by Sloan Parker
I ran forward and frantically lugged the debris off the driver’s side door. A part of me knew I shouldn’t be touching anything, that the police would need to inspect the vehicle, but I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to see inside.
The side window was filthy. I couldn’t get a look at anything,
I cranked the door open, surprised to find it unlocked. The cab was empty. No sign of Alex. Or his bag. Just a blue Detroit Tigers baseball cap sitting on the passenger seat. Like the hat we’d seen Gus wearing. Same style, color, design.
Had they gone to a game together and purchased the hats at the same time? Or was it something else? Had Gus been there at the truck since we’d seen him two days ago? Had he been the one to cover up the vehicle? Or had he put it back the way he’d found it? And why?
Luke reached the truck and went around to the other side. He cleared the passenger door, then opened it. “The keys are in the ignition.”
“Maybe Alex parked it here so he could hike down into the gorge, and he got hurt and couldn’t make it back.” I glanced toward where we’d been searching along the ridge. “Or maybe it’s like you said before. Maybe he fell into the water.”
“But why hide the truck? And who did it? Him? Or someone else?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know he’d come to this spot. Or maybe someone else covered it up after he left it here.”
“Why? Unless it’s like you said, and they wanted to hide the fact that he was out here, or hide what happened to him.”
“Either way,” Richard said from where he now stood beside me, “I’m not liking the picture this whole scene is painting.” He ran a hand over my shoulder in a comforting stroke, like he didn’t want to say more for fear of upsetting me and arguing again, but he also wanted me to get what he meant.
I nodded. Because he was right. This didn’t look good. I told them my thoughts about the baseball hat. “I’m guessing he and Gus just have the same cap.”
“Maybe,” Richard said.
“Well…” Luke closed the passenger door. “I guess it makes sense that the search teams never found the truck with it hidden like this.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Maybe the sheriff really did do his best. I guess I should call him.” But instead of pulling out my phone, I shut the truck door and examined the exterior of the vehicle. The bed of the truck was filled with empty metal cages, a med kit, and a pair of Carhartt overalls.
Luke came around to the driver’s side. “What are you looking for?”
“I don’t know. I feel like we’re missing something.” I shook my head. “But I have no idea what.” I gave the truck another once-over but found nothing odd. I couldn’t put off the inevitable. I got out my phone and turned it on. I didn’t have a signal, so I stuffed it back into my pack. “Luke, can I use yours?” His phone was on a different network through his job. He’d had a signal sometimes when I didn’t.
He gave it to me.
Sure enough, his phone had a much stronger signal. I dialed, and the call went through. I asked to talk to Sheriff Emerson. Once he came on the line, I told him we’d found Alex’s truck. He asked a few questions, including our location.
After I hung up, I told the guys, “We’re supposed to wait here. He’s sending two deputies. They’ll take the access roads as far as they can, but then they’ll have to hike out here or try to figure out which way Alex drove his truck off-road to get here. In any case, it’ll be a while.”
“He’s not coming himself?” Richard asked
“He’s in the middle of something, but he’ll join his deputies here as soon as he can.”
“Was he surprised we found the truck?”
“Not sure. He sounded relieved, though.”
Luke scoffed. “You’d think that shithead would hate being wrong.”
Richard snorted in agreement.
“I don’t know,” I said. “He sounded concerned when he asked if there was any sign of Alex or his body.”
Richard removed his backpack and dropped it to the ground next to the truck. I slipped my pack off too and set it beside his. I opened the driver’s door again, then got inside the cab and glanced around, spotting nothing more than the blue hat on the passenger seat.
I couldn’t stop the questions rolling through my head.
Why was the truck concealed under the brush? Had Alex come out into the park because he was hiding from someone? Did he not want anyone to know he was at this particular location that day? Or had someone else hidden the vehicle?
Luke came to stand beside me. He indicated inside the truck with a nod of his head. “You probably shouldn’t touch anything in there. If something happened to Alex, they’ll need to search the truck, check for prints and evidence, DNA, that kind of thing.”
“Right. Okay.” I was about to get up, but something told me not to go. Despite Luke’s warning, I took another look around and caught sight of something sticking out from under the edge of the baseball cap on the other seat. I picked up the hat. Underneath lay a piece of paper. The torn corner of a map. Written on it was one name and a note below that.
“What is it?” Luke asked.
I turned to face him. “It’s a letter for Gus.” I looked over his shoulder to Richard. “Should I read it?”
“It’s your call.”
Luke eyed Richard skeptically, but then he sighed as if giving up on the notion that we should leave the scene alone. He flipped a hand toward the paper. “Why not? I still don’t trust that sheriff. Whatever is in that letter could get covered up. Just like this truck.”
“I don’t think Sheriff Emerson would do that.”
“You know for certain he wouldn’t hold back any information from the family?”
“I guess not.”
“There could be something in that letter that Alex’s wife and kid should know about.”
“You’re right.” I picked up the paper and swung my legs around to sit on the edge of the seat, facing them.
I read aloud.
