Branded by Lust: 4 (Night Seekers) by Desiree Holt

raspy voice called at the tap on the
wood.
    Logan opened the door and the man behind the desk looked up,
startled.
    “Logan? Logan Tanner?”
    Rance Danvers was as lean and wiry as ever. Well past sixty,
he was still in fit condition, his gray hair cropped short, his skin leathery
and tanned by the sun. While many of the deputies wore jeans with their uniform
shirts, Rance was always in full khakis, clean and crisply pressed. A sign of
his office, Logan thought.
    The man’s smile when he held out his hand was somewhat
strained.
    “Nice to see you again, Logan. I heard you might be in
town.” His handshake was just as firm as ever.
    “News travels fast, since we just arrived last night.”
    “When I heard Ford Randolph had requested copies of
everything I figured they were for you. Especially since his sister is married
to Greg Mattison. Sit, please.” He indicated the two chairs in front of his
desk.
    Logan took one of the chairs and indicated Rebecca should
take the other. “This is Rebecca Black. We work together.”
    “For that fancy new outfit you joined?” Danvers asked. His
face was a careful mask but there was just the slightest bitter edge to his
voice.
    Logan chose to ignore it. “Yes, we’re both on the same
team.”
    “And I suppose you want to stick your nose into the park
ranger’s death.” Danvers shook his head. “That was a sad and unfortunate
situation but nothing for you to worry about. He was killed by a wild animal.
Coyote or bear. Maybe even a wolverine.” He looked from one of them to the
other. “That’s all it is.”
    Rebecca sat silently, obviously letting Logan take the lead.
    “Rance.” Logan shifted in his chair, resting one booted foot
on the opposite knee. “I’ve seen coyote and wolverine kills. So have you. They
don’t look anything like this and I think you know that. They devour the entire
prey, leaving nothing behind. Not even bones.”
    “Not always,” the sheriff said stubbornly. “They’re vicious
little animals. They’ve even been known to kill a moose.”
    Logan dropped his foot and leaned forward. He was getting
tired of running into the same wall of stubbornness everywhere Night Seekers
went. Wouldn’t people ever learn?
    “Rance.” He forced patience into his voice. “The ranger was
killed in a specific way. So was the sheep. The bodies looked exactly like Wade’s
and Julie’s two years ago and like all the other bodies we’ve seen since then.”
    “Other bodies?” Danvers frowned. “What other bodies? What do
you mean?”
    “The group I work for has one focus—tracking this creature
you don’t want to think exists. We’ve found kills in Texas, Alabama, Maine. I
could maybe agree that there’d be a rare wolverine in Maine but certainly not
south of the Mason-Dixon line. And Rance? Every single body looked exactly the
same. Besides, I understand there were no tracks at the scene except for the
ranger and his vehicle. Any wild creature you’re used to would leave some kind
of track.”
    Next to him Rebecca cleared her throat. “We brought pictures
of the other kills with us. The three cases we’ve worked so far plus anything
we’ve been able to pull off the internet. If you’d just let us show them to you…”
    The sheriff’s jaw clenched. “I know you believe what you’re
telling me, Miss, uh…”
    “Black. Rebecca Black. And I’ve been a trained investigator
for seven years. I saw the kills in Maine firsthand. We aren’t wrong, Sheriff
Danvers.”
    “What can it hurt for you to at least take a look?” Logan
asked. He was really getting tired of this.
    Danvers sat in silence for a long moment. Finally he gave a
brief nod of his head.
    “Have you got them with you?”
    “Yes,” Rebecca said. “We do.”
    “I’ll get them from the truck,” Logan told her and rose from
his chair.
    “If Doug Hayward’s still out there,” Danvers said, “tell him
to come on in.” Then his mouth lifted in a half-grin. “And you might as