Chapter 8

Tim Matthews stood as Captain Jonas Roberts entered the room. “Captain,” Tim greeted him. “I didn’t expect you.”

“We need to talk.” Jonas and gestured to the chair in front of Tim’s desk. “May I?”

“Please,” Tim replied and sat down.

“Our investigation is complete,” Jonas announced.

“So soon? It’s only been three days.” Tim was surprised. He’d expected it to take longer.

“We put a rush on it,” Jonas said. “This is how it stacks up. Apparently, Bobby Howard arranged a private hunting expedition for two men from upstate New York. We spoke with the family of the deceased, and both stories match up. The men paid for a week hunting excursion, complete with guide, and a guarantee that they’d bag at least one mountain lion. Howard had promised to have the heads mounted and shipped to them after the hunt.”

“Now, what we think happened is that Howard or one of his clients shot and wounded a lion. My men found a lion body in a cave while they were searching. It’s been shot. From all we can put together, Howard and his clients were hunting for the cat to finish it off when they ran into your folks from the contest. Words were exchanged and shots were fired. Your men were hit. One killed and the other fatally wounded. As he has since died, we have no way of verifying, but it appears that the shots were fired from a weapon we found on Howard.”

“After the incident, we suspect Howard and his clients had a falling out. Maybe they got scared. He killed them to keep them silent and while making his escape, he fell and was killed in the fall.”

Tim considered it. “Okay, but before Drew died, he said there were four men.”

“Maybe he was wrong,” Jonas replied. “There’s no evidence to support his claim. And ballistics confirm that the victims were all killed with the same weapon, which was found on Howard and bore his prints.”

“Then I guess the case is closed,” Tim said. “Does that mean we can reopen the park?”

“Yes,” Jonas said and stood. “I am going to want a statement from your ranger, Cole Russell. Is he on duty today?”

Tim stood as well and walked around the desk. “He’s on call. Now that we’re reopening, I’ll call him in and have him do a patrol of the high country, check the trails before we officially reopen. You want me to call him in now?”

“Why don’t I meet him here around 11:00?” Jonas asked. “I have some things I need to take care of this morning.”

“I’ll make the arrangements,” Tim replied and offered his hand. “Thank you.”

“Just doing my job,” Jonas replied. “See you at eleven.”

Tim returned to his seat at the desk as Jonas left. He called Cole at home and got his voice mail. After leaving a message, he tried the cell number.

* * * * *

Cole was lying, sweaty and panting, on top of Scout when his cell phone rang. They both looked in the direction of the noise, and he rolled off the bed and started rummaging around in his clothes on the chair in front of the window.

“Russell,” he answered when he finally located it.

“Hey, Tim…yeah? What’d he say?”

Scout sat up, looking at him expectantly as he listened to what Tim was saying. Finally, he said, “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

He ended the call and tossed the phone on the chair before returning to sit on the bed. “Tim said that the CBI concluded their investigation.”

“That was fast,” Scout commented.

“Honey, it’s been three days since we’ve left this house. A lot can happen in three days.”

“Yeah, there is that,” she agreed with a smile. “So, what’d Tim say?”

“Apparently the guy, Bobby Howard, is responsible for the shootings. They had evidence that he arranged a private hunt for two New York guys, and that it was his weapon that killed them and the hunting party.”

“So that’s it?” she asked with a frown.

“According to Tim. Anyway, Captain Roberts wants me to give a statement. Just a formality. But I have to be in at eleven.”

“How long do you think it’ll take?” she asked. “I should check in at the Center. They’ll be thinking I’ve up and quit.”

He grimaced. “I have to go on patrol. Check the trails. I’ll be out for at least two days. Maybe three.”

She gave him an exaggerated pout. “Three days?”

“What, you think you can’t survive three days without me?” he teased.

“It isn’t a matter of can’t,” she replied, falling back on the bed. “More of a matter of now I’m spoiled.”

“You saying I’ve ruined you for other men, honey?”

She grinned. “Don’t get all full of yourself, cowboy.”

He stretched out on top of her, pinning her hands to the bed above her head. “I’d rather you be full of me.”

“Hmmm, now you’re talking,” she said sassily and tilted her pelvis up, grinding against him.

