Don’t Keep Silent

by Don't Keep Silent (epub)

  Rae said nothing more, and silence filled the cab for a few moments.

  “Okay, then,” Liam said. “We already know she’s missing, and now it appears that she was probably abducted. Now we know more. Still, there could be more to it. Could be the man was taking her to show her something. Maybe she was going to purchase a surprise for Alan. I don’t know. This man could have abducted her that way. The point is, we stick to our plan while we wait for more information—like the name of the man she was last seen with.”

  Rae nodded. Liam made sense. She glanced up in time to see the sheriff’s vehicle exiting the long drive. Time to focus her thoughts on the current situation and, like Liam said, stick to the trail they were following.

  “Here he comes. I wish we could have been there to see and hear Enzo’s words, his response to whatever news the sheriff delivered,” Rae said.

  “The big question is, what will happen next?”

  “I hope it doesn’t involve more skiing.”

  Liam chuckled. She liked the sound of it, and they needed levity. A breather from the heaviness. Poor Alan. How was he handling the weight of this and caring for Callie? Wasn’t Mom coming to help? When was she supposed to get there? Rae never remembered to ask. Still, the focus required to care for Callie could be exactly what Alan needed right now.

  The sheriff’s vehicle steered onto the street and passed them, then made a U-turn to park behind Liam’s truck on the shoulder. Sheriff Taggart got out and hiked over to Liam as if he would give him a ticket for a traffic violation. Liam lowered his window.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “I delivered the news.”

  “What news would that be?”

  “Let’s make this official.” Sheriff Taggart leaned closer. “I’ll read you in on this case since you’re working as a private investigator and protecting Rae.”

  Rae’s heart jumped. This was good news. The sheriff was taking them seriously.

  Liam nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

  “I informed Mr. Astor of the news we received this afternoon. That an anthropologist evaluated Simon Astor’s remains. His skull was fractured, and that’s believed to be the cause of death.”

  “Fractured?” Liam said. “As in . . .”

  “Murdered.” The sheriff adjusted his hat. “Since we now have that evidence, it takes our search for Tawny Davidson into new territory.” He peered past Liam to Rae. “What you’ve told me about your sister-in-law could be part of this, as you’ve already suggested. But she’s missing now, and our priority is to find her. We don’t have enough to necessarily draw the conclusion that Enzo Astor abducted or instructed others to harm her, but neither can we dismiss it since we have a possible motive.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff,” Rae said.

  “How did Astor take the news about his brother?” Liam asked.

  “He was pensive when he answered the door. Angry when I told him. Said he was going to head to Colorado to look into his brother’s murder.”

  “Do you believe he’ll do that?”

  “I guess we’ll find out. What are you going to do now? Follow me back?”

  “No. We’ll stick to our plan and see what he does next. We’ll follow him.”

  This mode of investigation might get them nowhere fast, and Rae needed to convince Liam they should split up. They could accomplish much more. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d been in dangerous situations when investigating.

  “Be careful.” Sheriff Taggart tipped his hat, then headed back to his vehicle.

  Rae gasped. “Liam, when I approached Enzo earlier today, he said he would agree to talk to me. His exact words were, ‘If a story about my brother’s death can help find his killer, then I’ll do anything.’ We’ve speculated all along that Simon was killed and possibly by Zoey—in self-defense, of course. It’s been our rationale for following Enzo and now . . .”

  “And now, we could have our confirmation that Astor knew his brother had been murdered before the sheriff delivered the news.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  4:15 p.m.

  Liam rolled his neck to ease the tension. He would have to text the sheriff regarding Rae’s earlier conversation with Enzo Astor, building the case for storming his home, little by little. Often that’s all they could do. Chip away until they uncovered the truth.

  A truck exited the driveway. Liam lifted his binoculars to check the passengers.

  The truck stopped where the drive intersected with the road and then pulled out and turned north, towing a trailer loaded with two snowmobiles. This wasn’t what Liam had expected.

  “Is he in that truck?” Rae said.

  “Yes. Along with his usual sidekick.”

  “Aren’t we here to see if he responds to the sheriff’s news?” she asked.

  “And this is his reaction. Strange, but there it is.”

  “Since he left his house, this might be a good time to hike the woods and get closer to the house. Look through binoculars. Take pictures with a zoom lens.”

  “Or now might be a good time to follow him and see where he goes after learning his brother was murdered five years ago, though he’s known that for a while, it would seem. I’m not convinced he doesn’t know who killed his brother either.”

  “You mean Zoey.”

  “We can’t know that she killed him.”

  “The timeline works. If you had seen her when she came back—”

  “I hear you. But something seems off. I don’t know what it is yet.”

  “Let me know when you figure it out.”

  “You’ll be the first to know,” he said as he continued to follow Astor’s truck.

  Liam hung back as far as he could and ended up stuck behind a snowplow and two additional cars. He didn’t dare pass them on the bridge. The truck turned onto a road and left the snowplow behind. By the time Liam’s vehicle approached the turn, he could no longer see the truck. But he’d seen it turn, so he followed. A “Road Closed” sign sat off to the side.

