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“Was that a gun?” She joined him at the door.
“Yes, a signal from Noah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. The double shot, just like how we used the flare gun. He’s signaling to let me know where he is.”
“Won’t that let the hunters know where he is too?”
Tanner nodded. “He wouldn’t do it if he wasn’t sure it was safe. I’m assuming he has backup. Normally I would use our gun to fire two shots in response, but I’d rather save those last two bullets in case we need them.”
WHEN THEY FOUND Noah two hours later, he had more than enough backup. Sheriff Duggan, Whitaker and half the Grand County Police Department was with him. Not to mention two forest rangers and four citizens from Risk Peak who had exceptional experience in these woods, including old Mr. Henrikson.
And thankfully, a paramedic. Tanner’s shoulder was the first line of business. There were things he still needed to do here before he could leave and go back into town.
Bree sat across from him, holding his good hand like they were about to arm wrestle, keeping his eyes pinned with hers as the paramedic rolled the swollen joint back into place.
Tanner’s curse was low and ugly, but his eyes never left Bree’s and she never flinched.
His shoulder immediately felt better, and he let go of her hand.
“I’m going to read up on how to do that,” she said. “That’s a good skill to have.”
“And I hope one you’ll never actually need to use.”
Somebody offered him some ibuprofen and he took double the recommended dosage. His jacket would have to continue to second as a sling until he could see a regular doctor. But first there were things he needed to do here.
Noah looked almost as rough as Tanner felt when Tanner found him talking to Whitaker.
“Marilyn and the kids safe?”
“Yes. Ronnie Kitchens is keeping them in protective custody until we can prove who’s behind this. I got her and the kids to Henrikson’s house. Cass—I have to admit, I love our sister—had already sent somebody up there when Barb and Francis arrived and told her about the raft and the bridge being out.”
“That was smart.”
“At that point Cass still thought it was regular wilderness camping snafus but knew we’d head for Henrikson’s house if we got in trouble. So she sent a phone with him, and once Marilyn was there, she sounded the alarm.”
Tanner took a closer look at his brother. “You’re looking a little bruised up. Run into a tree?”
Noah led Tanner off to the side where they could talk privately.
“I immediately came back out here to see if I could help you and Bree. Ran into a hunter who thought that his knife and my lack of one gave him an advantage. I’ll be needing to take you to that body so you can do whatever cop paperwork is involved. I haven’t mentioned it to anyone else because...”
Because Noah hadn’t been sure how Tanner wanted to handle this. Because Noah still thought as a warrior; he’d never thought as a cop. And if Tanner just wanted these bodies to disappear, Noah would be willing to make that happen and never speak of it again.
“I’m going to have my own cop paperwork involved with the death of Paul Wyn, the guy Bree shot. Ends up he was in Risk Peak the night of the fire. So we’ll report them both to Whitaker and process them officially.”
“I didn’t get a positive ID on my guy,” Noah said. “But I’m sure it was another one of Jared’s posse. You know he’s behind all this.”
Tanner ran his good hand over his face. “Yeah, but proving it won’t be as easy.”
After convincing Bree to let someone take her back to town so she could reassure Marilyn and the kids that everything was all right, Noah and Sheriff Duggan headed toward one body and Tanner and Whitaker headed for Paul Wyn, finding him washed up downstream not far from where Bree had shot him.
Since he’d been involved with the situation, Tanner stayed to the side as Whitaker inspected the body, giving Whitaker the short version of everything that had happened.
“I sort of wish fewer of my murder cases involved you, Dempsey.”
“At least you’re not trying to arrest me for this one.”
