by Toby Neal
Jake dug the delicate chain with its butterfly charm out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Do you think we should call the parents with this progress report?”
Sophie examined it. “Not yet. But we should update Bix on our headway.” Sophie took out her phone and tried to get a signal. “Can’t pick up anything out here.” She looked around at the surrounding jungle, dripping after a recent deluge. “It’s strange how intermittent the signal is. We were able to reach Hilo PD at the encampment.”
They drove on in silence, re-connecting with the main highway and heading toward the area where the couple had robbed and abandoned Julie Weathersby, midway between Hilo and Volcanoes National Park.
Outside the Park, they pulled over and grabbed a quick bite to eat at a convenience store/coffee shop.
After lunch, Jake pointed to a row of rental cabins set off the road in a forest of enormous tree ferns. “This is a central area to our investigation zone. I think I’ll reserve one of these for tonight.” He headed off toward the office, pulling out his wallet.
Sophie fed the dogs from a bag of dry kibble and gave them water while Jake was gone. She glanced over at the cabins. They looked awfully romantic.
Sophie flashed to spending an unforgettable weekend with Connor in an oceanfront cottage on Maui. They had seldom left the bedroom, but the ambience of the Hana Hotel’s gracious grounds and beautiful infinity pool had lent even more romance to their paradise getaway.
No. Sophie shook her head, banishing the nostalgia. She was done with Connor. Done with thinking about hours in bed with a handsome man she’d thought she loved.
Jake took that moment to return. Sophie glared at him.
“What?” He lifted his hands in a surrender gesture. “What did I do?”
“There better be two bedrooms in that cabin.”
“Of course. I was the one to turn you down, remember?”
Unfortunately, she did remember.
They got on the road again, and ten minutes outside of the park area, turned onto a side road heading deep into the jungle, where Webb and Rayme had said they’d abandoned Julie after robbing her.
Overarching albizia trees, thick with dangling vines, almost blotted out the sun, which had vanished as clouds rolled in. A sudden wind whipped over the trees, and a torrent of rain broke over the Jeep. Jake pulled the vehicle over and the two of them scrambled to get the detachable cover up. Finally, the vehicle was sealed. With rain beating down on the soft top, the interior smelled terribly of wet dog as Ginger and Tank wound themselves into a doggy pretzel on the back seat, their mournful eyes complaining of the damp.
“I hope it’s not far,” Sophie said. “I could really use a hot shower.” Rain had soaked her to the skin, and she shivered in spite of the humid warmth. Jake cranked up the Jeep’s inadequate heater. Sophie gestured to the dogs, on the back seat in a comfortable pile, their heads close together. “So sweet. I’m so glad you thought to rescue Tank.”
“Poor Tank doesn’t seem like he’s had a break in a while.” Jake rubbed his nose. “But he sure does stink.”
Sophie leaned forward to peer into the gloom as the windshield wipers, going full speed, barely seemed to keep up with the water streaming down.
“I see why this area is called a rain forest.” Sophie spotted the mile marker where Webb and Rayme claimed they had let Julie Weathersby out. “There! They said she ran away into the jungle as soon as they opened the door of the car.”
Jake navigated over to the side of the road. They sat, waiting for the rain to lighten up, and eventually it did. Ginger whined to be let out, and they walked back and forth near the mile marker sign as Sophie searched for any hint of Julie’s presence. With the recent rainfall and the intervening hours, there was nothing to see.
Ginger squatted, doing her business on a rock near the signpost, and then gave a sudden bark. She yanked the leash right out of Sophie’s hand and charged into the deep brush, jumping over a roadside ditch. Sophie rolled her eyes. Here we go again. “Ginger! Come back!”
Sophie jumped the overgrown ditch and ran after her dog, feeling a familiar discomfort in her belly as she remembered that the last time Ginger had acted like this, they had found a massacred family.
Sophie tripped over something and drew to a halt because Ginger had stopped and was waving her tail.
