Chapter 18
Noah watched the ambulance carrying the lone survivor of the fire disappear into the growing light of the day, his brain spinning.
The scene around him buzzed with activity—firefighters securing the area, law enforcement documenting evidence, Officer Benally questioning witnesses with his stoic expression never wavering—but Noah barely registered any of it.
All he could see was how close they’d come to finding another body. If Dancer hadn’t picked up the scent when he did, if he and Sabrina hadn’t followed Jacob’s tip out here, all of this would have ended up much, much worse.
Granted, they’d just watched his cousin carry an unconscious woman from a burning building, a woman whose wrists and ankles had been bound. Circumstances were certainly bad enough.
His gaze sought out Ryan, who stood conferring with his team near the smoldering remains of the cabin. His cousin’s face was smudged with soot, a stark reminder how close he’d come to the flames.
And his expression was nothing short of haunted.
“You okay?” Noah called when Ryan finally broke away from his crew.
Ryan crossed to Noah, running a hand through sweat-dampened hair. He’d yet to set his helmet down, carrying it around with a white-knuckle grip that spoke volumes about his mental state. “Been better. If you guys hadn’t found her when you did…” He broke off, jaw clenching.
“But we did.” Noah studied his cousin’s face. Ryan had been a firefighter for a decade. He’d seen plenty of rescues, plenty of casualties. This one had gotten under his skin. “She’ll make it?”
“They think so.” Ryan’s gaze tracked to where the ambulance had disappeared. “Smoke inhalation, some burns, other injuries I don’t want to think about. She’s still unconscious. But she was breathing on her own when they loaded her up.”
The tension in Ryan’s voice raised the hair on Noah’s neck. “You’ve seen worse. What’s different about this one?”
Ryan’s gaze filled with something raw. And enough rage to level a city block. “The restraints. Someone tied her up and left her to burn. Who does that?”
“The same kind of person who dumps a body in Peavine Canyon,” Noah muttered without thinking.
“What?” Ryan’s head snapped up. “What body?”
Ugh. Noah’s mouth had run away with him.
His cousin wouldn’t know about Annie Ross and probably shouldn’t know.
He hesitated, weighing how much to share.
But Ryan had that look—the same one from when they were kids and he and Jacob got into it over who would be the captain of the pirate ship or bat first in the lineup.
Ryan had won at least half the time.
“A woman’s body turned up in Peavine a few weeks ago,” Noah explained. “Young, no ID. Left in a place she had no business being, dressed all wrong for the terrain.”
“Like my victim. Our victim. The victim,” he corrected hastily, and cleared his throat as his expression darkened. “You thinking there’s a connection?”
“Maybe.” Noah chose his next words carefully. “The circumstances feel similar. Remote location, signs of foul play.”
“Am I reading you right that you’re taking more than a casual interest in this?”
Ryan knew about Noah’s history as an investigative reporter but not that he’d picked it back up. “Yeah. Feels like it might be time to see if I’ve still got the chops, you know?”
Better leave it at that. It wasn’t like Noah had impressed anyone with his stellar deduction skills thus far. The only reason he had any leads on this case was due to sheer luck and providence.
“Keep me posted?” The gravity of Ryan’s tone clued him in that this wasn’t an offhand request. “About anything you find out.”
Noah shot him a small smile. “Am I detecting a similar lack of casual interest?”
The look on his cousin’s face dried up any remnants of humor.
“She barely weighs a buck-o-five, dude. I could feel her ribs as I carried her out of that hole where they’d left her to die.
She had this fragileness about her, but she hadn’t given up yet, so she’s stronger than she looks.
I—” he scrubbed at his neck sheepishly “—I can’t not be invested at this point. ”
Yeah, no joke. Ryan was going to get whiplash as many times as he kept glancing toward the road where the ambulance had gone, but the protective edge in his voice told the real tale. Noah recognized what it meant because he felt it every time Sabrina walked into a potentially dangerous situation.
Like this one.
“I get you. So, just a thought, maybe head to the hospital and see if she’s okay?”
Ryan nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Good plan.”
Sabrina caught his gaze from across the clearing, where she was talking to one of the local officers. Even from this distance, she twisted him up in knots that had nothing to do with the case and everything to do with how badly he wanted to wrap her up and keep her safe.
Not that she needed his protection. Sabrina West could handle herself in any situation, as she proved time and time again.
