Beautifully Broken Pieces (Sutter Lake, #1)(35)

“It’s a gnarly one. Husband and wife were out here from Portland. Thought they’d take in a little nature during their weekend of R&R.” I bit back a sigh. Greg, still green, was known for his long-windedness. “The wife needed to take a leak and headed about thirty feet off the trail. Nearly popped a squat right on the body. She and the husband called it in.”

“Crime techs here?”

“Arrived just before you. First glance, looks like it might be our missing hiker.”

“Shit.” I had been hoping for a much better outcome than this one. “Animal attack?”

Greg swiped sweat from his brow. “They can’t say for sure yet. The animals have definitely been at her, but no idea if that’s cause of death.”

I jerked my chin in a nod. “Take me to her.”

Greg stepped off the trail and led me south. Voices sounded from up ahead. My stomach roiled at my first glimpse of the body. There wasn’t much left of the poor girl to use for identification. Just a crumpled mass of flesh and bone, torn apart by scavengers. I took a breath through my mouth to avoid the stench in the air.

I flashed back to another body found in the woods a decade ago. Julie’s sweet smile burst to life in my mind. Her life stolen from her. From me. My fists clenched as I pushed the memories back.

I forced myself to study the crime scene. Guess the path the hiker might have taken. Search for any signs of a bear or cougar. My eyes caught on strands of blonde hair. They were matted in patches, stained a red-brown from blood. This time, it wasn’t Julie I saw but Taylor’s golden-blonde tresses.

Shaking my head to clear it, I asked the crime techs, “What do we know?”

Bryant straightened from his crouched position and handed me a small, clear evidence bag. “It’s the hiker.”

I pressed my lips together, studying the ID. Lucy Gaines. Age twenty-two. From Seattle, Washington. Gone way too fucking soon. I turned to Greg. “Call the station, let them know we have a preliminary ID, but I don’t want the family notified until the medical examiner confirms. All right?”

“You got it, Deputy Chief.” Greg turned on his heel and headed back towards the trail.

I met Bryant’s gaze. “I know it’s not your job, but any thoughts on cause of death before the M.E. gets here?”

Bryant glanced back towards the body. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it was an animal.”

I raised my brows, studying the carnage. “You sure about that?”

“I can’t be sure of anything until the M.E. says so, but I think there would be more blood if an animal had made the kill. The corpse has been destroyed by scavengers, but there’s a lack of blood in most of the tissue.”

I nodded, wondering if the woman could have been injured while hiking or if something more sinister was at play. A rustling sounded behind me, and I turned to see Tuck heading towards me in his Forest Service uniform. “Greg said it’s the hiker.”

“Unfortunately. What took you so long to get here?” I asked.

Tuck worked his jaw. “I was tracking a poacher when the call came in, so I couldn’t exactly hop in my car.” Tuck was an expert tracker, a skill that had been passed down through his family for generations. “You just got here, didn’t you?”

“I wasn’t trying to give you shit, I was just curious.”

Tuck shook his head. “Sorry, I’m in a crap mood. A hunter’s been trapping in areas of the forest he shouldn’t, but every time I feel like I’m getting close, he slips away.”

“Sorry, man, that sucks. You’ll find him. Give yourself a little time.”

I filled Tuck in on the little I knew while we waited for the M.E. “She was so young,” Tuck said.

“I know,” I echoed as I saw the medical examiner making her way off the trail. Tuck and I made a beeline to help her with her gear.

“I love working around Sutter Lake, the men here are always such gentlemen.”

Both Tuck and I chuckled, but it was Tuck who spoke. “We try our best, ma’am.”

“Maybe draw the line at ma’am. Call me Carly.”

“All right, Carly.”

As soon as Carly spotted the body, she switched into professional mode, throwing questions at the techs and Greg, who had been the first officer on the scene. Then, she got to work, doing all sorts of things I knew nothing about. It became a waiting game.

Tuck and I did our best to survey the area, but between the hikers who had discovered the body tromping around, and law enforcement trekking through, there was little to be gained.

“Fellas,” Carly called. “You might want to come take a look at this.” We rushed back over. “I believe I’ve found cause of death.” She held up a relatively small-caliber rifle bullet between the tongs of a pair of tweezers.

Tuck cursed under his breath as I studied the bullet. “Definitely not an animal attack.”

I pulled my gaze away from the bullet. “Hunter hunting illegally? Maybe your poacher?”

Tuck’s jaw looked hard as granite. “Could be,” he gritted out. “I’ve been wondering if I should pay a visit to Frank Pardue.”

“It might not be a bad idea. I can go with you if you want.” Frank was a coot of an older guy who lived in a cabin with no running water or electricity. While technically on the edge of national forest land, it had been grandfathered in because it was passed down from generation to generation in the guy’s family.