Page 10 of Good Girls Don't Cry

“She’ll be forgotten if I don’t tell her story.” Emily took out her phone again and took more photographs. “Right now, my dad and I are the only people who can bring her killer to justice. We’ll discover the proof to put the man who did this behind bars. My dad will stand up in court and speak for her. This is why I do this job. It’s not nice and I could be helping the sick, but she needs me. No one else will tell her story.”

His admiration growing, Raven nodded slowly. “I can see why you’re so dedicated, but it is an awful job. Seeing so much carnage. Do you get bad dreams?”

“As in, do I believe the dead haunt me, demanding justice or something?” Emily gave him a long look. “You need to speak to Dave about his angle on the dead. He will tell you; it’s not the dead you should be worried about—it’s the living.” She turned away to continue with her work.

Unable to ignore the flies that crawled up his face and tried to get into his eyes, he brushed them away. Beside him, Ben gave a low growl just as a red spot danced across Emily’s back. When it moved slowly to her head, he reacted on muscle memory, as if he were still on the college football team. He lunged forward and grabbed her, taking her to the ground with all his body weight behind him. He heard the breath whoosh out of her just as a bullet thumped into the torso of the victim hanging right where Emily’s head had been.

“Oomph” Emily wriggled below him. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?” She snorted. “Let me up now. Trust me, I know how to protect myself.”

Finding her insinuations a little insulting, Raven rose up enough for her to turn to face him and then covered her with his body. “Shooter. Lie still.” He indicated to Ben to drop and the dog shuffled along on his belly to lie beside them. “It must be a sniper. I didn’t hear a shot.”

“Fine, but I can’t breathe.” Emily moved her head slightly. “Can you move just a little?!”

Shaking his head, Raven stared into eyes gray like storm clouds. Anger flashed in her eyes and her hand came up to push him away. He grabbed it and grimaced. “I don’t have time for this. I don’t need to knock women down to get their attention and I have more respect for you than to try anything so darn stupid.”

“So you say.” Emily wriggled. “You’re squashing me. Move now!”

Raven sighed. “I will if you roll over and be ready to move.” He rolled to one side but kept one hand firmly on her back. “We need to belly-crawl deeper into the forest. Understand?”

Another bullet hit the tree and showered them with bark. Raven stared at her. “Happy now? Head into the deepest underbrush. Move! Now!”

“Fine, but I need my phone.” Emily shook her head. “You’re overreacting. They’re probably stray shots from a hunter, stop overreacting. Who’d want to shoot me?”

Rolling his eyes and praying for assistance, Raven shook his head. He needed to take charge of the situation before somebody died. “You had a red dot on you. You were the target. Someone wants you dead. Now move. I’ll get your darn phone. Keep down as low as you can to the ground.”

As she moved away, he rolled across the ground, grabbed her phone and then followed her. When they reached inside the tree line, he handed her the phone. “Stay down, keep behind the tree, don’t move a muscle.” He called Kane. Hopefully he’d be out of the river by now. He sighed with relief when Kane picked up. “I need Wolfe and the team up here ASAP.”

“Something wrong?” Kane cleared his throat. “We found all the boys—one gunshot wound, the others hogtied and drowned. What other bad news do you have for me?”

Raven narrowed his gaze. He wanted to ask about the missing girls but he had his priorities. “We’re under sniper fire aimed at Emily. We’ve hunkered down inside the tree line. The crime scene is barbaric—young female, maybe seventeen. Em only had time to collect a few swabs and capture a few pictures when I noticed the red dot on her back. I tackled her to the ground and a shot hit the victim, another followed. I’m afraid Emily isn’t too happy with me right now.”

“That’s Em. Stubborn like her dad.” Kane cleared his throat. “Did you get eyes on the shooter? Do you figure he’s still hanging around?”

Scanning the hillside, Raven hadn’t seen any movement at all. “No and I doubt it. Shooting would be difficult with the tremors. I figure he’s gone but I’ll be careful. What’s your ETA?”

“We have the bodies in the van. I’ll head straight for your position.” Kane’s footsteps crunched through the undergrowth. “You’ll need to be vigilant. If this is the killer, he doesn’t want you around. What direction did the shot come from? I’ll need to be on my guard once we reach the area.”

Raven flicked a glance at Emily. “Above us and to the left. I figure the shooter must be at the northern end of the road to the ski resort. He could very well be at the ski resort. The crime scene is in a direct line from there. The tree with the body parts is close to the road, in plain sight of anyone passing by. I figure it was intentional. The killer is using it as a lure.”

“Okay, hang tight. I’ll head to the ski resort with Rio and Rowley via the highway and see if we can flush him out. I’ll send the rest of the team to assist you.”

Raven disconnected and looked at Emily. “Help is on the way.”

“Why is everything so complicated?” Emily hugged her chest. “What is it about Black Rock Falls?”

As if the mountain had heard her, the ground shook and Emily’s face drained of color. The mountains had suffered numerous episodes of seismic activity over the last six months. Landslides and mudslides had caused many roads to be closed for weeks. Wanting to ease her mind, he smiled. “Let’s worry about the shooter. It’s just a tremor.”

“I don’t think so.” Emily shook her head. “I can still feel it. Something bad is happening.”

The ground shook again with intense violence. The forest trembled and crows rose in squawks and took off into the sky. Ben let out a long whine and crawled close to his side. Emily was correct, something bad was coming. Frowning, Raven scanned the area. Through the trees, a cloud of dust darkened the deep blue sky. He sprang to his feet. No shooter could take a shot with the ground vibrating. “Get up! We need to get back to the truck—now!” He grabbed Emily by the arm and they sprinted through the trees with Ben at their heels. He’d parked his vehicle in the shadows under the trees at the side of the mountain. As they ran, tremors shook the ground, hurtling them into trees. When Emily tripped and fell, he scooped her up, tossed her over one shoulder, and ran. She yelled something at him and hammered his back, but he kept running.

Gasping for breath, he reached the truck and tossed her unceremoniously inside. Ben followed and Raven slid behind the wheel intending to drive away as fast as possible. His heart pounded as the screams of trees being ripped out by the roots and cracking of trunks filled the silence. The ground shook with violence and thunderous rumbles deafened him. At first a few small rocks pinged over the hood of his truck and then he gaped in horror as massive boulders crashed through the forest, flattening everything before them.

“Oh, my God!” Emily ducked, covering her head. “We’re going to die.”

Eleven

Vehicles stopped along the highway as tremors rocked the mountainside. With lights and sirens blaring, Kane weaved around the traffic, heading the Beast toward the Glacial Heights Ski Resort. The decision to take the highway route rather than the back mountain road, where Emily and Raven hunkered down, was to take note of any vehicles coming from the closed ski resort. The owner remained there in a huge log-built cabin all year round and the manager lived in one of the staff cabins, along with a small group of employees. The ski resort also engaged various contractors during the summer to maintain the buildings and equipment. All these people and their vehicles could be accounted for. The ski resort had CCTV cameras, and the manager would soon pick up anyone suspicious hanging around.

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