Page 58 of Shadow of Death
The same was with the victims found in the cliffs. In a few cases, the bodies were no more than bones that had become disarticulated and fallen into the dirt below.
Even with the best experts and equipment, teams were having trouble extricating everything that had fallen between rocks—including body parts.
He read the notices aloud to Amy.
“This is so monstrous, Hunter. I just wonder...”
“What?”
“Will we get to the bottom of it?”
“We will,” he told her as he stretched out beside her. “So, what did you think of Barrington’s visit today?”
Amy shrugged. “He supposedly is a good and caring boss.”
“Don Blake. Victim or puppeteer?”
“Haven’t a clue. But he is one or the other, I do believe.”
“I find it interesting Don has been missing since Carey went into the pit, and now Hayden is among the missing, too. A security camera has her leaving the hospital, but they can’t find her car on a traffic cam anywhere. Same with Don Blake. He just seemed to disappear. No one can trace his movements through a camera anywhere.”
“You think Barrington might be involved?” Amy asked him. “Or!” she said, sitting up. “I know. You think Don and Hayden have both disappeared on purpose?”
“Not necessarily,” Hunter said. “These people know how to brainwash others into a cult. And there is a master puppeteer. The master would have to be bright enough, I would imagine, to know you need to make a car as well as a person disappear. That way, they’re missing. You find a car, and you can be pretty sure therewasfoul play of some kind.”
Amy shook her head, leaning back down. “We need an answer somewhere. A solid lead that could bring us closer to the headman. Or woman.”
A knock on their door alerted them that room service had arrived.
And the food was more than what he had come to know as “hotel-decent.” It was good. And when they’d finished eating, Hunter determined they were done for the day.
He pushed the food cart out into the hallway, and then made a dramatic reentry to the room, leaped across the last few feet to the bed, and drew Amy into his arms.
She laughed and told him he reminded her of a high school kid.
He thanked her for the compliment, and laughter continued between wet kisses and caresses and their clothing going flying in various directions.
It was a good night. They could talk about the case.
And they could let it go for a few precious minutes. Planting kisses down the length of her thigh, he murmured, “I am so in love with your body.”
She angled her body around to press kisses on his back, murmuring, “Just my body?”
“Well, you know, your mind is okay.”
She gave him a swat, twisted around, crawled atop him and warned, “Careful! I can be a dangerous woman!”
“Thank God for that,” he told her, taking the lead, sweeping her beneath him and kissing her lips before saying, “I am madly in love with your brilliant mind and the beauty in your soul, even as you work in this monster minefield we’ve both found to be necessary. Madly, madly in love with... Oh, screw the poetry. I’m in love with your eyes when you look at me like that...”
“Lovely but really, all talk!”
“I’ll show you all talk!”
Later, they lay together, just comfortable, touching, dozing, and ready to really get a good night’s sleep.
Then Amy stirred, and he knew she’d heard her cell phone vibrating on the bedside table beside her.
She sat up frowning and Hunter did the same. He glanced at the clock.
