Chapter 19

She fumbled with the security chain, unlocked the deadbolt, twisted the lock and cracked open the door. “Why are you here? Has something happened?” A hundred scenarios flashed through her, each one more frightening than the one before.

“Good morning, Candace.” His gaze shifted to the backpack slung over her shoulder. “Going somewhere?”

“I was heading out for a walk. I thought some fresh air would distract me.” Her hand fluttered to the healing wounds on her neck.

“Looks like it’s going to be a nice day, that’s for sure. I plan on taking advantage of the sunshine too.” He jerked his thumb at his black SUV parked in the driveway. A large hairy dog perched on the front seat, his mouth open in a goofy grin, his long red tongue hanging out. “I promised Tracker a good long walk, but first, I have a few more questions I’d like to ask if you can spare a minute.” He phrased it as a request, but the determined look in his eyes made clear he wouldn’t be put off. “I tried to call, but…” He arched a dark brow.

Heat flamed across her cheeks. “Did you? I didn’t hear my phone ring.”

“Huh.” His tone made clear he didn’t believe her. He glanced at his car and the panting dog. “On second thought…” He shuffled his feet and grinned, looking like a young boy skipping school. “Why don’t Tracker and I tag along? I can ask my questions while we walk.” He shrugged. “It’s a great day. Be a shame to waste it.”

She bit her bottom lip. She couldn’t tell him her plans. He’d think she was nuts.

The light in his eyes faded. “Unless you don’t like dogs.”

She studied the dog.

His big hairy head hung out the open window, and he watched her with dark, soulful eyes.

“I like dogs.” She blew out a resigned breath. She’d never been a good liar. “You might as well know I’m going to Creighton Springs State Park.” She set the house alarm, hefted the backpack, stepped onto the porch, and closed and locked the door.

He rocked back on his heels. “What? Why?”

“I want to check the area where I saw those footprints again.” She couldn’t look at him, certain she’d see derision on his handsome face. “I need to do something to help find that missing girl. I can’t stop thinking that if I’d confronted that man, pushed the police harder…” She stopped. She didn’t owe him an explanation. She could walk wherever she wanted.

A weighty silence settled over them, broken only by the twittering of birds in the tall, leafy elms at the end of her driveway, and the swish of tires as a car passed on the street.

“Okay.”

She blinked. “Okay?”

He nodded. “Sure. Let’s do this.” He paused. “As long as you’re fine with Tracker and me tagging along.”

For the first time that morning, she smiled. “Let’s go.” How could she refuse? She was a sucker for dogs, and having an armed Aiden and his big dog beside her on her search was a bonus. In more ways than one.

“Great.” He grinned. “Let’s take my car.”

Anticipation bubbled through her as she followed him down the walk to his SUV. She was spending the day with him, and she didn’t want to question why that made her heart sing.

Aiden shooed the big, hairy dog off the front seat and into the back of the SUV, and then he gestured for her to climb into the newly vacated front seat.

A cloud of dog hairs wafted in the air as she settled on the seat and strapped on her seat belt. The belt brushed the wound on her neck, and she winced. The painful reminder of the attack erased her happiness. Even though her memories of the assault were vague and disjointed, she’d never forget her terror when the man whispered her nickname into her ear.

Aiden started the car and backed out of the driveway and onto the street. “Here we go. Off on our adventure.”

Tracker woofed in agreement.

Aiden chuckled, the rich, warm sound filling the car.

His teasing, lighthearted tone didn’t fool her. Tension radiated off him in waves. Something had changed since the last time she’d seen him. He was on edge, and he checked the rearview mirror far too often. What was he looking for? Did he think someone was following them?

She breathed in slow, deep breaths, inhaling through her nose and exhaling out her mouth, fighting to quell her rising anxiety. She eyed the bulge of Aiden’s service revolver in his shoulder holster under his jacket. A gun beat a can of bear spray any day.

He drove with skill and confidence, one hand on the steering wheel, the other on his thigh, tapping to the fast-paced beat of the country-and-western song playing over the car radio.

At this early hour, the streets were free of traffic, and they made quick time through the downtown core and onto the main road leading out of town toward Creighton Springs State Park, thirty miles distant.

The radiant hues of orange, crimson, and pink bled into the cloudless sky like fire as the sun rose over the mountains in the east. With each mile, her heart beat faster, and she gripped the leather armrests. This adventure, as Aiden called their trip, was a long shot. Maybe they wouldn’t find anything. Maybe? Certainly. But at least she’d tried, and at long last, she was taking action.

