms moved to establish the boundary, Noah ran Dancer through his pre-search routine. The lab’s disciplined focus helped center him. He had a job—find what was lost, bring closure. Not chase down leads or expose corruption. Just because this scene had fired up his old investigative instincts didn’t mean he had to listen to them. Right now, anyway.
