Wylde (8 page)

Jade gave a bitter sound, pulling out the fixings for a cigarette as they walked. The woods that had seemed so menacing minutes before now gave her a familiar sense of sanctuary. She lived up here so she could feel alone. So she wouldn’t ever lean too hard on someone and fall on her ass when they let her down. “I don’t fuck my friends.”

“Exactly.” He smiled, white teeth gleaming in his tanned face. “I was thinking more about making love, myself.”

 

She nearly dropped her cigarette but settled for raising a dark brow. “Guys don’t think that way.”

 

“This guy does. And that’s a stereotype, anyway.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Jade lit up and saw him eying her cigarette with distaste. “Gonna tell me smoking’s bad for my health, good boy?”

“I’m a good boy?” Alec looked amused, attractive crow’s feet crinkling beside his dark eyes. “And I try never to state the obvious.”

“I noticed,” Jade growled, blowing smoke in his direction in more ways than one. “Yeah, you’re the good boy and I’m the—” “You’re Jade,” Alec interrupted her, as if not even
she
was allowed to insult herself.

“Just remember, I didn’t need to be rescued.” It was important to point that out, if only for pride’s sake. But pride was a lot, for Jade. It had sometimes been all she had.

Alec only smiled, deflecting her annoyance. “Sure, Jade.”

 

F
RESHLY
showered and dressed, Kell’s eyes hungrily tracked Noah as the slighter man followed him out to his truck.

“Sorry about the movie. Lawman’s hours.” Kell scrubbed his face, feeling the rasp of his growing beard. “I was going to rejoin the search party still lookin’ for Morley but I want to swing by and talk to Jade Moreton and see what she remembers. Might give me some ideas on what I’m dealing with.”

“I’m glad that girl will be okay,” Noah said soberly. “Tell her whenever she feels up to it, we’d appreciate it if she put in some hours at our house. I heard she lost her job over at the Anderson’s.”

Kell nodded.

“Kell….” Noah hesitated but finally continued, “Do you think it’s safe here?” Noah looked at the towering trees rising by his driveway. “I admit that I’m a little uneasy; it wasn’t the housewarming I’d expected, looked forward to all these months.”

Kell didn’t know what to say. “I don’t have all the facts but so far the only people that have gone missing or been hurt have been
in
the woods. Just stay out of them and you and Josh should be okay.”

Noah took off his glasses, his ash-blond hair mussed. In that moment, he looked as boyish as Josh, which roused Kell’s protective instincts. “Thank you for that. I’m glad you didn’t try to scare the city boy.”

“I think I’ve scared you enough,” Kell said, a little disappointed. Damn, Noah had ducked any chance for a second kiss, and Kell sure wanted one.

“I didn’t appreciate how you used Josh to try to twist me into a date,” Noah stated, eyes igniting like the blue flame of a lighter. “I’ve never had the chance to talk to him about… things.”

“Things? You mean the fact you’re gay,” Kell said flatly, giving Noah a direct look, daring him to deny it.

“Yes,” Noah confessed softly. “Yes, I’ve always had these feelings but when I got Margaret pregnant with Josh at a drunken college party, I tried to put it aside, be a good husband.”

Kell’s jaw tightened. “It wasn’t easy for me in the army. Finally had to leave because I couldn’t be who I am. And this town… you’d think people would never have voted for me, but folks seemed to like the job I did as a deputy in the area, so….”

“Sounds like there are some smart folks out here in the boonies,” Noah said. “They see you for who you are, not where you like to spill your sperm.” He lifted a brow as he teased Kell with his own words.

“Some,” Kell agreed. He leaned against his truck and let his head fall back. “Although I admit that I’ll use any edge I can, just to get to you; I just really wanted to take you and Josh out.”

“Josh as well?” Noah looked skeptical. “People have tried to date me by kissing up to my son before.”

 

“People? Sounds like you mean someone in particular,” Kell noted.

 

Noah looked away, mouth tight.

After a telling pause, Kell continued, “Do you think I’m the kind of man for that sort of fancy-ass play?” He regarded Noah calmly.

