My eyes followed him until he reached his car, after which, I glanced back to Zach. “Who’s Duke?”
“The department’s cadaver dog,” Zach answered, and gave me a quick wink for my explanation.
Eddie just let out a deep breath and smiled.
Brody opened the door and with a loud thump, a big droopy Bloodhound hit the ground. He gave his whole body a shake, turned, and barrelled toward me, ears flapping.
I wanted to move, run in fact, but my feet were glued to ground. “Oh good Lord,” I squeaked.
Everyone around me laughed, even Kipp, but as Duke jumped up to place his two paws on my chest and sent me straight to the ground, I didn’t feel like laughing. I was terrified of this big beast. Dogs and I were usually sworn enemies.
Within seconds, my worries vanished as Duke licked my face like a lollipop. “Eww.” I tried to push his face away. “Get him off me.” He was heavy and moving him was impossible. Even turning my head from side to side didn’t work, he just seemed to anticipate my every move.
“Hier,” Brody shouted.
The dog instantly jumped off me and went to sit at Brody’s feet. Everyone was still laughing as I wiped my face in disgust to rid myself of the goobers. “First of all, yuck. Second, what language is that and what did you just say?”
“It’s German.” Brody gave the big dog a scratch on the head. “I said, here.”
“Why German?” I continued to wipe the slobber from my face.
Brody shrugged, glancing back up from the dog. “Just the language we use. It keeps the pups from getting confused when English is spoken around them.”
Zach reached out to me, offering his hand. I took it, stood, giving my face and neck a final wipe. I then approached Duke, lowering my hand to scratch his ear. “If you wanted some scratchies, you don’t have to eat me, you know.”
Duke’s tongue wagged out the side of his mouth. His eyes were barely visible through all the wrinkles. I used both hands to squeeze his cute face. “He’s a sweetie.” Friendly and loveable couldn’t even describe him.
Brody laughed, a very rich sound. “If only women had the same reaction to me as they do to the dog.”
I glanced up at him, and wasn’t mistaken when I thought there was a sultry nature to his tone, his expression declared it. “Ahhh....”
“Try it and die, fucker,” Kipp growled.
I smiled, unable to stop it. His protectiveness pleased me. I didn’t mind one bit he’d staked his claim.
Brody gave me a luscious smile. “I take it you and Zach have ended whatever you started,” he said, deep and velvety.
Shit! Apparently, he misread my smile. He thought it was meant for him. I needed to rectify that. “I can see why women like the dog, he’s a beauty. Zach, we should get a dog like this sometime.”
Brody’s smile vanished.
Kipp’s frown melted into a satisfied grin.
“Whatever you want, babe.” Zach laughed and Eddie joined in.
“So, what do we have to do then?” I released the dog’s squishy cheeks and straightened up.
“Well,” Brody said. “What are we doing here?”
Before any of the men could voice just how weird that was, I asked, “Shouldn’t you know that?”
Brody shifted on his feet, kicked some of the stones along the road. “Nah, Max just told me to meet you out here with Duke.”
Zach stepped toward him and handed him the phone with the GPS coordinates. “You know the old case of Hannah Reid.”
Brody nodded, looked down at the phone to read the location on the phone’s GPS system. “Yeah, I remember it.”
“We are about to find her body,” Zach told him with deep determination.
Brody snapped his head up, surprise living in his eyes. “You want me and Duke to search this entire forest?” He looked less than happy about that suggestion.
Eddie shook his head. “No, we got a lead pointing to the exact location. It’s flagged there.”
Brody’s eyes went wide. “A lead from what source?”
Zach and Eddie’s expression swept with confusion and unease. But I remained calm. “A source came forward, someone who was too scared at the time to say anything, but now wanted to set the record straight.”
“Watching you smooth talking him to believe you makes my cock hard...”
I held back my smile as I glanced toward Kipp. “Mmm,” I stretched to make it appear as if that was the reason I made the noise.
