Alaskan Christmas Cold Case

by Sarah Varland

  She ducked back into the safety of the forest, but traveled perpendicular to the road until she was deep enough in to see a sign. Moose Creek Campground.

  She’d not been unconscious as long as she’d feared. They were twenty minutes or so out of Moose Haven, not far past the bridge where she’d almost been killed earlier in the week.

  “Thank You, God,” she whispered out loud, conscious of the fact that without His intervention, she’d never have made it even this far.

  Would anyone be in the campground? It was December. Coming upon Christmas faster than she had been able to keep up with since she’d been so caught up in the case. In staying alive.

  If no one was here, she’d pull out her phone, check for a signal and call for help if there was one, then wait until someone arrived. But every moment she was out here was another opportunity for the killer to find her, and Erynn wanted to get back to somewhere she had a chance of being protected.

  She needed someone else to be at the campground.

  The chances weren’t good, but it was possible. Please let some hardy souls be out here, enjoying winter camping. There was a stocked lake not far, Erynn knew, whose trailhead was here at this campground. It was a popular location for ice fishing, so it wasn’t altogether hopeless to think that someone might at least be parked nearby.

  As long as it wasn’t the man after her.

  She rounded a corner, the trailhead in sight now. Two cars. Two! If someone could just be in one...

  One was a Ford. Erynn stopped immediately when she saw it but then realized it was an SUV and the car she’d been in was a smaller sedan. She was safe. As long as she kept her eyes open to make sure the car she was hiding from didn’t approach.

  Was the killer familiar with Moose Haven? Might he realize walking through the woods in this direction would lead her to this campground? Erynn hoped not.

  The first car was empty. The second, the SUV, had someone sitting in the driver’s seat, fumbling in the seat next to them with what looked like a fishing pole.

  Erynn took a breath and knocked on the window.

  Startled, the driver, a woman, rolled the window down. But only halfway. Cautious. Erynn respected that, appreciated her carefulness. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes.” Erynn wasted no time, her words coming in breathless puffs. “I need to get to Moose Haven. Someone is trying to kill me and I jumped out of the car.”

  The woman’s eyes widened. “Wait, I just heard on the radio—You’re the trooper. The local broadcast said the Moose Haven Police issued an APB. We’re supposed to look for you. I was just going to go fishing... Oh, my goodness, you’re okay! I can fish another day, get in the car.” She was already clicking the unlock button. Erynn didn’t bother going around to the passenger side, she just climbed in the back. Sat on the floor between the seats.

  “Aren’t you going to buckle up?” the woman asked doubtfully as she put the car in Reverse. “You are a trooper, right? And I don’t know that it’s illegal to be unbuckled in the back seat, but it’s definitely frowned upon.” She turned toward the gravel road that led back toward the highway. Erynn shivered, afraid of what they might find ahead of them. What if the killer was waiting to attack again, watching her try to get to safety? To be this close to Moose Haven and still not be sure she could make it there...

  “Listen, the man who is after me, if he sees me in your car, he’ll try to run us off the road and... I don’t know exactly what he’ll do but I don’t want him to hurt you, either.”

  “So you need to stay out of view.”

  “Yes.”

  “Gotcha.” The woman reached for something in the passenger seat, then tossed a scratchy, green army blanket back at Erynn. “It’s for an emergency. My husband always insists that I take it along just in case. I’m pretty sure hiding a woman from a crazy killer wasn’t what he had in mind, but I mean, it works, right?”

  Erynn pulled at the blanket until it covered all of her to her waist. If she needed to lie down and hide completely, she would, but at the moment she wanted the luxury of being able to see where they were going. “Thank you for driving me.”

  “No problem.” The woman turned left onto the highway, toward town.

  “Any sign of a dark, almost black Ford? It’s some kind of sedan, whatever their latest model is.”

  “Nope. I just saw a red pickup, but that’s the only car on this part of the road besides us right now.”

  Relief flooded through Erynn. “Good.” She didn’t say much for the rest of the ride, just kept her heart in a constant Please, please. Thank You. Thank You cycle of unspoken prayers.

  “I need to go to the Moose Haven Police Department,” she told the woman when they were entering town.

  “Not the trooper station?”

  Erynn shook her head. “No. Not there.” Because right now she didn’t just want law enforcement around her. She wanted Noah.

  “Okay, will do.”

  For the first time in hours, Erynn let out a deep breath.

  * * *

  “An SUV just pulled up in front of the station and a woman got out.” Clay Hitchcock stepped into Noah’s office, leaned against the doorframe. “You want me to send the lady back to talk to you?”

  “If it’s pertinent to Erynn, yes.”

  Noah looked back down at the grids on his desk. He had men out searching every inch of this part of the peninsula and more ready to go when he figured out where to assign them. They’d let this guy run roughshod over their plans for long enough and now Erynn was suffering for it. Yes, Noah should have been more aggressive in the work he’d done to keep her safe in his home. He didn’t know how and, logically speaking, he knew he’d done the best he could balancing Erynn’s safety and his work on the case, but he needed someone to blame and he was the easiest.

