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Chapter 1

Her eyes were wide with fear and death. She stared up at him as if appealing to him for help. She wasn’t the only one.

“Come on, Forrest,” his brother Donovan implored him. “Whisperwood PD needs your expertise.”

Forrest gestured at the body lying amid the piles of dirt where Lone Star Pharma had intended to expand its parking lot. The drug company had had to put its plans on hold once the asphalt crew had dug up the body. “This isn’t a cold case.”

She couldn’t have been buried that long; the body had barely begun decomp. Not that he was that close to the scene, which the techs were still processing. He’d wanted to stay out of the way, but his brothers had urged him closer.

“This isn’t the only body that turned up recently,” Jonah, the oldest of his brothers, chimed in on the conversation. He and Donovan had picked up Forrest from their parents’ ranch and brought him out here. Now he understood why. They were trying to get him involved in the investigation.

They stared at him now. And even though Donovan wasn’t biologically their brother, he looked more like Jonah than any of their biological brothers did. They were both dark haired and dark eyed, whereas Forrest’s hair was lighter brown and longer than their buzz cuts, and his eyes were hazel.

“Unfortunately she isn’t the only recent casualty,” Forrest agreed.

A dozen people had lost their lives due to the flooding and wind damage Hurricane Brooke had wreaked on Whisperwood, Texas. Despite being early in the season, the storm had been deadly.

“That’s why we’re here—to help out because of the natural disaster,” he reminded his brothers. They were part of the Cowboy Heroes, a horseback rescue organization formed years ago by ranchers and EMTs. Forrest had volunteered to help the Heroes’ search-and-recovery efforts—not the police department. “And this isn’t a natural disaster.”

Though this person might have been one of the people reported missing since the hurricane, the storm hadn’t caused her death. From what Forrest could see in the lights that the Whisperwood PD’s forensic unit had set up to illuminate the crime scene, the young woman had bruising around her neck and on her arms and legs. She hadn’t drowned or been struck by a fallen tree.

She’d probably been strangled and maybe worse.

A chill raced down his spine despite the warmth of the August night. The death had happened recently.

“This is murder,” Jonah said. He must have noticed what Forrest had. “Just like the body that Maggie and I found last month.” He shuddered now. “And that one definitely falls within your area of expertise.”

Forrest shook his head. “Not anymore.”

A shooting had forced his early retirement from the Austin Police Department’s cold-case unit. That shooting and the pins that held together the shattered bones in his leg were why he’d had to retire with disability and why, as a volunteer with the Cowboy Heroes, he was consigned to a desk, operating the telephones. He took the calls about what people were missing: loved ones and livestock. But he’d rather be out in the field with his brothers, actually searching for those missing people and animals. Hell, he’d rather be back on the job. And they knew him so damn well that they were aware of that.

Jonah lowered his voice to a gruff whisper and murmured, “Not because you don’t want to.”

Sure, he would love to go back to the job, but there was no way in hell that he could pass a physical now. Not with his leg.

As if he’d read Forrest’s mind, Jonah continued, “But you can now. The chief will give you a special dispensation to help out as an interim detective.”

The “special dispensation” pricked his pride, and he clenched his jaw. “I don’t need you all doing me any favors.”

“You’d be doing me the favor,” Donovan said. “I was just about to leave on my honeymoon when this call came into the department.” Donovan helped out only part-time with the Cowboy Heroes; he was a full-time K9 cop with Whisperwood PD.

“It’s a mini honeymoon,” Forrest reminded him. “You’re not going to be gone long.”

“But even when we get back, I’m going to be distracted,” Donovan claimed. “Bellamy’s pregnant.”

Jonah chortled and slapped their brother’s back. “That’s great! That’s wonderful news.”

And with everything that had happened since the hurricane, good news was more than welcome.

“Congratulations,” Forrest said, and he reached out and squeezed his brother’s shoulder. Donovan and Bellamy so deserved their happiness. They’d been through so much recently.

