Branded by Lust: 4 (Night Seekers)

by Holt, Desiree

“If everyone in this town thinks the Chupacabra might be real and wants you to follow up on it, why doesn’t the sheriff take the hint?”

  Logan cranked over the ignition on the truck and adjusted the heater. “Rance Danvers is an old-line, old-time sheriff. He’s been around for a lot of years. Like I told you, he was senior deputy when I left and moving him into the spot was the easiest thing for the commission to do.”

  “But doesn’t he have to stand for election?” Rebecca asked. “That’s the way it usually works.”

  “I think the county commission doesn’t seem to be inclined to move him out. And truthfully, except for the Chupacabra killings, there’s not a whole lot of crime in the county. But he’s stuck on his theories. Period.” He pulled out onto the highway. “I usually had to work around him.”

  She glanced at him with curiosity. “Do you ever regret leaving? Or think about coming back?”

  “No. I miss the ranch and I get back here when I can. When my brother and sister-in-law were killed, finding that beast became the total focus of my life. That’s why I jumped at Craig’s offer. There are a lot of bright, knowledgeable men on the staff who could easily take Danvers’ place if the commission would get off its duff and quit coddling him.”

  “Do you think people will put pressure on him with this new kill?”

  “I don’t know.” Logan shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. I just hope we can track this thing, with or without Danvers, before it hits kills two and three.”

  Rebecca couldn’t control a slight shiver. “The photos of the park ranger’s body were just as gruesome as all the others we’ve seen. Don’t you think if you showed the sheriff the other photos he’d see the similarity and change his opinion?”

  “Honestly?” Logan wheeled around a corner and pulled into a parking lot in front of a square building. “I think he might actually be afraid to take a good look at this. It’s a lot safer if you don’t operate out of your comfort zone. You don’t have to look for answers you don’t have. Okay, we’re here. Let’s go see what kind of reception we get.”

  This is like old home week, Logan thought when they walked in. Almost.

  At first everyone stared, obviously stunned by his appearance. Then Doug Hayward—part of the detective division and dressed in his usual jeans and a blazer—cracked a smile, came forward and held out his hand.

  “Damn!” he said. “I thought we’d seen the last of your ugly face around here.”

  Logan laughed, relieved at the reception he was getting. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  He shook hands with everyone and introduced Rebecca, aware that they all looked at her with more than passing curiosity. Even though he was emphatic about identifying her as a team member and his partner, he could still see speculation in some eyes. He wondered if he was being quite as good at concealing his feelings as he thought.

  “Rance around?” he asked finally.

  “In his office,” Doug said. “Just knock on the door. He doesn’t have anyone with him.”

  “Come in,” a familiar raspy voice called at the tap on the wood.

  Logan opened the door and the man behind the desk looked up, startled.

  “Logan? Logan Tanner?”

  Rance Danvers was as lean and wiry as ever. Well past sixty, he was still in fit condition, his gray hair cropped short, his skin leathery and tanned by the sun. While many of the deputies wore jeans with their uniform shirts, Rance was always in full khakis, clean and crisply pressed. A sign of his office, Logan thought.

  The man’s smile when he held out his hand was somewhat strained.

  “Nice to see you again, Logan. I heard you might be in town.” His handshake was just as firm as ever.

  “News travels fast, since we just arrived last night.”

  “When I heard Ford Randolph had requested copies of everything I figured they were for you. Especially since his sister is married to Greg Mattison. Sit, please.” He indicated the two chairs in front of his desk.

  Logan took one of the chairs and indicated Rebecca should take the other. “This is Rebecca Black. We work together.”

  “For that fancy new outfit you joined?” Danvers asked. His face was a careful mask but there was just the slightest bitter edge to his voice.

  Logan chose to ignore it. “Yes, we’re both on the same team.”

  “And I suppose you want to stick your nose into the park ranger’s death.” Danvers shook his head. “That was a sad and unfortunate situation but nothing for you to worry about. He was killed by a wild animal. Coyote or bear. Maybe even a wolverine.” He looked from one of them to the other. “That’s all it is.”

