Page 20 of Danger In The Backcountry
“Did he tell you what he wanted?” The lines around his eyes softened the longer he studied her. “Did he say anything that might be used to identify him?”
Tightness squeezed around her rib cage. Slivers of conversation reached through the thin curtain blocking them off from the rest of the ER. Low announcements from the PA, the grouping of law enforcement rangers and officers gathering in the lobby down the short hallway from the clinic’s front doors. She tried to focus on them instead of the panic trying to seize her insides. She’d almost died. No. She had died. She’d drowned in that river trying to get away from a madman who’d wanted… What had he wanted? “These murders. The hikers. He didn’t come right out and say it, but it sounded like their deaths were some kind of…gift. Meant for me.”
Rome’s brows nearly met as they drew closer in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“He told me he would get rid of anything and everyone in his way to have me.” Her mouth dried. “Starting with you. He wanted to kill you. String you up like the others like some kind of offering or way to get my attention. And I got the feeling the others somehow got in his way. To get to me.”
His face paled.
“He’s been following me. Since I came to Zion.” And she hadn’t noticed. Too wrapped up in her work, in dealing with the divorce, avoiding her family and friends. Her hands shook as she pinched the seam of the blanket between her fingers. Something to distract her from the terror waiting to pounce. “Stuff has been going missing from my van the past few months. Mostly beauty products, like my perfume. I didn’t think anything of it, but he told me things he shouldn’t have known. Things nobody should’ve known.”
Rome grabbed for her hand, halting her intention to tear through the blanket with her fingernails. “He’s never going to get near you again, Lettie. I give you my word. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Tears burned in her eyes at the promise. He meant it. He meant to protect her the best way he knew how, but this… This wasn’t an animal he could track. The man behind the mask was obsessed with her enough to kill four people, and she wasn’t sure she could survive Rome being added to that list.
“He’s been in my van, Rome. Without me even noticing. Possibly while I was asleep.” Her mind automatically went to the worst-case scenario. Had he touched her without her knowing? Had he drugged her to ensure she wouldn’t notice his presence? She was a deep sleeper, but she liked to think she would’ve been aware if someone else had been in her space. That she’d recognize when something was wrong. But the past few months had kept her from connecting to her body fully. Denial was a powerful tool when you didn’t want to accept your marriage was over and the career you’ve been working for your entire life wasn’t what you wanted anymore. Only in this case, her brain’s attempt to protect her might’ve put her at further risk. “You can’t promise that.”
“Yes. I can.” Rome intertwined his fingers with hers. Strong and warm and comforting. All the things she wasn’t. “Because I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
The curtain swished to one side, revealing Zion’s superintendent on the other side. “Sorry to interrupt, but the law enforcement rangers have identified the latest hiker. I wanted you to be the first to know, Dr. Larson.”
Lettie didn’t understand. “Why?”
Randy handed her a manila folder with a quick glance in Rome’s direction as she opened the folder. To a photo of a familiar face. “Because police have connected him back to you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Four hikers. Four men all connected to Lettie in the past six months.
There’d been enough left of the latest hiker to identify him as Lettie’s most recent romantic interest. It hadn’t taken much for law enforcement officials to access his phone records upon confirmation. Then pull the most recent data that told them he’d recently been in contact with an ecologist working for Zion National Park. Arlette Larson. From there, all they’d had to do was connect the dots based off Lettie’s statement and search out the other men who might be at risk of crossing the killer’s path.
Men her attacker believed to be an obstacle to keeping her for himself.
Men she’d gone out with on dates.
Three more identities for three previous hikers in which the medical examiner struggled to confirm fell into place using family testimony, social media profiles, phone records and Lettie’s help.
“You haven’t said anything since we left the hospital.” Uncertainly laced her words. Nothing like the woman he’d known in the past decade, which meant she was trying to hold herself together since they’d walked out of those woods, barely alive and bleeding. And any second now, that effort would break.