  Commotion in the hallway got his attention. Noah stood. “Ideas what that is?”

  “No.” Clay stepped out, stepped back in. “It’s Erynn.” And then he was gone.

  Noah hurried out with him. Clay hadn’t said if she was alive or...

  But there she was, walking down the hallway toward him, red hair wet and tangled around her dirt-smudged face, her clothes looking like they’d seen some rough wear.

  “Erynn.” His voice was barely more than a whisper.

  She saw him at the same time, picked up her pace.

  He opened his arms, not able to possibly care less at that moment about how people around him would perceive his actions. He just wanted to touch her, know for himself that she was okay.

  Tears shone in her eyes, Noah could see as she got closer, and he wrapped his arms around her. She came willingly, tucking her head into his chest. He could feel her quiet sobs, understood the weight of them. She’d come close to losing her life. He had almost lost her, a fact he needed to face.

  Something about the way he’d been investigating had to change. Because Noah couldn’t let this happen again.

  “Let’s go in my office, get a statement from you and then take you home.”

  She looked up at him and nodded.

  It took a couple of hours for Noah to finish filling out the paperwork this new development warranted and, while he did, Erynn slept on the couch. He’d had one of the EMTs come check her out and they’d pronounced her healthy enough. Her bruises hurt, he could tell by the look on her face when they’d examined her, but she was remarkably strong. Once the EMT left, though, he’d noticed the tired lines around her eyes and suggested she lie down. For the first time she hadn’t argued about resting. He’d also been able to talk to the woman who’d brought her in and thanked her profusely.

  Erynn had seen the killer, she’d told him. But all they knew was that his build was on the slight side. His head hadn’t reached the top of the headrest, that was all Erynn was sure of.

  The frustration that she’d been so cl
ose and still couldn’t give them anything solid to get an identification on the man...he heard it in her voice. While he wished she’d seen more, too, he was mostly glad she was safe.

  They’d catch the killer. Soon. He was determined.

  He was just gathering his things to take Erynn back to his house when Clay walked in again.

  “How are you doing?”

  Noah didn’t answer right away, just considered the words before shaking his head. “I could have lost her.”

  Clay glanced at Erynn’s sleeping figure on the couch then looked back at Noah. “Does she know? How you feel, I mean?”

  He nodded.

  “And?”

  “It’s complicated.” The truth was, Noah wasn’t sure why. All he knew was that while he’d march straight down to a church or a courthouse today and pledge his life to Erynn, she was holding back. Hesitant about something. Noah himself? The idea of falling in love?

  What he wouldn’t give for a place when she’d have the time and space to figure that out instead of having to run, hide and fight for her life.

  “You’ll get there,” Clay said with more confidence than Noah felt. “I wanted to pass on the message that Trooper Pederson is on his way to Anchorage by helicopter. They’re taking him to Providence to treat his injuries, but so far he’s in stable condition.”

  That was good to hear. Noah nodded. “Thanks. And thanks for...everything.”

  “Anytime.” Clay walked out and Noah turned his attention to waking Erynn.

  Sleepy as she was, she woke quickly and followed him down the hallway and out to where his car was parked. He’d moved it even closer to the back door so he could get her inside and back to his house quickly.

  The drive home was quiet. Neither of them seemed to have much to say. Given the weight of a day like this one, what was there to be said? Noah wished he could promise her it wouldn’t happen again, but hadn’t he thought it wouldn’t happen the first time?

  They had to wrap up this case.

  Noah’s phone rang just as he finished that thought. He glanced at Erynn, who was looking out the window, and reached for his phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Chief Dawson, Danny Howard here.”

  “Officer Howard, how can I help you, sir?”

  “It’s about how I can help you. I know we talked earlier about those notes I have... I’ve been thinking you really may be right that there’s something in there that could help you with this investigation. I reckon you ought to make your own decision about how involved you want to be in this case. It’s dangerous, but I don’t want to stand in your way.”

  When they’d spoken earlier, the man had promised to give Noah information but had seemed hesitant. This was the best break he could have had in the case today, short of the man who’d abducted Erynn sitting in a jail cell. That would have been the best option. But he’d take this for now.

  “Yes, sir, I’d love to get the information from you. Could you fax it to me? Or scan it?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t.”

  Noah waited for an explanation.

  “Mack trusted me with these, made it very clear I was to protect them. I don’t feel comfortable sending them when criminals are able to do all kinds of intercepting emails and other things.”

  So the man was a mild conspiracy theorist. It made getting the notes trickier, but not impossible. Noah moved to his next option. “Can I meet you in Anchorage?”

  Erynn whipped her head around to look at him.

  “To tell you the truth, son, I’m actually on my way to Moose Haven now. If you want the notes faster, we could meet...say at the Trail Lakes parking lot, the big new one off the side of the road? Do you know where I mean?”

  He did. “Yes, sir.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you there in about an hour.”