  Rebecca sat silently, obviously letting Logan take the lead.

  “Rance.” Logan shifted in his chair, resting one booted foot on the opposite knee. “I’ve seen coyote and wolverine kills. So have you. They don’t look anything like this and I think you know that. They devour the entire prey, leaving nothing behind. Not even bones.”

  “Not always,” the sheriff said stubbornly. “They’re vicious little animals. They’ve even been known to kill a moose.”

  Logan dropped his foot and leaned forward. He was getting tired of running into the same wall of stubbornness everywhere Night Seekers went. Wouldn’t people ever learn?

  “Rance.” He forced patience into his voice. “The ranger was killed in a specific way. So was the sheep. The bodies looked exactly like Wade’s and Julie’s two years ago and like all the other bodies we’ve seen since then.”

  “Other bodies?” Danvers frowned. “What other bodies? What do you mean?”

  “The group I work for has one focus—tracking this creature you don’t want to think exists. We’ve found kills in Texas, Alabama, Maine. I could maybe agree that there’d be a rare wolverine in Maine but certainly not south of the Mason-Dixon line. And Rance? Every single body looked exactly the same. Besides, I understand there were no tracks at the scene except for the ranger and his vehicle. Any wild creature you’re used to would leave some kind of track.”

  Next to him Rebecca cleared her throat. “We brought pictures of the other kills with us. The three cases we’ve worked so far plus anything we’ve been able to pull off the internet. If you’d just let us show them to you…”

  The sheriff’s jaw clenched. “I know you believe what you’re telling me, Miss, uh…”

  “Black. Rebecca Black. And I’ve been a trained investigator for seven years. I saw the kills in Maine firsthand. We aren’t wrong, Sheriff Danvers.”

  “What can it hurt for you to at least take a look?” Logan asked. He was really getting tired of this.

  Danvers sat in silence for a long moment. Finally he gave a brief nod of his head.

  “Have you got them with you?”

  “Yes,” Rebecca said. “We do.”

  “I’ll get them from the truck,” Logan told her and rose from his chair.

  “If Doug Hayward’s still out there,” Danvers said, “tell him to come on in.” Then his mouth lifted in a half-grin. “And you might as well include Ford Randolph too. If he knows we’re doing this he’ll just bull his way in anyway.”

  The small office was crowded with five people in it but Danvers was adamant about not moving into the conference room.

  “Too many possible spectators,” he said.

  So he moved everything off his desk, giving Logan and Rebecca room to lay out the photos from all the kill scenes the Night Seekers had been involved with. The bodies themselves were gruesome enough but when Rebecca placed the shots of the creatures they’d killed—three different ones—even the sheriff was taken aback.

  “What the hell is that?” he asked in a strangled voice.

  “That,” Logan told him, “is the Chupacabra. At least one of them.”

  “Holy shit.” Ford Randolph gave a tuneless whistle. “No wonder you call it the devil beast.” He looked at Logan. “Is that the thing that killed Julie and Wade?”

  “The only proof
we have now is to compare the pictures of their bodies,” Rebecca told him. “It’s been more than two years. Evidence gets lost and without being prepared for it there was no way to trap the beast.”

  Danvers cleared his throat. “You can’t fault me for that, Logan. This is the kind of farfetched nightmare no one expects and has a hard time believing when they hear about it.”

  Logan brushed at the air with his hand. “I think we’re long past that, Rance. What we have to concentrate on now is trapping and killing this thing.”

  Matt frowned. “But if you’ve killed it three times before, how does it keep reappearing? Is it some kind of supernatural voodoo?”

  Logan looked at Rebecca then back at the others. “Night Seekers, the organization I’m with, has access to specialized labs and scientists who have been dissecting the bodies.” He cleared his throat. “We think someone is actually breeding these devil beasts and letting them loose. That’s the only explanation for them showing up in so many places so far apart.”

