She noticed his interest. Smiling, she put one hand on her hip and struck a pose. “I know. I look different.”
“Yes.” Finn was afraid to say anything else, lest it be regarded as sexual harassment.
“Chalk it up to being a newbie then, and having a starched shirt by my side at all times.”
Her partner had been a two-piece-suit-and-crew-cut type of guy.
“I saw all the missing posters on my way into town.” She rolled his visitor chair next to his seat, and then pulled out a notebook and pen from the leather satchel she carried. “What have we got, Detective?”
She might have changed her appearance, but Agent Foster was still all business. He filled her in on everything he’d learned so far.
“I’ll focus on finding this Cooper Tripp,” she offered.
“That would be great.”
“I see the press is already involved.”
He grimaced. “Not my doing. The parents invited them in.”
She shrugged. “News coverage could help.”
“Yeah, but we’ve got limited personnel to monitor the tip line.” Only Micaela, to be precise. But he knew the aide fancied herself a detective and would much rather listen to all those messages than perform her usual clerical duties.
“Did I understand correctly that you assigned the parents of the missing girls to review the tapes from the festival?” Foster raised a sleek eyebrow.
He waved his hands in the air. “I know, I know. Hardly proper procedure. But we’re short-handed here. Detective Dawes is recuperating from knee surgery, and Detective Larson is away on her honeymoon. We need to proceed quickly, and the parents are most likely to recognize their girls.”
“Understood. But I’d like to see those tapes, too. I might spot suspicious activity that civilians wouldn’t be on the lookout for.”
“We can arrange that onsite.” He logged out of his computer, then noticed the paper file left on his desk. Finn was scrawled in black marker across the outside of the plain manila folder, and a Post-it note was pasted on the outside: What you asked for. Copy on Melendez’s desk.—Miki
He flipped the file open.
Agent Foster leaned forward. “What’s that?”
“A list of females reported missing from this area for the last twenty years.” He shuffled the pages. “And a history of the Todd Sutter case. He was a serial rapist and murderer who was convicted and incarcerated here more than a decade ago.”
Her brows came together. “Do you have reasons to be thinking copycat?”
The FBI agent was right; it made no sense, based on what he’d learned so far. But there had been just too many killings in his jurisdiction for his comfort. He felt like he was missing vital information that he should know.
Sara Melendez walked in. Staggered in, was more like it. The poor woman looked like he felt, as if she’d been up most of the night. She held a large travel mug in one hand and a windbreaker in the other, and as she came through the door she groaned. “There were more bones, Finn. Not too new, not too old—”
She stopped when she spotted Agent Foster sitting at Finn’s desk. “Oh, hello.” Sliding the jacket and coffee cup onto her desk, she walked over and held out a hand. “Detective Melendez. You’re the FBI agent Finn mentioned. Foster, right?”
Foster stood up. “You remember.”
“Of course.” Melendez shook hands. “Not so many of us women that I’d forget.”
“Absolutely correct on that. Call me Alice.”
“Sara.”
“What’s this about bones?” The two women moved over to Melendez’s desk.
Finn briefly wondered if he should feel rejected, but chose to review the printout of missing women as he listened to Melendez and Foster. Their discussion, along with this list, might seem even more relevant if either the detective or the FBI agent knew about the bones found in Grace’s barn, but he wasn’t ready to go there yet. He was still hoping the bones belonged to a bear or to an ancient pioneer or Native American buried a century ago.
The list of missing females was short, and for once Finn was grateful to be working in a farming area with sparse population. There were only seven names from his county and the surrounding area.
2002—Heidi Skouras, 20. Missing from rural Kittitas county, last seen at a diner along I-90.
2002—Anna Moran, 18. Missing from Evansburg, last seen at a high school football game.
2003—Magdalena Aguilar, 20. Missing from Vantage. Last seen at a Gorge Amphitheatre concert.
2004—Angela Albro, 22. Missing from a migrant farm camp near Othello, last seen hitchhiking to a friend’s house. Discovered in the trunk of Todd Sutter’s car. TODD SUTTER—CONVICTION 2006 was noted after that name.
