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I wasn’t entirely sure about that, given the rangers tended to play their cards—and information—very close to their chests, but I was more than happy to let him and Maelle find that out for themselves.
I rubbed my arms and watched the ripples slowly die away. Roger was once again statue-like, and it was rather unnerving. It was almost as if he shut himself down to conserve energy.
It took less than ten minutes for Aiden to arrive. With him was Bryon, a ranger I’d only met once and had never been officially introduced to. He was wearing a wetsuit under his jacket, and was carrying scuba gear.
Aiden stopped beside me, one arm lightly brushing mine as he offered me a take-out coffee cup with the other. “Figured you might need this. Who’s your friend?”
“Roger Smith,” he said, before I could. “My employer—Maelle Defour—asked for Ms. Grace’s assistance in finding a friend who was missing. This is not the result we’d wished.”
“I can imagine.” Aiden’s voice was neutral. “I gather you went in?”
“Indeed. It was the way to uncover what, exactly, we might have found.”
“How far in from the bank did you discover the body?”
“About twenty feet.”
Aiden grunted and glanced at the other ranger. “Byron, you want to get ready?”
As the man obeyed, I said, “Sorry about messing up our plans like this.”
He glanced at me, his expression a mix of amusement and frustration. “As dates go, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“Nor I. But you can always drop by the café once this has been wrapped up.”
“I’ve no idea how long we might be here—it could be late, as the lake will have to be swept.”
I shrugged. “It would appear I’ve nothing else better to do tonight.”
“Good.” Amusement creased the corners of his eyes. “I’d hate to think I could be so easily replaced.”
“And I’d hate you to think I’ve nothing better to do than wait around for you,” I mused. “Perhaps I should go out.”
He grinned. “Says the woman who waited several weeks for me to ask her out again.”
“Smugness is not an attractive trait in a man.”
“It’s not smugness. More a confidence in a mutual attraction.” His amusement died as Bryon moved toward the water. “I’ll have to ask the two of you to move back to the rotunda. Once Jaz has taped off the immediate area, she’ll take your statements.”
I hadn’t even noticed the other ranger’s arrival. As Roger and I made our way back to the rotunda, I saw the brown-haired woman reeling out the blue-and-white tape. I ducked under it and then climbed the step and sat on the bench with my back to the lake, and sipped my coffee. I didn’t need to witness Marlinda’s body being dragged out of the water—not when I was still struggling with nightmares after witnessing a zombie’s head being blown apart.
Roger, it seemed, did need to watch events unfold. Or maybe Maelle did. Maybe she simply wasn’t willing to accept the truth without seeing it with her own eyes. Or, rather, Roger’s.
Once the area was secure, Jaz—who was tall and slender, with lightly tanned skin that suggested she wasn’t from one of this reservation’s packs—stepped into the rotunda and took our statements. With that done, we were released.
“My mistress wishes to thank you for your assistance tonight,” Roger said, as we walked back to his car. “And also wishes to reassert her offer of help should you need it.”
“I won’t, because I’m hoping this is the end of it, but thanks.”
“There is no ending, not until the person responsible for this murder is caught,” he replied.
“Not to belabor the point, but that is a task for the rangers and the RWA, not me.”
“If you truly believe that you will not be called into this hunt, then you are a fool.” His tone once again echoed his mistress’s. “And we both know neither is the case.”
I didn’t say anything, even though I very much suspected she was right. I drained the last of the coffee, then dumped the cup into the nearby bin. Roger and his driver returned me to the café, and Belle had a large glass of wine waiting for me as I stepped through the door.
“Thought you might need to drown your disappointment,” she said.