“The fast talk you are capable of honestly arouses me,” Kipp continued, and shocking me completely, all of his clothing vanished. “You see, I’m not lying to you.”
I gasped, shocked, aroused and awed over just how beautiful this man was. Hard lines from his abs to his hips, groin trimmed enough to keep it neat and tidy, but enough hair to declare him a man. Strong thighs rippled with muscles. Just one look at him and my body responded, heating in all the right places.
“Ahh,” Zach said with a slight hesitation in his tone. He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. “I know you’re feeling unsettled, but don’t worry, we will help you here.”
Slowly, I glanced at Zach. “Pardon?”
Zach nodded ever so slightly to Brody. “Don’t be afraid here, we will help you.”
“Oh,” I responded, instantly forcing the reaction away. “Right, scared―sorry I was just thinking about the poor girl and got scared. My eyes went wide didn’t they?”
Zach was hiding his smile. “Yes, very wide.”
“You all right now?” Brody asked, a concerned edge to his tone. I also noticed he was a little bewildered, too.
I laughed it off, smoothed my hair away from my face. “Just fine, thank you. “
Then, something caught my eye. If I had something out of place, I’d want to be told, so I always gave the same respect back. “There’s something on your ear,” I told to Brody.
He reached up to rub his ear and laughed. “My sister’s kids were over today. They thought coming at me with markers was a fun idea.” The spot never came off, but now it was red where he’d rubbed it. He lowered his hand as he glanced back at the GPS. “So these are the coordinates then?”
“We believe so,” Zach responded. “It’s a good hour trek in.”
“All right.” Brody handed the phone back to Zach. “Let me just go grab some water for Duke.”
As he headed off to his car, Duke in tow, Zach leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Good save.” He backed away. “Well before you went all lusty on us.”
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault,” I retorted. “Kipp showed me...” I hesitated as Zach’s eyebrows rose. “Well that’s not important.”
Zach and Eddie laughed.
“Just wanted to prove my point is all,” Kipp said.
My gaze fell to his. His resolve wasn’t there yet, but at least his clothing had magically appeared again. I turned my back so Brody couldn’t see and pointed at him. “If you want me to keep quiet about all this ghost business then stop...” I paused, glancing back to Zach and Eddie who were watching with equal amusement on their expressions, “doing what you did.”
“Is that what you really want?” He grinned.
I considered that a moment. “Well, no, but just later, all right?”
As I turned around, Brody and Duke trotted back over. “We off then?” he asked, coming to a halt in front of the truck.
Zach nodded, glancing at the forest, to the inch thick mud on the ground. “Yeah, we’re off.” He and Eddie followed Brody into the forest.
Kipp stood motionless. Sadness stole his features. What had him upset? I tried to think over what was said, but couldn’t find a reason he’d be so troubled. “Are you okay?” I asked, quietly.
He said nothing, only shook his head then walked away.
I was frozen, stunned a little, but snapped out of it and jogged up to reach the others. Being alone in a dark forest didn’t appeal to me by any stretch of the imagination.
Only minutes in, I realized wha
t I’d done, what I said.
“Well, no, but just later, all right?”
There wasn’t going to be a later.
As much as it hurt, and it did, I swallowed it back and refocused. All of this I would feel later. We had made this decision to proceed with this. There was no going back now.
Personal matters would just have to wait. We were off to find the bones of stolen dreams.
***
Chapter Nineteen
The hike into the forest felt much longer than the quarter of an hour we’d been walking. I kept my flashlight out in front of me and decided not to look to the side. Ignoring the darkness was my best bet, since I didn’t want to look like the weak little woman here.
I was up to my ankles in slop―leaves mixed with recently rained upon mud. “Ugh.” It may have been a stall tactic earlier, but I wasn’t lying. I loved these boots and to see them treated in such a way was a complete travesty. “Max is going to owe me new boots.”
“If we find the body, I doubt he’d object,” Kipp told me.
Eddie laughed from behind me. “If your assistance here just solved this case, I’ll buy you them myself.”
