Beautifully Broken Pieces (Sutter Lake, #1)(67)

This was not good. I turned to the medic. “She in shock?”

The guy, who looked all of eighteen, nodded. “I’d say that’s a pretty good guess. She’ll respond if you ask her questions, though.”

I scrubbed a hand over my stubbled jaw. “Bridgette, can you tell me what happened?”

Her head slowly and jerkily turned towards me. “I-I was walking to my car from the saloon, and someone grabbed me from behind. Put a hand over my mouth. I tried to kick him, but I couldn’t. So, finally, I bit his hand and screamed.” She lifted a shaky hand to point at two guys talking to another officer. “Those guys saw and came running. Whoever had me, he-he shoved me to the ground and took off.”

Kelly spoke up then. “No one got a good look at the guy. He was wearing a ballcap. They said they’d guess a pretty large build.”

“H-he told me not to scream. That it would be worse if I fought him.” Tears tinged black with mascara tracked down Bridgette’s cheeks. “His voice. It-it sounded familiar, but I can’t place it.”

My spine went ramrod straight. This had to be the same guy who killed the hiker and Caitlin. Had to be. This was too small a town to have more than one violent psychopath. “Bridgette, I want you to think real carefully over the next couple hours and days. See if you can’t remember where you’ve heard the voice before.”

“O-okay.”

I jerked my chin at the medic. “I think you should take her in, let the docs take a look at her.”

“Was already planning to as soon as you were done with your questions.”

“Thanks.” I crossed to the other officers and got the same story from the two guys who were here from Portland to do some fly fishing. They were freaked and didn’t have any additional information.

I drummed my fingers against the side of my thigh. If this was the same guy, where would he go when he was spooked? I swirled ideas around in my mind before landing on one. He would go to where he felt safest. His comfort zone. His hunting ground.

“Hank,” I called to one of the officers. “I want you and Kelly with me. We’re going to check out the area around Creek Line trail.”

“Now?” Hank asked, his eyes widening.

“Now. If this is the same guy, he’s going to retreat to where he feels safe. The woods. We have to find him on his turf.” I called dispatch and let them know I was taking a couple of officers to follow up on a hunch. “Let’s roll out.”

Hank and Kelly hopped into their squad car, and we headed for the Creek Line trailhead.





We were all sweaty and exhausted, even though the sun had yet to rise. Our group paused to suck down some water, and for me to study my GPS. I had guided us towards the area directly between where the first and second bodies had been found. I hoped that we would find something, anything that would point us in the direction of our guy or his hidey hole.

Our trek through the woods had been mostly quiet. I gave Hank and Kelly silent props for not uttering even one word of protest, even when, two hours in, we’d still found nothing. Zero signs of life. I blew out a breath. “I want to check out one more spot. If there’s nothing, we’ll call it a night. Thanks for sticking with me.”

“Of course, Deputy Chief,” Kelly said, taking another swig of water. “We can stay out here as long as you need.”

“Just want to check out the area north of the creek, closer to the mountain.”

Hank nodded his agreement, and we all took a moment to adjust our gear. Silence again reigned as we made our way off the trail and towards the creek. After finding a downed log to cross on, we began the incline up the other side. A tiny glimmer of light flashed in the corner of my eye. I froze, holding up a hand for the others to follow suit. “Turn off your flashlights,” I said as a low order.

My eyes strained to see in the darkness. There it was. A small, flickering light. From what? A lantern? Fire? I let out a slow breath. I had two choices. I could call it in, wait the hours it would take to assemble the SWAT team, and hope this guy didn’t get away in the meantime. Or, I could go in with Hank and Kelly at my back. It was a risk either way.

I checked the gun at my hip. “We’re going in. I’m going to call in backup, but I don’t want to risk losing this guy while we wait for them to assemble and hike in. You are to use extreme caution, and I am going to take point.”

Hank’s and Kelly’s postures both straightened. “We’re with you, sir,” Hank said.

I jerked my head in a nod and made the hushed call. Turning back to Hank and Kelly, I hoped I was doing the right thing. “All right. Let’s do this. Follow my lead. No lights. Try to make as little noise as possible.”

No light and careful feet meant slow progress. It took us nearly half an hour to get up the hillside. We grabbed onto tree roots and rocks to pull ourselves up when needed, and as we got closer to our destination, each of our breathing was ragged. We were filthy, exhausted, and covered in scrapes, but we were going to get this bastard.

Just as we crested the top of the ridgeline, a loud crack sounded. It was deafening against the silence of the pre-dawn forest. I didn’t have time to react before a burning sensation filled my chest. The force of the bullet sent me sailing backwards, crashing into the dirt.

Curses filled the air around me. “Stay down,” I wheezed. “Active shooter.”