stared at her. “And?”
Frustration pulled at the edges of her temper. “And nothing. I don’t know what you want me to say.”
Nathan moved his body partway in front of hers. “Ford, come on. She’s had a rough night. She told you what she knows. If she thinks of anything else, she’ll call. Let her get a good night’s sleep and revisit this tomorrow.”
Gratitude for this near stranger surged inside her. She needed a break to try to cope with the horror of the night.
Ford stiffened, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I’ll call you tomorrow morning, Ms. Reed.” Ford’s gaze swerved to Nathan. “Go home. Stop forcing your way into my investigation.”
Ford stalked away from them in the direction of the crime scene. Autumn relaxed, realizing she’d been fisting her hands and curling her toes in her shoes.
Autumn pulled the collar of her jacket up to block the wind that kicked up. “Mr. Bradshaw, if you want to follow me, I can register you.”
“Please, call me Nathan.” He set his hand on her lower back, steering her toward her lighted porch. Normally, she wouldn’t have liked a man being so forward with her, but Nathan’s hand through her jacket was warm and comforting. After what she had seen in the woods, she didn’t want to be alone and she welcomed the connection.
When her brother had announced his plans to hike the trail, Autumn hadn’t realized how unsettled she’d feel alone at the campground. It was the first time she had been alone for any length of time at the Trail’s Edge, and without any campers, she felt even more lonely. The short distance to town didn’t feel like a short distance in the middle of the night when it was utterly quiet and she was poignantly alone. And now, knowing someone had been murdered on her property sent a chilling sense of fear along her spine.
She forced herself to play hostess. “Nathan, welcome to the Trail’s Edge. I wish you were visiting under happier circumstances. This is a great campground. The views are beautiful and it’s usually peaceful and quiet.”
He tossed her a half smile and her heartbeat quickened. “Believe me, I wish the same.”
She opened the door to her cabin, and Thor rushed to greet her. She snagged his collar before he ran outside and caused a commotion. She hated to keep him penned in the house, but now wasn’t the time to let him run around the campground. He would drive the investigation team crazy, and she didn’t want him hurt.
Ford’s words didn’t comfort her. The Huntsman was still at large.
Suppressing a shiver of fear, Autumn stroked Thor’s ears. “This is Thor. He was with me when we found the body. He found it first. Unfortunately, I don’t think he will make a very good witness.” She dragged Thor away from the door, and after Nathan stepped through, she shut and locked it behind them. The warmth of the room stung her face. She hadn’t realized how cold it had gotten outside.
As soon as she registered Nathan into one of the cabins, she would turn up the pellet stove and curl up near the heat with a cup of hot chocolate. Though she doubted she would sleep tonight, perhaps she could rest in the warmth and comfort of her cabin.
“I’m sorry you have to go through this,” Nathan said.
Autumn blinked, her eyes feeling gritty with exhaustion. She sat at the kitchen table, her registration sheet blank in front of her. “Why here? Why would he pick this campground of all places?” The Appalachian Trail was more than two thousand miles long. When she’d read about the case three weeks ago, she hadn’t considered the killer would strike so close to her home. For so long, the Trail’s Edge had been her sanctuary from the world.
Nathan took a seat kitty-corner from her. His nearness both calmed and excited her. “I haven’t determined how he chooses an area or why he chooses the victims he does and what makes him move on to another location.”
“Does that mean he could come back?” Autumn said. “Ford didn’t seem to think so.”
Nathan looked from her to her dog. “I don’t think he’s finished here. You described the smell of burning to Ford, but no fire. At every other scene, he has burned his victims’ body. I think you and Thor interrupted the killer before he was finished with his routine.”
Her stomach grew queasy and Autumn closed her eyes. “He was planning to burn her? That wasn’t in the news.”
“It’s a detail the FBI has been keeping close to the chest.”
What about Nathan? “Why are you working this case? Special Agent Ford indicated he didn’t want your help.”
Nathan’s face darkened and a shadow crossed his eyes. “My twin sister was the killer’s third victim. I’m doing this for her and our family.” Grief underscored every word.
“Oh, Nathan. I’m sorry for your loss.” Her words were a useless platitude. She remembered the article in the news about the third victim. The unnamed victim had been planning to go hiking with a friend, but when the friend became sick, she’d gone alone. A park ranger had found the body less than a quarter of a mile from the trail. It made sense now why the ranger had been drawn to the location. A fire along the trail was cause for concern.
“Thank you. Finding Colleen’s killer is the only way I’ll sleep easy at night,” he said.
“You don’t trust Ford to find her?”
“No.”
No explanation.
With his intense dark eyes watching her, she found it hard to think, hard to put together rational thoughts. She’d never had this kind of reaction to a man. It had to be the stress from the night. Finding the body and the exhaustion catching up to her. Being lonely for too long. Missing her father and missing Blaine. She needed a friend, and at the moment, Nathan was the only one who fit the bill.
Nathan straightened his shoulders, as if pulling himself together. “I know you’re tired, but I’d like to ask you a few more questions, if you’re willing to answer them.”
Autumn pulled her hair free of the elastic band holding it. She rubbed her fingers along her scalp, trying to massage away the headache that pulsed there. “Does that mean you’re not planning to follow Ford’s suggestion?” Seeing the raw emotion, she wondered if it was wise for Nathan to stay involved in the case. But how could she refuse to answer his questions knowing how much this meant to him and his family?
“Never considered walking away. Stopping him from killing again is too important.”
The Huntsman moved to an area and killed one or two victims every four to seven days. Seven victims in total, each a seasoned female hiker or camper spending time on the Appalachian Trail, each a model citizen by the accounts of her friends and family. Nathan didn’t believe the killings were random, especially given the descriptions of the victims. They were carefully planned and executed, in the same manner that a lion stalked its prey, waiting for a vulnerable moment to attack.
Nathan had four days, maybe one week max, until another body turned up. If the killer was hunting in this area, Nathan needed to get one step ahead of him. He needed an expert in the