“No,” Noah said. “But you didn’t ask before you kissed me.” Kell shrugged. “I’m not sorry, baby.”
“What kind of relationship do you see between us?” Kell blinked. “
Relationship?
Uh….”

“What kind of men do you usually date?” Noah looked like he was enjoying getting his claws into Kell. Kell decided he liked it too.
Tiger, just wait until we get close.

“I don’t
date.
I drive two towns over, go to a club, pick someone up and—” He shrugged, doubting prim Noah would want to hear about handcuffs, blow jobs in his SUV, a little rough play.

Noah’s hands clenched into fists. He swallowed. “I have a son. He’s everything to me. I’ve built my own career and a stable life, all so I could be a good father. I don’t have room in my life for… flings.”

Kell raked a hand through his hair. “You don’t fit,” he agreed crankily.

 

“Oh, whatever will I do?” Noah said sarcastically. “I’m so sorry I’m not like some floozy you pick up at a bar!”

Kell reached out and cupped the back of Noah’s neck, brows lowered. Noah gave a little gasp at his touch, and his pupils dilated. Kell felt himself swell and wished he could rub himself off on that cool, lean body.

“Floozy?” Kell was amused by Noah’s quaint talk. “Just horny men looking for some relief. I know what you’re scared of, baby,” he whispered.

“Really?” Noah’s eyes were snapping again like gasoline set alight. “And don’t call me ‘baby’.”

 

“
Penetration.
You haven’t had anyone inside you before and you’re scared of taking me.”

 

Noah smacked Kell’s hand away. “I’m not scared. I’m pissed off, you barbarian!”

 

“I promise I’d take care of you.”

Noah stared into dark predatory eyes, soft and heated, making promises of sweaty skin against skin and hands fisted in the sheets. He could almost picture Kell on top of him, Noah’s legs spread, clutching Kell’s working ass—

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the urgent squawk of Kell’s radio.
“I
THOUGHT
you had a dog,” Alec said as they got closer to Jade’s

place. He was looking around as if appreciating the touches she’d made, like planting winter pansies near the road so they glimmered in dark violet dots below tall trees.

“Yeah.” She frowned. “Beau. He’s a retriever I got from the pound. He’s old, but he usually barks whenever he hears me come home.”

Alec looked around, taking in the unnatural stillness. “Jade, stay here. I want to take a look first.”

“Fuck that! That’s my dog and my land!” She pulled out her gun and fed in fresh ammunition.
“Just don’t shoot me.” Alec didn’t try to dissuade her, however. The deerskin pouch against his neck was hot, burning a warning as it had earlier when he’d been tracking in the forest.

“Where do you keep your dog when you aren’t home?” “Got a nice house out front I built him myself. He likes to stay outdoors while I’m at work. How come?”

Alec pressed a hand against Jade’s shoulder, looking at her gravely. “I know you’re tough, but I need you to trust me and let me take a look first, okay? This is what I was trained to do.”

“Alec….” She bit her lip and did something she never did, studying his earnest chocolate eyes: she gave in.

He melted into the deep pools of shadow from the trees on her front yard, and Jade stood in the dark, gripping her gun and feeling the seconds tick by in the rapid pounding of her heart.

A
LEC
stole closer to Jade’s house, nose suddenly wrinkling from the smell… like ripe meat….

He looked around for Jade’s dog but saw nothing. He tried her front door and was relieved it was locked, so he moved on to peer in her living room window but caught no sign of her pet indoors.

His shoulder blades were itching, telling him there was something bad out here, something he’d missed.

 

And then he saw it when he swung around to return to Jade. Hanging from a tree, just like a hide drying, milky eyes wide with terror.

He gagged and lowered his gaze, looking around sharply, but now the deerskin bundle was cooling. Whoever had been here was gone.

But they had left something behind.
D
ANIEL
M
AKEPEACE
, the county coroner, stared up at the
hanging corpse, raising a reddish-blond brow over contemplative gray eyes. “So guess you found Morley, huh?” he drawled.

Kell felt the burn of personal failure, though he knew it was irrational. But damn it, this was
his
town, and people were getting hurt. And worse, he kept seeing Noah’s face when he asked Kell if he thought it was safe.

Kell wanted to make it safe, for Noah, for Josh.