“Thanks,” Donovan said with a big grin. But then he glanced down at the body and shook his head. “She deserves someone’s full attention, and the police department and the chief are just stretched too damn thin right now, dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane.”

And the other dead body.

The chief’s sister. Had someone else really murdered her? Or was serial killer Elliot Corgan messing with everyone from beyond his grave?

Forrest wouldn’t put it past the sadistic son of a bitch. When he’d been on the job, he’d dealt with quite a few serial killers. They got nearly as much enjoyment playing mind games with law enforcement as they did killing.

He glanced down at the dead girl. At least one thing was for certain: Elliot hadn’t killed her. He wouldn’t have been able to manage that from beyond the grave. Unless...

“You’re already on the case,” Jonah said with a slight smile. “I can see your wheels turning.”

Forrest glared at his big brother, but he didn’t deny it. Too many thoughts flitted through his mind. Was she one of the people presumed missing because of Hurricane Brooke? Had someone taken advantage of the storm to murder her, thinking that law enforcement would assume she’d been lost in the flooding that had followed the storm?

Chief Thompson had been moving around the crime scene, talking to the techs and officers guarding the perimeter. Ignoring the reporters who shouted questions at him from the other side of the police tape, Whisperwood PD’s top cop walked toward Forrest and his brothers. Thompson had been doing this job for a long time, and his experience showed in the lines in his face and the way his shoulders sagged when he looked down at the body. He shook his head and sighed, and his Stetson slipped lower over his face.

Forrest had realized some years into his career that it would never get any easier to see someone dead, especially murdered, and the chief just proved that to him. He let his own hat slide down to shield his face.

Thompson turned away from the body to focus on Forrest now, his blue eyes sharp with intelligence and determination. “So, you going to do it? You going to take the job?”

His brothers stared at him, nodding and smiling to encourage his acceptance. They probably figured this would be good for him, would get him back doing the job he loved. But when he’d been shot, the job hadn’t been the only thing he’d lost that he loved.

That experience had taught him never to risk his heart again. So the job was all he had—even if it was just a short-term assignment.

He nodded. “Yes, I’ll take it.”

Not for his sake, though, like his brothers obviously wanted. But for hers.

He stared down at the dead woman, determined to make sure she got the justice she deserved and that the killer would not hurt anyone else.

* * *

“He’s so cute,” Bellamy cooed as she cradled the baby against her chest and kissed the top of his head. He’d been born with a full head of soft brown hair, the same chocolaty color as his mama’s. He also had her big brown eyes.

Rae’s heart swelled with maternal pride. “Yes, he is,” she said just as a yawn slipped out. He’d also been keeping her up nights with a bout of colic, and Bellamy’s bed was so comfy, Rae was tempted to take a nap right there amid the pile of clothes and the suitcase.

“Hey, you need to finish packing,” Maggie told her sister as she pried the baby from Bellamy’s arms. “You’re supposed to be leaving for your honeymoon.”

“I will,” Bellamy said. “As soon as Donovan gets back from the crime scene.”

Rae shuddered. “So another body’s been found?” Twelve people had died in the hurricane, but she’d thought all of the missing had been accounted for—thanks to the Cowboy Heroes’ rescue-and-recovery efforts.

Maggie had been one of the missing. Fortunately she had been found alive. Jonah Colton hadn’t just rescued her, though; he’d also fallen in love with the former beauty queen. A pang of wistfulness tugged at Rae’s heart, not that she wanted anyone falling in love with her.

She was too busy with her two-month-old son and her law-school classes and her new job as a paralegal to fit a man into her life right now. Or ever.

Connor was the only man for her. She smiled as he clutched his fingers around a lock of Maggie’s pretty blond hair. Like every other male in Whisperwood, he was drawn to the former beauty queen.

Rae might have been jealous if Maggie wasn’t as beautiful inside as she was on the outside. She twisted her pretty features into comical faces as she cooed at the fascinated baby. Then she glanced up at Rae and a frown pulled down the corners of her mouth. “From what the chief told Jonah, it sounds like the death had nothing to do with the hurricane.”

