Dark Burning: Dark Falls, CO Romantic Thriller Book 6

by Lori Ryan

Rachel wrinkled her nose at the news of his uncle’s body being in a closet. “But the smell? How could he hide a dead body that long?”

  Eric’s thoughts went to Connie and the domestic violence call he had responded to the week Juliette Cavill died.

  “At first, there would have been no smell,” he said.

  He knew that there had been some evidence of blood spatter found on what remained of the walls to the kitchen. If the fight happened in there, Connie wouldn’t have been able to see the evidence of it when he stood on Liam’s front steps later.

  He went on, not explaining all the detail. “Decomp smells bad, but the thing is, it only smells for a discrete amount of time. He probably didn’t have a whole lot of visitors, I guess. At least not during that time. After that, it might have smelled a little musty but the houses where they lived were spread out. The neighbors wouldn’t have smelled anything unless they went into the yard and went right up to a window right near the closet the uncle was in.”

  Rachel’s eyes went wide. “He put his uncle in the closet?”

  Merritt nodded. “And started the fires in a closet at each location. When Eric asked him why he did that, he said it was where the punishments took place. I don’t know if he meant from his mom or uncle or both.”

  Rachel’s eyes went dark. “I would guess the uncle. His mother was so tolerant with that boy, letting him do just about anything. It was the uncle who reprimanded him, and Liam would go white as a sheet when he did.” She closed her eyes. “I reported it to social services once, but since I had never seen any marks on the boy or witnessed anything besides his response to his uncle’s verbal corrections, they said they couldn’t do anything.”

  She opened her eyes and look from Merritt to Eric. “I don’t know if it would be different or not nowadays, but that was a long time ago.”

  “You said the insurance company sued her for the fire that put her into assisted living?” Merritt said. “So that’s probably why he targeted the insurance company and Peter Gamet in his home.”

  Eric spoke up. “We think the earlier abandoned houses and warehouse were a way for him to practice setting the fires.”

  He saw Merritt shiver and went to put a hand on her shoulder. He knew what she was thinking. He’d heard the way Liam talked about not having his full powers. She and Eric both believed Liam thought he was able to control the fires.

  Eric continued. “Can you think of any reason he would have targeted you and the house you took care of his mother in?”

  Rachel closed her eyes again, nodding. “She came to us from the rehab center after doing as much rehab on her legs as they could really do. She was with us for a year, I think. She didn’t have the money to stay and with no insurance coverage…”

  When she opened her eyes, her cheeks were wet with tears. “I was the administrative nurse there at the time. I ran everything for the owners of the house. They were the ones who worked with the insurance company and with the state for any benefits the person might have, but it was me who had to pass on the news. I think the uncle had paid for her while he could, but a small home like that with the kind of round the clock care we gave was expensive. They moved her after that to a larger facility, one with a lot less personalized care.”

  Eric held Merritt’s hand as they left, keeping a tight hold on it as they walked the hall of the rehab center.

  “Are you sure you want to go deeper into this guy’s head to write this story? It isn’t going to be a pretty place.”

  Merritt nodded at him. “I’m sure. Maybe if someone had listened to Liam’s story before, some of this would have been prevented.”

  Eric pulled her to a stop and cradled one side of her face with his hand, holding tight to her other hand with his own. “You, Merritt McKenna, are an amazing person. So damned capable of love, of seeing the good in people. I don’t deserve you.”

  Her smile was slow and sweet and she separated their hands so she could wind her arms around his neck. “Of course you do,” she said. “Of course you do.”

  “See, there you go doing it again.” He leaned in and kissed her. He was fast losing his heart to this woman and he was okay with that. More than okay with it.

  He pulled away, but only because they were in a public place.

  As he took her hand and walked to the car, he said, “Okay, well, I’ll introduce you to Ariel Beaubien tonight.”

  They were picking up Collin and going to meet all the guys from the station at Andrighetti’s for pizza. Ariel would be there with Rhys. The two were rarely away from each other when they weren’t working.

  Merritt stopped, eyes wide. “Wait, the writer Ariel Beaubien?”

  “Yeah, she’s dating one of the guys from my unit.”

  The look she leveled him was classic for you’re an idiot caveman. “You know I’m planning to write a true crime book and you know Ariel Beaubien, but you’re just now mentioning this.”

  At his nod, she shook her head. “I take it all back. You don’t deserve me.”

  She walked away but he heard her laughter as he chased after her and made a playful grab for her hand, purposefully missing.

  She turned and laughed out loud, swatting at him as he lifted her and headed for the car. He wanted to see if they could make it home in time for a little pit stop in his bedroom before they were due to pick up Collin.

