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This was the path David Banks normally took for his evening walk. He had been seen here the evening he had disappeared. Right here, in this very spot, below the falls and the old water management plant.
She stared across the water at the brick building with its hollow spillways and boarded windows. In the overcast light it appeared brooding, sinister.
Kanawha Falls. The water that crashed into the small lake ran its course back into the river and continued along its way. And here David Banks had been standing, staring up at the old plant, the last time he had been seen.
That had been two weeks before.
There had been an extensive search of the river. Divers had been called in, satellites had been aimed into the murky depths and remote search bots had canvassed the water for days. Nothing had been found.
The sheriff, Danna Lacey, had led search teams through the area. Not so much as a clue to what had happened to the former mayor had been found. It was as though he had disappeared off the face of the earth.
Shaking her head, Cassa turned and stared up the sloped bank that led back to the parking area and a small picnic location. Winter-dried bamboo saplings waved in the breeze, while the hulking skeletons of bare trees cast dark shadows out over the bank and reminded her that nothing in this beautiful little town was as it seemed.
Breathing out roughly, she made her way back up to the parking area before turning and heading into the edge of the trees that led back to the main river on the other side.
There had been nothing to indicate that David Banks had walked into the forested area. It wasn’t part of Banks’s known walking trail, and it had been searched many times. She didn’t expect to find anything to indicate that he had been there; rather, she was making note of whom she saw and what she saw.
One thing she had made note of was the fact that she was being followed by none other than Cabal himself. She had seen two other Breed Enforcers in town earlier, at the small café where she had breakfast. Rule Breaker and Lawe Justice had been quietly amused as they watched her. They had then traded off duties with Cabal after she left the café.
He’d been following her ever since.
Didn’t he have his own investigation to see to? She was certain he had more resources in the area than she had managed to dig up, despite the fact that she was acquainted with several of the journalists in town, as well as the sheriff.
There was a dead end here on Banks as well as H. R. Alonzo’s murder. And what made it even worse, one of the first news stories of the morning was the report that H. R. Alonzo had died in a blaze that had swept through his Missouri home. The cause of that blaze was yet to be determined, but the unofficial report was that HR’s fireplace and the fire that had burned within it had somehow been the cause.
It would be ruled an accidental death, just as the others had been. Jonas Wyatt and the Bureau of Breed Affairs were amazingly efficient, at all times.
It would make the stor
y she was working on more difficult. It was hard to report someone had been murdered by a Breed when a human coroner ruled the death accidental. The pictures she held were next to worthless, but not a total loss.
What the hell was going on? She couldn’t believe the Bureau would turn a killer loose, but she knew Wyatt and his enforcers. If there was a rogue Breed out there threatening the stability of the Breed community, then they would have neutralized that threat as quickly as possible. Which meant they didn’t know any more than she did.
More than likely, they were being led on the same wild-goose chase she was being led on, and refused to admit to it.
“Ms. Hawkins, you do like to live dangerously.”
Cassa came to a hard stop as Dog stepped just far enough from the other side of a tree to allow her to recognize him.
The overcast day lent a brooding, harsh quality to his expression. It cast shadows that did nothing to soften his features or to help him appear less threatening. Though Cassa doubted anything could make the Coyote Breed appear less threatening. And considering the fact that Cabal was likely not far behind her, the situation had turned into one with the potential to become rather dangerous. At least for Dog.
“And you say I like to live dangerously.” She gave a short, sarcastic little laugh. “You must be suicidal.”
“That’s the general opinion.” His lips quirked into a rueful, if not mocking, smile, and his strong white teeth gripped an ever present cigar. “But you’re definitely showing signs of following in my footsteps.”
She gave a false shiver of dread. “Bite your tongue, Coyote. I can’t think of anyone who would want to do anything so foolhardy.”
For a second, something dark and bitter flashed in his gaze, but then it cleared and the familiar icy disdain replaced it.
“Neither can I actually,” he drawled. “Which leads me to wonder exactly why you’re still in Glen Ferris. You should be in Missouri covering H. R. Alonzo’s accidental death.” His lips tilted in a cruel, cold smile. “Poor bastard burned himself to a crisp.”
“So I heard.” She shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket as she watched him warily.
“Coroner ruled an accidental death. Did you know his will states a wish to be cremated? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” His canines flashed warningly.
Alonzo didn’t die in a damned house fire and he knew it. Dog had been in those mountains the night before, most likely for the same reason she had been there. To find proof that the Bureau was hiding a rogue Breed. Unlike Dog though, it wasn’t the killings she wanted to reveal, it was the reason behind them. She wanted a story that wouldn’t destroy the Breeds, while she was certain Dog was more inclined to see the worst possible scenario revealed. He was rumored to be part of whatever was left of the Genetics Council. He was the muscle—no one had quite figured out for certain who held his chain.
“Why are you bothering me today, Dog?” She crossed her arms over her breasts and faced him suspiciously. “I think we’re both aware Cabal isn’t too far away.”