The pack lying on the ground was a serious hiker’s model with a carbon-fiber frame, and the compartment done in camouflage greens. Ginger nosed around the pack, sniffing thoroughly. This was Julie’s pack! Sophie recognized it from the photo they’d been showing around. Making a visual survey of the area, she spotted Julie’s boots tossed aside, and a scatter of discarded clothing.
This could be a crime scene.
Sophie stood very still. “Come, Ginger.”
The dog finally came. She caught the Lab’s leash and held it close.
The story told by this scene did not match the couple’s description of abandoning the girl after just taking her cash and jewelry. Wherever Julie was now, she was naked and unshod—and that was not a good sign.
Sophie tightened her grip on the leash, afraid to let go—would the next thing Ginger found be Julie’s body?
Chapter Fourteen
Jake crashed through the deep underbrush and ferns that were covering a rough lava and dirt landscape, following Sophie’s headlong flight into the jungle. “Sophie!”
“Here, Jake!”
He reached her at last. “That damn dog of yours . . .” His voice trailed off as Sophie pointed to the backpack, discarded boots and scattered clothing. The scene told a mute tale of struggle.
“Shit.” Jake looked up and met Sophie’s gaze. Her eyes were wide, her mouth pinched. The color had drained from her face, leaving her skin sallow and the scar on her cheek, a vivid line. She thought the worst.
“Maybe Julie got away.” Jake didn’t sound convinced, even to himself. “Maybe she’s been kidnapped. They’re holding her somewhere, tooling her parents. We shouldn’t touch anything. Do you have a signal? We need to call Freitan.”
Sophie had let go of the dog’s leash, and she was watching Ginger still nosing around the discarded items. “I think if there were a body nearby, Ginger would be looking for it. But the trail seems to stop here.” She took out her phone and held it up. “Excellent. I have three bars.”
She made the call to Freitan as Jake photographed the site thoroughly, dividing the area into a grid and taking photos up and down until they had enough for a composite. “I’ll update Bix while we wait for the detectives,” he said, when Sophie told him Freitan and her partner were on their way.
They made their way back to the Jeep, careful not to trample the area or obscure any possible tracks or other evidence. Once at the Jeep, Jake detailed the progress to their superior at Security Solutions. “I don’t know if it’s time for an update to the parents. I will leave that to your judgment,” he told his superior.
“Great,” Bix said dryly. “You know how I love breaking this kind of news to families.”
“Rank hath its privileges,” Jake said, and hung up.
While they waited in the Jeep, Jake made notes on his small work laptop, logging the stages of their investigation as far as location time and detail. Sophie had her laptop out, too. She typed at a ridiculous speed.
“I need to find a way to use DAVID. Julie could be part of this disappearance pattern.” Sophie’s voice was low and firm.
“This couple could have been preying on people for a while now. There’s no telling what the cops will turn up when they tear that little hovel apart at Travelers’ Rest,” Jake said. “I took them just for opportunistic predators supporting a drug habit, but they could be much more than that. Who knows how long they’ve been operating in the area, and what they’ve been up to.”
“We have to find out.” Sophie glanced up. “If we could track their movements around the island, we might be able to put together a picture of the people who’ve gone missing, and f
igure out a profile. See if there are patterns that intersect.”
“But you need access to the police database to search all the missing persons and a secure uplink to use that program,” Jake finished. “I think you should talk to the detectives about your theory.”
Sophie nodded her head. “Hopefully, they will be open to working with us.”
Us.
Jake liked the sound of that.
Chapter Fifteen
Kamani Freitan looked tired to Sophie. Dark circles under her eyes looked bruised, and her thick black hair straggled out of its braid as if she had slept on it. She stood beside Sophie, her partner in her shadow, and glanced around the area at Julie’s belongings. “Think this might be a homicide?”
“Could be just a kidnapping,” Jake was avoiding eye contact with the detective. Sophie noted the rigidity of his shoulders, the tightness of his voice.. “These are definitely her things, and we have evidence linking her to Rayme and Webb.” He gestured with his chin to Sophie. “Show her the chain.”