“Gus, I need your help. I hate to leave you a note like this, but I can’t get a signal on my phone right now. I hid my truck because I didn’t want anyone else to find it. But I knew you wouldn’t give up on looking for me. I just hope to God I’m right, and you’re the one who’s reading this.
“I’ve seen something I shouldn’t have, and the people involved are coming for me. I’m hiding in a cave right now, but as soon as it’s dark again, I’m going to make my way back to my truck and leave this letter there for you. Then I’ll head out of the park on foot. I can’t risk driving the truck. They’ve got a drone, and I’m afraid they’ll spot me on the roads.
“I’m going to do my best to get home, but if something happens to me, there are three videos on my phone that will explain everything. I’ve hidden the phone here in the cave. Natalie will know which one. Tell her it’s my favorite cave, the same one we found the first time we went backpacking in the park together. If you somehow get this note and the phone, watch the videos but don’t show them to anyone else until you see them first. I’ve password protected the video files. Natalie can give you that too. It’s the same four numbers as our banking PIN. Tell her I love her and Tomas and the new baby very much. I’m sorry I got involved in all this. I never meant to put myself in danger or bring any sort of trouble near her or the kids. Please keep them safe for me, Gus.”
As I stopped reading, my hand holding the note fell to my lap. “Someone was after him.”
“Yeah.” Richard spoke carefully, as if afraid to say anything more to me. “I guess…” He trailed off.
I finished his thought. “If something happened to him, it wasn’t an accident.”
Richard gestured at the truck and the letter. “Which means all this really is evidence.” He gave me a pointed look. “We need to let the police deal with this from now on.”
I nodded.
“What if the sheriff’s involved?” Luke asked. “I noticed Alex didn’t mention taking the
videos to Emerson. I wonder why that was.”
Maybe Luke was right. “What do you think Alex saw?”
“Nothing good.” Richard spun away and took a couple of steps from the truck. He stopped and stared out toward the wooded area that led back to the gorge, his hands on his hips, his back stiff and straight.
I got up from the seat. “We need to see those videos.”
Richard jerked around. “No. We don’t.”
I turned to Luke. “I could call his wife. Find out where that cave is and get the password.”
“No!” Richard stormed toward us.
“But we need to find that phone. Maybe he left another note with it. Maybe there’s something in the videos that will explain where he went and what happened to him.”
“The people chasing him caught him and killed him. That’s what happened to him. And that’s all I need to know. This entire situation just became a whole hell of a lot more dangerous.” He cut off abruptly as if he hated the sound of his own frustrated voice. He tipped his head back and breathed deep, seeming utterly conflicted. “Let’s let the authorities figure this out.”
“But what if Luke’s right and we can’t trust the sheriff? Once we give the letter to him and they find the phone, whatever Alex saw, whatever else he might’ve said to his wife and son, could get destroyed if there’s some kind of cover-up going on here.”
Richard focused on me again. “I don’t care. All I care about is keeping both of you safe.”
“Well, I do care. Alex could still be alive. Maybe locating that phone will help us find him. I have to do this. For Tomas.”
Luke moved in closer. “Matthew, that cave could be miles away from here. This park is filled with all kinds of caves.”
He was right. But then it hit me. “I know what cave he was talking about. It’s close.” I motioned for them to follow and rushed for the tree line. “This way.” I heard their footfalls behind me, then Richard’s booming voice calling out for me. I kept on going until I reached the ridge above the gorge where we’d searched earlier. I bolted down the path and headed straight for the waterfall. Large boulders blocked the recessed cave’s opening from view. I’d have to scale the wet rocks and under the waterfall to get to it.
I started to climb.
“Take it easy,” Richard said as he came up behind me, but he didn’t try to stop me. He helped me up onto the surface of the rocks.
I turned back to warn them. “It’s slippery. Go slow.” Then I continued on and was around the massive boulders and at the opening of the cave in no time, Richard and Luke there with me.
“How’d you know about this?” Luke asked.
“From Alex’s book. He mentioned finding this when he first moved here. It’s called Hidden Willow Cave. I had forgotten it was here.”
Luke pulled a flashlight from his back pocket and flicked it on. The cave was shallow, and we could see all the way to the back wall. “Should we take a look?” he asked.
I had to, but I also wanted Richard to be okay with this. I glanced his way.
He studied me for several breaths, then said, “Just please be careful.”
Together we worked our way from the front of the cave toward the back. There were loose rocks and cracks in the walls, but other than that, there weren’t many places to search. As we neared the back of the cave, I found a wide crevice behind a rock that jutted out from the base of the wall. Tucked into the opening was Alex’s red backpack.
“It’s here! Alex’s pack.”
I tugged it out and slid open the zipper as Luke and Richard approached. I took a look inside. “It’s full of money.” I spread the bag open so they could see the wads of cash.
Luke pointed at the bag. “That’s gotta be several hundred grand.”
“Maybe more,” Richard added.
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head. “Where did it come from?”
Richard raised a brow. “Nowhere good, I’ll bet.”
“Maybe someone was paying Alex for something,” Luke suggested. “Something illegal. Or paying him to keep quiet about what he saw.”
