Morgan's Hunter Read Online Free Page B

believing it myself.”
    Morgan closed her eyes. “What happened?”
    “Why don’t we discuss everything tomorrow?”
    She was tempted to agree and wait for the horrid details of their accident. But how did three people accidentally get shot?
    This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. Her body shook. She clenched her fists, attempting to gain control over her racking shudders. She wanted to hang up, to go find Dave and Jim and forget the whole thing. Then she could pretend her father’s call was some sort of mistake.
    But she wasn’t made that way.
    She did her best to steel herself. “No. Tell me, Dad.”
    He sighed. “They were found shot in the head, Morgan, out in backcountry. We hadn’t received any transmission signals from their tracking systems for a couple of days.”
    Her father took another deep breath before he continued. “Shelly’s transmitter suddenly came on the day before the rangers found them. They think she must’ve turned it on when she figured out they were in trouble. At this point, we know they walked about a mile before the signal stopped moving. That’s where they found their bodies, honey.”
    She shook her head. “I can’t…” Her voice broke as her heart crumbled. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she swiped them away.
    Morgan took an unsteady breath as she stood on legs that threatened to buckle. “Dad, I have to tell Dave and Jim. What should I say? How do I explain that our friends—” She pressed her lips together in a firm line, choking back her tears.
    “I can talk to them, honey.”
    Morgan shook her head again. “No. Shelly and I were in charge of this team.”
    “That’s my girl. We’ll put the assignment on hold. Helen will book your flights back for late tomorrow afternoon. That should give you plenty of time to drive to Portland. The tickets will be at the counter.”
    “Of course, but I want to depart in the morning. We’ll leave early. I need to get back and find out what in the hell is going on.” She stared at the cheap lighthouse painting hanging just off center across the room, struggling to take everything in. “Who did this to them? Why?”
    “We don’t know. Perhaps I’ll have more information when I pick the three of you up. I’ll see you tomorrow, Peanut.”
    “Love you, Daddy. Bye.”

    Morgan’s racking sobs echoed off the walls of the shower until the water ran cold. She wrapped herself in a towel, clutching the cotton tight, seeking warmth.
    Her friends were dead—had been dead for two days. While she, Dave and Jim had joked and gambled for marshmallows by the light of their campfire, their pals had been murdered. She didn’t want to believe it.
    Memories of the team’s night out played through her mind. She never would’ve imagined it to be their last. Six people—all as different as could be, from all walks of life—had grown into such a close unit, a family, and now half of them were gone.
    Morgan dressed quickly in jeans and a t-shirt, desperate to be in the company of her two remaining team members—her friends.

Chapter 3

    “D AD, I’M GOING.” MORGAN PACED the length of the spacious office, making flinty eye contact with every turn.
    “Damn it, Morgan!” Stanley slammed his hand on his desk. “The person responsible for the team’s deaths is still at large. You aren’t traipsing through backcountry by yourself. I won’t allow it.”
    “I’m twenty-six.” She glared at him as she turned toward the massive windows of the Bureau’s presidential suite, huffing out a breath. She stared at the triangular tip of the Washington Monument far off in the distance, trying desperately to find some semblance of control over her shaky emotions.
    For days, she’d ridden Hell’s rollercoaster, fighting waves of turmoil death always left in its wake. At moments she’d fly high, finding sweet relief in numbness and disbelief, allowing herself—for just a moment—to deny that the worst had really happened. But newspaper