He didn’t know just how dangerous those words were. “I’ll hold you to that.” I replied looking back at him with equal threat and excitement.
“If this case is solved,” Zach said up ahead. “I’d suspect Max will offer you a job, therefore you could afford a new pair of boots.”
I glanced past him to see Brody was well ahead, so acknowledging Kipp’s presence wouldn’t be a problem, which is why they were talking so freely. There was so much to his statement that sent heat rushing through my blood, I couldn’t restrain my voice. “First off, I make good money at my job,” I snapped. “Second, a job to do what?”
Zach glanced over his shoulder as he continued to walk ahead. Obviously, he wasn’t concerned about losing his footing. “Not as much as the department would pay you, and as to the job, you seem to have a real knack for the cold case files.”
Oh, now I understood. Cold cases equalled lingering spirits. With my ability, I’d be pretty helpful in solving those cases. That didn’t mean it was something I was interested in. “Who says I’d agree to help? Trust me, I’ve had just about enough of all this death stuff.”
A knowing grin washed over Zach’s face before his head returned to watch his steps. “It’s not always a choice, sometimes it’s an obligation.”
“Hrmph,” was my grumble of response.
“You have a gift,” Kipp added from behind me. “There must be a reason you’ve been given it. It would be a waste not to use it.”
I sighed as deep as I could muster. I’d been annoyed with this part of myself for as long as I could remember. I never thought of it as a way to actually help people. I only helped when they bugged me enough to do otherwise. Had fate brought me together with this bunch of police officers? Was this my path? Could what Zach said be true, was this an obligation? All things I had no answers to.
Truthfully, I wasn’t quite sure I wanted them answered. First, I just needed to get through this. There were enough questions swirling in my mind about the present to worry about the future. “What will happen if Hannah’s not here?”
“Nothing,” Eddie answered, groaning as he stumbled. “We’ll go back to square one and start over.”
The confidence in his voice stated something I already believed―Hannah wasn’t wrong. “And if you do find her here, then what?”
“We’ll call Max and he’ll bring in the forensic team to extract the bones,” Zach replied.
“Really?” I experienced a little flutter of intrigue. “That would be kind of interesting to see.”
“It’s not,” Eddie called out behind me. When I glanced over my shoulder he said, “It’s meticulous and incredibly boring.”
“For you maybe.” I looked back down at my feet to watch my careful steps. “But it’s like dinosaur hunting.” We all laughed. “How will they know it’s her?”
“The clothing she’ll wearing will probably give it away. She wore blue jeans and a teal blouse the day she went missing,” Eddie answered.
All right, that just seemed out there. I had no experience with this. The idea that her clothing would still be there was a bit farfetched. “And after five years it will still be...you know...in the ground?”
“More than likely,” Zach confirmed, not looking back as he shrugged. “At least pieces of it.”
Suddenly, I stumbled on a stick poking out of the ground, but caught myself before I fell to the ground. “Stupid stick,” I complained, finding my footing again.
”I tried to grab you.” Kipp’s voice came hushed and apologetic.
I looked back to him and smiled a thank you.
He nodded firmly and glanced away. Before he did, sadness reached his eyes again. The one which said it tore at him he couldn’t touch me. As much as I felt the sadness too, I was determined to ignore it. We just needed to get through this part then deal with the rest later.
Resolved to push away the pain that lingered beneath the surface, I asked, “So what does the forensic team do then?”
“They will extract the skeleton from the ground, bring them back to the lab and compare dental records. They will also likely take DNA from the parents and see if there’s a match,” Zach replied.
I snorted sarcastically. “Now that’s a call to make, ‘good afternoon, we believe we’ve found your dead daughter can we take a sample of your blood to prove it’s her?’”
“In this line of work, no call is ever easy, no matter what it’s about,” Kipp said.
In the exact moment, Zach confirmed Kipp’s statement. “It’s never easy.”
Which made zero sense as to why they had chosen this career. “Then why do you do it? I mean, it’s so depressing.”