  He loved that kid, but they needed some adult time before a night of pizza and cops.

  Epilogue

  Eric stood at the altar, tugging at his tuxedo, hardly able to believe he was there. He looked to one side and saw Rhys, Nate, and Mason were doing the same.

  A row of bridesmaids scowled at them from across the altar like they could get them to behave if they glared hard enough.

  Collin hissed at Eric from the front pew of the church. “Psst. Eric, you’re not supposed to fidget!”

  Merritt smothered a laugh with her hand, looking at Eric as she ran a hand down Collin’s back.

  Eric winked at her, then looked at his partner and best friend. John was the only one of them who wasn’t fidgeting. He was looking up the aisle waiting for his bride and the look on his face said he’d love this woman for the rest of time.

  John had told Eric before they came out that the one thing he wanted in life was to always be there for Ava when she needed him, no matter what she needed.

  Eric knew what John meant.

  Eric had been seeing the precinct’s therapist for the past few months and felt better about where his head was at. He’d been to see his mom a few times, but didn’t feel the need to stay if she started her head games. He would kiss her on the cheek and walk out the door, and he was okay with that for now. He didn’t want to be the hurting little boy who didn’t have any defenses anymore. He wanted to allow himself the chance to grow up and have a healthy loving relationship with the woman he had been lucky enough to find. Her and her son.

  He looked back at Collin and Merritt. He would be there for them, with them, through whatever they needed.

  He was going home to Denver with her soon, to meet her family. After that, he planned to ask her to marry him. He didn’t want to wait and he hoped like hell she and Collin didn’t either.

  The wedding song started and he looked up the aisle to see Ava and her dad coming down arm in arm. She was beautiful as she looked at John, a cream-colored lace dress flowing behind her.

  Eric glanced down the row of groomsmen and found Rhys, Nate, and Mason all looking at their girlfriends sitting in the rows near Merritt and Collin.

  Rhys had asked Ariel to marry him and she’d been crazy enough to say yes. Gabe and Mason had somehow convinced their girlfriends to move in with them. He wondered if maybe he could convince Merritt, Collin, and Kitten to live with him.

  Yeah, all of them were goners. Saps who would do whatever their women asked of them.

  Eric grinned. He was right there with them. He looked back at Merritt and caught her eye, smiling at her. He was right there with them, and he d
idn’t mind one damned bit.

  For more of Lori Ryan’s books, visit www.loriryanromance.com. Links to the rest of the Dark Falls series can be found there, as well as links to the rest of Lori Ryan’s books.

  And here’s a sample of the next Dark Falls book, Dark Echoes by Savannah Kade! Grab that book’s links at EHLANE ENTER LINK

  * * *

  Risa Caldwell found more adventure than she’d bargained for when she tripped over the body of a local missing girl. She’d decided to vary her usual running route that morning, she was thinking she’d like a little more adventure. Well, she got it.

  Her usual route was two miles through the woods, on an open path where she often passed other joggers. Today she tried a harder route, through a more isolated area. Still, she felt normally felt safe and comfortable jogging out here even though she was mostly alone.

  For whatever reason, that morning she’d gotten a jones to try something new. So, when the path split to an unfamiliar trail, Risa gave into a whim and took it.

  Portions of the national park were open to runners, hikers, and—in some places—even mountain bikers. The entrance to the path was clear, and she decided it was worth a shot even though she had no idea how long or difficult it was. She’d thought she was prepared for anything. That had been a mistake.

  Though she managed to run at a solid pace for about a half mile after the split, the path quickly narrowed to where that kind of speed wasn’t safe. Underbrush grew in close, free to spread where hikers had not been using the trail. Soon enough, the path also grew steep, and rocks and roots were needed for staircase-like use. Risa found she was hiking rather than running, but it didn’t matter. She loved a challenge and she had nowhere she needed to be. So she followed the mystery trail deeper and deeper into the forest.

  Today was one of her off days at the fire department, hence the long run. A tried and true morning person, she'd woken up with the sun and happily seen the day was already bright and warm.

  She'd taken the standard precautions—she’d let her best friend Leah Dev know where she was going and that she was running alone. Of course, Risa had her cell phone on her, tucked into a nice pocket stitched into the backside of her shirt. She didn't have earbuds, though. As much as she felt safe out here running by herself, she liked hearing what was around her.

  When the path flattened out before her, even though it wasn't very wide, she'd picked up her pace, again. But the reprieve hadn't lasted very long. It was only maybe twenty steps later that she was sent suddenly sprawling as a sharp pain shot up her left leg. Hitting the ground hard, she could feel the scrapes on her hands and knees.

