Midnight Exposure (32 page)

He scanned the article, the details of the TV special flooding back. “There it is. Every once in a while, an ancient body turns up in a peat bog in England or Ireland. The most famous recent one is Lindow Man. Scientists found mistletoe pollen and charred bread in his stomach. Some historians think he was a nobleman sacrificed to ward off the Roman invasion.”

When he looked up at Jayne, sadness had been replaced with stoic determination. Her eyes shifted over his shoulder as the waitress set down their order. Reed’s ham and Swiss on rye didn’t look as appealing as it had sounded five minutes ago.

She turned the laptop around to get a better view of the screen. “Ewww. His skull was crushed, he was strangled,
and
his throat was cut. Overkill, I think.”

“Apparently, the Celts thought they’d get the favor of three gods if they killed him three times,” Reed said.

“Interesting logic.”

“Efficient anyway. I guess they didn’t want to knock off all the noblemen.”

“What do you think it means?” Jayne yanked the toothpicks out of her club sandwich. “To my kidnapper, I mean.”

“I don’t know. Mrs. Dean said mistletoe and bannock were used in a lot of ceremonies. Could be something as simple as a gift to the object of his obsession.”

“Well
that
creeps me out just as much.” Jayne picked at her potato chips.

“Me too.”

Reed’s phone buzzed and skittered across the speckled Formica. He flipped it open. The digital readout told him that school was just letting out. “Just Scott reminding me to pick him up at the Youth Center tonight at six. He’s finishing his community service for his college applications.” Reed texted back.
R the apps done
?

Scott’s answer came back in the blink of an eye.
Yeah :)

“They need to get mailed out this week.” Reed crossed mental fingers and set the phone on the table. He tried a bite of the sandwich. Being empty wasn’t going make his stomach feel any better. “I don’t understand why he waits until the last minute for everything.”

Jayne laughed. “At least he’s doin’ it.”

“Good point.” Scott’s college applications were the least of his worries at the moment. A killer was loose in Huntsville. At least his son was safe with the crowd that would be at the Youth Center today. But the ham and rye bread still landed in Reed’s stomach like a cannonball. “Any e-mails from your photo-magical friend?”

Jayne clicked the e-mail icon. “No. Not yet.”

Reed reached up and scratched the tingle riding up the back of his neck. Jayne was with him. She was fine. So why the impending-doom itch? Whatever the reason, he was too twitchy to sit still.

Jayne’s plate was nearly clean.

Reed signaled for the waitress. “Let’s head back.”

The bad feeling stuck with him, and it wasn’t just all this strange Celtic stuff Jayne’s assailant was apparently into. Reed’s
gut had been very reliable during his years on the force. No matter how he rearranged the clues in his head, the puzzle wouldn’t take shape. Something was missing. Something vital. Something that meant the difference between life and death.

If only Reed could figure out what it was before it was too late.

Jayne grabbed the armrest as the truck careened into a sharp turn on the outskirts of town. “Where’re we going?”

“We’re going to make a stop at Jed Garrett’s place on the way home.” Reed slowed the Yukon and stopped at a four-way intersection. “I want to show him where I picked you up. If anyone can tell us every landmark in the area, it’s Jed. I don’t know why I didn’t think of Jed before.”

Jayne’s gaze lingered on his chiseled profile. Probably he hadn’t thought to tap Jed as a resource because he’d been busy keeping her alive. And while Jed seemed to be the town’s go-to man for tracking game and other wildernessrelated stuff, no one would sculpt him out of bronze deep in thought.

The bisecting road was clear, but Reed didn’t depress the gas pedal. “Unless Jed was the one who kidnapped you. He lives alone. He’s single. Jed knows his way around the woods. He’s young and strong. But I’m not sure he has the gray matter or the malice to pull all this off.”

Jayne closed her eyes for two seconds, trying to summon up an image of her attacker’s eyes. Her glimpse had been so brief. With her adrenaline roaring like a raging river, she’d barely taken note of blazing blue tightly framed by the black knit of a balaclava. Not enough to ID anybody. Her assailant could be sitting
right next to her and she’d never know it. “What color are his eyes?”

“Brown. Right, it wasn’t Jed.” His relief was tangible in the confines of the truck. “Good. I’d hate to think Jed would hurt anyone. And if Jed had taken a shot at you this morning, he wouldn’t have missed.”