****

“Looks pretty busy.” Aiden pulled the car into the nearly full parking lot and turned into a parking space. “Guess we aren’t the only ones who wanted to get out of town early today.”

Candace undid her seat belt and opened the door. “It’s the first nice weekend this spring, and it’s a professional development day for teachers, so there’s no school. I’m not surprised people are here. Once we get away from the parking lot, we won’t see anyone. Most folks don’t venture far from their vehicles.”

Tracker whined and panted in the back seat, trembling in excitement. He shook his big body, raising a cloud of gray-and-brown hairs that floated in the air and settled on every surface.

Aiden retrieved Candace’s day pack from the trunk, loosened the nylon straps, and shrugged the pack over his shoulders, surprised at the weight of the small bag. What the heck did she have in there? He opened the door to the back seat and latched the leash onto Tracker’s collar. “Okay, boy. Out you get.”

The dog bounded out of the vehicle, barking and prancing in circles, his big paws raising a cloud of dust.

He grinned at Tracker’s antics. “Someone’s pretty happy to be going for a walk.” Then he slid a glance at Candace. “All set?”

She nodded, though her face was pale, and shadows clouded the depths of her vivid blue eyes. “I think so.”

He frowned. When she hadn’t answered his phone calls, his inner alarm bells clanged. Maybe she was in bed recovering from her ordeal and was too tired to answer the phone, or maybe—and this possibility chilled him to the bone—maybe her attacker had returned.

So, he’d gone against protocol and shown up unannounced on her doorstep. One thing led to another, and the next thing he knew, he was suggesting he and Tracker join her on her hike.

This search was a waste of time and energy. The chances of finding some indication Amanda Jacobs had been in the state park in November were slim to none. But Candace was determined to do this, and so he’d offered to join her. That way he could keep an eye on her and question her about her attacker like the captain had asked him to.

Joe would make Aiden’s life miserable if he knew Aiden was strolling in the forest with Candace, but he didn’t give a damn what his partner thought. She was in danger. Every cell in his body twigged to that. He wasn’t about to let her head into the wilderness on her own. Not after the foiled attack the other night. The perp could be watching her, waiting to strike again.

A black minivan pulled into the lot and parked. The door slid open, and two teenagers tumbled out, their excited chatter carrying like magpies across the large lot.

An older, gray-haired man climbed out of the van, slammed the driver’s door, and strode around to the rear of the vehicle. He lifted the hatch and wrestled out three mountain bikes. In minutes, the three park visitors had strapped on helmets, mounted their bikes, and pedaled out of the parking lot and down a trail.

Tracker whined, tugging at the leash.

Aiden petted the dog’s shaggy head. “Okay, boy. Let’s go.”

Tracker took off like a shot, almost jerking Aiden off his feet.

Aiden stumbled over the uneven ground, hanging onto the leash, running to keep up with the excited beast. Served him right for leaving the high-energy dog cooped up in his crate for the past few days while Aiden put in long hours on the case. He’d managed to take Tracker on a few quick rips around the block, but the dog needed a good run.

“Hey, you guys, wait up.”

He glanced over his shoulder.

Candace was jogging behind.

He tugged the leash, slowing the rambunctious dog to a trot. “Sorry. He hasn’t had a run in a few days.”

She laughed, and it was if the angels came out to sing. Her cheeks flushed, and her arresting blue eyes sparkled. A dimple grooved in her left cheek.

He gaped and stumbled over a root, barely managing to right himself. He’d never seen her laugh, not an outright chuckle. And why hadn’t he noticed that cute dimple? It was all he could do not to touch the intriguing indent.

Stop! Focus on the case, not the pretty girl. The warning blazed through his frontal cortex, but it didn’t quell the excited flutter deep in his gut.

They cleared the parking lot and started along a well-maintained, graveled path.

Tracker strained at the leash, threatening to dislocate Aiden’s arm as they jogged past a man and a woman pushing a stroller with a sleeping toddler bundled in the seat.

A minute later, they passed a middle-aged couple with a white miniature poodle in tow.

The little dog lunged at Tracker, snarling and snapping.

Tracker raced by, too intent on the intriguing smells on the trail to pay the aggressive poodle any attention.

When they turned onto the narrow, winding trail that led along the ridgeline, Candace stopped. Her chest heaved, and she was puffing. “You can let him off the leash now. We shouldn’t meet anyone on this trail, and he looks like he needs a good run.” She grinned. “Besides, I think your arm’s a good two inches longer than when we started.”

She chuckled, the sound like the sweetest musical notes rising on the clear morning air. The shadows lurking in her vivid blue eyes had vanished, and the lines of strain on her face softened.

