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Owen rubbed the back of his neck. “Did you look in the woods? Check to see if he’s there?”
“Hell no,” Lewis barked. “I wasn’t about to traipse through the woods in the middle of the night. If the guy bled out in the woods, he deserved worse. I called the cops, who went over to their house and didn’t find anyone.”
“I need to check the woods. Can you show me where you were?” Owen dropped his hand and turned for the back door.
“Straight down the hill. Can’t miss it.” Lewis sat and grabbed his mug.
Owen glanced over his shoulder. “Seriously? You won’t come outside and show me?”
Lewis shrugged and sipped his coffee.
“I’ll show you,” Marie said.
Owen turned concerned eyes her way. “Are you sure?”
She wasn’t sure of anything, but she couldn’t admit that. If she wanted a different life, she had to do something to make it happen. Showing Owen the spot where she’d struggled was the first step. And hopefully, the steps after would lead to finding Bill and help put him in prison where he belonged.
She could only pray that turning her back on Bill wouldn’t mean condemning the rest of her family in the process.
Owen followed Marie out the door. She didn’t slow her gait to wait for him, even with a baby strapped to her chest. He had so many questions for the mysterious young woman, but her abrupt pace across the yard made it clear she didn’t want his company.
He fisted his hands at his sides as he trailed behind her. The nasty bruise along her jaw made him want to find the bastard she lived with and do much worse to him—if the man wasn’t dead already. She’d appeared timid when he’d first walked into his grandpa’s kitchen, but now she walked with her head held high and determination in her long strides.
The heat had already intensified in the brief time Owen had been inside his grandpa’s house, causing beads of sweat to form along his hairline. He wanted to get this mess figured out and get back to identifying the woman who’d been found dead in the river that morning. No identification had been located on the body, and he hadn’t received a call from Tommy about cause of death.
He fought the urge to call his little brother. Dumb luck had brought Tommy to the crime scene after the jogger called the station. His brother hadn’t been on the job more than a handful of months, and he’d been the first on scene for a crime no one on their small department was prepared for.
The familiar pang of over-protectiveness tempted Owen to keep Tommy away from the investigation, but the limited resources at his disposal didn’t make that a possibility. Besides, Tommy needed to be thrown into the deep end to see if he’d swim.
But first he had to figure out what his grandpa had done.
Tension built between his eyes with every step toward the hill at the end of the property. The tall trees provided a canopy of shade against the blistering heat.
Marie stopped, and he allowed himself one more glance at her tight backside and lean legs—both on full display in her short jean shorts. The muscles in his stomach tightened before he finally averted his gaze and came to a stop beside her.
Marie pointed down the hill. “I think we were right down there.”
“You think?”
She shrugged and wrapped her arms around her sleeping baby. “It was dark, and I was scared. I can’t be completely sure. We just moved to the area, and I don’t even know where I am or how far I ran last night.”
“Stay here. I’ll walk down and see if I find anything.”
He stomped down the hill, careful not to skid on the still-damp grass. Clumps of dried mud and tattered lawn told of a desperate attempt to get up the hill. The rain from the previous day would have made the slick ground more difficult to traverse. He imaged Marie running for her life, and anger heated his blood. Thank God his grandpa had been outside to help her, but hopefully his assistance to a woman he didn’t know hadn’t turned him into a killer.
A large imprint on pushed-down grass caught his attention a few yards down. He scanned the ground as he made his way toward the area, searching for any signs of an injured man. Broken twigs and loose leaves scattered around, but nothing out of the ordinary. He moved slowly down the hill and a splash of red stood out against the green grass pressed against the forest floor.
Crouching, he studied the stains. Large pools of blood splattered the area, trailing into dots of crimson toward the river.
“Did you find anything?” Marie called from the top of the hill.
“Blood. I’m gonna follow the trail and see where it takes me. Looks like to the river, but you never know what I might find.” Owen took slow steps down the hill, making sure to take in as much of the area as possible.
The rustle of grass sounded behind him, and he turned and watched Marie make her way down the hill. Beams of light threaded through the leaf-filled branches and bounced around her, illuminating the beauty of her natural complexion and highlighting her willowy frame. Stands of dark hair snagged along branches, and she swatted at gnats as she walked toward him, pausing for a brief moment to stare at the blood that probably belonged to her boyfriend or whatever he was.
“You can head back to my grandpa’s. You don’t need to see this.” As much as he’d love to get to know more about Marie, being in the woods searching for an injured and possibly dangerous man wasn’t a safe place for her or her child.
She shook her head and darted her gaze up the hill toward the other side of the river. “No. I’d rather go with you.”