That thought should’ve been more comforting than it was.

A mile down the rutted dirt road, Reed pulled off into a gravel parking area. Jed’s cabin sat in the center of a large clearing. Next to the house, half a dozen dogs barked and wagged feathered tails from the runs of their chain-link kennels.

Jed was standing on the porch in jeans and a wool sweater. A yellow Lab sat at his feet. The dog leaned on his legs.

“Hey, Reed. You looking for another dog?” Jed extended a hand.

Reed shook his hand. “No, but if I were, this is where I’d come.” He gave the dog a pat on the head. “Good morning, Honey.”

The dog shuffled forward to sit in front of Jayne with a paw raised. Her tail thumped on the porch floorboards. Jayne sank to her knees and stroked the pale head. Soft brown eyes gazed up at her as she dropped her hand to scratch Honey’s chest.

“I was wondering if you’d do me a big favor, Jed.” Reed’s voice drew her gaze to his face. He might have been talking to Jed, but his eyes were locked on Jayne as her fingers threaded through the dog’s soft fur. Concern shone in his gaze, and warmth settled deep in Jayne’s belly.

“What is it?” Jed’s question broke the spell.

Reed blinked away. “I’d like to show you where I found Jayne and see if you can figure out where she was held.”

“Sure. I got maps inside.” Heavy boots clomped across the porch to the door. He held the door open for them. “Coffee?”

“No, thanks.” Reed stepped aside to let Jayne through first. Their arms brushed, and an empty ache throbbed through her chest. She wanted to lose herself in his arms again, which was a shame, because in a few hours she’d be with her brothers. Tomorrow she’d be back home.

Her time with Reed would be just a memory. Her old life felt as if it belonged to someone else. How could she have changed so much in only a few days?

“I’m good.” Jayne swallowed the emotion thick in her throat as she crossed the threshold. In the middle of Jed’s log cabin’s decor sat a computer desk and a heap of modern electronics. Surprisingly quiet in his thick-soled boots, Jed moved across the wide-planked floor to a filing cabinet and opened a drawer. He selected a map and spread it out on the thick oak kitchen table.

Reed measured the mile markers and tapped a forefinger on the approximate location. “Right about here. What’s within two or three miles?”

Jed rattled off a couple of names Jayne didn’t recognize. “And Aaron McCree’s place is over here.”

Surprise flashed across Reed’s face. “Really?”

Jayne stopped in front of the glass-fronted fireplace. “Who’s Aaron McCree?”

“Nathan’s uncle,” Reed said.

“Aaron has cancer. He’s living with Nathan while he gets chemo, so the place has been empty for a while.” Jed pulled a heavy coat off a wooden peg. “I’m gonna take a ride over and check it out. I’d like to let Nathan know if somebody is squatting in Aaron’s place.”

Reed nodded. “Good idea. We’ll ride along to see if Jayne recognizes the place.”

Unease skimmed up Jayne’s spine on the drive over. In the passenger seat, she picked at her bandages. Reed reached over and grasped her hand, stilling it. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

His palm was warm and solid, tempting her to latch on and never let go. But she didn’t. She lifted her gaze to his face. The fresh burns on his jaw reminded her that he’d already taken enough risks for her safety. She had to stand on her own two feet. No more relying on Reed’s strength to get her through. After tonight, she would likely never see him again. He pulled his hand away as if thinking the same thing.

“I know.” But, along with the skein of sadness, fear wormed its way into her belly. “But if this is the place, it’s going to be creepy to go back into it.”

If Jed’s truck hadn’t been in the lead, they would have missed the narrow private road. The entrance was tucked behind a thick stand of evergreens. The Yukon fishtailed with the turn. The road had been plowed but not scraped down to the base, indicating the road was dirt- or gravel-based.

“Who plowed the road?”

“Good question.” Reed straightened the SUV.

Without the haze of swirling snowflakes, the surrounding woods hardly resembled the nightmarish landscape of her desperate, panic-stricken flight. She scanned the ground ahead of the truck, but no footprints marred the snow’s smooth surface to indicate that she’d run down this road. The storm, and a plow, had erased all evidence of her escape.

The house appeared as they rounded a gentle bend. The square structure hunched against the winter wind in a large cleared area. Gooseflesh rippled up Jayne’s arms. She hugged her torso and waited for Reed to park the SUV next to Jed’s pickup.

