Page 40 of Shadows of You

“Yeah.”

“What is it?”

“Dead deer.”

Oscar’s eyes narrowed. “We don’t get called out for dead deer.”

I simply shrugged as I grabbed my jacket.

“I could come with you,” Mindy offered. “I don’t have anything on my desk right now.”

“I’m good,” I clipped.

Oscar choked on a laugh, and Mindy glared at him. I made a quick escape toward reception and then headed to the parking lot. The air had warmed a bit, but I still needed a jacket. Climbing into my truck, I started the engine.

It didn’t take long for me to reach the trailhead since our substation was out of town. No one else was parked in the gravel lot, but I couldn’t wait. An unease had settled in my gut that I needed to answer.

Grabbing my pack, I slid out of my vehicle and headed for the trail. The quiet of the mountain wrapped around me, easing some of that feral energy that seemed to take over my muscles and bones. I let the silence soothe me, disrupted only by the rustling of pine branches and the occasional bird call.

A hint of a burn took root in my quads as I pushed up the steep incline. I welcomed the fire. It reminded me that I was alive. Real. Human.

It only took fifteen minutes to reach the fallen doe. She lay half on and half off the trail, her neck bent at an unnatural angle. My stomach roiled as I took her in. Such a waste.

I didn’t begrudge someone wanting to hunt if they were going to consume the meat, but I had no respect for trophy killers—the waste of life for some sort of invisible points on a tally. But this wasn’t that either. This was something darker.

“What do you think?” Law called from down the trail.

I didn’t stand or look back, just continued studying the deer. Rob was right. The gashes hadn’t been made by animal claws. They were too precise for that. Too clean.

“A human being did this, not an animal.”

Lawson cursed as he crouched next to me, looking over the doe’s fallen form. “Definitely a knife.”

He tapped out a text. “Got crime scene techs coming out.”

“Good.” I pushed to my feet.

Lawson followed, surveying the space around us. “Saw you leave right after Aspen last night.”

I stiffened. It was a leading question if I’d ever heard one.

When I didn’t respond, Lawson glanced my way, raising his eyebrows.

I scowled at the forest. “Her car was giving her trouble. I followed her home.”

“That was good of you. Seems like you two get along.”

“What is this? Tea and gossip hour?” I snarled. I didn’t usually have to worry about Lawson probing, especially not when it came to women. Because the last thing he wanted was someone asking him those questions. There were too many skeletons in that closet.

Lawson held up both hands. “Just curious. Aspen’s a good woman. You could do a hell of a lot worse.”

“You want me to start asking you about dating prospects?”

The shutters came down over Lawson’s eyes, and I instantly felt like an ass.

I cleared my throat, turning back to the deer. I wasn’t sure what it said about us that we handled blood and death better than relationships, but we always had. “What do you think?”

Lawson followed my line of sight, taking in the scene again. “Those marks there?”

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