“Banks was a bastard.” He breathed out roughly. “He and his buddies got together around here about once a year. Brandenmore and Engalls and a bunch of others. They liked to hunt.” A shadow passed across his expression for a brief second.
“I’ve heard they liked to hunt two-legged prey more often than four-legged,” she guessed. “Banks was rumored to be a part of a group of men that hunted Breeds.”
Myron’s nostrils flared as a cold breeze whipped around the lot.
“A lot of Breeds were hunted in a lot of places,” he snapped out. “Not just here.”
He knew more than he was telling, Cassa could feel it. She knew Myron. They’d worked together before her marriage, and after Douglas’s death, it had been Myron who helped her through the first bitter months of realization. She knew him as well as she could know anyone.
“What’s going on, Myron?” She pushed her hair back from her face, her gaze turning to the entrance of the park, where several cars pulled out and another pulled in.
“You should go home, Cassa.”
She was getting really tired of being told to go home.
“Rather than what?” she asked quietly. “I’m here to find out what happened to Banks, not to turn tail and run because no one wants to talk.”
“There’s no f**king story,” Myron bit out angrily. “Banks was a crazy bastard that liked to drink. He’s probably drifting in the current of that damned river somewhere and just has yet to surface. Give the f**ker time, he’ll show up.”
The wealth of hatred in Myron’s tone had Cassa staring back at him, more than surprised now. She was shocked at the fury that brightened his gaze and flushed his face.
“He was mayor here for eight years,” she said quietly. “Voted in and supposedly loved by all the citizens of the county. Then he just disappears and the sheriff can’t get so much as a dozen citizens together to search for him.”
“ ‘Good riddance’ is pretty much what we thought about it,” Myron grimaced. “Cassa, dammit. No one cares if he’s dead or not. No one cares and you shouldn’t either.”
“Why shouldn’t I? He’s not the first casuality here, Myron, and you know it. People are dying in the mountains here and no one seems to care.”
Myron stared at her silently for long moments. His expression flashed with such bitter pain that Cassa actually felt the hurt herself for a moment.
“People have always died in these mountains,” he finally said softly. “No one cared then either.”
Breeds had died here. The information she had stated, more than one had died here, and many had suffered at the hands of the Deadly Dozen, once they were captured.
“Why did Banks stay here?” she asked. “If what you say is true, then he couldn’t have had much peace.”
“He had what he wanted.” Myron shrugged. “His nice house on the hill, his guns and his hunting buddies. Banks didn’t give a damn about much else.”
“Did his hunting buddies give a damn about him?” Cassa moved closer to the warm car. The engine was still running; the warmth flowing from it eased the chill that raced over her on the outside.
Myron leaned against the car door as he turned to look at her.
“You’re not going to let it go, are you?” he asked.
Cassa grinned back at him. “You know better than that, Myron. Might as well help me.”
“You lost your senses somewhere,” he accused her. “Even I’m not following up on this story, Cassa. As much as I hated Banks, I’d still like the answers to what happened to him. But things happen here in these mountains, and a smart man knows when to back off.”
That internal reporter radar went off like a siren. The blood was suddenly pumping through her veins and curiosity was slamming in her head. Of course, that surge of adrenaline was causing other, less comforting sensations as well, but she could handle those for the time being.
“I don’t know of anyone who knows you that’s accused you of being smart when it came to backing off on a story, Myron,” she reminded him.
“Naw, Cassa, that was you,” he sighed.
Her lips parted to ask more questions when a black-and-white sheriff’s cruiser pulled into the parking lot on the other side of Myron’s car.
Cassa lifted her brows as Myron’s head lowered and another rough breath passed his lips.
What the hell was going on here and just how many people were involved in it?