CHAPTER TWENTY
Wednesday, June 21
7:46 p.m.
Ethan looked like shit.
He had before, of course, but in the last couple of hours, he’d started to sweat, and there were wet spots at his armpits and down the center of his chest. Contrary to popular fiction, sweating didn’t automatically make someone guilty, but the way the kid’s eyes kept jumping to the door like he expected the unsub to burst through with his bow spoke volumes.
Vic casually flipped around the chair Tucker had occupied earlier and sat on it, draping his arms across the back. “You look scared, Ethan.”
“Scared?” He lifted his chin, but his gaze shot to the door again. “Why would I be scared?”
Why, indeed? He kept his posture relaxed and his voice easygoing. Just making conversation. “You ever see a bear?” When Ethan didn’t respond, Vic gave a rueful grin. “I’ve never seen one. I’m from back East—Philly. I spent some time in the Navy, but where they sent me there wasn’t much in the way of bears. I hear Glacier is known for them.”
Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. “There are a ton of bears out there. They mostly don’t bother anyone, but sometimes people do dumb crap and get killed as a result.”
Interesting that he immediately jumped to the bears’ defense, but Vic had seen that kind of thing around here. People were protective of their land—their national park—and while that might not stop some of them from poaching, they weren’t like city folk who thought that one bear attack meant the bears were coming for humanity as a general whole. He didn’t look directly at the kid. “You were probably too young for the Night of the Grizzlies shit, huh?”
“For fuck’s sake, I am so tired of tourists talking about that shit. It was decades ago, and it was one situation where people were acting like ignorant idiots. If those women had just climbed a tree like their friends . . .” He trailed off.
“Hmm. Climb a tree. That what you’re supposed to do when there’s a pissed-off bear in the area?” Vic propped his chin in one fist, all open curiosity. “That’s interesting that you’d know that. Seems strange that you ran when there were so many trees around you could have climbed to get away from that bear that scared the shit out of Madison and Ashleigh.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Unless there wasn’t a bear at all.”
“Wait—”
He kept going. “Way I figure it, you saw something brutal out there that scared the shit out of you. Nothing wrong with that—I’ve seen some things since I got on this case that’ll provide all sorts of nightmares later on. Difference between us is that I’m doing something to put the guilty party away, and you aren’t doing fuck all.”
“But—”
“Where’s your girlfriend, Ethan? I figure this trip wasn’t really Madison’s idea. You had your own reasons for wanting your brother and ex-girlfriend in the park—and away from help. Did you convince Madison to play along? Maybe told her Lauren made a pass at you? That’s something that would piss a woman off.”
“That bitch did make a pass at me.” He must have realized how much he’d just given away, because he sat back and raised his chin. “It was months ago, and it didn’t get farther than her trying to kiss me before I shut it down. Madison didn’t even know about it, because it meant nothing and I didn’t want to upset her.”
Several pieces clicked into place, all at once. “I figure she threatened to tell Madison about it. Things weren’t going well with Josh. From what I hear, they were engaged, but things were rocky, and I bet Lauren looked at you and thought about picking up where you left off.”
Ethan stared at a point over Vic’s left shoulder. “Doesn’t mean a damn thing. Madison wouldn’t have believed her.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But it comes right down to the real question here—did you do something wrong? Or are you just a coward who left his girlfriend behind to die so that he could get out?”
Ethan jerked back, his eyes too wide, his breath coming too quickly. “Shut your fucking mouth. I drew that bastard away to give Mads time to get free.” He snapped his mouth shut, but it was too late.
Vic considered him for a long moment, watching him squirm. “You saw the killer.”
“I didn’t see much of anything. A guy in a dark coat with a bow. He shot at the girls and might have hit Ashleigh.” Ethan lifted his chin. “I was a soldier. I know how to fight. I figured if he came after me, I had a better chance of defending myself. So I threw a few rocks, made sure I had his attention, and ran in the opposite direction of the others. I thought I could draw him south and then circle back to come up behind him.”
“Didn’t work out so well.”
“No, it didn’t. One second he was there, close enough behind me to worry me, and the next, he was gone.”
“Why lie about this in the first place?”
He shook his head. “I know how it looks. I walked out of the park, and no one else has. I thought for sure Mads would make it to a ranger station, but she hasn’t . . .” He stared at his hands. “I didn’t hurt her. I would never hurt her.”
Which wasn’t to say he wouldn’t hurt the rest of them.
