Free Tundra Threat by Sarah Varland Page A

course he’s not going to like it. No one likes being investigated for anything. But I’ve got to follow up on this, just in case.”
    “You’re right.” And she was. But he’d rather be anywhere but Barrow when Rick found out he was being investigated. He was a decent boss and usually an easygoing guy—but stress brought out the worst in anybody.
    “What do you think?” She studied him, insecurity flickering in her eyes. McKenna, insecure? He wouldn’t have guessed it. Will had known her since she was born but he had a feeling he could know her for years more and not really know everything about her. She was more intriguing, more complex, than anyone he’d ever known.
    “I think it’s a good idea to investigate any possible lead you can.”
    “But you don’t think it’s going to turn up anything.”
    “Not really.”
    “Because you trust your boss that much?”
    “Not that, I just don’t know why you’d suspect the hunting agencies. Just because the victims came to hunt doesn’t mean they were with a company. Maybe they planned to hunt with local friends, or hire a pilot.”
    “But you do see that hunting is connected somehow.”
    “I see how it seems connected. What do they call that—circumstantial evidence?”
    She leveled him with a glare, took a long sip of coffee. “Humor me for a minute here. Or do you have to go?”
    Will glanced at his watch. Still half an hour to spare. He looked around the room and his eyes settled on a metal folding chair propped against one of the walls. He grabbed it, opened it and sat. “Go ahead, I’m all yours.” He cringed when the words came out. He hadn’t meant them that way.
    But if McKenna noticed how...awkwardly they could be taken, she didn’t say. She just went on.
    “I’m assuming the deaths on the tundra and the body on the beach are connected somehow. The scenes felt very similar, and all the victims came to this area to hunt. Still with me?”
    “Yeah, I see where you’re going. Hunting is coming up everywhere.”
    “Exactly.”
    “Handy, since you’re a wildlife trooper.”
    McKenna grinned. “Ha-ha.” Then her face fell. “But beyond that, I’m just guessing. I’m going to investigate the hunting companies, see if anyone has heard of any of the three victims and just check for anything questionable in general in how those companies are operated.”
    “Maybe...”
    “What?”
    Will leaned forward, elbows on his knees, to meet McKenna’s eyes. “I’m no trooper, but I am a hunter. Maybe I can help you brainstorm, try to help you understand what could have gone on. I’ve got a lot of experience with the people who come out here to hunt. The guys I take on trips with me usually have a certain personality type—maybe understanding that could help in some way.”
    She seemed to consider his proposal, then nodded, and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d held.
    “Now,” he began, “you have to realize this is just a general picture. I don’t know if your dead guys fit this or not.”
    “Speculation could help my mind figure something out, so I’ll take what I can get.”
    “Okay. The hunters who come here are almost always confident. That’s a given if they’re ever going to get anything. Sometimes they’re cocky. But they’re usually men who enjoy many parts of the outdoors, not just hunting.”
    “Makes sense so far. What else?”
    “They have a certain way they like to do things when they hunt. They have established patterns.”
    She frowned a little and he could tell he’d lost her. “Let me try again. What I mean is that they tend to wear the same clothes. They’ll have a favorite jacket, often they’re sentimental about a particular gun and prefer to hunt with it.”
    “They’re creatures of habit.” McKenna nodded as she took notes.
    “Any ideas whether or not the dead men fit that profile?”
    She shook her head. “I wish I knew more about them.” Her eyes narrowed a little as she focused on a