  Twigs and rocks pierced her skin, pain now spiking her arms as well. Cautiously, she'd rolled over onto her butt to check the damage.

  Crap, she thought. It felt like she'd twisted her ankle. Still, she wanted to be wrong. For a moment, she just sat there, hoping the throbbing pain would pass if she just waited it out. It probably wasn’t going to work, but she gave it a try.

  While she waited, she picked tiny twigs from her palms and pulled leaves off her shirt. From her position on the forest floor, Risa looked around to check if anyone was nearby. Maybe they'd see her and come help pull her up. When no one appeared, she checked out the scene on the ground.

  She’d turned around when she rolled onto her butt and was now facing back the way she’d come. Narrowing her eyes, Risa spotted something sticking up in the path.

  It looked like maybe a root, but the leaves covering it obscured what it was. Still, Risa frowned. Something smelled, and that was a little odd, because she hadn't noticed any scent of decay before. Maybe it was because she was sitting here in the rotting leaves. When the rains had come last week, everything had gotten soaked and was sitting, damp and rotting, since then. She could feel a little bit of the wetness seeping up through her running shorts. She groaned. Wet-butt was the worst.

  Hobbling back along the hard path with a twisted ankle and wet-butt was not something she was looking forward to. Sighing, she pulled her phone out and checked for signal. As expected, she was out of range. Crap.

  Risa tried texting Leah anyway. "Tripped, twisted my ankle. I'm okay, though. Hobbling my way out. Will be a while.”

  She hit the send button and hoped it would work. Then she put the phone back into the cute little pocket on her shirt. Clambering up onto one foot, Risa gingerly tried putting some weight on her left foot and felt the sharp pain again.

  Nope, she thought. Not gonna do that again. Definitely twisted, and—hopefully—not broken.

  The trail behind her was littered with bumps and wet leaves, but ahead of her, it was more clear. Hopping a bit farther that direction on just one foot, Risa tried to be as careful as she could and watch where she went. She tried to make sure she didn't further injure herself in the process.

  It was only after she turned and got back to the root she had tripped over that she realized what had gone wrong. Balancing as she leaned over, she brushed the leaves away a little bit, and discovered it wasn't a root under the leaves, but a knob of something covered in denim.

  Risa frowned as the smell got stronger. She brushed away more leaves and discovered yet another swath of denim. Looking to her left-hand side now, she saw another shot of color—this time sparkly blue. It was a sneaker.

  Risa sucked in a sharp breath.

  She hadn't tripped over a root, but a dead body.

  * * *

  Get Dark Echoes here! EHLANE ENTER LINK

  Also by Lori Ryan

  The Sutton Capital Series

  Legal Ease

  Penalty Clause

  The Baker’s Bodyguard (A Sutton Capital Series Novella)

  Negotiation Tactics

  The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams

  The Baker, the Bodyguard, and the Wedding Bell Blues (A Sutton Capital Series Novella)

  Her SEALed Fate

  The Sutton Capital Series Boxed Set (Books One Through Four)

  The Sutton Capital Series Boxed Set (Books Five Through Seven)

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  Sutton Capital Intrigue

  Cutthroat

  Cut and Run

  Cut to the Chase

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  Sutton Capital On the Line Series

  Pure Vengeance

  Latent Danger

  Wicked Justice

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  Heroes of Evers, Texas Series

  Love and Protect

  Promise and Protect

  Honor and Protect (An Evers, TX Novella)

  Serve and Protect

  Desire and Protect

  Cherish and Protect

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  Triple Play Curse Series

  Game Changer

  Game Maker

  Game Clincher

  The Triple Play Curse Boxed Set

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  Standalone Books

  Stealing Home (writing in Melanie Shawn’s Hope Falls Series)

  Any Witch Way (writing in Robyn Peterman’s Magic and Mayhem Series)

  All In (writing in the Sleeper SEALs Series)

  About the Author

  Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and sports romance. She lives with an extremely understanding husband, three wonderful children, and two mostly-behaved dogs in Austin, Texas. It’s a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn’t change a thing.

  * * *

  Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and hasn’t looked back since then. She loves to connect with her readers.

  * * *

  For new release info and bonus content, join her newsletter at http://loriryanromance.com/lets-keep-touch/

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  Follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/loriryanromance/

  or Twitter at https://twitter.com/Loriryanauthor

  or Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/loriryanauthor/

  : Dark Falls, CO Romantic Thriller Book 6