Read Online Primal Obsession by Susan Vaughan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Susan Vaughan
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into the wilderness?” Her forehead crinkled.
“Maybe. Or the guide just doesn’t have his radio on.” Unease kinked a small knot in his gut. Given Annie’s propensity for disasters with Mother Nature, he’d contact the Gomagash Wilderness caretaker later. Find out if he’d seen them. He wasn’t concerned... yet. No reason to worry this woman. “I don’t understand why she wanted to go, but she’ll have a tale to tell.”
“Something about profiling the... Hunter.” Rissa motioned for him to walk with her to the dorms. Back to business. “The girls are waiting for us.”
He glanced down at her anxious face. “It’s against policy for you to be present during my interviews.”
“Oh, but they asked me to stay. Breanna in particular was nervous about the questioning. She’s afraid she can’t give a good description of the man.”
“That incident happened months ago.” He scratched the back of his head. Campus security hadn’t seen a van back then and sure as hell wouldn’t remember anything now. “I wonder why they happened to remember at this particular time.”
“Caitlin said she saw a similar van recently. That triggered her memory.”
“So she called you. Why not the cops?”
“She didn’t call me. I got it out of her when I came by yesterday. She didn’t want any more involvement, but I—”
“Forced the issue.” He slid the sunglasses down again, deliberately angled so the sun reflected off the mirrored lenses. “You certain you didn’t press her so she made up something just to throw you a bone.”
“You presume too much, Detective Wylde.” Her wide blue eyes glistened, but not from the glare. She fiddled with a small plastic frame attached to her keychain. The frame contained a snapshot of her daughter. Her talisman? “The girls didn’t make this up. I’m sure they didn’t.”
Now he felt like he’d kicked a puppy. Shit. He cupped her elbow. Her bones felt fragile as glass. “Come on. You can keep one girl company while I talk to the other. We’ll see where this leads.”
***
Northern Maine woods
At noon, Annie stumbled out of the woods behind Sam and Carl. The muscles in her legs screamed, her lungs burned and anvils filled her sneakers. Three times a week at the gym wasn’t the conditioner she’d thought. Legs trembling, she slid down an embankment to the lake’s edge. Her obit would read Bushwhack Kills Reporter .
She collapsed onto a rock and shrugged off her daypack. The sunscreen and insect repellant cancelled each other out, and welts punctuated her sunburn. Where the sun and mosquitoes had missed, her skin crawled from the glue of lotions and sweat. The brisk breeze off the lake cooled her overheated skin. She sighed with relief.
Water, she needed water. If she could only lift her arms to find the bottle. They’d reached a cove, but where were the others? “We’re lost, aren’t we?”
“Princess, how can we be lost?” Sam wore another wild shirt, this one plastered with piratical fish. Dammit, he didn’t even look tired. And she was too beat to protest her royalty. He passed her his canteen, then pointed across the lake. “You can see our camp right over there.”
Carl took a long pull from his water bottle. Sweat poured down his ruddy features. “Are y’all sure you followed those compass numbers?”
“I’ll check.” Annie scooped her notes from a pocket.
“You do that while I scout around the shore.” Popping a Fig Newton into his mouth, Sam set off to the north.
“All that work and we’re at the wrong damned cove.” Carl mopped his forehead.
“Work, was it? You sure seemed to enjoy yourself.” Struggling and failing to keep anger and frustration from coloring her voice, Annie peered at her notes. Something about the numbers bothered her, but her tuckered brain wouldn’t work. When he didn’t respond, she opted for a change of topic. “What kind of building does your company do?”
Carl lowered himself to sit
“Maybe. Or the guide just doesn’t have his radio on.” Unease kinked a small knot in his gut. Given Annie’s propensity for disasters with Mother Nature, he’d contact the Gomagash Wilderness caretaker later. Find out if he’d seen them. He wasn’t concerned... yet. No reason to worry this woman. “I don’t understand why she wanted to go, but she’ll have a tale to tell.”
“Something about profiling the... Hunter.” Rissa motioned for him to walk with her to the dorms. Back to business. “The girls are waiting for us.”
He glanced down at her anxious face. “It’s against policy for you to be present during my interviews.”
“Oh, but they asked me to stay. Breanna in particular was nervous about the questioning. She’s afraid she can’t give a good description of the man.”
“That incident happened months ago.” He scratched the back of his head. Campus security hadn’t seen a van back then and sure as hell wouldn’t remember anything now. “I wonder why they happened to remember at this particular time.”
“Caitlin said she saw a similar van recently. That triggered her memory.”
“So she called you. Why not the cops?”
“She didn’t call me. I got it out of her when I came by yesterday. She didn’t want any more involvement, but I—”
“Forced the issue.” He slid the sunglasses down again, deliberately angled so the sun reflected off the mirrored lenses. “You certain you didn’t press her so she made up something just to throw you a bone.”
“You presume too much, Detective Wylde.” Her wide blue eyes glistened, but not from the glare. She fiddled with a small plastic frame attached to her keychain. The frame contained a snapshot of her daughter. Her talisman? “The girls didn’t make this up. I’m sure they didn’t.”
Now he felt like he’d kicked a puppy. Shit. He cupped her elbow. Her bones felt fragile as glass. “Come on. You can keep one girl company while I talk to the other. We’ll see where this leads.”
***
Northern Maine woods
At noon, Annie stumbled out of the woods behind Sam and Carl. The muscles in her legs screamed, her lungs burned and anvils filled her sneakers. Three times a week at the gym wasn’t the conditioner she’d thought. Legs trembling, she slid down an embankment to the lake’s edge. Her obit would read Bushwhack Kills Reporter .
She collapsed onto a rock and shrugged off her daypack. The sunscreen and insect repellant cancelled each other out, and welts punctuated her sunburn. Where the sun and mosquitoes had missed, her skin crawled from the glue of lotions and sweat. The brisk breeze off the lake cooled her overheated skin. She sighed with relief.
Water, she needed water. If she could only lift her arms to find the bottle. They’d reached a cove, but where were the others? “We’re lost, aren’t we?”
“Princess, how can we be lost?” Sam wore another wild shirt, this one plastered with piratical fish. Dammit, he didn’t even look tired. And she was too beat to protest her royalty. He passed her his canteen, then pointed across the lake. “You can see our camp right over there.”
Carl took a long pull from his water bottle. Sweat poured down his ruddy features. “Are y’all sure you followed those compass numbers?”
“I’ll check.” Annie scooped her notes from a pocket.
“You do that while I scout around the shore.” Popping a Fig Newton into his mouth, Sam set off to the north.
“All that work and we’re at the wrong damned cove.” Carl mopped his forehead.
“Work, was it? You sure seemed to enjoy yourself.” Struggling and failing to keep anger and frustration from coloring her voice, Annie peered at her notes. Something about the numbers bothered her, but her tuckered brain wouldn’t work. When he didn’t respond, she opted for a change of topic. “What kind of building does your company do?”
Carl lowered himself to sit
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