Wade shook his head. “You boys and your casual flings with these tourists. Be careful. Someday, you’ll get attached to one of them, like I did.” He removed his coat and hung it on a hook. “Kim was here for less than a week on a girls’ trip. I still don’t know how it happened. One minute I’m casually flinging my brains out and then bam! Couldn’t live without her.” He pointed a finger at Reed. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

Reed just laughed, but he suspected Wade was more right than he knew. The night before had been amazing—Erika was hot as hell and her passion had been a complete surprise. But Reed already knew it was more than just sex.

“Hey, did you guys see this printout?” Harrison asked, placing a fax from the state troopers’ office on the desk.

Reed scanned it.

Alaska Search and Rescue had found the remains of a male body during a training session with the Coast Guard on Chichagof Island the day before.

His heart pounded in his chest as he continued to read the details.

The body was currently undergoing an autopsy and investigators at the station were going through missing person files. His hand shook slightly as he looked for the time of the printout.

3:00 a.m.

Around the same time he’d been making love to Erika for the third time. He hadn’t even noticed the fax come in. He didn’t regret their night together, but a slight unease in the pit of his stomach told him having her there at the station overnight hadn’t been the right thing to do.

“Wow...looks like this body was out there a while,” Wade said, reading over his shoulder. “Probably wouldn’t have found him if loggers weren’t cutting back that section of the forest aggressively this past year.”

Loggers. The body was found near the Whitestone Logging site.

He thought he might be sick. His stomach churned and saliva coated the inside of his mouth. He checked the time. Almost nine. “Um...can you guys do a routine check on the vehicles? Tyler mentioned one of the tracks on snowmobile two was a little off the other day.”

Wade nodded. “Sure, man. Harrison, shove that pizza in your face and let’s go.”

Once the men were gone, Reed picked up the landline and called the state troopers’ office.

“Wild River Station.”

He cleared his throat. “Hey, Sergeant Keller, it’s Reed Reynolds from Wild River Search and Rescue.”

“Hey, Reed, what’s up?”

“I’m calling about that body found near Whitestone... Any updates on that yet?” He held his breath. He didn’t know what answer he was hoping for. Closure on his dad’s case would bring relief, but then what? His father would really be gone. He’d lived with the uncertainty for so long, how would he feel knowing for sure?