  He kept going. “This is where following them gets tricky. The road hasn’t been plowed, and the snow is getting deeper. I’m not worried right now. My truck has four-wheel drive and a plow on the front. But at some point, Astor’s truck will have to stop. I suspect that’s what the snowmobiles are for.”

  “What are they doing? Having fun? Why would they be out having fun after the news of his brother’s murder?”

  “Good question.” Liam slowed the truck. “We don’t want to follow too closely. Let’s wait here.”

  “We could get out and hike up the road.”

  “I’ll give them time to get on their snowmobiles and leave. Then we’ll drive in.”

  They waited a good fifteen minutes—enough time for them to unload and get on the road. In the distance, he heard the whine of the snowmobiles. Good enough. He steered along the forest road, the woods thickening along with the snow, but he kept to the tracks the other truck had created until finally he spotted the empty truck and trailer ahead. He stopped about ten yards from Enzo Astor’s truck.

  Beyond Astor’s vehicle, the snow was several feet deep.

  “Let’s look around.” He climbed out and met Rae at the grill. She hiked next to him, stepping in the truck tracks to both walk easier and try to hide their own presence there, until they stood in front of Astor’s truck. The snowmobile tracks were visible and disappeared a quarter of a mile farther as the road wound deeper into the forest. Liam listened. He could barely hear them. A clump of snow dropped from a nearby low-hanging branch, startling Rae.

  “I wonder why they didn’t just take the snowmobiles from the house. Why drive out here, then take them?” Rae said.

  “People ride them for miles, sometimes hundreds of miles. But there’s a ridge they couldn’t get over. We crossed the bridge back there.”

  “Do we keep walking?”

  With his binocul
ars, he peered through the trees at the trail left by the snowmobiles. “I don’t think we should hike any farther in.” He didn’t want to be caught in a precarious situation.

  Rae’s face had turned red with cold. “Where does this road go?”

  “It’s a forest service road. I’d need to look at a map.” They should head back.

  But the silence gave him pause. “Do you hear that?”

  Rae angled her head. “No. What am I listening for?”

  “The sound of the snowmobiles. They stopped.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “They got stuck. Took a break. Or maybe they made it to their destination.” Liam listened to hear if the snowmobiles started up again. After a minute, he turned around. “We should head back.”

  At Astor’s vehicle, they peered inside the darkened windows, which mostly reflected the trees. Yep. Nice leather interior. He wouldn’t expect any less on this kind of truck.

  “Nothing. Not even a strip of paper with a scribbled name or cell phone number that could lead us to Zoey.” Liam smirked.

  “Nothing but a paperback novel stuck between the console and seat,” she said.

  He continued walking and paused at the tailgate to wait for Rae to catch up. Then they quickened their pace as they hiked to Liam’s truck. He sighed as they closed the distance. It was easier to do a stakeout in the city. No doubt about it.

  As he climbed back into his vehicle, his cell rang. Taggart.

  “Yeah.” Liam answered. “Glad you called. I need to know who Enzo Astor’s associates are. Who’s this guy always tagging along with him?”

  “Where are you?”

  “Um . . . why do you ask?”

  “No reason. First, if I learn about his associates, I’ll share with you, but it seems like this is more up your alley. You and the reporter’s. Let me get to the reason I called. Listen, I’m not going to be able to pressure Astor or look too hard at him, at least on the record.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The mayor is friends with Enzo Astor. She called me. I’m not sure exactly why since all I did was deliver news to him.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe I asked an overstepping question or two. Whatever the reason, she got a phone call. I suspect Astor spotted you following and thinks I sent you.”

  “Interesting. At least we got a reaction.”

  “That, we did.”

  Astor’s phone call to the mayor seemed like a knee-jerk reaction at that. Like he was overreacting. “What do you make of it?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ve been instructed to steer clear.”

  “You don’t report to the mayor.”

  “No. I report to the constituents of the county, and the mayor just happens to run the county seat of Grayback. That’s all I’m going to say.”

  “Don’t tell me that politics is going to win the day again. This guy has a motive, like you said already.”

  “It’s not going to win. You’re on it, McKade. There’s a reason for everything. There’s a reason you’re not working for me.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Rae watched Enzo Astor’s truck and trailer as Liam backed his vehicle along the forest service road. The road was too narrow to turn around, especially with the big kind of dual-wheeled truck Liam drove. She considered what Liam had shared of his conversation with Taggart. Was there a story there regarding the mayor’s connection to this real estate mogul? A connection worth looking into? Or was her journalistic mind kicking into overdrive?

  At the very least, she would put another possible story aside until Zoey’s whereabouts were discovered.

  Liam turned onto the road heading who knew where. Rae was totally lost in this scenic mountain wilderness. She might like to come back and visit sometime. She never got out of the city much. There was something about this place—maybe it was the serious lack of population, but the peace and solitude could calm a quaking heart.

