When they were done with this list the started Googling the names of the places and adding waterfall the search keywords in the hope of finding the place. They trawled through thousands of images from hundreds of different websites and Sarah opened a file to save the ones she thought were possibilities.
“How are you going to narrow those down later?” Melissa asked. Megan shrugged,
“I don’t know yet, I’m hoping something will jog a memory.”
Their search went on late into the night. Megan had been hoping one place was going to jump out at her and she would know at once this was the place, but so far nothing had come close to giving her that feeling.
“I think we’re starting to see the same images over and over,” Melissa said as she scrolled though a page of waterfalls.
“Yes, I think you’re right,” Megan said. “I’ll start looking into the files I saved again. You can go on up to bed if you’re tired.”
“I’m fine,” Melissa said. “Actually, I’m getting into this now. I feel a tingle inside me like you’re going to do it. I want to be around when that happens.” Her mother was smiling at her as she spoke, and Megan smiled back; it was so nice to have her mother’s support in something.
“Thanks mom,” she said.
“I’ll put on some hot chocolate for us,” Melissa said getting up and heading for the kitchen.
DAN MARTIN WAS VERY, very annoyed. Things had not gone well in the search for Tyler Ford and it was exasperating. To make matters worse, there was also no trace of Sarah Brightwater or Anna Saskin either! He could understand Sarah manging to elude capture for a day or two due to her training and inside knowledge, but the teenage girl? How the hell was she still out there?
Detective Freeman had been apprehended at the airport as he got ready to fly home. He told them a wild story about following Sarah up here to help her but not being able to find her, so he was just going to go home. It was bullshit but Martin knew Freeman had been around long enough that he knew they couldn’t pin anything on him or make any real threats against him. One thing was for sure; he wasn’t going to talk in the timeframe Martin needed him to.
Information had sprung up on the monitored website run by Anna too and Martin’s team had tried unsuccessfully many times to get some through on the phone number listed there which they supposed was Spalding. There had been no joy in tracing the number either which was also very frustrating in this day and age.
“I’m through!” some called, and Martin rushed to the aback of the van to listen in on the call. It rang for a time and then a man’s voice answered,
“Hello?”
“Who is this?” Martin asked taking the over the call.
“Sorry, you must have dialled the wrong number,” the voice said and then hung up.
“Keep calling it,” Martin said. He didn’t think it would do them much good but the idea it might drive Spalding crazy and distract him some was something to make him feel a little better.
He went back to his own seat near the front of the van and looked outside. This whole investigation had gone nuts ever since Bobrick assigned Sarah to the case. It had been a mistake; he knew it at the time, but nobody listened to hm. Now look where they were. No one had a clue what was going on and even people supposedly on the same side were working against one another!
Chapter 29
Sarah had been on the missing list for over twenty-four hours now. She had bought herself a tent and sleeping bag the afternoon previous so that he didn’t have to book into a hotel or motel. The FBI and police would be looking for her in those places. She moved around on public transport, buses mostly and changes buses frequently to avoid being followed. And mask her movements as best she could. She didn’t have a new plan as of yet. Right now she was going around this ton by the streets in the hope she would run in Anna. None of the news reports had mentioned her being inn custody and she didn’t think something like that would go unreported.
She’d gotten rid of her own phone and bought a phone and sim card to use in its place. She had posted her phone back to her office at the FBI so it would be there when she got back. Assuming of course that she did ever get to go back. That was still up in the air and going underground like this wasn’t doing her career any favors.
There was no sign of Anna anywhere, but Sarah had to remember the young girl was going to be doing her best to not be found too. No more updates of importance had come up on the website since yesterday. There were many comments by confused young girl asking what was going on or saying that the number just rang out. Sarah thought it was funny how many of them seemed to be ringing it when they didn’t even know what it was.
Sarah’s thoughts turned to Megan as she sat in a quiet coffee shop. It had been nice to hear her voice on the phone yesterday and it was only a shame that the topic of conversation was not more pleasant. Sarah didn’t know where Megan was right now, and Megan had been made to change her phone number for the move and Sarah didn’t have the new one. She had tried Melissa Stanver on a whim and was surprised that number had not been changed too. How Sarah hoped Spalding didn’t know where Megan was. Though from experience Sarah knew she had to assume that he did. She had to have faith that the team looking after her would take the threat from Spalding seriously and do a good job of protecting her.
Ellie came to mind then. The FBI had certainly not done enough to protect her, and Sarah shook her head at the horrible last few years of life that beautiful young girl had to endure. Please don’t let that be Megan’s fate Sarah prayed.
The phone in her pocket started to ring and it startled her as she hadn’t given anyone the number, and this was the first time. She took it out and saw a number she did not recognise. Fear and dread filled her. Had either Spalding or the FBI tracked her down?
“Hello,” she answered disguising her voice as best she could.
