“You gotta get here, and fast. There’s . . .” Chase’s voice broke. “There’s a dead body out on the Parkinsons’ property. It’s a girl, man.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboYShQVSjJ
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwCNaq4XAC
Neveah.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dvrmNyicX
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iswRnPHri
Zach’s stomach surged into his throat as he climbed out of the cruiser. They’d followed Chase’s instructions out of town to the north. The dirt road led off Highway 434 and into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. He spotted the only other police cruiser Clear Springs had to its name off the side of the road, Chase’s long frame leaning against it. He had his head in his hands.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBQEOnOIEo
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7zigN6pWt
Considering the man had seen a thing or two when he worked homicide over in Seattle before moving here a few years ago, that didn’t bode well. In the time Zach had known Chase, he’d never seen the other man riled—or as hopeless as he looked now.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6sLBcOMU7
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmP3fbPIXU
The Marines hadn’t been a cakewalk for Zach. He’d experienced things in the desert that he wished he could wipe out from his mind, even nine years later. This was different. Nearly a decade working in Clear Springs and the closest he’d come to a murder case was a lost hiker who’d wandered miles off course and ended up freezing to death near Sawfoot Ridge.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsStxMAoLwH
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YooifeSoB
That was it.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5ryvtvVoM
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksyJiQ5UMo
This was worlds different.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAog7raiNM
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67NyUd82fz
“Call it in.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGevbVqtP5
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2heKYPK5e
Henry gave him a look like he was crazy, his bushy gray eyebrows sliding up his forehead. “To who?”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsCEAwsBqa
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVI0yH791l
That was the question, wasn’t it? He took a deep breath and tried to think. Clear Springs was small enough that they didn’t even have their own mortuary. They didn’t have detectives. They didn’t have a damn thing except him, Henry, and Chase. “Call the coroner over in Augusta. Keep it quiet. I don’t want the Smiths to hear about this before we have a chance to confirm—”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZo1Rl3p0a
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxNgj7BAHG
“You think it’s Neveah?” The shock in Henry’s voice made him feel like a monster.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2K3RS7imkN
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddpG8eZabe
Zach opened the door. “I won’t know until I get a look at the body. Make the call.” He got out. It was tempting to take some time, to do something to prolong the moment when he had to walk around Chase’s vehicle and look at the body of a girl who had once lived and loved and laughed. But that was not why he was here—he was here to do right by her, whoever she was.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBA1mdlxgo
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvhE5a4BN7
So he braced himself and tapped Chase’s shoulder. “Tell me.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRpD81kvHx
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnJK15zvhz
Chase gave a full-body shudder, but his voice was almost calm when he said, “I got a call from old-man Parkinson about some teenagers trespassing on his property. I took my time, because you know how he is.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpq19RgG7N
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhe3QLHLns
Zach knew. He could also hear the guilt in his deputy’s voice. “You couldn’t have known.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXDBEzhqWY
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNMkCPY70M
“But—” Chase shook his head, his brown eyes wide as if he were in shock. “Right. You’re right. This shit is just messing with my head, you know?”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdruHaPNbRp
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2R7S9vSSA
“I know.” He realized he was still stalling and motioned his deputy over. “Talk to me while I take a look.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZUeDhYfAu
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbcOX7Dgsh
Walking around that car was hard—harder than it should have been. Seeing the flash of pale skin down in the bushes on the side of the road was harder yet. Zach walked to the body on leaden feet and crouched down. The girl was on her stomach, one arm outstretched as if she was reaching for help and the other curled underneath her. Her dark hair was a tangled mess that hid her face. And she was naked.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7np9pT1FA
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKI0URKSv25
Chase cleared his throat. “I was going to cover her, but . . .”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYzlj7F7V2
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimIus5YFo1
“You did the right thing.” As much as he wanted to grant her that respect, they needed to gather evidence before they moved her.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPL3IMScHHL
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZU89E6OYw
He examined the ground. There was one set of footprints—Chase’s—that circled the body, and scuff marks where he’d obviously checked for a pulse. No other marks, except for a set of bare footprints that must belong to the girl. He frowned. Surely she didn’t walk here and fall over dead?184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzrUcGYMkp
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65fJUHaQb2
Zach sat back on his heels and looked around. They were a good ten miles from town, but ten miles wasn’t that far in the grand scheme of things. With the mountain range rising in the distance, there was no reason for her to be lost. Every local knew that if you put the range at your back and started walking, you’d run into some sort of civilization sooner rather than later. He put that in the back of his mind and returned to his examination.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFM9WhQthcn
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PYHM3kGhC
Faint bruises covered her back and ran down her arms and legs, ranging in size from what could be fingerprints to large ones indicating a more serious blow. The colors varied, too—some nearly black and others faded to a sickly green-yellow. So, not all new. She certainly couldn’t have gotten them all in the few days she’d been missing.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOrD0oxeb0
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1436S1Wucl
You’re getting ahead of yourself.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCuSfhDM5g
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqoZ8M61Xi
Right.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQWdrBYhDw
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTRocGssBc
He leaned closer, carefully putting his hand on the dirt to stabilize himself. There was a marking between her shoulder blades, a smudge of blue-black that looked like ink. A tattoo? There was another on her hip, and yet another one on the wrist of the outstretched arm. What the hell?184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3indNBt8x
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtVZqs4zk4
Whatever the origin of these marks, he doubted they were something she’d consented to. Time would tell, though, and he’d have to wait to hear from the coroner to know for sure.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDShBQUIRw7
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbNfw6srhJ
Only one thing left to see.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkjsDQjq5l
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMY2it1i5AJ
He lifted the curtain of her hair, and froze.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx25JZX30GF
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86kQUsEZrF
The girl wasn’t Neveah Smith.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRDRlHnAiy
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1bJLPgXlm
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxYYX7jsYe
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3RKjPxYE1
It’s finally happening.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9GsFVYtO9
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XqJwsXouw
Eden Collins sat in her car and told herself for the thousandth time that she was a fool. She shouldn’t be here. There was nothing she could offer the situation that wouldn’t make everything worse. She tapped her finger on the steering wheel, staring at the entrance to the Clear Springs police station. Growing up, she’d been in there once or twice when her mother decided that some outside help was necessary to rein in her rebellious daughter.