  But not her quaking heart. Not yet.

  If only she would allow the scenery to slow her racing heart and calm her mind, maybe with that calmness, she’d gain some clarity. Liam seemed more at home here than he ever had when she’d known him in Denver. And really, how well could you know someone after only three months? Some people fell in love and got engaged in that time. Others, less than a few days. She couldn’t save what she and Liam might have had, but she could possibly save what Alan and Zoey had.

  Rae shook off her melancholy. “I guess this means we’re not going to sit and wait on them to see where they go next.”

  “We can.”

  “I need to see Samara Davidson. I think there’s something more there.” Again, she wished they could split up. “If we could get our hands on some proof, then the sheriff would have no choice but to barge into that home. Oh, except the mayor told him to back off. I can’t believe this. Maybe we should visit the mayor ourselves. I have no qualms about facing off with this woman who might be standing in the way of Zoey’s safety.”

  “Let’s stick with going to see Samara Davidson.”

  Realization dawned. “Oh, I get it. We’re not going to follow Astor all the way in because you’re in protective mode. If I wasn’t with you, then you’d go all the way in on your own and see where they headed.”

  He half smiled and shook his head.

  “That’s it, isn’t it?”

  “That’s partially it. Remember when I said there is a time to expose the truth and a time to keep secrets? Well, there’s a time to pull back. Even without the sheriff being instructed to back off, I’d had the feeling that we were closing in on him too fast. We need to give him some space to make mistakes.”

  “I take it you’ve learned that through experience.”

  “Yeah. I’m going off a sense of things. The rhythm of the hunt.”

  Rae studied him as he drove. She wished she could look at his face and see the expression in his eyes. He had a gift, and she’d be a fool to ignore him. “So it’s like you have your fingers on the pulse of my investigation.”

  “Something like that.”

  She grabbed her notepad and pen while Liam drove. “While you’re monitoring the pulse, I feel like there’s something we’ve missed. I’m going to run through what we know so far.”

  “I’m listening.” The timbre of his voice reassured her. She hadn’t known she needed it.

  “One. Astor doesn’t seem overly concerned about his brother’s death. The news came out this week. He said he was going to look into his brother’s killer. But then he gets on a snowmobile for what . . . fun? I don’t get it.”

  “None of us really knows how we’ll respond under certain circumstances. None of us grieves the same. Enzo apparently suspected Simon had been murdered and possibly even knows who murdered him, so this news wasn’t a shock to him. Regardless of whether he knew or not, his brother has been missing for five years. He’s had time to come to certain terms with that. Five years is a long time, and Enzo Astor probably suspected his brother was dead because he knew Simon wouldn’t willingly leave an inheritance or access to millions on the table.”

  “Next. He told the sheriff he was going to Colorado. Then he calls the mayor to get the sheriff off his back.”

  Her cell rang, and she glanced at the screen. “It’s the Mountain Valley Adventures number. Maybe it’s Sam.” She answered the cell. “This is Rae.”

  Silence met her on the line.

  “Hello? Hello?” Rae looked at the cell. “The call disconnected.”

  Should she wait for Sam to call her back or should she try calling? Rae glanced in the passenger-side mirror.

  “Liam, I think there’s a truck coming up on us way too fast. Is it me, or is there a problem?”

  “I see it.”

  Liam accelerated.

  Rae’s pulse skyrocketed with the increased speed on the treacherous road. In some places, huge snow berms blocked
them in on both sides, but in other places the berms had fallen away. Spilling down the mountain? Those spots terrified her. Rae pressed her feet to the floorboard as if she could slow them down or prevent them from descending the jagged-edged drop on the side of the mountain.

  Please let me be wrong. Please let me be wrong.

  The plow attached to the grill of the enormous vehicle grew large in the mirror. She braced herself and with the impact, a scream erupted.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Liam’s truck lurched forward.

  This could not be happening.

  His heart hammered.

  Instinct took over, and he pressed the accelerator. His laser focus zeroed in on the curvy mountain road ahead of him.

  Could he make those turns at this speed? Reason warred with instinct. Liam gripped the wheel, tension cording his neck.

  The curvy, two-lane mountain road was treacherous on a good day, even without a thin layer of ice beneath the snow.

  The Hummer sped up. It could have a more powerful engine. Liam’s one advantage—the Hummer was a slower, heavier vehicle. With the current road conditions, that advantage might not matter.

  Liam skidded over into the wrong lane, then swerved back into the right lane. The driver’s intention was clear—to cause death.

  Liam couldn’t let that happen.

  “That thing is big, Liam. You can’t fight that. What are we going to do?”

  “It’s slower. We’re coming up on a rise. I can pick up speed and put more distance between us.”

  Maybe he could beat them at their own game. He floored it. Except he had to slow down on that switchback coming up or he’d never make it. Forcing Liam to increase speed and then lose control could be the pursuer’s strategy.

  He ground his molars and slowed the truck. Speed limit signs warned to take the curve at fifteen miles per hour.