2007—Cristina Disanto, 16, missing from a migrant farm worker camp near Quincy.
2009—Sheryl Pratt, 19. From Spokane, last seen at a Gorge Amphitheatre concert.
2016—Colleen Kelly, 16, from Evansburg. Last seen hitchhiking east.
And if something didn’t break soon, he would need to add “Darcy Ireland, 17,” and “Mia Valdez, 17,” to the list.
He quickly skimmed the Sutter file, noted that while the man had been convicted of killing Angela Albro, he had also been accused of kidnapping and raping Skouras, but she’d vanished before a trial could be held. A notation from the Moses Lake Police Department described the suspicion that Sutter was responsible for Aguilar and Moran, too.
But Sutter had been sent to prison in 2006, so the next three were mysteries. The Disanto and Pratt cases might be related, but with a seven year gap between the last two, Colleen Kelly’s disappearance was probably not connected to the others. The fact that Aguilar and Pratt had both been seen last at the Gorge site was troubling. Maybe Agent Foster was right, concerts at the amphitheater provided hunting grounds for traffickers trolling for victims.
After the front-page list, Miki had copied the details of each case, and Finn thumbed through to the Pratt case to see if anything there might help find Darcy and Mia. Sheryl Pratt had hitchhiked to the concert, and her friends believed she’d also hitched out. But she never arrived home. No description of who might have picked her up. Not much to go on there.
He was gratified to see that dental records and likely sources for the young women’s DNA—hairbrushes and toothbrushes—had been collected and logged into storage for all the cases. If the storage had been careful and remains of the missing were ever located, they stood a good chance of being identified.
“Didn’t you say we needed to be at the venue at ten a.m.?”
Agent Foster stood by his elbow, her leather satchel tucked under her arm. “I’m ready when you are,” she told him. “Carpool?”
He scooped up the copies to bring along.
After silently elbowing their way through a cluster of shouting reporters, they took Finn’s car and drove east. As they neared Grace’s compound, Finn remembered his promise to drop by and pick up the bones. He turned off on her road, explaining to Agent Foster, “I need to make a short stop.”
When they rolled up into the center of the compound, all three gorillas were in their exterior pen, chasing one another up and down the rope net and making so much noise that a blind man could not have missed their presence. Grace was inside with the apes, but when she spotted Finn’s car, she started for the gate.
Foster was entranced. “This is where Neema lives?” As soon as Finn parked, she reached for the door handle. “I’ve always wanted to meet the gorilla that solved a kidnapping case.”
Finn clenched his jaw in frustration but knew it was useless to protest that he’d had something to do with that. Foster herself had assisted in capturing the perpetrator and closing the case. The gorilla was always the most memorable aspect of the Ivy Morgan case.
Grace and Alice Foster shook hands, and then, at Foster’s request, Grace agreed to introduce the FBI agent to Neema and family. Before she led them into the enclosure, Grace stopped at the gate. “I need you to remov
e your weapon, Agent Foster.”
Foster placed her hand protectively on the handle of her pistol.
“The gorillas are fast, and they sometimes like to grab things,” Grace explained. “And they do have opposable thumbs.”
Foster surveyed the compound.
“We are the only humans here,” Grace promised. “Unfortunately, I have no volunteers helping today.”
Finn pulled his pistol from his holster and left it on the ground, covering it with his jacket. After a slight hesitation, Alice Foster did the same.
Inside the enclosure, Gumu climbed to the top of the rope net and stayed there, his usual antisocial self. Grace called Neema, and the mother gorilla eagerly loped over to meet the newcomer, Kanoni romping by her side.
After giving Neema a hello sign, Foster asked if Grace could have the mother gorilla sign something.
“She is.” Grace pointed to Neema’s hand, which she was twisting in the air. “She’s saying your blouse is blue. In ASL, the sign is supposed to be made by forming the letter B and then twisting like that, but gorillas aren’t good with spelling, so that’s Neema’s version.”