She’d never thought she’d walk in voluntarily.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Y45VabQ8S
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeV9ADFKw4
She’d never thought she’d come back to Clear Springs at all.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sVHrn3Iy9
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuRWqyOBfl
She sighed. There was no help for it—either she needed to turn the car around, drive back to Missoula, and catch the next flight out to Virginia, or she needed to stop trying to talk herself out of this and walk in there and offer her services.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSLEprSWVB
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQbqdKZ1UU
I don’t want to go back. Please don’t make me.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuWfmnuthz
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkZcuPZOys
It was the cry of a child in the dark. She’d worked very, very hard to leave that child behind, but the little-girl voice had the nasty habit of popping up at the worst times. Eden had known coming back to Clear Springs for the first time in a decade would rouse all sorts of inner demons she’d been so determined to forget. It didn’t make it any easier to bear.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmj2IxRHELM
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHwUpvE9kb
“This is stupid. Get out of the car. Get out of the car right now.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ762yvbfLu3
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmxXhR1zG5
She threw her body into motion, half-afraid that if she didn’t force herself to move, she’d sit there until someone decided to report her for being creepy. Who am I kidding? The people in this place are just as likely to knock on the window and ask me if I need any help.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3UjT5OPjD
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHjOo3yIUD
The fall air had a little bite to it, and she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Home.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXZi5GTqBR
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMkfWyTtjB
No. It’s not home. It’ll never be home again.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrasrw49hJU
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnimnyFZNv
She’d made a life for herself in the FBI, and if she didn’t have much in the way of roots . . . well, she’d left the possibility of roots behind when she left Clear Springs. Most days it didn’t even bother her that much. She was doing good in the world, using her nontraditional childhood to give her an edge that had helped her make a name for herself over the last six years in the cult division. She was Eden Collins, FBI agent. She wasn’t that scared little girl. Not anymore.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmS8lPgjnEf
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8RDNL81Wx
One step at a time, she made her way into the police station. She’d half expected it to be a whirl of motion, with people rushing here and there, trying to come to terms with the fact that death had touched their small town. But there was no one in the room except a man sitting behind the desk in the corner, glaring at the phone on his desk.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMz6kB1KUYU
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5o5E7Ecq3x
Zach Owens.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKztem9QF8p
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELuZuUrvXA
The golden boy of Clear Springs in every sense. His blond hair was still cropped short, harkening back to his days as a Marine, and his body was obviously well taken care of. This wasn’t a man who’d let his years working in a sleepy little town turn him soft.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcamRCKTmUO
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADHbMtI0xV
While Zach took her in, she conducted her own perusal. She’d never met him personally, but she knew him by reputation and pieces of information stolen via eavesdropping. He’d gone off to war a boy and come back a man with shadows in his eyes. Or maybe she was just seeing him with rose-tinted glasses, the tragic figure representing everything she’d never have. Acceptance. Loyalty. The love of the people here.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeHaD9VEhe
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVG2k1EBdx
Something like jealousy curled through her stomach. It was silly and childish, and she was better than that, but it was hard not to resent someone who so obviously fit. Eden had done a bit of traveling since she’d turned eighteen and run as far and fast as she could from her mother, but she’d never found a place that was well and truly hers.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdU4Z4RT2w
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTpYnknjJ7
He caught sight of her and narrowed his eyes. “Can I help you?”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOipTc04kw
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztACG6phNx
Being pinned in place by those blue eyes made her second-guess the intelligence of her plan yet again. It didn’t matter. He needed her help, even if he didn’t know it yet. She stepped forward. “I’m here about the body.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSz9PznYFiR
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0fq7gcF2J
His shoulders dipped a quarter of an inch before rising again, the tell so slight, she wouldn’t have noticed if her business didn’t rely on seeing what other people missed. He frowned. “How the hell did you hear about it already? It’s only been a few hours.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OAblkiw4u
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6JfLBUW9a
And here’s the kicker. She pulled out her phone and brought up her e-mail. “This was sent to me yesterday afternoon.” Zach cursed, and she didn’t blame him. The photo showed the dead girl, her hand outstretched as if begging for help. As if begging Eden for help.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNV0bpDIYmc
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41KT6sICkV
“Who sent this to you?”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgtAe2e8a6
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEoFSJHeHz
“I don’t know.” When she tried to respond to the e-mail, it had bounced. Eden had thought it was some sort of prank, but she’d done a search through the FBI data banks on Clear Springs just in case . . . and discovered that a body perfectly matching the one in the photo was currently in the Augusta morgue.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfI3sPwtSIf
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADEfwA6ftG
A body that shared at least superficial similarities with Eden.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVzUSVsToy
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmuJV1KFzq
He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “As much as I’m grateful for the heads-up about a potential leak, who are you and why would this picture be sent to you?”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvuDmrfMSi
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1HonFSMsn
This was it. The moment of truth. She straightened and did her best not to appear as nervous as she felt. “I’m here because I recognize that tattoo on her back.” She held out her hand, proud of herself when it didn’t shake. “I’m Eden Collins, and you’ve got bigger problems than you realize.”184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RvAiYrxIJ
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9unR6H3DfR