“Sarah? Is that you?” The voice was joyful and excited, and Sarah recognized Megan at once.
“Megan!” she said.
“Yes, I have some news for you,” the younger woman said.
“How did you get this number?” Sarah asked.
“This is the number you texted my mom from,” Megan said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sarah put her head in her hands, she had been so mixed up yesterday she’d forgotten to use the old phone for sending the message and now Megan had been able to contact her. Surely the FBI wouldn't be far behind.
“Right,” she said. “What’s the good news?” she asked.
“I found the waterfall Spalding was talking about!” Megan sounded more excited than Sarah had ever heard her.
“What?” Sarah asked, her min racing to catch up as something Tyler said looked for a place in her mind. “What waterfall?”
“The waterfall he told me about. The place where he goes to relax,” Megan said trying to jog Sarah’s memory.
“Oh yes, I remember you telling me about that,” Sarah said. “You found it, really?”
“I think so,” Megan said. “It’s just as he described it and I even found a blog post about a guy who hiked up to it and said there was a really big scary due up there that gave him the willies!”
“Oh my God!” Sarah said, recalling that Tyler had said Spalding was going to be resting by water this week. “You did it! Where is it?”
“It’s close to home, I’m sending you the maps link now,” Megan said. A second later the message came in and Sarah opened it up. South Carolina. She had to get there right away.
“This is excellent Megan, can you do me a favor and not mention this to anyone else just yet,” Sarah asked.
“Are you going to go get him alone?” Megan asked.
“Not alone, but I can’t the FBI team giving me away. Can you keep it quiet for two days?”
“Yes, but please be careful,” Megan said after a short hesitation.
“I will be, and well done Megan. You’ll be a first rate agent before we know it.”
As soon as she was
off the phone Sarah called Freeman. His phone rang out and didn’t got to voicemail. Next she called the station and asked if he was there. Another officer took the call, but Sarah hung up. She didn’t like this. She didn’t have a home number for him, but she could bet it was in the phone book. She went onto the internet and found the book and scanned through. It seemed like such an outdated thing now and in fact it was so old she wasn’t able to copy and paste the number but had to ask the waitress for a pen to write it down on a napkin.
She called his home and waited as it rang. Once more there was no answer, but he did have an answering machine and she left a quick message.
“I’m on my home. I’ll call you when I’m closer.” She didn’t leave her name, but she knew he would know it was her. Now it was time to get to South Carolina and catch the man who had eluded her for almost twenty years!
Chapter 30
It was a very tired Jed Freeman who got home late in the morning on the day after he was picked up by the FBI trying to fly home. He’d been questioned at length about what he was doing and why he was with Sarah, but he had denied all knowledge of what they were talking about. He said he came to talk to an anonymous witness about case but had been stood up. Freeman was just going through the motions and he knew they’d have to let him go sooner or later. It turned out to be later and he had to spend a very uncomfortable night in the airport waiting for an early flight home.
By the time he got back to his house, he was already late for work. He showered and changed his clothes and went to the station. He didn’t think he was going to get much done today. He thought about Sarah a lot, about how close they had come to catching Tyler Ford and the fact that Spalding was also nearby but still out of reach as very frustrating. He didn’t like the idea of Sarah on the run, getting herself in trouble and probably ruining her career. He shouldn't have left her.
“Sarge is looking for you?” one of the other detectives said as lunch time approached.
“Well, it looks like he’s missed me. I’m going to be out for the afternoon.” That was a conversation Freeman did not want to have today. He left the office just to be sure it didn’t happen. He was in for a major chewing out and it was best he had a good night’s sleep before it in case he said something he shouldn’t in his tired and grumpy state.
He stopped working on the noise of clocking off time that day, something he hadn’t done in many years. All he wanted to do was go home and have good night’s sleep. It had been a while since he had one of those too. He turned his phone on silent not wanting to be disturbed now his shift was over. He would check it later to see if there was anything from Sarah he needed to see, but he didn’t expect to hear from her this week at all. Especially while he was going under the radar.
On the drive home, Freeman became aware that he’d been checking behind himself all day. He’d been keeping an extra lookout for Spalding and it was something he was doing automatically without having to think about it. This freaked him out a little as he hadn’t realised he was so worried about it. At the time when he saw him name I the list on that website he hadn’t thought much of it. His main ire and indignation had been at the idea he was a secret reader of dirty magazines. Now that he was alone however and work not forefront of his mind he felt a little apprehensive.
He looked at himself in the mirror and tried to shake himself out of it.
“You’ve been in this game a long time, Jed,” he said to his refection between glances back to the road. “Yu can’t be having nightmares about a bogeyman you know can’t get near you.”
When Freeman parked outside his house, he stayed in the car for a while making sure no other cars had followed him. He looked around the street as best he could and had his hand on his gun as he got out of the car. There was no one round at all, which wasn’t out of the ordinary for his street. It was one of the things he liked most about it. He walked to his front door, his hand still ready to draw his gun at a moment’s notice and checked the door hadn’t been tampered with. It looked fine.