But after what they’d just witnessed, after seeing exactly what kind of evil they were dealing with, who could blame him for wanting to have his eyes on her as much as humanely possible.
Twenty-four seven, preferably. Just so he’d know she was safe.
Ryan cleared his throat.
“There’s something else.” His cousin shifted closer, pitching his voice low. “The way she was positioned in there. It wasn’t random. It’s standard protocol, we always clear the front rooms first. Whoever did this wanted her found.”
A chill crawled down Noah’s spine. “What do you mean?”
“She was placed in the front room, no furniture around her, few walls.” Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“Deliberate. It’s the best way to ensure someone dies of smoke inhalation so the body doesn’t burn beyond recognition.
They wanted us to find her. To see what they’d done. After the fact, once it was too late.”
“Or maybe they wanted her rescued.” The words felt hollow even as Noah said them.
“Fire was staged. Multiple points of origin but controlled.” His expression hardened as he laid out the concepts of how someone had orchestrated a woman’s murder. “They knew exactly what they were doing. How the fire would spread, how long before we’d respond, even how we’d approach the building.”
“That’s horrific,” Noah muttered, his brain committing the details to memory against his will.
“It’s a message.” His gaze locked onto Noah’s. “Watch your back, dude. If you’re digging into something connected to this, you might not like what you find.”
Noah’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he glanced at it. Jacob. Perfect timing.
“Will do,” he told Ryan. “But you do the same. And seriously—let me know the second she wakes up?”
Ryan nodded once sharply, rage still visible in the lines of his face as his gaze drifted back to the road where the ambulance had disappeared. “Find whoever did this, Noah.”
The raw edge in his cousin’s voice spoke volumes, and it said he wouldn’t let anyone near that poor unconscious woman again. Ryan was already invested in this woman’s story.
Just like he was invested in Sabrina’s.
Because he recognized that look in Ryan’s eyes. The one that said you’d found something worth fighting for, worth protecting at all costs. Worth changing your whole life for, if that’s what it took.
Noah’s phone buzzed again. He hit the button to answer. “Tell me you have something.”
“Maybe.” His brother’s voice carried that careful neutrality that meant he was choosing his words with precision. “Got the preliminary autopsy results on Annie Ross. The medical examiner found evidence she’d given birth recently. Within the last few months.”
That carefully folded pink blanket they’d found in the apartment. All those baby supplies hidden away in the closet. Not waiting for a baby to be born—waiting for one to come home.
“You’re sure?”
“Medical examiner confirmed it. Hormonal markers, physical evidence, the works.” Clicks fired off in the background. “No sign of the child though. We’re expanding the search parameters, checking missing-persons reports, looking for any recent infant abandonments or safe haven drop-offs.”
“But nothing yet.” It wasn’t really a question. If they’d found the baby, Jacob would have led with that.
“No. And it’s interesting what pops when you’re searching missing persons.” More clicks. “Camille Lancaster, Annie’s roommate? She was reported missing two weeks ago. Complete radio silence—no phone activity, no credit card usage, nothing.”
Noah’s mind spun through the implications. Another woman vanished without a trace. Just like Annie had. And then they’d found her body.
“And, Noah?” Jacob’s voice tightened. “The ME found trace evidence under Annie’s nails. Signs of a struggle. She didn’t go quietly.”
Oh, man. It hit Noah in the gut with a chaser that made his throat hurt. Had Annie Ross died trying to protect her baby? Was that what this was all about?
“Can you send me your findings? Is that allowed?” he asked, already mentally cataloging connections. “There has to be a connection to all three of these women.”
“Three?”
“We did your investigative dirty work this morning.” Noah quickly filled his brother in on the morning’s near tragedy. “So I need whatever you got that can help me make this case.”
“Already compiling it. But watch yourself, Noah.” Jacob paused. “If there is a connection, it’s not a good one.”
Both of the Coltons were on that kick today apparently, as if Noah hadn’t survived war zones and violent protests. But that didn’t make it a bad suggestion.
“Yeah, I got it.” Noah’s gaze sought out Sabrina again, something fierce and protective rising in his chest. “I’ll be careful.”
He hung up just as Sabrina reached him. The morning sun caught her ponytail, turning it white. His heart did that thing it always did when she was near—expanded until his ribs ached with the need to pull her close and never let go.
“You okay?” she asked, sliding her hand into his.