Neema leaned forward, placing her huge head close to Foster, who looked a bit alarmed but didn’t flinch. The gorilla’s nostrils flared as she took in the agent’s scent. Then she sat back on her haunches and fixed her eyes on Grace as she ground one hand into the other.
Foster asked, “What’s she signing now?”
Grace laughed. “Cookie. Here.” Taking a small cookie from a bag she had in her jacket pocket, Grace handed it to Alice Foster.
Neema transferred her intense gaze to Foster and repeated the sign. Foster handed the treat to Neema. The gorilla made a quick thank you sign with one hand as she stuffed the cookie into her mouth with the other.
Kanoni immediately leapt forward, signing cookie cookie cookie and then tugging on Agent Foster’s jacket. Grace rolled her eyes but handed Foster another cookie, which the agent gave to the baby gorilla, laughing.
Grace bumped a hip into Finn. When he glanced her way, she slid her hand into his and transferred two small, hard bits to his palm. Oh yeah, the bones. He clutched his fingers around them as Grace withdrew her hand, then transferred them to his pants pocket.
Gumu barreled down the net, four hundred pounds of muscle-bound gorilla rocketing in their direction like a runaway locomotive. Foster took three quick steps backward and collided with the fence behind her, reflexively reaching a hand toward her holster. Finn was proud of himself for not flinching as the silverback rushed toward them.
Gumu stopped a couple of feet away. His nostrils flared, and his fierce brown-eyed gaze shifted from Grace to Agent Foster to Finn and then scanned back.
Grace held out another cookie to Agent Foster. “Want to?”
After a few seconds, the agent stepped forward and took the cookie. “Hell, yeah.” She regarded the silverback warily. “He doesn’t sign?”
“He knows a few signs,” Grace said. “But Gumu cooperates only when he feels like it, don’t you, Gumu?”
The silverback twisted one hand into the palm of the other, signing cookie, and then held out a massive black hand toward Agent Foster.
Grace’s jaw dropped. “I’ll be damned. Good, Gumu! Good gorilla!” She signed and nodded toward Foster, who gingerly held out the cookie.
Gumu snatched the treat and crammed it into his mouth. Kanoni grabbed handfuls of the fur on her father’s arms, hoping for a share, but Gumu studiously ignored the baby. Then all the gorillas sat back on their rumps and stared at the three humans, waiting.
“All gone.” Grace turned her bare palms outward. “Finished.”
Foster held up her hands, too. And then reluctantly, Finn did the same.
Signaled by a grunt from Gumu, the gorillas climbed back into the net. Grace led the humans out of the enclosure, closing and locking the gate behind them, and Finn and Foster recovered their guns.
As they headed for their car, Grace abruptly said, “You nearly forgot what you came for, Matt.” She dashed into her trailer and emerged with his sunglasses in hand. “Here you go.”
He tucked them into his pocket, thinking, not for the first time, that sometimes Dr. Grace McKenna might be a little faster on the uptake than he was. Of course Agent Foster would be curious about why they’d stopped, and Grace guessed he wouldn’t have told her about the bones. “Thanks. Coffee next time, okay?”
Surprising him, Grace threw both arms around his neck and pulled him down into a fervent kiss. This was unusual behavior from his girlfriend. She rarely showed much affection in public. As a career police officer, he was not accustomed to such displays, either. It took him too long to put his arms around her.
Finally releasing him, Grace said, “See you later, Matt. Nice to meet you, Agent Foster. I hope you find those girls soon.” She strode off toward the gorilla barn.
Finn rubbed his chin. What was that about?
Chapter 16
Wednesday
The Irelands and the Valdezes were tired, rumpled, and irritated that Finn arrived forty minutes later than he’d promised. He introduced Agent Foster and summarized everything he’d done since he’d seen them last evening. Although he’d made dozens of phone calls, he hadn’t located Cooper Trigg, and he knew that none of his activities would satisfy the anxious parents. Still, he felt compelled to tell the parents about the girls riding off on motorcycles. They were understandably horrified.