“Unfortunately, I have a job,” he said and nipped at her chin before sitting back up. “What say I stop by when I finish my patrol?”

“Sounds like a plan,” she replied. “If I’m out, just get the key from under the planter at the back door and let yourself in.”

“You going to be at the Center?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’ll go check on the cub then head on over there. Got some research data I need to go over and start scheduling tagging teams for later in the summer.”

“Then we’ll meet here in three days,” Cole said and pulled her up for a kiss that threatened their resolve to get up and head for work.

“Okay.” He rose from the bed and started to dress. “I need to get home for clean clothes so I’m going to take off. Be ready, darlin’. I’m going to have a powerful hunger when I get back.”

“Oh, don’t you worry, I’ll be ready,” she replied and followed with, “Be safe.”

“And you,” he replied.

“My middle name,” she said with a grin.

“Like hell,” he laughed, and left.

Scout fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. It was hard to believe that they’d been holed up in her house for three days. Three days of delicious, mind-blowing, ovary-bursting sex. Three days of talking and laughing and coming to terms with what was happening between them. Three days of falling in love.

I’m in love, she said to herself, then dared to say it aloud, “I’m in love.”

A smile dawned on her face, and she jumped out of bed and danced around. “I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m—”

The shrill beep of her cell phone interrupted her dance. Thinking it might be Cole, she snatched it up. “Windrider.”

“Scout?” Jonas Robert’s voice came over the line. “We need to talk.”

“When and where?” she asked, knowing from the tone of his voice that whatever it was, it was serious.

“I’m ten minutes from your place.”

“I’ll put on the coffee,” she replied and hung up.

She quickly dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, pulled her hair back into a ponytail and hurried to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. It was just finishing when she heard a vehicle pull up.

Scout went to the front door and opened it. “Come on in,” she said as Jonas got out of his SUV.

He followed her inside, took a seat at the table and was silent until she set a mug of coffee down in front of him and took a seat at the table across from him. “What’s up?”

“You hear about the investigation?”

“Yep. Heard you think it was Bobby Howard who was responsible.”

“You don’t buy it.”

“Not for an instant,” she replied. “He didn’t have the brains or the balls for either, Jonas. The ranger, Drew, said the shooter was a tall, dark-haired man. That doesn’t describe Howard and we both know it.”

Jonas nodded and stared down at the cup in his hand for a moment. “I agree,” he said at last. “This hasn’t been made public, so no need to tell you to keep this to yourself.”

She nodded and he continued.

“Ballistics confirm that the killing shots came from a weapon found on Howard. But when we traced the gun, we discovered that the gun was purchased over twenty years ago by Jed.”

Scout’s eyes widened. “What?”

“As a gift to James Moss,” Jonas replied.

She leaned back in her chair, and her eyes narrowed in thought. “Jed probably gave it to him when they went into business together.”

Jonas nodded. “So how did it end up with Bobby Howard?”

Scout considered for a few moments exactly how to reveal the information she had to Jonas. She’d known him a while and he was a stand-up, no-bullshit guy. But whether he’d accept her source was an unknown. Finally, she decided that the only way to find out was to lay it on the table for him.

“Ray Moss planted it on him after he killed Howard.”

“That’s a pretty big leap,” Jonas commented. “You got anything to back it up?”

“Check Jed’s autopsy report. You’ll find that the bullets that killed him came from the same weapon. And if you check the county jail records, you’ll also find that Bobby Howard was locked up on a DUI the day Jed was killed, which means he didn’t have the gun at the time.”

“That doesn’t prove Moss did it.”

“No, but it proves Howard didn’t.”

“Proves he didn’t murder Jed. Doesn’t do squat for the case at hand.”

Scout chewed her lip for a moment. “How well did you know Jed?”

“About as well as he’d let anyone know him, I guess. Why?”

“You ever wonder how it was so easy for him to track or how he seemed to be able to understand things based on animal behavior?”

“I chalked it up to one of those Native things people aren’t supposed to understand.”

She chuckled. “Well put. And a surprise coming from you.”

“Just because I’m a by-the-book guy doesn’t mean I discount what I can’t see or understand.”

“Okay, then here’s something to chew on. Jed had an affinity with animals. Most every animal there is. But particularly cats. He could…communicate with them.”