Zach glanced over his shoulder, smiled in grand-scale. “I’d imagine we’re all addicted to the rush of finding a killer.”
A rush? Like a stock car racer’s driving rush, jump out of an airplane rush, buying really expensive shoes rush? I just couldn’t place it. “It seriously gives you a rush?”
“The best adrenaline rush that exists.”
Eddie chuckled. “A rush intense enough it makes your cock hard.”
I glanced over my shoulder thoroughly disgusted. My feelings surely showed on my face. “Okay, I’m sorry, that is seriously gross.”
The men’s laughter filled the air around me.
“It’s just the power of it,” Zach added. “It’s primal.”
I shook my head a little, trying to get away from the yucky feelings that filled me. “And you think I’d accept a job now? Knowing that when we’re close to solving a case your dicks are hard?” I stopped dead and Eddie ran into the back of me.
“Shit.” He stumbled, peeling himself off my back. “Sorry.”
My gaze flicked between the men, all eyes on me. Then, my gaze skimmed over each of their crotches. “You’re not all hard now are you?” When I lifted my gaze, each man was smiling, even Kipp. “Oh my God, you’re all so disgusting.” I waved them forward quickly. “Go, get.”
It only made them laugh harder.
Moving on was of the utmost importance now. “So, how will finding her body help here?” I suddenly realized how cold I sounded and added, “I mean, other than it’s nice to find her.”
“Finding the clothing on her is critical,” Zach explained. “It’s very possible there is DNA on her clothing, which would give us a big lead on identifying the killer.”
I thought on that for a little while, amazed at present day technology and all the wonders it provided. The cliff was only a few steps away and very steep. It also proved the hike wasn’t about to get easier.
At the edge of the cliff, a sudden thought popped to mind. “How long does this DNA analysis take?”
Eddie began to climb down the hill slowly. “Months.” His was voice strained as he concentrated on the unsteady terrain.
My gaze hit
Kipp’s. He smiled, reading my mind perfectly. As much as I wanted to find the killer, and I did want that, it gave Kipp and me more time. That was a happy thought.
The climb down was exactly how I thought it would be—tough. My boots were done in, which displeased me. The rocks decided to scratch the hell out of them as I dug the heels into the dirt to steady myself.
Once at the bottom, I followed in behind Zach as we passed the rock to our left and made our way toward the thick bush. I thought the past three quarters of an hour hadn’t been fun. Now, I wished I wore something with sleeves. “Ouch...it hurts,” I squeaked, being poked and prodded by the scratchy leaves of what looked similar to a Christmas tree.
“I agree,” Eddie growled behind me, as he broke branches out of the way.
Suddenly, Brody called out, “Over here.”
I moved a branch away from my face to find Brody standing in what appeared to be a path. “Thank the Lord above.” I walked toward him, Eddie and Kipp following behind.
Brody opened a bottle of water then placed it to Duke’s mouth, and the dog drinking without hesitation. “Just let him have a drink first.”
We waited a moment, while Duke had his refresher. I was slightly jealous I hadn’t thought to bring water of my own. My mouth was dry and pasty. I questioned asking to share, but decided against it. Doggy germs, no thanks.
After Brody sealed the bottle, the men started walking again, leaving me at the back. Oh hell, no. “Wait,” I shouted. They all turned to look at me. I ran forward and stepped between Zach and Eddie. “There that’s better.”
Zach gave a well-amused grin. “A little scared, are we?”
I pointed down the path, giving him a little wave of my hand. “Just go will you.”
Again, the men laughed. This was becoming a habit. I might have cared, if I wasn’t petrified. Being at the back was not a position I would have stayed in. If anything came at us, Zach would get it first. Did I feel bad about it? Not likely. I didn’t want to be out here in the first place.
Only a few minutes passed before Eddie let out a relieved sigh. “It’s about time.”
I stepped around him and saw the open clearing. I ran my flashlight around the small area. Pink blossoms glowed under the light.
Stolen Dreams Page 17