Page 47 of The Hero She Loves

The Hoskins had clearly put up a fight.

Her stomach curdled. It didn’t matter how many times she saw death, it still affected her. Tom Hoskins was lying on thefloor, next to the toppled chair. There was a large, dried pool of blood underneath his head. Strings of rope were attached to the chair, and he’d clearly been tied to it at some stage. He’d died from a gunshot wound.

His wife was on the bed. Her arms were flung out wide and the ligature marks on her neck were obvious.

“Fucking hell,” Park muttered.

“Olson did this.” Jenna had been too late to stop him. Her chest felt like it was filled with rocks. She stepped closer to the bed. Sheryl had brown hair, with a touch of gray she’d clearly been growing out. Her hair was tangled around her face.

For a second, Jenna had a flashback to another dead woman. Barely more than a girl, with sightless eyes, dried leaves tangled in her brown hair.

“It doesn’t look like he raped Mrs. Hoskins,” Park said. “She’s still dressed.”

Jenna looked away, pulling in a short breath. “A small blessing. I think her husband got free and must have surprised Olson.”

Park’s mouth flattened. “So, he killed Tom, and since he’d lost his audience, he didn’t go through with the rape.”

No, Olson had just strangled the poor woman to death. The sick bastard.

Anger was a hot ball in her stomach. “I have to call it in to Dunford.”

Park didn’t respond. He crouched, looking at something on the floor.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Olson got blood on his boots.” Park rose and followed the trail to the window. It was wide open. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find which direction he went.”

Outside, they carefully navigated around another booby trap, and Jenna followed Park as he stared at the ground, heading away from the cabin.

She couldn’t see anything, but clearly he could. “You can really tell that he went this way?

“Yes. I’m trained to look for tracks and signs. I can see the small depressions he’s left, even if there isn’t a full footprint. Plus, there are some small smudges from the blood.”

Park stopped at the tree line. “No more blood, but he was moving in that direction. He’s left a few tiny signs. Maybe he didn’t think anyone would find the couple. Thought he was safe.”

“I need to call this in.”

He nodded.

Jenna pulled the satellite phone out of her backpack and called the state troopers. After she’d relayed all the details of the murder and their location, she checked in with Owen.

Since she and Park had spotted Olson yesterday, Owen and the other search teams were closing in to this location. They were trying to make sure Olson didn’t slip away if he tried to escape.

Still, Alaska was wild and open, and Olson was good at staying hidden.

I’m going to catch you. No matter what.

When she finished the calls, Park was fiddling with the device on the front steps.

Her pulse jumped. “Park, you’d better not…”

He rose, the grenade in his hand. “I’ve disabled it. We need to clear the area, and search for any more devices that he might have left behind.”

“All right. The troopers are sending a helicopter. Dunford said his team will process the scene.” She released a breath. “Those poor people. They left the big city, and ended up being murdered in a remote cabin in Alaska.” She shook her head.“Olson can run, but he can’t hide forever. I’m going to take great pleasure in taking him down.”

“This isn’t your fault, Jenna.”

She looked at him. “I wasn’t fast enough.”