Neither he nor Agent Foster mentioned the skeleton in Melendez’s burned barn or the list of missing girls. They had no reason yet to believe any of those cases were related to the disappearance of Darcy and Mia.
Finn was describing how searchers were combing the area on horseback and that the Civil Air Patrol was using their drone club to search the area from the air, when a loud rap on the trailer door startled them all.
The door opened. It was the deputy who had been manning the entrance this morning.
“Knew you’d want to see this.” He glanced back over his shoulder. A dark-haired girl in dirt-stained jeans and a ripped denim jacket ducked under his arm and slunk into the trailer. Her demeanor reminded Finn of Cargo’s posture after the dog ate Finn’s best leather belt.
Andrea Ireland stood up so fast that her chair tipped over, hitting the floor with a bang. She rushed to the girl. “Darcy! Oh my God, Darcy!” She enfolded her daughter in her arms.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” the girl mumbled into her mother’s neck. Her face was red from sunburn or exposure, her lips were chapped, and she was missing an earring from her left ear. Peering over Andrea’s shoulder, the teen added, “Sorry, Dad.”
Paul Ireland walked to them and wrapped his arms around the two women. The three of them rocked in a huddle for a long moment, as Darcy and Andrea sobbed and Paul sighed, “Thank God. Thank you, Jesus.”
The Valdezes were also on their feet, frozen in position, breathless as they stared at the door. The deputy stepped back out, closed the door behind him. When the latch clicked into place, Robin’s face collapsed, and she and Keith surged toward the other family. The wave of emotion that preceded them crashed over Finn as they demanded, “Where’s Mia?”
Darcy struggled in her parents’ arms, and Paul and Andrea released her. The teen stared at the Valdezes. “What do you—?” Her eyes glistened with sudden tears. “Oh shit, you mean Mia’s not here?”
Finn gestured at the table. “Let’s all sit down.”
The teen eyed the furnishings. “Can we go someplace with food? I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since Sunday night.”
Agent Foster asked, “This is Wednesday. Do you mean you left here on Sunday evening?”
“That’s what I said. Jeez! I need food!” Darcy staggered forward, and her father grabbed her arms to steady her.
“I brought lunch,” Andrea told Finn. “I’ll go get it.” She headed out the door toward the parking lot.
Finn and Paul Ireland maneuvered the girl into a seat at the table. Agent
Foster poured her a glass of water, which Darcy drank thirstily while Finn fixed her a cup of coffee thick with cream and sugar. She sipped it and then clutched her hands around the Styrofoam cup, staring into it.
Finn slid into his seat. “Where have you been, Darcy?”
She shook her head, then squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know exactly. I woke up in this field. Some kind of grain field, as far as you could see. No, I think it was hay. Anyhow, it went on forever. The bastard just dumped me there.”
“What bastard?”
“And I was so sick, so dizzy I could hardly stand up. I practically had to crawl to the road. And there was a rattlesnake.”
Robin gasped and raised a hand to her face. “A rattlesnake?”
Darcy waved off the woman’s concern. “I handled it. The snake didn’t bite me. But then I didn’t know where I was and I didn’t know what time it was, and there were just gravel roads and I didn’t even know which direction I was walking because I didn’t have my cell phone!”
She burst into tears again. “And then there was a pickup full of these shithead boys. They tried to grab me. I barely got away. And then the sun went down, and I had to stay out there, all by myself, all night. I was sort of afraid to walk by the road when the sun came up again. But I kept going and I finally found a paved road, but the cars still kept passing me like I wasn’t even there. Like I was invisible or something! One woman actually gave me the finger!”
“And then it got dark again before I got anywhere, so I just sat against this old shed all night. At least it had a water faucet outside. Then, this morning, finally, this old man stopped. He said his son was a highway patrolman and he’d seen the posters of these missing girls from the Gorge, and was I one? I was afraid to get in because he was, like, kinda creepy with ear hairs and eyebrows like white caterpillars, and I was afraid he might kill me.”
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