Rae gasped. “Was it...like the body you and Jonah found?”

Maggie shuddered. “I hope not.”

That body had been mummified. Rae hadn’t seen it, but just the thought of it had given her nightmares. She couldn’t imagine what Maggie had gone through because of that and the threats to her life.

All of the crime in Whisperwood was what had compelled Rae to take the LSAT to try to get into law school. Nobody had probably been as surprised as she’d been that she’d done so well that she’d had her pick of schools. Of course she’d chosen to stay in Whisperwood with her friends. With her mom gone, they were the only family she had now—except for Connor. She’d already been pregnant with him when she’d taken the exam.

Bellamy nipped her bottom lip with her teeth. “Maybe Donovan and I shouldn’t go away right now.”

“No!” Rae and Maggie both shouted.

Connor, startled, began to cry. Rae jumped up from the bed and took him from Maggie. Holding him close, she rubbed her hand up and down his back and murmured, “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re okay.”

He settled down with a hiccupping sob. Then the tension drained from his tiny body and he began to drift off to sleep like Rae had longed to.

“You’re so good with him,” Maggie said with a smile.

“You are,” Bellamy agreed. She looked more like Rae, with dark hair and eyes, and with as long as they’d known each other, they were more like sisters than friends. “You’re amazing. I can’t believe how much you’re doing all on your own.”

Rae smiled with pleasure and pride. But then she reminded her friend, “You’ve done the same.”

Maggie’s mouth pulled down into another frown, and regret struck a pang in Rae’s heart. She hadn’t meant to cause any issues between the sisters. They’d already had too many.

“I was never alone,” Bellamy said. “I had you, Rae.” She turned toward Maggie and smiled at her sister. “And you... I just didn’t realize what all you were doing for me.”

“Rae’s right,” Maggie said. “You did all the heavy lifting on your own.” Taking care of their ailing parents. “You deserve this honeymoon. You deserve every happiness. Don’t let Donovan back out of going.”

Bellamy smiled. “Not a chance. He’s determined to go. He and Jonah are going to work on convincing Forrest to step in and take over the murder investigations.”

Maggie nodded. “Oh, that’s what big brother is up to.” She’d fallen for the oldest of the Colton brothers. “He said he was going to pick up Forrest.”

Another little pang struck Rae’s heart at the mention of that particular Colton brother. It was probably just regret again. She shouldn’t have asked him to dance at Bellamy and Donovan’s wedding. But as one of two maids of honor, she’d wanted to make sure every guest enjoyed the celebration. That was the only reason she’d asked—not because he was ridiculously good-looking, with his chiseled features and his brooding intensity.

He hadn’t had to be so curt with her, though. Sure, she’d known he had a limp from an injury in the line of duty. But he still worked with the Cowboy Heroes, so she hadn’t thought he was really disabled. He could have held her and just swayed from side to side. It wasn’t as if she’d asked him to two-step or line dance with her. But she shouldn’t have asked at all. The only reason she had was because of how alone he’d looked...even among all of his family.

And that loneliness had called to hers. Because even with her son and her good friends, she sometimes felt alone like that, too. That was better, though, than falling for someone only to have him leave.

“I didn’t think Forrest was going to stick around much longer,” she said. “Won’t he move on to the next natural disaster, with the rest of the Cowboy Heroes?”

“Whisperwood needs them for more than rescue-and-recovery efforts right now,” Maggie said. She shuddered again. “There’s a killer on the loose.”

“That’s why we should postpone our honeymoon,” Bellamy said.

“No,” Rae and Maggie said again, their voices soft this time, though.

Bellamy sighed. “Okay, but you both need to promise me that you’ll be extra careful.”

“Of course,” they agreed, again in unison.

“I know Jonah won’t let anything happen to you,” Bellamy told her sister. “But you...”

Rae smiled. “I can take care of myself.” She’d done it for most of her life.

Bellamy took the sleeping baby from her arms and snuggled him against her. “But you have Connor to worry about, too, and your classes. I’m really concerned about you living out there in the country, alone.”

