Anahera shot him a hard look. “What the hell is up with you?” It wasn’t the first edgy comment he’d made about her and Will tonight. “I know you’re not jealous.”

He didn’t speak again the entire drive, finally bringing his truck to a stop in front of Tom and Josie’s place. Sitting in the vehicle with him, his mood dark and turbulent, Anahera realized she might’ve made a stupid mistake after all. Because this Nikau wasn’t the man she’d once known, was angry inside in a way that verged on frightening. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine him taking out his anger on a vulnerable woman. Punishing her in place -of—-

Oh, God.

She, Josie, Matilda, they’d all made a mistake: Anahera wasn’t the only person in town who fit the summer killer’s preference. Keira had been dyeing her hair to a light brown shade with blonde streaks since she turned eighteen, and often wore gray or green contacts. Strip away the artifice, however, and she was brown eyed, black haired, with skin and bone structure like Anahera’s.

Her mouth went dry.

“It’s got nothing to do with you, or with Will,” Nikau said suddenly. “I’m just being a bastard because Keira is pregnant.” He spit out the last word. “She’s going to have that asshole’s baby.”

“Who told you?”

She expected to hear that it had been a gloating Daniel.

“Keira.” His pain was too big for the truck, a suffocating pressure. “She came to see me, told me she didn’t want this kind of anger between us during her pregnancy. Asked me to chill it. Said we should be friends.”

Focused on survival, Anahera didn’t say what she thought. At least not until she’d undone her seat belt and pushed open the door. “Look,” she said, “it’s not good for you to be around her all the time.” Stepping out, she shut the door, but leaned down to speak through the open window. “Get out of this town and move on, explore the world through your career. You’re a great guy, Nik. So many women would be happy to be with you.”

Nikau shot her a look of anger so cold that she moved away from the window. “I can get her to love me again.”

Anahera decided to keep her mouth shut on any further comments. If Nikau was a monster under the skin, then she might inadvertently put Keira in the crosshairs. Saying a quick thanks for the ride instead, she began to walk up Josie’s drive.

Nikau’s truck didn’t move.

One second, two, -three—-

Josie opened the door, her pregnant form silhouetted in the light behind her, and Anahera finally heard Nikau’s truck revving off and away, taking with it a friend who’d turned into a stranger.

56

Darkness shrouded the road into Golden Cove, the trees seeming to lean in to embrace the night. The twin beams of Will’s headlights were the only points of brightness in the -pitch--black landscape. Take away the road markings, cut off access to the outside world, and the land would swallow you up until nothing remained.

Or until only bones remained.

Robert had called him an hour earlier to say he was attempting to get new copies of the dental and medical records of the missing hikers; the ones in the original case files were no longer in the best condition. “Speed things up for the forensic anthropologist,” the other detective had said. “Everyone should have a name.”

Yes. No one should be buried in a grave without a name.

Will’s eyes skimmed the glowing digits of the dashboard clock. It was well past eleven at night. He should let Anahera rest. But, after all the death today, and even if she was angry with him for doubting Tom’s family man persona, he had a craving inside him to see her alive and vibrant.

The supermarket’s great big corporate symbol blazed against the night, but, as always at this time, the store was -shut—-along with nearly all the other businesses in Golden Cove. Only the pub remained open, patrons and staff moving beyond the -street--facing windows.

He was about to bring the SUV to a halt by the police station so he could call Anahera, when he saw a hint of something on the horizon that captured his attention. It twisted like fog against the bluish black of the night sky, but that made no sense. There was no sign of fog anywhere in the vicinity and what he’d seen was rising too fast.

Smoke.

Will stepped out of his vehicle into the cold, the wet tarmac gleaming in the beams of his headlights, but the sky was clear of rain. He didn’t smell any hint of fire on the air currents, but he had not a single doubt that was smoke on the horizon.

And it was drifting in from the beach end of town.

Normally, that would’ve made it less of a threat. Especially with the weather having been so damp. Things were too wet for the vegetation to catch fire. But not only was that smoke too strong, too high, it was coming from the direction of Anahera’s cabin.

Getting back into his vehicle, he drove screamingly fast to the firehouse, then jumped out and used his emergency key to get into the building. Golden Cove had too small a population to have volunteer firefighters standing by, so the town had come up with another system.

A second after he entered the firehouse, he pushed the button that set off a piercing siren, then used his authorization to send an emergency message to the pagers worn by all the volunteers. He relocked the door to protect the gear inside, as the trained volunteers all had keys, and was back in his SUV before anyone responded.