Reed glanced down at the odometer in his truck. “You ran almost two miles in that storm.”

Jayne knew it wasn’t athletic conditioning or courage that had gotten her through. Sheer terror had carried her such an incredible distance.

“Does it look familiar?”

“Yeah.” Might as well get this over with. She reached for the door handle, her resolve collapsing like a Jenga tower.

Reed’s voice stopped her movement. “I’m right here with you. OK?”

Words wouldn’t form around the salty lump in her throat. All she could manage was a nod as she jumped out of the SUV.

Jed walked ahead, scrutinizing the ground. “Somebody’s been here.”

Jayne sucked in a breath of bitter wind. The bite deep in her lungs grounded her. In the approaching dusk, the shadow of the house stretched toward her. Oh, this was the right place. Three stories of malevolence were ready to reach out and touch someone.

Her.

“You OK?” Reed stepped up beside her.

The movement jarred her back from her horrific sense of déjá vu. She shook it off. “I’m fine. Let’s get this done.”

Logically she knew nothing bad was going to happen, but her heart banged against her rib cage as if it wanted out of the crazy body it was trapped in. She approached the door to her prison, the place where she had almost died in a most awful and terrifying way. Her thighs quivered as she paused at the bottom of the porch steps and looked up. Above the porch roof, a large branch had fallen, breaking several windows and ripping away a portion of the gutter like a jagged wound.

Jed tried the door. “Locked. I’ll go round back.”

“Try not to touch anything,” Reed said.

“’Kay.” Jed waved over his shoulder.

Jayne stood back. Her feet were rooted to the shoveled walk. She would not be unhappy if the place was locked up tight. She wasn’t exactly excited to get back in.

Several minutes passed with no sound from Jed. Boots crunching, Reed started around the back of the building. “I’m going to check on Jed. I’ll be right back.”

Jayne had no intention of staying out front alone. Bad things happened to the chicks in horror films when they stayed behind while their boyfriends checked things out. She followed Reed, sticking her sneakers in the trench made by his boots. Moisture invaded, but cold feet were way better than having a masked guy with a machete jump out from behind a tree. “Wait up.”

Reed paused at the rear corner of the property. “Jed?”

Jayne balanced in his last footprints and peered around his body. Jed stood twenty feet away, facing the house behind them. His eyes and jaw hung open. His face was a mime-white mask.

Reed turned his head to track Jed’s gaze. Surprise and horror lit his eyes. Despite the leakage factor of her sneakers, curiosity drew Jayne from the trench. She pivoted for a better view.

“No.” Reed’s hand shot out to grab Jayne’s arm. “Don’t look.”

He tried to push her behind him, but the damage was already done. Her gaze locked on the grisly sight. In Jayne’s belly, her lunch cartwheeled.

Secured to the top of a six-foot post near the back door was a rotting human head. On top of the skull, a crow pecked at a loose flap of dangling scalp.

Jayne stood up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her confused body poured sweat and shivered simultaneously as her panicked thermostat went berserk.

Strong hands grasped her shoulders and propelled her around the side of the house. Her feet followed the momentum. Leaning against Reed’s truck, Jayne gulped cold, damp air. “Is that what I think it is?”

Reed hesitated, then sighed. “Yeah. It is.”

Tremors passed over her like a wave, nearly sweeping her feet out from under her shaking body.

A firm hand on her back bent her at the waist, and held her upright while she leaned both hands on her thighs for balance.

“Head down. Take slow breaths.”

The ground tilted under her feet. Reed wrapped strong arms around her, holding her against his solid body. Jayne leaned in. The hell with independence. Her forehead rested against his broad chest. Her scalp tingled where his fingers threaded through her hair and stroked the back of her head. Closing her eyes, she inhaled and brought the smell of Reed’s soap deep into her nose. The scent steadied her.

Were those his lips against her hair?

She lifted her head. Her knees were barely knocking.

“You OK?” Reed tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Yeah.” Jayne raised her chin, fortified by his intimate caress.

“I wish you hadn’t seen that.” His green eyes held regret. “Hell, I wish I hadn’t seen that.”

“Me too.” Jayne tried to step away, but her legs weren’t at steady as she’d hoped. She stumbled.