For a moment, he forgot to breathe, forgot where he was, forgot everything but the beautiful woman.

A squirrel chittered from atop a pine tree, and Tracker lunged, jerking the leash, almost toppling Aiden, snapping him out of his fantasies. Aiden unclipped the leash and released the slobbering dog.

Tracker shot after the squirrel like a canine bullet, his long tail wagging, his mouth open in a wide grin.

Aiden rubbed his aching arm and hurried after Candace as she set a brisk pace along the same narrow trail they’d taken a week ago when she showed him the area where she’d seen the footprints.

Tracker raced ahead, zigzagging into the forest, chasing one intriguing scent after another, his joy at being out in the woods evident in his rapidly swishing tail.

The sun had risen over the distant mountains and beat warmly on Aiden’s head.

The sky was a clear robin’s-egg blue. Spring burst from every corner of the forest. The breeze carried the sweet scents of burgeoning leaves, morning dew, and rising pine sap. The piping trills of birds resonated from the bank of trees. Morning dew on a spider’s web strung between two branches, glistened like tiny diamonds.

After thirty minutes of hiking along the path, they passed the striped rock Candace had pointed out the last time they were there, but instead of stopping, they branched off onto a narrow game trail and headed deeper into the trees.

Tracker charged out of the forest, hot on the heels of a fluttering butterfly, his long, red tongue lolling.

“He’s having fun.” Candace grinned. “How long have you had him?”

As if he knew they were talking about him, Tracker ran to Aiden and sat panting at his feet.

“A couple of years. I wasn’t planning on getting a dog, but…” He fumbled in his pocket for a dog treat and offered one to Tracker.

The treat disappeared in a nanosecond, and Tracker whined and looked piteous, begging for more.

Aiden laughed and handed the dog another dog biscuit. “Believe it or not, this big galoot is a trained cadaver dog. He hurt his back and hips during a training exercise and couldn’t do his job anymore. I knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I mentioned I was thinking of getting a small dog in a few years, and the next thing I knew this big beast was riding shotgun in my car.” He rubbed Tracker’s floppy ears. “We’ve been a team ever since.”

What he didn’t say, was just how important Tracker was. Without the dog, he doubted he would have survived the challenging past year. Knowing his dog thought the sun rose and set on Aiden and didn’t think less of him for the mistakes he’d made, kept Aiden going day after day when it seemed as if everyone else had given up on him.

Tracker galloped into the bush and returned with a stick in his mouth. He perched at Aiden’s feet, cocked his ears, and dropped the stick.

Grinning, Aiden picked up the slobber-covered chunk of wood and tossed it into the forest.

Tracker barked joyously and gave chase.

Aiden chuckled. “Now instead of searching out cadavers, he uses all that expensive training to sniff out squirrels. He’s always finding some sort of animal bone on our walks. He has quite the collection in the back yard. Once, he brought back a full set of moose antlers.” He chuckled again. “They were bigger than him.”

“Are you thirsty?” She pointed at a water bottle strapped to the pack on his back.

He nodded. “I didn’t bring any water.”

“Good thing I came prepared, then.” She smiled. “I don’t mind sharing.”

He shrugged out of the backpack and tugged out the water bottle and handed it to her.

Unscrewing the cap, she raised the bottle to her mouth. The long, pale column of her throat…the pursing of her soft-looking pink lips as she drank…

The breath whooshed out of his chest as if he’d been punched. Wow! Just wow! He tore his gaze away. She was a beautiful woman, inside and out, and God help him, he was attracted to her. Not just attracted—smitten, enamored, besotted, whatever the hell he wanted to call it. But the feelings were wrong, and acting on the attraction spelled trouble. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

No. Damn. Way.

“Aiden? Want some water?”

He blinked. “Wha-what?”

She held up the water bottle. “I asked if you wanted a drink.”

He forced a chuckle. “Yeah. Thanks.” As he grasped the water bottle, his hand brushed hers. He sucked in a steadying breath at the jolt of electricity from the brief contact. Gulping water, he fought to hide his reaction. He turned away and stuffed the water bottle back into the pack.

He was a cop. She was a victim of a violent assault. His job was to question her and find out what she was keeping from him so he could catch the perpetrator and prevent more attacks. That’s why he was there. That was the only reason—to solve the case. He was just doing his job. Yeah, right. He tried to ignore the small, heckling voice in the back of his brain, but the snide words continued. You keep telling yourself that, buddy.

He shot her a glance, and his heart stuttered. Man, he was in trouble.

Big trouble.