Without a word, he folded the shirt and tucked it into the bag, watched her seal it and scrawl her name on the first line of the evidence chain. Then he turned away and headed for his Jeep, saying over his shoulder, Let me grab my jacket and we can hit the trail.
And as he led her up to Candle Rock, he worked like hell to get his head screwed back on straight. Because he couldnt afford to let himself get distracted in a crisis situation. Bad things happened when he did.
Chapter Three
Wow. That was all Gigis brain could formulate as she followed Blackthorn along a narrow game trail that led up a sharply rocky incline.
Wow, he had a seriously fine body beneath that drab, tan-and-green park service uniform. His sleek bronze skin covered sculpted muscles, its perfection marred by two scars, one high on his shoulder, the other wrapping around his waistline.
Wow, that had been the hottest stand-and-stare moment of her life. Her blood was still humming, her coordination slightly off as her body focused inward.
And wow, this was way outside her comfort zone.
It had been a while since she had made the time or effort, but shed had her share of relationships, all based on affection, attraction, and the freedom to move on when the time came.
Those relationships had been fun. Satisfying. And not once, not even in the bedroom, had any of those guys lit her up the way she had just ignited from nothing more than seeing Blackthorns chest.
Even now, as she scanned the rocks and scrub for scuff marks, the image of his naked torso seemed burned onto her retinas.
Temporary insanity. That was all it was. Theyd both had their tempers up, and his adrenaline had probably been pumping for hours. More, she had been disarmed by the way he had backed down, owning his bad behavior when she called him on it.
In her experience, that wasnt the way real jerks operated. Which meant well, it didnt matter what it meant. Her gut said he was complicated, and she didnt have any room in her life for personal complications. She was there to do her job which was about evidence, not ogling.
Deliberately, she forced her mind back on track.
The bagged shirt was tucked in the bottom of her field kit. She would process the feather back in the lab, where she could keep absolute track of the environment. But she already knew some of the assessments she would need to make: Was it real or fake? Where had it come from? Why had Tanya been clutching it?
The last question wasnt really part of an analysts jobit was up to the cops and attorneys to turn the data into a story.
But then again, she lived outside the box.
When Blackthorn hit the top of the high ridge, he paused and turned back to her. Surprise flickered when he saw that she was only a few paces behind him and not even breathing particularly hard.
She grinned. When I was in my early teens, my parents went on a survivalist kick and decided all four of us kids needed to know how to take care of ourselves, no matter what. Our family vacations turned into something out of Survivor for a few years. Yosemite, the Sonoran Desert, Alaska Some of it seemed like torture at the time, but looking back, it wasnt. Its just the way my family operates. As survivalists?
As the best at whatever we choose to do. Usually its academics. In my case, crime scene analysis.
He held her eyes for a moment, then nodded slowly. Point taken.
Then lets get to work. She gestured around them. How are you at tracking?
Fair to good, but when we came up this way the first time, I was looking more for four-legged predators than two-legged tracks. I cant swear to it, but I dont think there were any fresh footprints other than Cochrans at that point, and even those were pretty faint. I took a closer look around once Tanya had been airlifted out, but nothing jumped out at me. He grimaced. Frankly, given the rock, hardpan and loose gravel, were not looking good for tracks.
Hopefully Ill have better luck.
Its a mess down there.
So I heard. But as she moved up beside him at the crest of the ridge, she sucked in a breath. Okay. Yeah. Thats a mess.
Their vantage point overlooked an oblong flattened bowl that fell away into a dry riverbed on one side. There was a brushed-clean spot where the helicopter had come and gone; ropes snaking across the shale, which was gouged where they had been moved and dragged; and a scattering of detritus in the bottom of the wash.
Although she gave Blackthorn points for not cleaning up the med techs leftovers after Tanya was airlifted, the overall effect was not encouraging.
He shot her a look from beneath lowered brows. Tell me you can do something with it.
