“Done.” His mind spun with possibilities. He tried to mentally put together the few facts he knew, but he couldn’t get a picture. All he knew was that the danger was real and sounded deadly. “But is the murder, what you saw, tied to the notes you’re getting now?”

“Must be since I don’t have any other big secrets in my past, even though I still don’t get how. All of that should be over.”

She seemed determined to tell him the part about the secrets. It’s the exact reason he didn’t buy it. That and the tone. Her voice dipped as if she was trying to convince both of them. “Really?”

“Which part?”

“I think you know.” When she continued to stare at him, he filled in the blank. “The secrets, Maddie. Do you really only have one?”

All of the emotion left her face. “Don’t analyze me.”

Apparently only she could play that game, or so she thought. But she was wrong. “You just said I was stuck in my grief.”

“You haven’t truly mourned your sister. That’s obvious.”

He blocked the words. Didn’t let them in his head. “Yet you’re fine.”

“I never said that.”

He had enough. He turned back around and continued walking.

She called after him. “Where are you going?”

“Not far.”

“It feels like you’re running away.”

“No, just going deeper into . . .” He saw the flash of red a few feet away and thought it was a shirt or a piece of trash. A few more steps told him he was dead wrong. “Oh, shit.”

“What?”

He heard the crunch of her sneakers against the dead leaves and warned her off. He needed her away from this. Far away. “Are you carrying your cell?”

“Of course, why?”

She stood right behind him. He turned to tell her to go back to the cabin. “Maddie.”

It was too late. Her eyes focused on the spot over his shoulder and her mouth dropped open. “Oh, my God.”

Connor followed her gaze to the man lying facedown on the ground. Blood pooled around him. Connor tried to look anywhere but there. One glance and his stomach heaved. Seeing blood did that to him.

“Who is that?” Her voice vibrated with shock.

He understood exactly how she felt. “Call Ben.”

Chapter 18

Most people went their entire lives without seeing a dead body. This was Maddie’s second experience. She didn’t handle it this time any better than the first.

She sat in the conference room off of Ben’s office. She’d called her fill-in and asked her to take care of the answering service for a few days. There were only so many responsibilities she could handle at one time.

The dead body changed everything.