It was possible that Joshua Conlon had been dead long enough for Ethan to have killed his brother and escaped the park, but that didn’t answer the question of who had shot Maggie. They hadn’t released any information about the deaths—not that they were the result of an arrow, and not that the unsub had been seen wearing dark gear with the hood up. Ethan might be telling the truth this time.
Or maybe he was lying to cover for Madison.
Five years ago, July
Madison heard the arguing long before she and Ethan reached the camp. She picked up her pace, even though all she wanted to do was turn around and rush into the dark woods. Anything moving out there in the shadows was preferable to what lay in wait for her within the circle of the fire.
Only Ethan’s solid presence at her back kept her moving.
Ashleigh had her hands clenched and was leaning in close, looking like she was three seconds from throwing her famous right hook to Josh’s face. “I know for a fact your mama taught you to have respect for ladies.”
“I do have respect for ladies.” Josh raked a look over her that made Madison’s skin crawl. “And this right here is no lady.”
“You fucking asshole!”
“Enough!” Madison didn’t realize she was going to speak until the word came out of her mouth as a shriek. “What is wrong with all of you? This isn’t how we are. This isn’t how we treat each other.” She met each of their gazes in turn, her stomach twisting in knots as they broke eye contact, one by one. “We came on this trip so that we could get away from all the shit, and you’ve brought it with us. What the hell, guys?”
“We’re not the only ones.”
She leveled a warning look at her best friend. “Stop it.”
Josh faced her, not even seeming to realize that he’d lined up with Ashleigh. “What’s she talking about, Mads? You have some nasty little secret like the rest of us, don’t you?” He raised his eyebrows. “Maybe you and Ethan were sneaking off to get some alone time in the forest, huh? How the mighty have fallen.”
“What?” Lauren took two steps forward. “Ethan, what’s he talking about?”
Ethan crossed his arms over his chest, not looking the least bit disturbed by the whole thing. “Glass houses, Lauren.”
She drew herself up to her full five feet six inches. “What is that supposed to mean?” A vicious gleam flared to life in her eyes, all of it aimed directly at her boyfriend. “How long have you been fucking her? Don’t even try to play innocent. I see the way you watch her when you think no one is looking.”
How does he watch me? Madison didn’t say the words. She couldn’t.
The world was spiraling out of control around her, and she had no way to put on the brakes. Ashleigh watched the whole thing with something like amusement, probably because she loved drama as much as she loved anyone in this group. Josh still looked ready to throw a punch, and his slow grin was just as mean as ever. “You and Mads, huh? Someone finally cracked that safe.”
Madison was pretty sure the top of her head was going to explode. “Shut the hell up right now. I’m not sleeping with Ethan. Unlike the rest of you, we have some honor.” She didn’t feel like mentioning that the possibility of something beyond friendship with Ethan hadn’t occurred to her until today. It wouldn’t have mattered. They were supposed to be this tight-knit group who put one another first.
Instead, they were a parasite eating itself from within.
“I cannot wait to get the hell out of here.”
Lauren snorted. “Kalispell isn’t that big. This will blow over, and we’ll get back to normal before you know it.”
She didn’t get it. There was no normal after this. Everything that was supposed to hold them together was a lie. There would be no coming back from this.
Madison stared the other girl in her face. “I’m not staying in Kalispell, and I’ve never been so damn happy about it. I’m leaving for good.”
“I’m leaving, too.” Ethan spoke so quietly, if they hadn’t all fallen silent, no one would have heard him.
Lauren turned to face him fully, her dark eyes wide. “What did you say?”
“I joined the Army, and I’m going to be a Ranger.”
Ashleigh laughed, the sound low and mean. “Look at that, Josh. Everyone you love is leaving you. It’s like fate or something.”
He turned so fast no one had a chance of stopping him, backhanding her across the face. She hit the ground and then Ethan was there, stepping between them. “What are you doing? We don’t hit women, Josh.”
“That bitch is nothing to me.” He looked at each of them in turn. “None of you fuckers are anything to me.” And then he was gone, striding into the darkness.
Madison breathed a small sigh of relief once he disappeared from view. Only then did she move to Ashleigh’s side, pointedly ignoring Lauren. “I made a mess of things.”
Her best friend touched her mouth gingerly, remorse heavy in her expression. “I’m sorry, Mads. I know you wanted this trip to be perfect, and it’s all gone to shit.”
