Capturing the Huntsman. C.J. Miller
“I know you’re worried about your brother. He’ll be fine. The FBI has undercover agents spreading the word to hikers.”
Autumn tucked her hands against her body. “My brother is impulsive at times. He doesn’t always stay on the trail. He might not know how dangerous it is. The best I can hope is that Blaine won’t cross paths with the killer.”
What could he say to make her feel better? The odds were small of meeting the Huntsman, but as evident by his victims, not impossible. “The trail is hundreds of miles long. The chances of this man finding your brother are slim. Males have not been his target.”
“A man? Are you sure the Huntsman is a man?” Autumn asked.
His work in psychological forensics told him they were dealing with a man, possibly ex-military, with a love of guns and an obsession with nature. “I can’t say for sure until we find him, or her, but I have a basic profile. A man, mid to late fifties, may have had a regular job in society at one time, but now he keeps to himself. People who know him would describe him as a loner.”
Autumn stood and walked to the stove. She set a teakettle on it and turned on the burner. “I don’t want to be forced from my home, but I don’t want to be foolish, either. Do you think it’s safe to stay here? I might be able to stay with a friend in town for a few nights.”
If she was away from the trail, she would be out of the killer’s reach. Based on what he knew, the killer didn’t leave the general vicinity of the Appalachian Trail. He was probably more comfortable where he had places to hide. “It’s your decision if you want to leave.” Nathan didn’t want her to feel unsafe in her home, as if she had to run and hide.
Autumn took a deep breath and seemed to consider that. “How often does a serial killer break pattern?”
Nathan hedged. He hadn’t expected the killer to leave a body this far from the trail in a nondiscreet location. “The Trail’s Edge is the first campground where a body has been found.”
Autumn shuddered. “In other words, he’s broken his pattern or there isn’t a pattern.”
Both were possibilities. “Right.”
Autumn swallowed hard. “I won’t let him chase me away from my home. I won’t go running scared. If he comes here, I’ll be ready for him.”
* * *
Autumn hated leaving the Trail’s Edge. Even when she had errands, she made them quick. In the past decade, she could count on one hand the number of times she had spent the night away from her home. The slim possibility that the killer would return to his crime scene while the FBI was circling seemed too remote a reason for relocating, something that would put her even more off balance.
Her world had been flipped upside down by the killer. She’d lost reservations. Parents who’d enrolled their children in her after-school nature program had pulled them out. She lived with the constant fear of Blaine being in danger.
Her kettle of hot water whistled and she pulled out two mismatched mugs, one with a picture of a bear stamped across the front and the other with the Trail’s Edge logo. Hot chocolate. Hot chocolate would calm her. “Can I get you a mug?” she asked and held up the box of hot chocolate.
“Thank you. That would be great.”
Autumn fixed the two drinks and handed one to Nathan. She stirred her mug and then lifted it to her lips to take a sip.
Nathan did the same with the cup she’d made him. “Thanks for the hot chocolate. What would you say to allowing me to return the favor? I can take you into town for dinner.”
Autumn almost spilled her mug. His question was a jolt to her system. Was Nathan asking her out? His interest was in tracking a killer. Was his request in that vein?
Nathan flashed a smile at her, one that reached to the corners of his eyes. It made his entire face change. The intensity disappeared, the harshness erased. He seemed more approachable and laid-back. She pressed her hands to her mug, keeping herself from reaching out and touching his jawline. Running her thumb over his lips to see if they felt as soft as they looked. Pressing her lips to his to taste him. Pushing her body up against his. One gorgeous smile and her imagination took flight. She was already reconsidering her stance on relationships—that is, that she wasn’t ready to date after ending her engagement to Daniel.
Nathan set his mug on the table. “You can show me where the locals hang out on the weekends. We might catch some rumors about the murder that could prove useful.”
Not a date and that was good, right? Why did she feel disappointed? In the space of a couple hours, her emotions had been slammed around inside her, leaving her off-kilter. Fear. Excitement. Lust. Confusion. “Going into town has nothing to do with the trail.”
“You can point out the people who have stayed here and I can talk to them about what they’ve heard about the Huntsman. With the number of investigation vehicles here, rumors will run wild. People will want to talk to you about the murder and I can ask them what they know.”
Autumn swallowed hard. She avoided going into town for a number of reasons. Among them was keeping away from gossip and crowds. Dealing with everyone knowing a body had been found at the Trail’s Edge was overwhelming. She hadn’t processed the events of the night and wasn’t ready to discuss them in public. “I don’t want to talk about the murder.”
Nathan inclined his head. “I’ll deflect the questions from you. You won’t have to say anything.”
But she’d have to hear it. The gossip. The slander. She was best staying at the Trail’s Edge. “I’ll take you to an available cabin and give you a list of places to eat in town. I’ll give you directions and you can go on your own.”
He shook his head. “I won’t know whom to talk to and insiders won’t talk to an outsider like me. I need you with me, Autumn. You’re honey to the bees.” His voice was low and smooth, rolling off his tongue, utterly persuasive. It wasn’t what he said; it was the smooth way he said it. He could have told her he wanted to go for a hike naked, and she’d strip out of her clothes and sprint toward the trail.
Perhaps she was making a big deal about nothing. She could go into town this once and get it over with, show the town she was fine after her broken engagement and a murder at the Trail’s Edge. She’d face the gossip head-on, set the record straight and not let it blow out of control. “We can have dinner in town. A quick dinner.” Of course, showing up in town with a handsome stranger would set off rounds of new gossip, but Autumn would hold her head high.
Nathan radiated an air of authority, and in combination with his good looks, he could talk his way into anything. Autumn didn’t care for that. Daniel had been that way, charming and sweet. But he wasn’t ready to settle down, a fact he’d hidden from her but not many others in town.
“I’ll show you to your cabin.” Autumn set her mug on the counter and grabbed the key to the cabin she’d rented him. The paperwork could wait. She’d put some distance between them before he talked her into doing something else.
She and Nathan trudged outside. The wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped. Many nights, Autumn had enjoyed sitting on her front porch rocker and drinking in the tranquility of her slice of heaven. But tonight, for the first time in years, she was afraid of the woods and of what she couldn’t see. The perfect, soothing darkness was now a hiding place for a killer.
Autumn ignored the people milling around, tried not to think about the body and pretended Nathan was another guest renting a cabin. “Have you ever been camping before?” Autumn asked. If she were alone, she would have cut through the woods, but she made it her policy to teach guests to stay to the marked trails. Staying to the trails meant she and Thor could find them if they were lost, versus attempting to locate someone in the vast forest that lined the trail for miles on either side.
“This case has required I spend a good number of nights under the stars. But I’m not really the camping type.”
Mother