Sophie slid the slender gold charm bracelet out of her pocket and dropped it into Freitan’s extended hand. “We took this item of Julie’s off Holly Rayme not long ago.”
“Rayme and Webb said they got to know her, took her to Volcano, and rolled her for her money and jewelry. They claim they let her out of their car at this mile marker. Uninjured, with her clothing and her backpack. We had no reason to doubt their story at the time,” Jake concluded.
Freitan’s partner, Detective Wong, surveyed the area. “We should photograph this, and then take the items into evidence.”
“Yeah. Our officers picked up Rayme and Webb; we can interview those two down at the station. Since we’re being stonewalled on the family body dump case.” Freitan’s full mouth tightened into an irritated line.
This was her chance. Sophie cleared her throat. “I have a theory. I would like to be able to use your secure Internet connections at the station to run my idea through some software I possess. My theory has to do with these missing persons cases.”
Freitan had sharp dark eyes that reminded Sophie of a mynah bird. “What’s this theory?”
“I can’t tell you until I have a chance to assemble numbers and run statistical analyses on some data I need to put together.” Sophie met the woman’s gaze squarely. “I promise I will share any findings I get with you. But I need a hack-proof place to work that’s cool and dry. This environment kills computers.” Sophie gestured to their damp and dripping surroundings.
Freitan gave a brief nod. “I ran background on you. You were quite the tech agent in the FBI. You will need to sign confidentiality agreements, but I’m down with that.”
Wong nodded as well. “We will have to run it by our station chief, but I don’t anticipate a problem. You two have been straight up with us and brought us good leads.”
Relief brought a smile to Sophie’s face. She couldn’t wait to get DAVID burrowing for missing persons data. “Terrific. You won’t regret this. When can we get started?”
Freitan tipped her head back to survey the sullen clouds, prematurely darkening the area. “Tomorrow. We have a lot of ground to cover, dealing with this scene and interviewing Webb and Rayme. And we’ll still need an okay for you to use the facility. Wong and I will be in touch.” Freitan ran an assessing glance over Jake, his black combat clothing smeared with leaves and mud. “You’re filthy, Jake. You need a good scrub in a hot shower, my man. Take two, baby, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jake glared, then stomped away through the brush toward the Jeep, the back of his neck reddening. “Kamani! Rude!” Wong smacked Freitan’s arm.
“What? Dunn’s a dirty boy who needs a good rubdown,” Freitan laughed, unrepentant. “I wouldn’t mind hitting that.”
Freitan was never going to get anywhere needling Jake that way, and he deserved a little inappropriate teasing after all he’d put Sophie through early in their working relationship. Still, she felt protective. “That kind of speech is inappropriate, Detective,” Sophie said. “You wouldn’t like a male officer to engage in sexual innuendoes with you, would you?”
“And you don’t think I deal with that kind of shit talk every day from the guys?” Freitan tossed her head defiantly. “I’m just getting in a few licks for our team.” Her grin was toothy and feral. “So to speak.”
Sophie shook her head and followed Jake at a slower pace, leaving the detectives to photograph the site and collect the evidence. She felt exhausted but wired.
What would they do in that cabin all evening until tomorrow?
Chapter Sixteen
Jake turned the wheel of the Jeep, guiding the vehicle into the Volcanoes National Park through an entrance nestled between beautiful lava stone entry portals. He glanced at Sophie. “Do you mind taking a run along the rim of the crater? We have a few hours of daylight left.”
Sophie’s smile warmed him. “You must have read my mind. I need to discharge some energy. Get the kinks out, as Marcella would say.”
Jake nodded. Relief that she so clearly understood allowed his tight jaw to loosen.
He paid their park entrance fee and drove to a parking lot near the Volcano House Inn and Restaurant. That venerable old establishment perched on the rim of the caldera, a historic barnacle on the living organism that was Kilauea volcano. Sophie took running shoes out of her backpack after they parked. “I think the dogs will be glad of this too.”
“Yeah. We get to see how Tank does on a leash.”
