Ethan stopped. “Is that a cell phone?”
“The case matches the description Priya’s mother provided,” Zac said, looking back at the riverbank. “It’s waterlogged.”
Ryan glanced around. “Okay, let’s search downstream.” He gave everyone a section to search, then they moved out.
Ethan jogged through the dark wooded area, Connor close behind. They took in their surroundings, studying the bank of the river for footprints or missing belongings, any disturbance at all.
“You okay?” Connor asked as they moved.
“Not really.”
“Something happen between you and Maggie?”
Ethan moved his flashlight over the ground, searching. “Maggie had a conversation with her aunt after the meeting.”
“That’s never good.”
“Lilith told her that her mother killed herself, and it was Maggie’s fault.”
“Thefuck?”
“My exact thought too.” He studied every inch of the bank. Nothing.
“She doesn’t believe it, does she?” Connor asked, his flashlight scanning over the bank too. “Surely she knows her aunt intentionally sets out to hurt her.”
“Maggie knows the woman is nothing but bad news, yet her words have always had the power to hurt her.” It made Ethan so fucking angry. That this lady, a family member who was given the role of primary caregiver and was supposed to love Maggie, had done everything but.
Something downstream caught his attention. He frowned. “You see that?” He aimed his flashlight at it.
“Yeah, it looks like?—”
“A body.”
Ethan forced his steps faster. The woman was face down in the water, her body caught on a fallen tree trunk.
Fuck.
He leapt onto the trunk and reached into the water. One tug and she was up and out of the river. He jumped off the log and lay her on the bank.
Priya Tan.
Connor pulled out his radio as Ethan touched her pulse. Air hissed between his teeth. “She’s gone.”
Connor’s jaw clenched, and he relayed the information to the guys. It didn’t take the team long to get there.
“He drowned her,” Ryan growled.
Ethan pointed his flashlight at her bruised wrists. “At some point, she was bound.”
Connor scowled. “Scumbag.”
Ethan scrubbed a hand over his face. This confirmed everything they already knew. That there was a murderer in Deep River. And that murderer was likely connected to the original two missing women.
The next couple of hours were a blur of the sheriff and deputies recovering Priya’s remains.
Energy was low amongst his entire team. They all felt like they’d let Priya down.
Rage lit in his chest. But it also ignited something else. A need to find the person responsible. To get a name. A motive. To make sure the fucker couldn’t hurt anyone else. It ran so deep he could nearly taste it.
