The shadows lengthened across the valley as Asher looked my way again. “Where’d they find it?”
“In the woods outside of Salem, Massachusetts.” I shook my head. “Sorry. I don’t mean to talk shop.” I turned around, searching for the trail he’d mentioned earlier. “How do we get down?”
He pointed to the north. “There’s an easy path over there.” Asher looked like he might ask another question, but he didn’t. “I guess we better get back. I’ve got someone meeting me at the office at four o’clock.”
I followed him along the trail down Doe Mountain. My arms, legs, and back were already sore and exhaustion weighed on me, but the endorphins made it impossible to keep from grinning as we walked back to the Jeep. I had climbed the face of a mountain—literally.
Another adventure to check off my list.
And in that moment, I almost took out my phone to call my mom.
Just like that, grief shadowed my victory. My mom would’ve loved to see me at the top of a mountain.
As I blinked back tears, a hawk screeched above our heads. I looked up, and a smile spread across my face. As my mother was fading from this world, weakened from too much chemo, we plotted ways for us to stay connected. She had read that birds, especially cardinals, were supposed to bring messages from the dead to the living, but my mom had sworn she’d send me something more unique so I could be sure it was her.
The red-tailed hawk circled a couple more times before it landed on a gnarled branch of an oak tree and let out another screech.
Happy tears stung my eyes. Maybe my mom saw my adventure after all.
When we rolled up to Wild Sedona Tours, Asher smiled. “I hope you won’t be a stranger. How long will you be in town?”
“I rented the house for another month.” I unfastened the seat belt and got out, barely managing not to groan as my knees reminded me that I was no longer twenty years old. Damn.
“Well, you know where to find me if you’d like to do any more climbing.”
I chuckled. “Maybe in a few days after my body recovers.”
The office door opened, and a tall man with silver hair and broad shoulders came outside. His gaze zeroed in on me, and my heart stuttered. It was Miller Sloan from the coffee shop, only now he was in shorts and a tank top, exposing some beefy arms covered with interlocking tattoos on his biceps and along his shoulders.
I broke eye contact, inspecting my dirty, sweat-soaked shirt and my dusty cargo shorts. I imagined my windblown hair probably looked equally amazing after climbing a mountain and then riding back in the topless Jeep. Oh well.
I lifted my head and pretended I didn’t look like a I just climbed a mountain. “Hello again.”
“Small world.” The corner of his mouth quirked up into a crooked smile, but he sobered again, all business. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I need to speak with Asher.”
“Of course.” I wasn’t even sure what I meant at this point, I just wanted to escape and brush my hair. “Thanks, Asher. I’ll be in touch.”
“Wait.” Asher turned to Miller Sloan. “Have you already met Rayne Lowry?”
“We bumped into each other at the coffee shop this morning.” Miller glanced at me and then back to Asher. “I’m afraid this can’t wait. I’ll be leaving town soon.”
“I have to get home so I can grab a shower anyway.” I started for my car, baffled that the silver fox from the coffee shop was friends with my rock climbing guide. I knew Sedona was a small town, but this was quite the coincidence.
Asher looked at me and shook his head. “Can you wait just a minute?”
Why? What did I have to do with either of them? But other than a date with my shampoo, I didn’t have any pressing commitments. I shrugged. “Sure.”
Miller looked as confused as I felt. Asher walked him over to a black sedan. I couldn’t hear their conversation, but Miller kept glancing my way, making it pretty clear they were discussing me. I should’ve just left. Maybe Asher was warning him about my penchant for talking about gory FBI cases.
They came back over, and Miller looked…impressed? He cleared his throat. “Asher tells me you’re a profiler for the FBI?”
“I was. I left the second they offered me early retirement.”
“She’s still consulting.” Asher focused on Miller. “There have been some mutilated wolves.”
I preemptively interrupted. “It’s not quite that simple.”
“Is that what you were working on at the coffee shop?” Miller asked.
I started to nod and stopped. “Actually, I’m trying to resist investigating it and just enjoy being retired.”
Miller crossed his arms. His bare forearms should’ve been illegal. “Asher said the FBI found some wolf remains near Salem?”
“Yeah.” So they had been talking about me. But why would a dead wolf be so important to them? Maybe it was its unusual size.
Miller dropped his hands to his sides. “I was about to visit Salem to look into a missing-persons case for an old friend.”
I raised a brow. “I thought you just retired from the military. Are you a private investigator now?”
“Not exactly.” A muscle clenched in his cheek. Had I touched on a nerve? He cleared his throat. “Salem’s not a big city. There could be a connection between my missing person and your case, right?”
I studied them for a second. Their interest wasn’t surprising. Most people had questions when they learned I was a profiler for the FBI, but usually they’d ask if I’d worked on catching certain infamous serial killers.
I was curious to find out why they both seemed so interested in the mutilated wolves, and that all too familiar need to weave together the narrative tugged at me, but I fought to push it away. “It’s not my case. I haven’t accepted the Bureau’s freelance contract offer, and I’m supposed to be retired.”
“Retirement isn’t sitting well with me, either.” Miller’s eyes sparked with determination, and my inquisitive nature shifted into overdrive, wanting to know what made this man tick.
“I didn’t say that.” I bit back a smile. “Asher just took me rock climbing for the first time ever. I think I’m going to like all these new adventures.”
He gave me a half-hearted nod. “Maybe so. I could be wrong in thinking you might have fun helping me in my hunt for a man who vanished from his house in broad daylight.”
I shook my head. He was baiting me. And I was struggling not to take it. “Sounds like a job for the local police.”
He glanced at Asher and back to me. “My retirement wasn’t just from the military. I was the liaison to the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. This disappearance could be connected to top-secret defense operations. I can’t risk getting the police involved.”
Dammit. It was like he was dangling a glass of ice water in front of me in the middle of the desert. I clung to the last threads of my resolve. “I’m retired. I don’t have security clearance for any of that.”
“That’s why you’d be perfect.” He lowered his voice. “I’m afraid some of them might be behind all this.”
Nefarious top-secret plots? Shit. I was doomed. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to look over your notes and see if I notice any patterns or connections with my case.”