“I need to know who killed him, Daniel,” he said quietly, taking his hat off and wiping the sweat from his forehead. “It looks like an animal but…?” Unease moved through his broad shoulders. He’d spent a fair bit of time in woods, in jungles, hunting animals, hunting men. There was something wrong here.

“But why just the skin and bones left like that… and the legs?” one of the deputies demanded. He’d finished puking in Jade’s rose bushes and was avoiding looking at the hanging ruin.

“Oh, that’s simple,” Daniel said, suddenly enthusiastic. “Presumably whatever took him removed all the best parts: heart, lungs, and all the juicy organs. Yum yum! Good eats.”

“Jesus, Daniel!” The deputy grimaced, looking like he’d like to visit the bushes again.

 

“So it was done to resemble a kill for food?” Kell said, hands worrying his hat.

“Yep, done by a very sophisticated animal, Kell.” Daniel’s lips twisted. “I’d say a skillful hunter who knew just how to butcher Morley efficiently. Slit him open here”—Daniel pointed to Morley’s throat. “And all the way down. Cracked open the ribs and clawed out the goodies.” He bent closer, plastic gloved hands touching one red-stained rib. “Left the legs and arms virtually intact. Huh, but there is some odd scoring of the bones; I’m not sure what cut him, looks like a primitive kind of knife. I’ll have a better idea when I do the post-mortem.”

“But why bring Morley down here and peg him up on a sharp branch?” Kell demanded, his back itching like ants were crawling over his skin.

“
Scarecrow….
” Alec muttered. “Maybe it was a warning to someone, an assertion of territory.”
Kell turned to Alec, brows lowered, and waited, giving him time. He’d learned to trust his friend’s instincts, which were a little unconventional but pretty on the money.

“I mean… Chief, when I first saw Morley, I was reminded in old times people used to hang up wolves’ skulls as a warning.
Keep out. This is my place.
”

“A warning…?” Kell crushed his hat under frustrated hands. “Someone warning us to stay out of the woods? Naw, this feels less nebulous, more personal….”

Daniel climbed down Jade’s borrowed ladder. “The scoring suggests some kind of handmade blade.”
“So no way it was an animal kill that someone just… found and strung up here.”

“I think an animal would have finished eating Morley. There’s some good protein and fat left on the limbs. Only thing I can tell you for sure is this is an efficient and experienced killer.” Daniel removed his gloves with a decisive snap. “Look like you boys got yourselves a problem.”

Jade marched out, smoking. She showed no sign that Morley’s corpse bothered her, though Alec had seen her face turn white when she’d first insisted on seeing what all was in her front yard.

“Any sign of Beau?” she asked Alec in a subdued tone, dark eyes clouded with weariness… and worry.

 

Alec shook his head. He offered softly, “I’ll go lookin’ for him after.”

 

Kell gave Alec a sharp look. “Don’t go alone. I want everyone going into the woods in pairs from now on.”

Alec hesitated, holding Kell’s gaze, but then nodded. “So then I’ll go with you,” Jade offered.

“Jade….” Alec looked so unhappy that Kell felt a spike of bleak amusement. Alec had been in love with Jade forever, and everyone knew it, including Jade. Poor man, holding feelings for her was like grabbing a cat by the tail.

“I’m not afraid!” she burst out, looking pissed.
Alec raised a brow.
“Okay, I
am
, but damn it, this is
my
place and… and I want my

dog back. He’s old, but I’m used to him.” Jade pursed her lips, looking away as the deputies helped the coroner take down the body from the tree in her yard. “Alec, please, I just want to find my dog.”

Alec nodded, reaching out to squeeze Jade’s shoulder. “He’s company, I get that.”

 

“Yeah, company,” Jade said, swallowing thickly. “I’ll be in my kitchen when you’re ready.”

K
ELL
followed Daniel to his SUV, Alec beside him. “This killer butchered Morley.” He swallowed, a little sick. “Do you think he or she… ate him?”

Daniel shrugged, looking grim. “I have no idea, but it does look like a butchered kill and given Morley was placed like a bulletin board in Jade’s garden, I think it’s a hunter who had an agenda. There’s only one predator I know of that is capable of that kind of deliberate action.”