  “And why we think they repeat killing scenes,” Rebecca added. “The case we just worked in Maine was the second in two years there, just like it is here. Whoever is breeding them is somehow programming them and letting them loose in what they consider optimum killing fields.”

  Logan saw the color leach from the sheriff’s face and the heightening of tension in the room was a palpable thing.

  “Are you shitting me? Breeding them?”

  Logan nodded and swallowed against the bile rising in his throat. “We suspect they’re trying to introduce human DNA into the mix too.”

  “Holy fuck!” Doug said. “What gave you that idea?”

  Rebecca answered him. “Chloe Guitron, the wife of one of the team members, was photographing scenes for a book with a friend of hers in Zapata County in Texas when the killings occurred there. Her friend disappeared without any trace at all. We think either the devil beast, in some form, or one of its human handlers got her. That she’s a prisoner wherever their lab is.”

  Logan looked around the small room, noting the sick expressions on everyone’s faces. “That’s why the man who funded Night Seekers is putting a great deal of money behind this. To capture and kill as many of the creatures as we can, hopefully before they complete each killing spree. And then find the secret lab.”

  “They seem to be programmed for a killing pattern,” Rebecca continued. “First of all, they focus mostly on humans, using small animals as victims only to feed their hunger between kills. In the legends we’ve read humans weren’t the primary focus. And we’ve learned from those cases they always kill in threes. Or try to. And they seek prey in isolated situations. Houses way on the outskirts of town. Or as here and in Maine, isolated in the middle of hundreds of acres, but still within a certain range.”

  A heavy silence hung in the room.

  “You have to admit,” Danvers said at last, “this sounded farfetched as hell when you brought it up to me two years ago, Logan.”

  “I understand. But I also had a gut feeling it wasn’t a killing by any wild animal we’re used to so I started doing research on the internet.”

  The sheriff looked at his detective and his deputy. “Not a word of this outside this office. We don’t need to spook the county and send people off doing things half-cocked that could get them killed.”

  “Agreed.” Doug nodded.

  “We do need to make a plan,” Logan reminded him. “And we probably don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Are you good with us meeting at your house?” Danvers asked. “If we do it here someone’s sure to get curious and I don’t want anything about this leaking out until we’ve got some kind of handle on it.”

  Logan nodded. “Of course. But first I’d like to take a look at the body, if it’s still here.”

  “It is. His sister and his parents arrived last night and we’re still trying to figure out how to present the body for viewing. I’ve got him on ice at Drake’s Funeral Home. I’ll call over there and tell them it’s okay for you to take a look.”

  In many Montana counties it was common for the sheriff to also be elected the coroner, a dual position with double headaches. Mostly the crime rate was so low it didn’t matter. Once in a while something would necessitate a call to the State Division of Investigation, which had a regional office in Kalispell.

  “We’ll go now,” Logan said. “I want it to be fresh in our minds when we meet with everyone.”

  “I can’t imagine volunteering to look at something like that,” Doug commented.

  “It has to be done,” Rebecca put in. “And unfortunately it’s far from the first one we’ve seen.”

  “All right.” The sheriff shuffled everything together and swept it into a large folder. “I’ll get maps of the area and anything else you need.”

  “And I’ll contact my team and let them know what we’re doing. They can provide even more information.” He looked at everyone. “Four o’clock good for all of you?”

  Everyone nodded agreement. Doug and Ford filed out of the office but as Logan and Rebecca started to leave the sheriff put a hand on his arm.

  “I’m sorry, Logan. I don’t know what else to say. I guess I’m just out of step with what’s going on in the world.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up about it. At least you’re willing to look at this now.”

  They shook hands and Logan and Rebecca left the building, very aware of the curious stares following them out the door.

  Chapter Four

  They were about to climb into Logan’s truck when someone hollered at them. A musical female voice.

