Remember Rosehall.
He remembered, all right. How could he not, when his very first case had been his very worst? Thing was, the damn man behind those original murders was dead. He'd seen the body himself. Had been at the burial to watch the casket being covered with dirt and to spit on the grave.
As far as anyone who'd been on the team at that time knew, their felon had worked solo. And no one, outside those in the IIS, knew the smaller details, such as the fingers. So how could a man who'd been dead for over eight years be here in Ripple Creek, taunting them with new victims?
Cade sat back on his heels and glanced up at Vannah. “Was there anything carved into the flesh of the first victim?"
She crossed her arms. He couldn't honestly say whether or not she recognized the importance of the message, because there was nothing to be read in her expression or her eyes. But she had to understand it. She'd been at Rosehall, for God's sake.
"No. It would have been in the report, otherwise."
He nodded and glanced back at the coroner. “Roll him over."
No other messages. No other marks. He rose and stepped back so the kid could get clearer shots of both the victim's back, and the blood that had seeped from the cuts and stained the soil.
From the clearing below came the roar of an engine.
"That'll be the ambulance,” Ronan said. “You want me to bring them up?"
"Yes."
Ronan's gaze flicked to Vannah, whose nod was almost imperceptible. No guessing were his allegiance lie or who he'd be taking orders from, Cade thought. But again, he'd faced that sort of response many times on many reservations. At least the rangers here were more circumspect about it.
He turned, his gaze searching the surrounds. Half a dozen small flags dotted the ground, indicators of possible evidence Ronan had found. He began a search of his own, but after an hour or so, he had discovered nothing more than what had already been marked. Despite his earlier aspersions of Vannah's people, they obviously knew their job.
He rose and stretched the kinks out of his back. There wasn't much more he could do here until Trista and Anton showed up with their equipment. The site just needed to be guarded, and any of the rangers were more than capable of that. What he needed was decent coffee—which seemed to be seriously lacking at the ranger station—and a burger or two.
Though an icy beer wouldn't go astray, either. The sun had risen towards noon, and the heat and light reflecting off the nearby snow was extensive. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced down to the tree line where Vannah stood talking to Ronan.
And saw Ronan briefly touch her face in an intimate, caring way.
Anger crashed though him, territorial and instinctive. A growl rumbled up his throat. Before he even realized what he was doing, he'd taken several steps toward them. He forced himself to stop and take a deep breath. Then he released it slowly, as he flexed his fingers and tried to retain some control.
But he knew, as he stared down at the two of them, that he was in deep, deep trouble.
Because the promise he and Vannah had made to the moon so long ago was obviously still in force.
And the sheer ferocity of his response suggested that the moon was not going to let them escape their promises so easily a second time.
Chapter Two
Savannah glanced at her watch and tried to contain the surge of irritation. Pick me up at five, he'd said. We'll discuss any developments on the case while you drive me to my hotel.
Well, it was nearly six, evening had fallen—along with the nightly chill—and he was still a no-show. What was she, a chauffeur with nothing else to do? It was bad enough that he and his team had basically banned them from entering the murder site, but to have one of her own men guarding the main path—and the kid at that—was goddamned infuriating.
She blew out a breath and pushed away from the side of the truck. It was getting too cold to stand there any longer, and besides, the fall of night seemed to have woken an odd sort of restless in her. It was almost as if the moon stirred heat through her system. Yet, tonight the moon would rise in the end of its waxing crescent phase, as far away from the full moon and its accompanying wildness as it could possibly get.
But the restlessness stirred, flicking through her veins like a fire about to erupt.
Strange. Very strange.
However, there was nothing she could do except ignore it. With Cade in town, she wasn't about to risk crossing the line with Ronan, and there was no one else she actually fancied enough to dance with.
She walked across to where Ike squatted. He rose, his expression one of frightened determination. “Boss, I've been ordered to stop you or anyone else going up the trail."
"Did he tell you to stop anyone entering the forest from an area well away from the trail?"
Ike frowned. “Well, no, but the intent—"