“I take it you’re here for the body.” The deep, very male voice resonated through her a split second before familiar glacial-blue eyes registered. Instant recognition flared across the ranger’s bearded, handsome face as she turned to face him. His entire body stiffened as though he expected a fight. “You.”
Drennan took in his uniform, complete with the National Park Ranger badge sewed across his broad chest—none of which he’d been wearing the night they’d met eight weeks ago—and her throat went dry. He was exactly as she’d remembered. Towering, muscular but honed in a lethal way rather than bulky with guarded dark eyes. Her nerves got the best of her this time. “I’m pregnant.”
Chapter Two
He couldn’t have heard her right.
National Park Ranger Harvey Knight forced himself a step back as though he could rewind time. He’d spent his morning pulling a body from the upper pool, but those two little words threatened to unleash a mountain of emotion he’d locked away for good reason. None of this made sense. What was she even doing here? Uneven ground around the natural pond caught at the edge of his heel, throwing off his balance. But it was his head he couldn’t get straight. “I’m sorry. What are you even doing here? How did you get through the rangers at the trail entrance?”
Distinct lines deepened between perfectly shaped brows that matched the dark blond of her hair. Hell, she was just as beautiful as he remembered, with those wide green eyes framed by the darkest lashes he’d ever seen. Even dressed in a plain sweatshirt and jeans with tennis shoes she somehow wiped his memory of any other woman he’d been with. He could still feel the press of her mouth against his from that night two months ago, remember what it felt like to have her in his hands. The sounds she’d made beneath his sheets as they worked to forget reality. For one night, he’d been able to ignore the rage that’d driven him to that bar in the first place. Because of her. They’d parted without so much as exchanging first names, and Harvey had resigned himself to never feeling that kind of intensity with another human being again. There hadn’t been use for words, empty promises or plans. That night had simply become twopeople who’d found each other in a moment of need. A once in a lifetime encounter he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since he’d walked her to her car and watched her drive away.
She grabbed for the lanyard around her neck, showcasing a washed-out photo of herself, though he couldn’t focus enough to catch any of the information stamped into the reflective surface. “I got a call about a body. I’m here from the medical examiner’s office.”
“You’rethe medical examiner.” His shock put a disbelieving twist on his tone he hadn’t meant to sound as offensive as it did. Damn it. He had to get ahold of himself, but, if he was being honest, this woman was the last person he expected to show up at this scene.
“Assistant medical examiner.” A hardness that didn’t belong overtook her expression as she transferred a duffel bag—presumably full of gear—from one hand to the other. At nearly a whole head shorter than his six-three, she leveled him with a look that could strip paint. “Drennan Hawes. Did you hear what I said a minute ago?”
I’m pregnant. The news rushed back and nearly plowed him over. Gravity intensified until he was sure he’d become nothing more than a pile of blood and tissue if it went on long enough. Scraping a hand down his face, Harvey swiped at the thin layer of water coming off the falls to his left. “How?”
“What?” She cut that brilliant gaze matching the color of the pool to him.
“How are you pregnant?” This wasn’t happening. They’d had the discussion beforehand. They both tested clean during their last physicals and took precautions. He hadn’t gone to that bar with the intention of sharing his bed that night, but he wasn’t reckless, either. They’d been careful. “You told me you were on birth control.”
Drennan—her name was Drennan, because of course everything he’d learned about her fit just as perfectly—lowered her voice, as though suddenly aware they weren’t the only officials on a death scene. “I was. Iam.”
“Knight, we’ve got to get a move on.” The head ranger of law enforcement division, a man who resembled a WWE wrestler more than an outdoorsman, wound one finger in a circle to hurry him up. Ranger Murray Simpson wasn’t big on patience.
“This isn’t the time.” Slipping his hand between her rib cage and elbow, he gripped her arm, dragging her away from prying ears. And, damn it all to hell, that was a mistake. Hints of her perfume—the same scent that’d clung to his pillows and sheets in the days after their encounter—caught at the back of his throat. It’d faded after a while, but his body had somehow become accustomed to the light citrus scent. He hadn’t been able to sleep for weeks, going as far as to try to hunt down that particular perfume just so he could get some damn sleep. Only now he realized it was all her. Natural and unobtainable. “I have a body on one of our most popular trails, and the superintendent is breathing down our necks to get Emerald Pools reopened as soon as possible. We’ll talk about this later.”