“It’s fine.” It wasn’t, though. This trip had been their last chance to be together as friends the way they’d always been. Instead, it made her realize that even though she’d known her friends since they were in grade school, she didn’t actually know them at all.
Maybe she never had.
Thursday, June 22
4:38 p.m.
Maggie tried to keep herself occupied. She spent most of the day watching reruns, but even working as much as she did, she’d seen them all. Not to mention, every time she moved, she was reminded of the reason she was in the hospital to begin with.
When the door opened, she was pathetically grateful. Colleen telling her to stop being a problematic patient would be better than another hour spent alone. But it wasn’t Colleen who walked into the room.
She stared, certain that the damn nurse had slipped something a little extra into her IV bag, because there was no way that Britton Washburne was standing in her room right now. She blinked and then blinked again but stopped short of pinching herself.
Britton had always been an attractive man. He was somewhere in his forties, though his black hair had more salt than pepper in it now. He kept his hair close cropped, and though he’d grown a beard in the last seven years, he kept it equally short. His skin was dark with cool undertones, and with his strong eyebrows, there was definitely an Idris Elba look about him.
She knew what she was doing—analyzing his appearance and comparing it to what she’d known when she was in the BAU—but she couldn’t stop. If she stopped, she’d have to open her mouth and say something, and there wasn’t a single thing she could say that wouldn’t make her look like an asshole.
Why are you here? Here in Montana, here in my hospital room? Seven years and you didn’t bother to check up on me, but now you decide to rush over to see if I’m okay?
She stubbornly kept silent, examining his perfectly polished black shoes, gray slacks that didn’t have a single wrinkle in them, and pin-striped cream button-up shirt that complemented his dark skin perfectly. He’d obviously stopped somewhere after his flight, because not even Britton Washburne could fly without picking up a wrinkle or two. She might have believed such nonsense about her larger-than-life boss when she was with the BAU, but she didn’t anymore. He might be brilliant, but he was still just a man.
The edges of his lips quirked up in something like a smile, silently acknowledging that she wouldn’t break first. “You look well, Maggie.”
“Funny you should say that.” She sounded petulant and childish, and she tried to rein it in. One deep breath. Two. By the third, she’d gotten ahold of her anger. Mostly. “I didn’t expect to see you here. I didn’t think you went into the field often these days.”
“I don’t.” He moved to the chair next to her bed and motioned to it, every move smooth to the point of elegance. “May I?”
“You’re here. You might as well sit so you don’t hover.” Damn it, she still sounded like a spoiled child. “I’m sorry. I don’t like being laid up, and you surprised me.”
“You’ve never liked either.”
She ignored that. “My point is that it’s bringing out the worst in me, but that’s not your fault. So I’m sorry for snapping at you.”
He just looked at her with those unfathomable dark eyes. Despite herself, a little of her old hero worship rose, and with him sitting here, she could almost believe that everything would be okay. They’d catch the unsub and rescue the remaining missing hikers, and those left alive would move on with their lives with minimal trauma.
Maggie knew better.
She pressed her lips together but couldn’t hold her silence. “Why are you here, Britton?”
“I was worried about you.”
That wasn’t the answer, and they both knew it. “I’ve been hurt plenty of times in the last seven years.” Nothing like this, though. Breaking her arm in a fall in the park had been more a pain in the ass than anything else. She’d hiked her way out to Many Glacier and then argued with Ava about whether she could drive herself to the hospital. Or the time she sprained her ankle and didn’t miss any work out of sheer stubbornness. None of those things would bring her old boss riding in like some kind of white knight. “Right now, I’m on paid medical leave, so I’m not worth a damn thing to the investigation.”
He contemplated her just long enough for her to have to fight not to squirm. “Are you happy as a park ranger?”
“Yes.” When his brows lowered, ever so slightly, she forced herself to be more honest. “I love parts of my job. I love the park. I feel like I can breathe there. I love what it represents.”
“But.”
“Yeah, but.” She shrugged and winced when the move pulled at her back. “But the people suck. Not the park rangers—though some of them give the term asshole a new meaning. The tourists drive me batshit crazy.”
“You’ve never been a big fan of people as a general whole.” He sounded like he was musing aloud, but she still had to correct him.
“I like people just fine. I just don’t have any faith in their ability to keep themselves from getting killed in the stupidest ways possible. It doesn’t happen often in my park, but I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to explain why feeding the bears is a bad idea, that standing underneath a waterfall is dangerous, or any number of things that should be common sense.” Just talking about it made her tired. She loved her job most days, but it wore on her. She hadn’t realized how much until recently, but sometimes that was how life worked.