Ive seen entire cases hinge on a few strands of hair or a fingernail scraping, she said. Which wasnt quite an answer, so she added, Ive worked under worse conditions. At least here I wont have to waste time going through a ton of alley garbage that has zero relevance to the case.
Small blessings.
In this job, you take what you can get. And youd better watch it, we seem to be having a semi-normal conversation, she thought but didnt say. Instead, she nodded to the shotgun he carried slung over his shoulder. Im going to be pretty involved for the next couple of hours. Youll keep lookout?
Something shifted in the dark green depths of his eyes, and he nodded. Nobody else is getting hurt on my watch.
Sensing he didnt want to hear that he wasnt responsible for what had happened to Tanya, she gripped his forearm briefly. Thanks.
As she moved past him, she felt his surprise just as clearly as she had felt his leashed strength through the thin layer of his windbreaker. She wasnt sure if his shock had come from the touch or the fact that they were getting along, but she would take it.
She had a feeling she would be better to have him a little off balance around her, not vice versa.
When she was halfway down the incline, he called, Hey. Gigi.
He gave it the softer pronunciation, as though they were in Paris rather than the middle of nowhere.
She turned back and found him backlit by the afternoon sun, a solitary figure on the ridgeline. She had to clear her throat before she said, Yeah?
Im sorry I was a jerk to you back in the city. Youre okay.
Be still my heart. But she grinned when she said it. And my name is Gigi, she corrected, giving it the harder sound. Its short for Greta Grace, so you dont need to get fancy with it. Or with me.
He didnt say anything, just gave her a slow nod, but she felt his eyes follow her the rest of the way down.
Then she tuned him out and got to work.
The next ninety minutes were a focused blur of photographs, sample bags and jars, and a whole lot of frustration at the lack of what she thought of as big foam finger evidencethe kind that pointed straight to an answer, or at least a new set of questions.
Granted, that was the exception rather than the norm, but still, she had been hoping for a quick break in the case.
By the time the sun dipped behind the mountains and the sky went pink around the edges, she was finishing up her preliminary round of collection. She locked her kit, and hauled its now considerable weight back up the ridgeline, where Blackthorn stood guard, silhouetted against the dusk.
He gave her a long, unreadable look. All set?
With the first step, anyway. Now its time for me to put in some serious lab hours.
He took the case from her without asking, his fingers brushing against hers. But youre not hopeful.
Im always hopeful, she corrected, telling herself it was impossible to get a whole-body tingle from that small contact. But in this case, Im not very optimistic. I didnt see anything I could link straight to Tanyas attackers. Between that and the beating her radio took, it was like she was dropped She trailed off, sudden excitement sparking. Wait a second. Let me see your radio.
He unclipped it from his belt and handed it over. Bert can hook you up if you need a patch-through back to the lab or something.
That wont be necessary.
She took the sturdy unit, which, aside from being bright yellow rather than matte black, was very like the ones used by the HRTs back home, with long-range capabilities, GPS, a digital display and a hinged faceplate that usually broke off within the first few weeks of use. It was the one design flaw in an otherwise solid piece of equipment.
Blackthorns still had its faceplate in place, though, and had a couple of upgrades she hadnt seen before. Is this new? she asked.
They arrived last week.
Damn it, she had assumed Tanyas faceplate was long goneand because she had made an assumption, she almost missed the evidence or lack thereof. Do all of your rangers carry the same model?
Yeah, theyre interchangeable. We just grab one off the charger in my office. Why?
She looked up at him, pulse kicking. Did hers still have its faceplate when she left this morning?
He thought for a second, then nodded. Yeah, Im sure it did. He looked back down to the scene, making the connection. It couldve bounced pretty far. Even given that some of her injuries came from an attack, she still hit hard when she fell.
Or we were meant to think she did.
He went very still, eyes darkening as he slowly looked down, then back at her. Damn. I saw it.
The faceplate?
