Chilled (Bone Secrets, #2)(29)

Alex had been lucky; Darrin’s capture had been pure chance. Darrin had left police departments in three states scratching their heads.

Now here was his chance to prove to Kinton that his capture had been a fluke. Alex thought he was so clever, trekking into the forest to find Darrin. It only showed he was scared shitless. Scared that Darrin might still be alive to haunt him.

Now they were on even turf. There were no bars between them.

Darrin tentatively rolled his sore shoulder. It was feeling better after taking the aspirin he’d found in the pilot’s duffel bag. His head still hurt, but as long as he didn’t touch the spot over his ear, he’d survive.

He focused on the gun in Alex’s hand and felt the weight of the gun at his own side. They were even in that regard too. But what thrill was there in killing from a distance? Darrin relished being up close to his victims, studying their eyes, watching their awareness of his actions.

Alex Kinton deserved much more than an impersonal shot in the back.

Darrin could see Alex’s death in slow motion. It would be drawn out and painful. Alex would know exactly who was hurting him and why. Then he’d realize Darrin was the shrewder, sharper man.

Darrin smiled in anticipation.

This might be the most rewarding kill of his life.

Alex locked his gaze on the plane as he and Brynn drew closer. The wreck looked as if someone had left a beheaded metal carcass lying on the snow in the clearing. He wasn’t interested in the cockpit. The person he wanted to see would have been seated in the passenger area of the plane. He moved cautiously, waving Brynn down behind him.

“Brynn!”

Both of them jumped at the sound of Jim’s hoarse shout. Alex glanced down the slope to see Jim waving at her to come to the cockpit.

Good. Get her out of here.

Jim wouldn’t be calling her if there was danger.

His respect for Jim Wolf had grown every hour for the last two days. Jim watched out for the safety of his team and had excellent people skills, knowing exactly how to get the best out of each person. He also treated Alex with consideration and kept his suggestions for improving Alex’s trek between the two of them.

Brynn gave Alex a questioning look, and he nodded toward Jim. She scurried away, ducking low like someone was watching her from the trees. He frowned. Her reaction to Darrin Besand’s name had been shock, then fear. It took a lot to scare a tough girl like Brynn. Bears didn’t do it. Snowstorms didn’t do it. But the name Darrin Besand caused fear in a lot of women’s eyes. He just hadn’t expected to see it in Brynn’s.

Another good reason to hate Darrin Besand.

Alex watched Jim usher her into the cockpit and wondered what they’d found. Surely no one could have lived through this wreck. But Brynn was a nurse. Why else would Jim holler for her unless someone needed medical help?

Alex turned his attention back to the body of the plane and resolutely pushed on. He had his own mission to complete. He followed his gun around the edge of the plane and saw instantly that it was empty. Except for the corpse in the second row. Alex put his gun away and stepped toward Linus Carlson.

“Damn it, Linus.” Alex squatted in the aisle beside him. Linus’s head was bent over, nearly in his lap, but Alex had known who it was at once. He’d recognize that bald spot and those stupid clunky shoes anywhere. Alex swallowed and ripped off his other glove, holding his fingertips to Linus’s cold neck. Nothing. Gently, he pushed him back to a sitting position; the rigor had relaxed. Linus had been dead a long time. Hopefully, he’d died directly on impact. Alex blinked hard a few times and glared at the dead man.

Alex and Monica had spent their last Christmas as a married couple at Linus’s home with his wife and two kids.

Aw, shit. Those cute kids.

Alex thought hard, hating himself because he couldn’t remember their names. A boy and a girl. They had to be about ten and twelve now. Alex vowed to be the person to inform Linus’s wife.

Bile threatened in the back of his throat, and he pulled his gaze away, letting it roam and rest on the sports jacket on the floor. He stared at the brown coat and then whipped his gaze up to Linus’s shirt, blinking at the blue button-down dress shirt.

Linus wasn’t wearing his holster.

Alex grabbed at the coat on the floor, felt its lack of weight and immediately dropped it, whipped out his gun, and spun to face the front of the plane. Silent snow greeted him.

For a full minute, he’d forgotten about the killer. Alex glanced at the seat across the aisle where Besand had most likely sat. There was blood on the armrests.

He had to warn Jim.

Alex started out of the plane, but halted with one hand on the ripped metal. He looked back and studied the person who’d once been a close friend. Linus was gone. All that was left now was a cold and empty shell with no resemblance to the warm and funny man he’d been.

Alex shuffled in his snowshoes down the slope to the cockpit, rubbing at the fresh dampness on his cheeks, his eyes constantly scanning the forests.

“He’s still f*cking warm!” Jim bounced from one foot to the other and impatiently hovered over Brynn as she examined the body of the pilot.

Brynn nodded. “I wouldn’t call it warm, but he’s not icecold like the other pilot. Rigor’s just setting in. He’s been dead for at least twelve hours.”

She studied the mass of twisted metal that’d trapped and pierced the pilot’s legs, slowly bleeding him out to death. His bloody hands told the story of his struggle to free himself. It wouldn’t have helped. He would have probably died sooner from more rapid blood loss if he’d managed to extricate his legs.