The Perfect Outsider (25 page)
Agent Hawk Bledsoe had informed June and Jesse that he expected to get more evidence soon, something to finally nail Samuel himself. But until then, everyone remained restless and nervous—things were coming to a head.
Meanwhile, June and Jesse had driven out from Little Gulch to meet Darcy Craven two towns over. From there they’d hiked in to where the body of Jane Doe, murder victim number two, had been found.
Darcy now stood atop a rocky ridge, hands on her hips as she caught her breath. Her cheeks were pink from exertion and her hair damp from a soft summer rain. All around them the forest was shrouded in heavy layers of mist.
They’d been following Eager on an air-scent search all morning, and they’d found nothing apart from litter and the odd garment left by hikers.
While Darcy rested and June watered Eager, Jesse had gone down the opposite side of the ridge to check out a small trail they’d seen earlier.
“June, I want to thank you both for doing this,” Darcy said. “I know you didn’t believe we’d find anything. But I just had to come and look.”
“Hey, it’s the least we could do, Darcy. I just wish we
could
find something for you that would help with your mother’s identity,” June said as she screwed the cap back onto her water bottle.
“Isn’t this near where Samuel once had a cabin?” Darcy asked, turning in a full circle.
“I had no idea he had a cabin in these parts,” said June, checking her GPS.
Darcy frowned and bit the inside of her cheek. “I
think
the cabin was supposed to be in this area—I’m sure that’s what I heard Officer Ford say some time ago, that Samuel and his brother used to camp out this way when they were young.”
June reached for her radio and keyed it. “June for Jesse?” she released the key and the radio crackled.
“At your service, K9 team.”
June grinned, and keyed again. “Any signs of an old cabin down your way?”
“Negative. Trail seems to go nowhere. I’m going to head back up.”
But as June hooked the radio onto her belt, Eager’s hackles rose and his tail suddenly went straight as an arrow. June stilled, feeling a sudden eeriness, as if they were being watched.
“Easy, boy,” she whispered to Eager as she turned in a slow circle, carefully scanning the woods, her hand going instinctively for her weapon.
“What is it?” Darcy came up to her side, suddenly nervous.
“Are you sure you weren’t followed out here, Darcy?”
“I—I’m pretty sure.”
A branch cracked. June spun to face the trees from whence the noise had come. She waited.
Fingers of mist curled out from the trees, swirling around the bases like wraiths. Branches rustled suddenly. June’s mouth went bone-dry.
Eager growled, baring fangs.
“Who’s there?” June called as she drew her gun and clicked off the safety.
“Maybe it’s an animal,” whispered Darcy.
“It’s human,” June said, eyes fixed on the bushes. “Eager reacts differently for animals.”
A dark shape moved suddenly behind the branches.
“Identify yourself or I’ll shoot!” June yelled.
Silent as the swirling mist, a dark shape shifted forward. June’s heart began to thud. It was a man. Tall, broad of shoulder. Wearing military-style camouflage gear. And as he emerged from the mist she saw he held a shotgun. It was aimed right at her face.
“It’s
Samuel!
” Darcy hissed, grabbing June’s arm.
Sweat broke out over June’s body. He came closer, his eyes transfixed by Darcy. “My God,” he said to Darcy. “You look just like Catherine.”
Darcy slumped to the ground in a dead faint. And up close, June saw that while this man was almost the spitting image of Samuel Grayson, he was not the cult leader.
“My name is Micah,” the man said, lowering his weapon and crouching down beside Darcy, feeling for her pulse. She came around as Micah touched her, and he helped her into a sitting position, staring hard at her.
“You really do look like Catherine George—we used to come out here to the cabin. Her, me, Samuel. Sometimes others.”
June swallowed as it hit her square between the eyes—she was looking at Samuel Grayson’s fraternal twin, the legendary mercenary. The man Hawk Bledsoe had been searching for to help him take Samuel down.
Micah turned his attention to June. His features were fiercely handsome, his hair dark, his eyes a vivid green, and he exuded the same palpable presence that his powerful brother did—except different.
“I’m June Farrow,” she said, still a little unsure of whether to holster her Glock. To her relief she saw Jesse coming up the ridge. And before Micah could aim his twelve-gauge at Jesse, June said, “And that’s Jesse Grainger.”
Jesse froze for a nanosecond.
“It’s not Samuel,” June called out to him. “It’s his twin, Micah Grayson.”
They all stared at him, a little in awe. The Mercenary had returned.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459227569
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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