As Blackhawk entered a hairpin turn, she heard voices and urged her mare forward. Two men in their early twenties ran to meet them; both carried rifles and appeared shaken.
Jenna held up a hand to quiet them. “Take a breath then show us what you found.”
“We’re not goin’ back there, no way.” One of the men wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. “It’s through there on the left, in the bushes.”
Jenna turned in her saddle to look at Rowley. “We’ll go and take a look. Escort these men back to the checkpoint and take down their statements. The rangers will have space in their cabin to conduct an interview.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley tipped his hat.
The team dismounted, and with Blackhawk and Wolfe in the lead, they moved down a short straightaway, peering into the dark recesses of the dense forest. The stench increased with each step, and without warning a flock of crows rose up like bats then settled in the trees. Jenna swallowed hard. It was the way of nature. The wildlife was hard at work doing its job keeping the forest clean but she had the awful feeling the next thing she laid eyes on would make her sick to her stomach.
23
Humming joined the noises of the forest and Kane batted away the flies and glanced up at the fifty or more crows perched in the surrounding branches. Something had disturbed them earlier by the way they flocked en masse to the treetops. At his heels, Duke whined then barked a warning. “Keep on the lookout. Duke smells something and it isn’t dead flesh.”
He scanned the area, searching the shadows for a bear. The smell would bring them to this location; then again, an eagle wouldn’t take too kindly to sharing a meal either. Ahead, Blackhawk stopped walking then turned and raised a hand to halt the team.
“Bobcat.” Blackhawk lifted his rifle and took aim at one of the trees.
As the echo of the shot receded, the sound of an animal bounding through the undergrowth replaced it. Another shot blasted from Blackhawk’s rifle and he turned around, grim-faced.
“She won’t be back for a while. Cats are too smart to risk being shot at twice in one day.” Blackhawk pointed to the crows. “Those are a different matter. They aren’t frightened of us, not when they want to fill their bellies.”
“Have you found anything?” Jenna gave him a worried glance and took a few hesitant steps forward.
“Yeah.” Wolfe dropped his bag on the ground and it landed with a thump. “Carnage.”
Kane moved to Jenna’s side and did a slow visual scan of the area. Carnage was an understatement. Blood dripped from bushes, spattered over tree trunks, and body parts with a generous coating of flies and ants littered the surrounding area. It looked like the aftermath of a violent battle. “That can’t be one body, surely?”
“Nope, two at least, or what’s left of them, and they’ve been here for a couple of days.” Wolfe had suited up and was edging into the twilight of the dense forest with Webber close behind.
Kane shrugged out of his backpack and pulled out his gear; beside him Jenna did the same. “This could be an animal attack.”
“Or a crazy with a machete or both. That looks like the way bears tear people apart; cats are more likely to drag them high into trees.” She lifted her pale face to him. “I would prefer an animal attack but after seeing what happened to the other couple, we could have another lunatic in Black Rock Falls.”
Kane pulled on latex gloves and waited for her. “We sure seem to attract them. It must be the size of the forest. There are so many places to hide in here and attack people. In truth, it’s a paradise for killers.”
“Seems so of late.” She stared up at him and her eyes narrowed. “I’m starting to believe you are a crazies’ magnet. It was a quiet little town before you came here.”
He snorted. “Trust me, evil was lurking here well before I arrived.”
When Wolfe ca
me toward them wearing a blank expression, the hairs on the back of Kane’s neck stood to attention. It was bad, real bad, and he glanced at Jenna, noting her professional mask had fallen into place as well. He straightened to hear the initial report.
“What have we got?” Jenna snapped on a pair of gloves. “Is it an animal attack?”
“Animals have had some input but no, this is a homicide.” Wolfe swiped away flies landing on his cheeks. “I think we have one male victim, one female. If you stick to the path and follow me, you won’t compromise the crime scene.”
“Do you think it is the same killer as the cold case?” Jenna waved Kane forward to go before her, and he noticed her shudder of revulsion.
“I’m not sure.” Wolfe’s voice drifted on the blast of cold wind whistling through the trees. “This murder is different.”
Kane lifted his face, hoping the fresh breeze would dissipate some of the stench, but the odor permeated through his mask, making his stomach roll. He followed close on Wolfe’s heels. “How so?”
“You’ll see when you get eyes on the corpses.”
When Wolfe slowed his pace, Kane picked out Webber’s ashen face in the gloom. This deep in the forest, the tall pines blocked out most of the sunlight. He moved to Wolfe’s side and swallowed the lump in his throat. It was always the eyes of the dead he remembered. Some clouded over in death; others seemed to stare at him, pleading for help as if life remained. A person’s mind could be cruel, throwing people into flashbacks or producing nightmares so vivid they were hard to forget; but for him, his brain tortured him with the memory of his wife’s eyes. No matter how hard he tried, he could not push Annie’s death stare from his memories of her.