Soon they were jogging along the wandering path that circumnavigated the edge of Kilauea Volcano. The dogs were perfectly behaved on their leashes, and Jake felt the frustration and tension of their challenging day drop away as they ran.
The views from the edge were stunning. The caldera was as austere as an asteroid and just as foreign, sweeping out below them hundreds of feet, a cliff ending at the flat black field that had once been liquid stone. The active vent of Pu’u O’o gushed sulfurous steam, looking like a giant campfire set on the barren surface of the moon.
Sophie took the lead, her athletic body moving easily along the trail. Jake glimpsed those sexy tattoos on the insides of her arms, but regrettably, the ones on her legs were hidden by nylon pants.
They ran for miles, until the dogs were panting with tiredness and sunset was a glowing coal in the west.
Eventually, they returned to the Jeep and fed and watered the dogs beside the vehicle. Jake cocked his head as he met Sophie’s eye and pointed. One of the frequent rainbows of the area caught the last of the sunset’s light, landing on nearby rocks. “Must be a pot of gold somewhere around here.”
Sophie scrunched her brow. “Pot of gold? This must be one of those cultural things.”
“Indeed it is. An old Irish legend is that at the end of a rainbow, there’s a pot of gold guarded by leprechauns. Wee folk. Related to fairies.”
“A common enough conceit. Almost every culture has some version of magic and . . . tiny people.” Sophie was cute when she groped for words.
“Never say leprechauns are common in the presence of an Irishman.” Teasing, Jake hooked an arm around Sophie’s neck to give her cropped head a knuckle rub. Sophie stiffened in surprise. She tossed his arm off as she spun to confront him, eyes wide with surprise and apprehension.
Jake felt a stab of pain to his chest that he had activated that old fear in her. He held his hands up, palms out. “I’m sorry. I was only playing.”
Sophie’s gaze softened. She smiled. “Thor save me from a large man with a sweaty armpit anywhere near my face.”
“Thor save you?” Jake got into the Jeep as she secured the dogs.
“I’ve decided to rotate my insults among all the known deities.”
Jake laughed and fired up the Jeep.
They drove out of the park toward the cabin where they’d be staying. He forced himself away from imagining how he’d like to fill the hours alone with her in the dark.
Jake drove Sophie to Hilo the next morn
ing. They’d had fish tacos at Volcano Village after their run, then a platonic evening working quietly on their laptops and early bed. Freitan had called and given the okay for Sophie to come into Hilo to work at the computer lab at the station, and Jake could tell by Sophie’s tense silence that she was dying to get to it.
Last night in the cabin had been torture, knowing that Sophie was sleeping naked in the room next to him, with nothing but a thin wall and an unlocked plywood door separating them. He hadn’t gotten any rest until Tank got up on the bed with him, curling up at his feet with a warm comforting weight. Ginger was similarly keeping Sophie company. Something about the situation with the dogs had finally given Jake the peace to sleep.
He glanced at her profile. “I’ll take Tank to the Humane Society while you work.”
She was still looking at the dogs. “What if they don’t find a home for Tank? What if no one wants him? Tank looks rather . . . scary.”
Jake swallowed. “They get put down.”
“Put down? You mean killed?” Sophie glared at him. “What’s humane about that?”
Jake cleared his throat. “I guess . . . it’s humane the way they do it. The animals get a shot. Never feel a thing.”
“No. Unacceptable.”
Jake felt bad about it too, a queasiness roiling his gut as he thought about filling out a form surrendering Tank and leaving him in a cage. “He’s not technically our dog. We rescued him from a bad home.”
“Only to put him in a place where he’ll be killed if he isn’t adopted? Through no fault of his own?” Sophie snorted. “I’ll keep him.”
“Right. Because you’re in a position to take care of two dogs.”
She made no response to this, and he glanced over. Her eyes were downcast, her mouth pulled down. Even sad, Sophie’s mouth looked kissable. “I should go back to Oahu and quit this attempt to hike around. Then I could keep both dogs. But I’m not ready to. I want to keep exploring for a while.”