He’d felt her attention in the hours since they’d been discharged. Him with a sling to support his shoulder, her with a splint around her ankle and new bandages across her palms. But there were too many emotions for him to unpack right now.They’d survived out of luck. Not skill. And he would have to live with that for the rest of his life. Just as he’d have to live with the fact she’d moved on far more easily than he had these past six months. “What do you want me to say?”
She hobbled toward the van. Right where she’d left it three days ago at the edge of the most recent crime scene. In which her latest date had been slaughtered. The van’s headlights lit up at a touch of a button, and Lettie pulled up short of sliding back the side door. They weren’t staying here. The killer was familiar with her van and would most likely try to keep tabs on her through it if he’d survived, but her clothing had been confiscated as evidence, and the scrubs she’d changed into wouldn’t keep her warm while Rome found a place to keep her safe. “I want you to be honest with me.”
That wasn’t going to happen. Because the truth was he had no reason to hate that she’d started dating mere weeks after he’d left, if the ME was correct in the time frame the first hiker had disappeared. Rome was the one who’d ended their marriage. He was the one who’d walked out and expected her to follow. Rome took care of the van’s side door for her, using a sliver of the pent-up energy that’d festered in the hospital. Didn’t help. “Grab all of your clothes if you can, and whatever else you might need. I don’t know when you’ll be able to come back.”
Lettie moved past him, letting the subject drop. She hauled herself into the belly of the modernized beast, the van rocking with her weight as she crossed from one end to the other, piling clothes and products on the bed. “What happens to my van? We’re just going to leave it here?”
“You told law enforcement rangers the killer admitted to gaining access to the van. They want to get a look to see if he might’ve left anything behind. Fingerprints, DNA. That kind of thing.” He stepped inside, taking in the simplicity and functionality of the living space with its high-quality cabinets,countertops and layout. Every inch of space was utilized and used. He’d heard of people building out vans to live on the road, working remotely, sleeping in public parking lots overnight and moving onto the next spot the following morning. “You did this all yourself?”
She hauled her backpack from her shoulders and set it on the wood-slatted bed before emptying the contents out. Wrappers from the food they’d eaten, a smaller version of the first aid kit he carried, sunscreen, water bottle—all vacated to make room for whatever she needed to survive the next couple of days. “Yes. With the money I got from selling the house.”
His shoulder pinched at the reminder that he was nothing more than a nomad now. A lifestyle he’d chosen over continuing the fight for their marriage. He’d slid back into it with more ease than he’d expected, but there wasn’t anything exciting about being homeless. At least not more than that first night he and Lettie had shared a bed together. “You enjoy it? Living in the park?”
“It makes my job easier.” Every ounce of her attention settled on folding her clothes to fit into her pack. Her ankle was giving her trouble, throwing off her posture slightly, but she wouldn’t admit to it. “My intern, Shawn, he keeps tabs on Sam whenever I’m not in the lab. Every morning he reports Sam’s whereabouts, and I’m able to find him in the field.”
“Easier doesn’t make it enjoyable.” It was easier for him to travel state to state, taking random jobs for the feds and the National Park System, but it’d long ceased to bring him any kind of happiness. He’d left all that behind when he’d walked away. He hadn’t known it then. It was beating him over the head now though. How every day had been a struggle to get out of bed. How he hadn’t felt that peace that came with waiting out his prey as he had as a kid. How much distance he’d put between himself and the people he worked with. But the past three days hadsparked something inside of him. The only change? The woman standing in front of him.
Her fingers slipped on the shirt she’d folded and refolded, and Lettie sank onto the bed. Hands still. “I had this idea of starting over. Of figuring out who I was, living on my own for the first time. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have anyone to answer to. No ridiculous expectations or rules I had to follow. No one texting me a dozen times asking when I’ll be home or getting mad I missed another dinner. I could go to bed covered in popcorn with my iPad still going or take three days to shower.” A humorless laugh broke through the silence filling the van. “But nobody tells you with all that freedom…”