He added the much-needed distance between them, careful not to throw off her balance as he released his hold, and headed for the small grouping of rangers hovering over the body he’d found face down in the pond a little more than two hours ago.
“Are you the ranger who called it in?” Drennan’s voice cut through the buzz of panic, more distant than a moment ago, as she raced to catch up to him.
He’d offended her. Hell. His fantasies of coming into contact with her again had gone out the window the second she’d opened her mouth. Harvey slowed his escape but fought the urge to take her gear to ease her effort. Pregnant. Son of a bitch. He didn’t know how to act around a pregnant woman. He’d beenan only child of miserable parents and practically raised himself. No cousins or nieces or nephews to help with. Kids, having a family, a wife, had never been in the stars after the way he’d witnessed his mother take insult after insult. Not to mention the bruises that’d followed. His path had led him straight into the military. As far from home as possible. “Guess neither of us were interested in exchanging names. Harvey Knight.”
Harvey shut down the urge to extend his hand. Considering how they’d spent their first meeting, they were well past formal introductions. “I found the body a little after seven this morning on my patrol route. The park is open 24-7, so it’s hard to tell how long she’s been up here. My guess is between sunset last night and early this morning. The last shuttle coming down from Temple of Sinawava heads back to the visitor’s center at 7:15 p.m. Most hikers make sure they’re back at the trailhead before then.”
He pulled to a stop outside the duo of rangers guarding and studying the remains as if they knew a damn thing about what to do. They parted at his approach, revealing the woman he’d pulled from the pool. Positioned on her back, the drowning victim stared back with nothing but emptiness in her expression. “She was face down when I found her. Fully clothed and geared up.”
Drennan—he wanted to roll her name over in his mind a thousand times—dropped her gear then crouched beside it. Pulling what looked like a dark blue windbreaker from inside, she threaded her legs into a full-length bodysuit. Bright yellow letters announced her as a representative of the ME’s office as she zipped up the front of the bodysuit and snapped into a pair of latex gloves. Next came a camera she wound around her neck with a thick strap meant to handle a good amount of weight. She snapped an initial photo of the body then checked the viewfinder. “How deep is the water?”
A gust of wind whipped another layer of water at their small grouping and splattered it across the face of their victim.
“A few feet at its deepest.” Harvey set his hands on his hips, not really sure where to go from here. The law enforcement rangers retained jurisdiction in cases like this, but Simpson had wanted him here to answer questions for the medical examiner. “We warn hikers not to go in because of the algae and moss that can make the rocks under the surface unstable, but sometimes they’re more interested in getting the perfect selfie than paying attention to their safety.”
A never-ending endeavor to keep people alive from their own ignorance.
If their victim had slipped, her phone or camera could be lost to the pool. It’d take time the superintendent wasn’t really willing to give them to fish it out. The victim’s skin had taken on a waxy pallor, pale and smooth, with some bloating compromising her once thin features. No bruises as far as he could tell, but Harvey knew better than most that some people were capable of violence that couldn’t be seen to the human eye. He didn’t even know what he was doing here. He was a regular trail ranger who worked his shifts five days a week and went home, and right now, this body was keeping him from doing just that. He was just the unlucky bastard who’d found the poor woman.
“Who all has touched the body?” Drennan shifted to a new angle and took another photo of the remains, once again checking the viewfinder as though she didn’t trust herself with the results. Then again, what did he really know about her other than a single night of sex and a claim she was carrying his baby?
The muscles in his jaw ached under the pressure of his back teeth. She seemed to go out of her way not to look at him, to treat him like any other ranger, keeping her tone neutral and distant. She obviously wasn’t happy with the way their conversation hadgone, but what had she expected him to say at hearing the news they were having a kid? Harvey dug his fingertips into his sides as that familiar anger tried to bust through his control. “Nobody. Just me.”
“How did you pull her from the water? Where did you touch her?” Toeing the thin line between the end of her tennis shoes and the victim’s body, Drennan shoved her hands into the victim’s jacket, coming up empty, then moved on to the next pocket.
“By her jacket.” As much as he hated the third degree, she was doing her job. He had to remember that. “I wasn’t really keen on touching her anywhere else.”
Pulling the woman’s backpack free of both arms, the assistant medical examiner who’d barged into his life not once but twice in the past two months handed off the bag to him. “Let’s see if we can find an ID. My office can take care of next of kin notifications if you need.”