Britton tapped his foot, and she found herself counting the soft sound of impact. When she got to ten, he went still. “When will you be discharged?”
“Bright and early tomorrow morning. They probably would have let me go tonight, but they don’t trust me not to go running off and aggravate the wound.”
This time he almost did smile. “Sounds like they have your number.”
“Sounds like it.”
He nodded almost to himself and stood. “I’ll come by in the morning.”
“You really don’t—” She stopped, because there was no point in wasting her breath. Britton had his mind set on something, and he wouldn’t be deterred. He also wasn’t likely to share his plans until he was damn well good and ready. She’d forgotten how aggravating that little personality quirk of his was. “Fine.”
“Get some rest, Maggie. We’ll talk in the morning.” He rose and walked out of the room, his stride so smooth it was almost a glide. When Maggie was a new agent, she’d had a theory that Britton had some kind of formal dance training in his past—no one moved that gracefully naturally—but she’d never been able to confirm it, and the one time she’d gotten the balls to ask him, he’d just given that half smile and changed the subject.
She settled back into her bed and stared blankly at the television. Why had he come? She knew obsessing about it wasn’t going to give her any more answers than she’d had when he walked through the door, but she couldn’t help it. Britton Washburne represented the career she’d gone into with stars in her eyes and then flamed out of so spectacularly she was pretty sure they were still telling stories about her in the academy, just like they had her predecessors. There were flameouts in every graduating class. It was just the way things went in a high-pressure job like working with the FBI.
Not that all jobs within the FBI were high pressure. There were plenty that were glorified desk jobs, but those weren’t what Maggie had been aiming for when she graduated from the academy near the top of her class. Nothing less than the BAU would do.
She’d obviously overestimated her abilities.
Thursday, June 22
5:10 p.m.
Vic left Ethan in the interview room and let Tucker convince him to eat something. He wasn’t hungry, but going without the much-needed calories was a stupid thing to do. They chose a little chain restaurant not too far from either hospital or police station, and he ordered a steak as soon as the waiter appeared.
“Sleep wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.”
“Didn’t ask you.” He took a long drink of his water and considered if coffee at this hour was a good idea. They needed to release Ethan if they weren’t going to arrest him—and since he had a solid alibi for at least one of the murders, they didn’t even have a circumstantial case against him. He pinched the bridge of his nose, but no magical clarity appeared. “This case is a clusterfuck.”
“Aren’t they all?”
Vic opened his eyes long enough to glare. “You’re not helping.”
“Come on, you know I’m right. The locals don’t call us in unless something has gone terribly wrong—usually in the form of three or more bodies appearing. I don’t know about you, but I define murder in general as a clusterfuck, and the cases we cover are usually stranger on stranger, which makes things endlessly complicated.”
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.” Vic switched to massaging his temples. Going back to see Maggie tonight was a shitty thing to do. As much as he wanted to see her—to reassure himself that she really was okay—she needed her rest, and she wasn’t going to get that with him looming over her.
Tucker used his plastic straw to create a tiny whirlpool in his water cup. “My point is that this time, there is a connection. This isn’t stranger on stranger. We have the name of the unsub even if we don’t know which one of these kids he is yet.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have the unsub.”
His partner shrugged. “I’m going with the glass half-full this time around, since you’re such a fucking ray of sunshine. We’ll get him—or her. We’ll sit here, eat a very necessary meal, and not talk about the case. And then we’ll go back and have another crack at Ethan before we take a break and catch some sleep.”
“Easier said than done.”
“Isn’t it always?”
A shadow fell across their table, and he looked up, expecting the waiter, but it was Britton. Vic narrowed his eyes. “Do you have a tracking device on us?”
“That’s unconstitutional.”
Tucker snorted and scooted over so Britton could take a seat. “I texted him.”
That made sense, but these days, he wouldn’t put the former past Britton. Vic knew he was being uncharitable because he was tired and feeling guilty, but he didn’t give a fuck. “What have we done to warrant a personal visit?”
Britton smiled at the waiter as the man hurried up with a third glass of water. He ordered without looking at the menu. Their boss was full of neat tricks like that, and Vic could never decide if it was because he was so anal that he had to have everything mapped out beforehand, or if he liked to feed into the legend that was Britton Washburne.