  Rebecca turned to see a gorgeous redhead hurrying toward them, waving. The wind ruffled her long hair and the white parka set off her hair and skin to perfection. Long legs that ate up the distance between them were encased in fur-trimmed suede boots. As she drew closer Rebecca could see flawless skin that served as a perfect palette for emerald-green eyes.

  She hated her on sight.

  If she had felt secure enough to grab Logan’s hand in an obvious gesture of possession she would have. Instead she gritted her teeth and reminded herself that as far as anyone here was concerned they were just partners working a case and nothing more. She took a step backward as the woman flung herself in Logan’s arms, knocking him against the truck with the force of her energy.

  “Logan, Logan, Logan.” She cradled his cheeks in her gloved hands. “Oh my god. I can’t believe it’s really, really you.” She gave him a smack on the lips that made Rebecca want to kick her in the shins. “I heard you’d left the state. When did you get back? How long are you here for? When can we get together? Tonight? I’ll cook dinner for you, just the way I used to.”

  She spoke so fast all her words ran together.

  Logan gripped her arms and gently moved her away from him.

  “Hello. Nice to see you too.” He glanced at Rebecca. “Meet Jade Robinson. We went to high school together.”

  Jade chuckled, a soft musical sound. “Oh we did a lot more than that. Don’t be bashful.” She raked her eyes over Rebecca. “Logan and I made a lot of warm memories together.”

  Rebecca had had enough. She rested her hand in the crook of Logan’s arm and leaned just the least little bit into him. “How nice,” she said, in what she hoped was her most disdainful voice. “Then you’ll have them to wrap around yourself on lonely nights.”

  Jade’s eyes narrowed, the mocking smile disappearing form her face. She looked at Logan. “Who’s your nasty little friend here?”

  Rebecca wanted to wipe the smirk off Jade Robinson’s face. She pasted a smile on her face ad held out her hand. “Rebecca Black. And thank you. That’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said about me.”

  Jade scowled, ignoring the outstretched hand. Her gaze lifted to Logan’s again. “I thought you intended to stay a lone wolf, Logan. At least that’s what you always told me.”

  Rebecca heard the edge in the woman’s voice. However she and Logan had parted
, it obviously hadn’t been on friendly terms.

  “Bek works for the same organization I do.” He put his hand over Rebecca’s where it rested on his arm. “We’re together.”

  “For work,” Jade guessed.

  “And…other things.”

  Jade reached her hand out and caressed Logan’s cheek again. “I’m more your style, big boy. You know that.” She brushed her lips against his again, ignoring Rebecca.

  “Not anymore.” He took a deliberate step backward, pulling Rebecca with him. “Besides, you left Overlook—and me—a few years ago. What happened?”

  A look of cynicism washed over her face. “Life happened.” Then she flashed that smile. “But now I’m back, right?”

  “So I see.”

  She crowded herself into Logan’s space. “And maybe sorry I took off the way I did. No reason two old friends can’t get together for dinner and rekindle the past, is there?”

  Logan took a step back, taking Rebecca with him. “Except I just told you I’m with Rebecca. Anyway, we’re here on assignment so I expect to be pretty busy.”

  Now it was Jade’s turn to step back. “Let me guess. The park ranger killing. Don’t tell me you’re still floating that stupid theory you came up with two years ago.”

  “Okay.” He kept his tone of voice mild. “I won’t tell you anything except to stay alert and stay safe.”

  Jade laughed again. “Surely you can’t think I’m in any danger. A wild animal killed the ranger just like he did Julie and Wade and that other man. They were all in isolated areas. My folks moved to Arizona and the house was just standing empty so I decided to make use of it. But it’s not as if I was way out in one of the ranches. No one’s going to bother me.”

  Logan frowned. “That house is still pretty far outside of town, Jade. And not too close to any neighbors.”

  “Maybe you should stay with me at night to protect me.” She tried to sidle up to him again. “Or move me out to your ranch. As long as you were there I could stand it.”

  When he shifted position again to put distance between them bitterness lined her face. “You didn’t used to be so reluctant to touch me.”