The forest opened up, and Rowan smelled the fresh, damp odor of the small river. It fed into the Deschutes River, which wound its way to the Columbia River and then to the Pacific Ocean. Rowan carefully crossed the big, slick rocks to the river, fascinated that the water passing by could eventually travel hundreds of miles to the ocean. She picked a large rock and sat, watching Thor, who took a tentative lap of the water and snorted at a spider-looking bug skimming along the surface.
The sun was mostly blocked by the tall firs, but here and there its light sparkled on the water. Rowan pulled a protein bar and some dog treats from her day pack, amused that Thor had returned to her side the moment she touched the pack’s zipper. “Good boy,” she said, offering him the treats one at a time. “Another birthday under our belts,” she continued. “We just have to get through the party at Mom’s tonight.” Thor swallowed the last treat and his ears twitched, his eyes begging.
treats treats treats
“That’s all.”
The dog huffed and set his chin on her thigh.
She stroked his head, enjoying the companionship of her dog and the quiet of the woods. After a few long moments, Thor returned to his exploration of the stream. When he’d gone quite far upriver, Rowan stood up from her perch, stretched, and made her way upstream, following the black shadow and his wet paws.
He’s scented something.
Thor barely glanced back at her and continued to steadily make his way along the riverbank.
Please don’t be a bear.
She swung the day pack off her shoulders and took out her bear spray. She never entered the woods without the pack. A small medical kit, her GPS, protein bars, dog treats, water, and a Leatherman tool were also in it. The bare necessities for her short hike.
Ahead Thor sat down and looked back, waiting for her to catch up. A large rock wobbled under Rowan’s foot, and she caught her balance with her weaker leg but nearly tumbled into the water.
“Shit.”
Her leg had been badly broken while she was kidnapped. Four surgeries later, it was pretty good, but never quite right. No matter how much she worked it, the leg didn’t have the full strength for certain movements.
Like catching her balance when her good leg was compromised.
It’d taken Rowan years to accept her subtle limp. She could mask it if she concentrated, but ten years ago had given up hiding it. There was no point. This was how she was. She’d learned to give no fucks about what other people thought.
If the worst thing in her life was that she limped a bit, she was grateful.
When people asked, she simply smiled and said, “A bad break when I was a kid.” And changed the subject. The surgical scars weren’t attractive, but she’d accepted those too.
They were who she was. A road map of her life.
Rowan pushed forward, choosing more cautiously where she placed her feet.
She froze as a sound reached her over the noise of the river.
Oh no.
It was Thor’s discovery chatter. He’d found something.
She shaded her eyes and squinted. One of the sun’s rays highlighted bare flesh on the river’s rocky bank. The body didn’t move.
“Thor! Come here.”
Her dog swiveled his ears, confused that he was being told to leave his discovery. Thor paused for a second but then obediently trotted back to Rowan, meeting her halfway. “Who’s the best boy?” She scratched his ears, her gaze locked on the body partially in the water.
It was a woman. And she’d been dead for some time.
10
From fifty feet away, Evan saw the frown on Rowan’s face.
He followed the deputy along the river toward the crime scene. He’d been warned before he left Bend that it would be a long hike. He’d put on hiking boots and appropriate clothing and then added more layers and some supplies to a small backpack. In the past, he’d learned anything could happen at a crime scene in the forest and tried to be prepared.
Evan knew that Rowan had discovered the body, but she wouldn’t have known he’d caught the case.
He had a good idea why she was frowning.
It wasn’t Evan’s turn for a new case, but there were too many similarities to two investigations already on his desk. His supervisor had heard “abandoned nude female body” and immediately assigned it to Evan.
Is it related?
So far only basic commonalities tied his other two women’s cases together. Age of victim. Strangulation. Nude. Body dumped. He had no evidence the crimes were related, but his gut told him they were. The other bodies had been left in quiet semiremote areas where someone would eventually find them.