“Maggie might not be one of my agents anymore, but she used to be.” He took a small sip of water. “And she was hurt assisting in a case that’s being handled by the BAU. Why wouldn’t I be here?”
Vic lifted his chin, ready to snap back, but he caught Tucker shaking his head and reconsidered. “I called Caroline.”
Britton blinked, the only outward sign that he was surprised. “She has considerable knowledge in medical emergencies.” Just that. Nothing more.
It made Vic feel like even more of a dick. “She talked me through it. She might have saved Maggie’s life.” At the bare minimum, she’d talked him through it so he didn’t do something to kill Maggie by accident. He didn’t say it, but the speculative look in Britton’s eyes said that he was doing a piss-poor job of hiding how messed up this case was making him.
But Britton didn’t let anything as mundane as personal bullshit get in the way of the job. Instead, he said, “You have a theory on who the unsub is. Let’s hear it.”
Even though Vic and Tucker had more or less decided to put the case on hold for the duration of the meal, Britton was a new person to bounce their ideas off. He had more than passing knowledge of where they were to date, though Vic hadn’t called with an update today. Tucker obviously had.
Still, he and his partner took their boss through the most recent events—what they’d gotten out of Ethan.
And what they hadn’t.
“We think he’s covering for his girlfriend, Madison. I don’t know what her motivation is, though the ex-girlfriend made a pass at him a few months ago—Lauren Rosario, the first victim. Lauren was also in a relationship with Joshua and had been since before they broke up back in high school. Great motivation for Ethan, but Dr. Huxley called with time of death on Josh, and it clears Ethan.” Vic shook his head. “The motivation there is haphazard at best, but Madison does have the capabilities to be the unsub. She’s been hunting with her dad since she was a child, and she’s been trained to bow hunt as well.”
“Hmm.” The waiter appeared with their food, and Britton waited until he’d moved away from the table to continue. “From what I understand, every one of those hikers, with the possible exception of Ashleigh, has that same knowledge and interest.”
“And therein lies the problem.” Tucker took a bite of one of his fries and chewed. “The only thing that sets them apart from one another is their possible motivation for murdering their former—and in some cases, current—friends. They all have the means and skill set to be the unsub. But we’re down to two options, if only from the process of elimination. We can’t rule out Ashleigh completely, but Madison is the better bet.”
“So the remaining potential victims are also potentially the unsub. It’s quite the conundrum.” Britton speared a slice of cucumber and took a bite.
They ate in silence for the next ten minutes, with the efficiency of folks who knew there might be some time before their next warm meal. Vic had just finished his food when his phone rang. He checked the number—local but not one he recognized. “Agent Sutherland.”
“Hey, Vic, finally got some good news for you.”
It took him a second to place the male voice. “Wyatt?”
“Yep.” The man sounded tired, but happy. “One of our choppers was doing one last sweep of the area before nightfall and saw a fire. Long story short, we got the girls. They’re a bit worse for wear, and Ashleigh has a nasty infection, but they’re alive.”
It took him precious moments to process the words. The case had been one piece of bad news after the next, so hearing something good set him back on his heels. “They’re being taken to the local hospital?”
“They’re in transit as we speak. Thought you’d like to know. I’m sure the doctors are going to want to get a good look at them before they allow for questions, but they should be able to answer at least a few tonight.”
“Thanks, Wyatt.” He hung up and set his phone on the table, finding both Britton and Tucker watching him expectantly. “They found the girls.”
“Fuck, yes.” Tucker ignored the look of reproach Britton sent him. “It’s about time for some good news.”
But Vic wasn’t looking at Tucker; he was looking at his boss. “They’d set a signal fire, and one of the last sweeps of the area saw them.”
“Take some time to build up a fire of any size.”
Time spent in one place when they were being hunted. Vic frowned. “They couldn’t have been moving fast, either. Wyatt said they were pretty banged up—which is to be expected—and that one of them has a nasty infection.” He needed to know how she’d gotten that infection, but those answers would have to wait until they got to the hospital.
“That’d slow them down for sure.” Tucker sobered. “You think the other one is the unsub?”
“I don’t know what I think.”
Vic started to reach for his wallet, but Britton waved him off. “On me.”
It wasn’t until they were outside in the brisk evening air that Vic spoke the words he’d had ringing around in the back of his head since Wyatt called. “If they got out, then one of them is the unsub—and whichever one of them isn’t the killer is potentially the next victim.”