  Noah bypassed the turn to his house and glanced at his dashboard to make sure his car was filled with gas. It was.

  “Now are you going to tell me what’s going on?” A glance at Erynn told him a little bit of light had returned to her eyes. She couldn’t keep up this cycle, Noah knew. Eventually it was going to be too much for her, as it would be for anyone.

  “We’re meeting your dad’s partner.”

  “Danny Howard agreed to talk to you?” Erynn shook her head. “That’s practically discrimination.”

  “You mean he wouldn’t talk to you?” Noah asked, thinking he grasped the meaning of her mumbled statement. And, no, while it wasn’t necessarily right, he couldn’t blame the man for not wanting to share what he felt was dangerous information with Erynn. Howard would feel a sense of loyalty to his former partner, and not helping the man’s daughter walk straight into danger was probably part of that.

  Well, hopefully it wouldn’t affect his willingness to share with Noah what he knew.

  “No, but it’s okay.”

  It didn’t sound particularly like it was, but Noah could tell when he didn’t need to push a subject further.

  “This is where I jumped, I think,” Erynn said when they were about fifteen miles out of Moose Haven, not far past the campground.

  Noah looked at the curve in the road, could understand how if the killer had slowed to avoid losing control, this would have been Erynn’s best option. He glanced at Erynn now. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded. “As much as is possible right now.”

  Empty promises echoed in his mind.

  We’re going to find him. It’s going to be okay. Don’t worry, he can’t get away with this forever.

  But he didn’t dare say any of the thoughts aloud because if they sounded hollow to him, he could only imagine how they would sound to Erynn. This had eaten up years of her life and who knew how much of her peace. What decisions had she made because of this? She had alluded days ago to understanding Kate’s sudden career change. Noah hadn’t talked to his sister much about it, hadn’t quite understood her decision to join the troopers. Maybe a conversation there would help him understand Erynn.

  It wouldn’t hurt, anyway.

  “There’s the parking lot,” Erynn commented. Noah had already seen it, knew right where it was, but understood her comment as a way to deal with her growing unease. His matched what she probably felt, his stomach churning and his throat closing so it was harder for him to breathe. The human body responded in amazing ways to stress, some Noah had learned to appreciate over the years and some he didn’t particularly like but understood. This was more the second: fight or flight misapplied. Because right now the man they were after was faceless, a phantom who appeared, terrified them, stole people’s lives and then disappeared again.

  They needed to be able to make him into a real person, who got flustered, had to make decisions on the fly. Up until now, he’d had too much leeway. They’d been playing defense, but how did they switch to offense?

  “I see a car,” Erynn continued.

  Noah drove over to it. “Do not get out, got it?” Her eyes were wide.

  “What?” He glanced away from her back over to Howard’s car.

  “He’s not in the car. He’s not in the car, Noah!” She was already reaching for the door handle.

  Noah climbed from his seat and looked into the passenger window of the car next to them.

  Empty.

  And the driver’s seat, the steering wheel, the window glass on the driver’s side...all were smudged with blood.

  “We have to find him!”

  Because seeing the body of her dad’s former partner would be a good idea for her mental health, he thought dryly. But what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t leave her there, but neither could he just abandon the parking lot when the man could be fighting for his life in the low, bushy trees somewhere.

  Noah dialed his brother-in-law’s number, told Clay to get the troopers out there.

&nbs
p; “We have to find him. Noah, please.” Erynn had already started toward one of the many narrow foot trails etched in the dirt for weary travelers to stretch their legs and berry pickers to try their luck with the bushes in the fall.

  “Let’s go. Stay with me.” He tugged her to him, made sure they were walking close enough there was very little room to separate them.

  The trail had drops of blood, too, crimson on the snowy ground, and some slight footprints—the snow didn’t always give when someone stepped on it.

  They followed the trail for nearly a mile when the blood abruptly stopped. Noah couldn’t see evidence of any of the small trees being trampled, and there were no more tracks of any kind. His sister could have found them. She was practically a mind reader when it came to tracking people in the backcountry. Noah wasn’t bad; he just didn’t have that kind of gift to the same degree. Reading people, sure. At tracking he was average at best.

  “We’ve got to get back. I don’t like how isolated we are.”

  Erynn didn’t argue—just kept quiet and close as they retraced their steps.

  Was it like seeing her dad die all over again? Noah’s parents had been gone for years now, but they’d at least passed relatively peacefully, in a small plane crash that had happened so quickly that he and his siblings had been assured they wouldn’t have felt any pain.

  Howard, however, and Erynn’s dad...there were no such promises he could make about them.

  “I’m sorry,” he said to her as they reached the car. He shook his head. “I don’t see the notes anywhere in his car, either.”

  “Was it unlocked? We could check closer.” She looked so hopeful that Noah nodded. “You can try the door and see.” He handed her a pair of latex gloves. “Be careful not to smear any of the...of the blood.” He winced, hating himself for drawing attention to it, but knowing that in her upset state he hadn’t wanted her to forget protocol and be responsible for destroying what could be the only evidence they had.