“As in Doctor Doolittle?”

She smiled. “Something like that. It’s an ability that runs through the family.”

“And this helps us how?”

“I have that same ability,” she said. “When Cole and I were out there, I sensed a wounded lion. After I gave your team the coordinates to follow the shooter, Cole and I went to find the cat.

“We found her in a cave. She had one cub and was dying. She told me who the killer is.”

Jonas studied her for a long time. “Okay, let me guess. Raymond Moss.”

“Yep.”

“Okay, two problems with that,” he said. “One, it’s unreliable intel. No way to validate or corroborate with the ‘witness.’ Two, Moss has an alibi.”

“What about his brother Jimmy?” Scout asked with rancor clear in her voice.

“You have some kind of axe to grind with those two I should know about?”

“You mean aside from the fact that they murdered my grandfather? No.”

‘That’s good. And yes, his brother and a fellow who owns a fishing lodge on one of the lakes is his alibi. It seemed solid. Bottom line is we still don’t have a case, Scout. Any way you cut it, your allegations won’t stand up. We’ve got to have something tangible to go on.”

“So, he just gets off scott free?” she asked heatedly.

“Until we have something to go on, yes. But for what it’s worth, I think you’re right. Howard’s life reads like a casebook. Weakling, bad boy wannabe who hooks up with a tough crowd that validates him, at least to himself. He’s the lackey, doing their bidding. Doesn’t seem to have that much in the way of brains and depends on the Moss family for all his emotional, social, and financial support. And he’s a coward. Petty crimes land him in jail. He even does some time. But inside, he’s the bitch, not the daddy, which means he isn’t a leader and not tough enough.”

She was quiet for a little while, thinking, and then looked up at him. “So, what if I bring you something tangible? Something that at least proves the Moss guys are conducting illegal hunts? Will that be enough to open an investigation on them?”

“What kind of proof?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t found it yet,” she replied. “But I will.”

“I can’t sanction this, Scout. You go out looking and you’re on your own.”

“Story of my life,” she said. “Just promise me that if I do bring you something you’ll consider it.”

“You have my word.”

“Good,” she said and stood. “Then if you don’t mind, I have to get moving.”

“I’ll get out of your way,” Jonas replied and stood. He started out of the kitchen but paused at the door to look back at her. “Don’t do anything stupid, Scout. I don’t want to have to retrieve your body—or lock you up.”

“No worries,” she assured him. “I’m just going scouting.”

“Make sure that’s all you do,” he warned.

“Gotcha,” she agreed. “I’ll be in touch.”

Jonas nodded and left. Scout wasted no time. Changing into camouflage pants, a matching tank top and boots, she strapped on her knife, packed water and a blanket into her backpack and headed out.

Her first stop was to see the cub. The mother lion had taken her in completely and the cub was busy playing with the others of her litter. Scout spent some time with the mother, telling her what she was trying to do, and asking if the lioness had any ideas.

Luckily, she did. Scout listened to the information and made up her mind to follow up on it. It could be just what she needed to get Jonas to go after Ray Moss. She thanked the lioness and headed out.

As she traveled, thoughts of Ray killing Jed surfaced and brought with it fresh grief and rage. Vision of him falling, wounded and bleeding, filled her mind. She could not stop it. Other images crowded in, the lion within her remembering the pain and rage from the bullet that ended her life. She tried to push back the rage, knowing she needed a clear head. But the anger supplied by the lion that inhabited her, mixed with her own and grew until she was rendered immobile, standing in the shelter of a thick stand of trees, shaking with fury.

She’d never felt such fury. Her mind was consumed by it, making her heart race and her body vibrate. She felt as if she would burst out of her skin, like there were thousands of live wires beneath the surface, tingling and electrifying.

It was frightening. It was consuming. And it was out of control. She couldn’t take it. It was going to destroy her. The fight or flight instinct kicked in. Since there was no enemy to fight, flight was the only option left to her. She looked around wildly, trying to see her course, which way to run, where to escape.

Then reality deserted her. She saw the world around her fading, blackness creeping in from the periphery until her vision was only a pinpoint of life. Death was upon her. She knew no other explanation. That thought stunned her into calmness a moment before the darkness claimed her.