I didn’t like either thought. I checked the front pocket of the backpack. Inside was Alex’s phone and a folded map.
The phone’s case had a wide crack along the back. I pressed the power button, but nothing happened. I unfolded the map. It was of the park. A corner had been torn off where Alex had written the note to Gus.
On the map were a series of hand-drawn grid lines that covered the park, each grid labeled with a number. It was the map I’d seen on Alex’s desk the day of my interview. Maybe he and the rangers used the numbered grid as coordinates to keep track of where they found animals in need of rescue.
“What is that?” Luke asked.
“A map of the park. The phone’s dead.”
“Let me see.” He gestured to the phone.
I handed it over. “They said on the news they couldn’t locate Alex by his phone, so they assumed, if he was in the park, that it had been damaged or the battery died.”
Luke examined the cell. “Looks like it’s only the case that’s broken. It’ll need to be charged to know for sure.”
It was the same type of phone Luke had. “Do you think your charger would work?”
“Maybe. It’s a way older model, but I’m pretty sure it uses the same plug. My charger’s in my pack back at Alex’s truck.”
“Let’s head back and check while we wait for the deputies.” I folded the map and slipped it into my back pocket. “What about the money?”
Richard indicated the crevice where I’d found the backpack. “We should leave it here. Let the cops deal with it.”
“Okay.” I returned the bag to its hiding spot behind the rocks, and the three of us headed out of the cave and up the stairs to the truck.
Luke searched through his gear and found his charger. “Yeah, it fits.” He slid into the driver’s side of the truck and turned the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life. He plugged in the phone and examined the display. “It’s charging. It’ll take a minute or so before it’ll turn on, but so far it’s working.”
I went to my backpack and removed the plastic bag with the photos Tomas had given me, along with Gus’s card. I added Alex’s map and letter to the bag, and tucked everything into my back pocket for safekeeping. I’d need to give the map and letter to the deputies when they arrived.
Richard and I leaned against the side of the truck as we waited.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I guess.”
He examined my profile for a long moment.
I turned to him. I could tell by the look on his face that he believed Alex was already dead. I didn’t want to talk about that. “I’m okay, really.”
“I wish…”
“What?”
“I wish there’d never been a reason for us to be out here.”
“Me too,” I said.
“Phone’s on,” Luke called out.
Richard and I went to stand at the open door of the truck.
“Screen’s locked.” Without unplugging the phone, Luke tried various combinations on the lock screen.
Richard sighed. “This is not a good idea. That phone is evidence.”
Luke shot Richard a skeptical look. “I still think it’s weird that they never found this truck. Even hidden like this. I mean, Matthew spotted it all the way through the trees from down inside the gorge. Supposedly they had a huge team out here, search dogs, a helicopter, and they found nothing. We’re out here for a few days, and we find the truck, his backpack, a letter, and his phone.” He turned to me. “You were right to come out here. I think that sheriff or the park rangers, maybe both, are definitely covering something up. I mean, don’t you think it’s odd that Alex was able to drive his truck all the way out here? Look at how thick the forest is around here. I bet there’s another access road nearby. One that’s not on the sheriff’s map. Maybe something new, something he didn’t want us to know about.” He s
wiped another combination into the phone, but when he still had no luck, he asked, “Should we call his wife and see if she knows the code?”
I nodded, and Luke gave me his phone again. I dialed Tomas’s number and put the phone on speaker so Luke and Richard could hear.
Tomas answered on the first ring.
“Hey, it’s Matthew. I’m on Luke’s phone.”
“Did you find anything?”
“I can’t really go into it now. I’ve gotta hurry, and I need to talk to your mom. Is she around?”
“Sort of. We’re at the hospital.”
“Is everything okay?”
“She was feeling sick last night and then she started having these weird pains.”
“Are you there with her?”
“I’m in the waiting room by myself. I’ve been here forever, and no one will tell me anything.”
“I’m sure everything will be fine.”
He let out a distressed sigh and offered nothing more for a few seconds. Then he said in a low whisper, “She had a couple of miscarriages after she had me.”
“Oh. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything for this baby.”
“Yeah. I guess it’s only a couple weeks before she’s supposed to have it.” The tone of his voice eased as he asked, “When I see her again, you want me to ask her to call you?”
“Only if she’s feeling up to it. Have her call me back on this phone.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks. Listen, I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you again with more info as soon as I can.”
“All right.” Sounding reluctant, he said goodbye and hung up. I hated keeping what we’d found from him, but what did I really know at this point?
Richard carefully said, “I’m sure everything will be okay.”
“Yeah. I just feel bad that he has to wait there by himself. His dad should be there with them.”
Luke gestured for me to hand the phone to him. “I’ve got an app on my cell that I could use to get the video files unlocked. Another programmer at work wrote the code just to see if he could do it. We know the password’s a four-digit pin, so it shouldn’t take that long for the app to cycle through the possible combinations. If I can just crack the main lock screen, I could tether the two phones and then let the app handle the password on the videos. I’ve got an adapter with my charger that should work.”