He shook his head. No, that there was a problem with the way she and the radio had fallen. His expression went distant as he replayed the scene in his head. She was lying flat on her back, kind of sprawled, with the radio a few feet away. There werent any impact marks but there was a smoothed-flat place. He refocused, met her eyes. Like someone had been there, swept his tracks, and then tossed the radio down after the fact.
All were going to have on that is your statement, she cautioned, and my not finding the faceplate doesnt necessarily mean it wasnt there. I cant use a negative to prove a positive. But they were onto something. She was sure of it. Were going to need more.
His expression firmed. Then well find it. He paused. You think this is a secondary scene. A dump site.
She nodded. Thats how it reads to me. And its consistent with her Jeep not being right in this area. The vehicles GPS wasnt registering and it hadnt been sighted along what should have been Tanyas morning route, either.
So we have another crime scene to find.
With another man she mightve told him to stay out of the way and let the cops do their job. Given that he was the local expert, though, and the P.D. was spread very thin, she said, The faceplate is going to be a needle in a really large haystack, and theres no telling whether the Jeep is even still in the park. Take your pick.
A muscle ticked at the corner of his jaw. The Jeep would be an easier target, obviously, but an air search is going to be difficult to pull off, if not impossible. All the working birds are tied up fighting the wildfires, and a bunch are down for repairs. Weve put out feelers to other parks, other options, but so far we havent come up with much. His head came up and his shoulders squared. So we go old school.
A foot search? She looked around, unable to imagine any search being able to cover the vast, varied terrain that made up the state park.
Yeah. Ill line up off-duty rangers, any of the on-duty rangers who can be spared, maybe even some expert hikers. He gestured down the ridge toward their vehicles. They went down together, side by side. Ill get the search organized for first light tomorrow. Well start with her sector and work out from there. He shot her a look. You want in?
Absolutely. The invitation kicked a warm buzz through her, not just because he was admitting she could handle the backcountry, but because it felt good to be planning something rather than just gathering data. That was a big part of why she wanted to make the jump from lab rat to HRTshe wanted to do both.
Within minutes, Blackthorn was on the radio with three other station heads, getting their cooperation and coordinating the mobilization.
As they neared the parking area, she shot him a sidelong look, struck by the change in him. His face was animated, his green eyes fierce and intense. More, his voice now carried a heavy weight of command that had the heads of the other stations practically snapping to attention.
She remembered the scars on his shoulder and waist, belatedly recognizing them as bullet strikes. Ex-military, she thought, and pegged him as an officer. But if he had that kind of background, why had he buried himself out in the middle of nowhere?
New interest stirred, not just for the sexy package, but for the man inside it. Hes complicated, she reminded herself. But this time she found herself thinking that maybe she could handle some complications for the few more weeks she would be in Bear Claw.
Especially if those complications lookedand soundedlike Ranger Blackthorn in get-it-done mode.
Thanks, Harvey. Ill be in touch, he said into the radio, then clicked it off and returned it to his belt. They had reached their vehicles, which were dark shapes in the gathering dusk. His shadow merged with that of his Jeep, and his voice seemed to come from the darkness when he said, The cops collected the hikers clothes and stuff, said they would log it all into evidence for you. And Williams suggested you take a look around the station house, particularly Tanyas room.
Ive done some work in profiling and victimology, and have helped Jack out on a couple of cases. Hes hoping Ill see something that could point toward a motive.
You dont think this was random? His voice carried a new edge. What arent you telling me?
Suddenly reminded that he wasnt technically part of the investigation, she said, Theres nothing to tell yet. Were still exploring options.
He moved in closer and dropped his voice an octave. Hiding behind the official line, Gigi?
Nerves stirred low in her belly, coiling her tight, but she met his eyes and said levelly, Im just trying to do my job, Blackthorn, so dont crowd me. And dont make the mistake of thinking youre something youre not. He wasnt a cop, couldnt expect her to keep him fully in the loop unless he cleared it with the higher-ups.
He growled something under his breath, but eased back a step. He tried the door of her SUV, found it locked, and set her field kit on the ground. Youll want to follow me back to the station. Wouldnt want you getting lost.