Once inside, some of the apprehension left but then he started seeing images of the video of Sarah’s mother in his head and he worried that Spalding might somehow be inside the house. He went from room to room, turning on all the lights as he did and checking all the windows. A few minutes later he stood in the middle of kitchen. He’d checked all doors and windows on the ground floor and there was no place here that was large enough to hide a man of Spalding’s size. He took a deep breath and went to the fridge and poured himself some ole orange juice to help steady his nerves.
The cold liquid felt good in his hot throat and he closed his eyes to savor it a moment. He leaned over to put the carton back and that was when he saw the feet standing next to his own. He barely had time to gasp in fright before two massive hands wrapped themselves around his neck and began to strangle him.
Freeman tried to kick out and free himself but only succeeded in losing his balance. Even then iron grip didn’t falter even a little and Freeman looked up to find himself eye to eye with the bogeyman. He punched and grabbed at Spalding but all to no avail; he could feel his own strength diminishing rapidly as his breath began to run out. The surreal idea that this was how he was going to die, strangled to death in his own kitchen rushed through his mind as black spots bean to form in his vision.
The phone in the living room began to ring and suddenly Freeman found himself being dragged along towards it. The message machine picked up and he heard Sarah’s voice.
“I’m on my home. I’ll call you when I’m closer.”
Just as he thought this would be the last thing he was ever going to hear, the hands let go of him and he fell to the floor in a heap. His own hands going to his neck as he struggled to regain his breath. Spalding took a step to the phone and picked it and then dialled a number.
“Freeman is with me now. He’s going to take a dive and go for a swim,” he said smiling down at the still weakened Freeman. The detective could hear Sarah’s anguished cry of ‘Nooooo’ before Spading hung up.
“We have a bit of a drive so I’m going give you something to help you relax on the way,” he said leaning over and taking a syringe case out of his pocket. Freeman tried to move away but the syringe was out lightning fast and a grip like iron took hold of his arm while the other hand administered the injection. Within seconds Freeman knew he was losing the battle to stay conscious and he drifted off into darkness.
Chapter 31
Spalding hung up on Sarah but instead of anger for the first time in her battle against the killer she saw hope. He didn’t know Sarah now knew where his waterfall retreat was. Surely that was what he meant when he said Freeman was going to take a dive and a swim? How shocked he was going to be when Sarah showed up with gun drawn. That would be the crowning achievement of her life.
“Concentrate!” she admonished herself. She was getting way too far ahead of things. What if she was wrong? What if it was not the waterfall Spalding had been referring to? He could have been talking about any body of water in five different States, perhaps even more! Doubt crept inside of her and the full confidence of moments before vanished. She closed her eyes and took in some deep breaths.
“No,” she said opening her eyes again, “I’m not wrong.” She knew he was talking about the waterfall. He intended for Freeman to be killed that was what this week was all about. He wouldn’t give her a clue about water if he thought for a second she might be able to figure out where he was talking about. Still, it would be wise to tip off the FBI about what he’d said. They could head up the search by the sea and at lakes in case she was wrong. But she didn’t think she was.
Sarah looked out for a computer she could use and found one that was coin operated in the entranceway to a shopping mall. She looked up the place Megan had sent to her and then printed some maps and hiking reviews of the area. She was about to leave when a new worry began to niggle at her.
As things stood it would be her facing Spalding, but he would have Fre
eman hostage. Unless she completely got the drop on Spalding—which she felt was unlikely—then he would still have the upper hand. She knew how wiling to kill he was but in turn he knew she would never let anyone be killed just so she could get a clean shot at him. She was going to need some help. But who was there in the world she could trust with something like this? No one.
Her mind nagged with an idea. There may not be anyone you can trust, but there is someone who might be able to help. Or course it was Tyler she was thinking of. She didn’t like it, but she felt she had no choice. She had to save Freeman and if that meant using a killer to catch a killer then that was just the way it had to be. She went to Anna’s site and sent a message.
‘Tyler, I still have one of those phones you gave me.’ She left the mall and started her journey to the waterfall. It was not going to be easy getting there and Sarah was going to have to get there by road and without a car of her own. Perhaps Tyler could get a car more easily, he was the life long criminal after all.
Twenty minutes after Sarah sent the message to Tyler she turned on the phone in question. She’d kept it fully charged but turned off all the time as she didn’t want to hear from him. Until now that was, and she was glad she had kept it. Many times she’d thought about just throwing it into a river to be rid of it.
As Sarah expected the phone started to ring only moments after she turned it on.
“You got my message?” she said answering.
“I did. You want to talk?” Tyler said.
A Fall of Woodcocks (The Birdwatcher Series Book 5) Page 11