“I’m not alone,” Rae reminded her.

Bellamy pressed another kiss to the soft hair on Connor’s head. “He’s not going to be much protection against a bad guy—at least not for a few more years.”

“Like twenty,” Maggie added with a chuckle.

“I don’t need a man to protect me,” Rae said. She’d never had one. Her father had been more likely to put her and her mother in danger—at least financially—than to protect them. “I don’t need a man at all.”

“You proved that by having this little guy on your own,” Maggie said. “I admire you.”

“Me, too,” Bellamy added. “Although I think I had more fun conceiving mine the way we did.”

Rae stared at her friend. “What?”

“I’m pregnant,” the new bride announced, her face glowing with happiness and love.

Tears rushed to Rae’s eyes. “That’s wonderful.”

“So wonderful,” Maggie agreed as her eyes filled with tears, too. “I’m thrilled for you.”

“Me, too,” Rae said. “You and Donovan are going to be amazing parents.”

“I’m going to drive you crazy,” Bellamy warned her, “with all the questions I’ll be asking you.” Bellamy’s mom was gone, like Rae’s was.

Rae missed her mom every day. They’d been so close; Georgia had been more of a friend than a mother to her. Now that she was a mother herself, she’d never needed her more.

“You won’t drive me crazy at all,” Rae assured her. “I’m not sure I’ll have all the answers, though.” Mostly she felt as if she was stumbling around in the dark, blindly finding her way as a parent and as a student again at thirty-five.

“You’ll have more than I’ll have,” Maggie said. “You’re the smartest, most independent person I know.”

The tears already stinging her eyes threatened to spill over, but Rae blinked them back to smile at her friend. “I’m not sure about smartest. Law school is tougher than I thought it would be.”

“Because you just had a baby two months ago and you’re working,” Bellamy reminded her as she stared down at Connor, who was sleeping so peacefully in her arms.

If only he slept that peacefully at night...

“It’ll get easier,” Rae said. That was what she kept telling herself.

Bellamy chuckled softly. “You’re smart, but I think it’s your stubbornness that keeps you going.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Rae’s mouth. She couldn’t deny that.

“Just don’t be so stubborn and independent that you put yourself in danger,” Bellamy advised. “Promise?”

Rae sighed. “Of course I’m not going to put myself or Connor in danger,” she assured her. “Stop worrying about me. And let’s get you ready for your honeymoon!”

“Since she’s already pregnant, I think she knows about the birds and the bees,” Maggie teased.

They all laughed, rousing Connor from his impromptu nap. But he didn’t cry when he awakened; he just groggily looked up at Bellamy, who was holding him. She was like an aunt to him, and Maggie was fast becoming like another. These women and her baby were the only family that Rae needed.

She didn’t need a man for protection or for anything else. But when she left Bellamy’s cute two-bedroom house and headed home with Connor safely buckled into the back seat, an odd chill passed through her despite the warmth of the August night. Fear.

Maybe it was all of the talk about bodies and killers.

Or maybe it was her postpartum hormones.

She preferred to blame the hormones. Because she had nothing to fear.

* * *

The television screen illuminated only the area of the dark room around the TV. From the shadows, he watched the evening news report from the crime scene at Lone Star Pharma.

Her body had been found. His hands clenched into fists as rage coursed through him.

Damn it...

The news crews had been kept back, behind the police barricade. But the camera zoomed in on the scene and captured the people investigating the discovery. The Cowboy Heroes.

What the hell were they doing there?

He unclenched one fist to turn the volume up.

“Chief Thompson has enlisted the help of former Austin cold-case detective Forrest Colton,” the reporter announced. “Colton has been given special dispensation from the Whisperwood Police Department to lead the investigation of this murder and the body discovered last month in a mummified condition. Colton holds the highest clearance rate in the Austin Police Department, so an arrest seems imminent.”

He cursed again.

No. An arrest was not imminent. Forrest Colton might have gotten lucky in Austin, but his luck was about to run out in Whisperwood. And maybe his life, as well.