by Sloan Parker
I looked to Richard, then back to Luke. “Do it.”
Richard breathed deep again, shaking his head. “Whatever is on that phone, I don’t want any of us to know a thing about it.” He gripped my shoulders and turned me to face him. “I want you to be able to do what you feel you need to here, but once we see what’s on those videos, we can’t go back.”
“What are you saying? You want me to walk away from Alex’s family and just hope the sheriff tells them everything?”
“I want us to walk out of this park safe and sound.”
“But I need to know the truth. Tomas needs to know.”
Without warning, he pulled me into an embrace. “I know how much this means to you, but whatever Alex saw could’ve very well gotten him killed. I don’t want us near that.”
“I know. I don’t want that either.”
“Then we’re waiting here for the sheriff’s deputies and letting them take it from here. We’ll just have to hope for the best outcome, okay?”
I pulled back from Richard. “What if Alex is still alive, but the sheriff won’t do much to look for him again?”
“You really think that’s possible, about Alex?”
“I don’t know, but I have to find out for sure.”
Richard didn’t respond to that at first. He searched my eyes, then exhaled another long breath as if steadying himself for what would come next. He glanced over my shoulder to Luke. “Give it a shot, see if you can get the phone open.”
Luke got to work again on unlocking Alex’s phone.
I hugged Richard. “Thank you.”
He embraced me in return, holding me so fiercely it was as if he literally feared what would happen if he let go of me.
“Bingo!”
We refocused on Luke. “You got it open?” I asked.
“Did you seriously doubt I would?”
I moved in to lean against the truck beside him so we could both take a look. The phone’s main screen showcased the typical smartphone apps.
Luke browsed to the videos section. “Here are the three locked files. Just give me a minute to get them open.” He unplugged Alex’s phone from the truck, then connected it to his phone and ran the hacking app to get the correct password.
As we waited, Richard and I kept an eye out for the deputies, even though it would likely take several more hours for them to reach us. Unless they were already in the park and somewhere close by. Or, as Luke had suggested, another access road was near our current location.
Luke held up the phone. “Got it!”
Richard and I moved in close again, and we positioned ourselves on either side of him so we could see the phone, using our bodies to block the sunlight from impeding our view.
Luke hit play on the first video, and the screen filled with a rainy nighttime exterior shot of what looked like a newly constructed rudimentary cabin. A low light was on inside, illuminating a single window on the side of the building. The camera zoomed in closer, and we could make out several people to the right of the cabin.
Whispering, a low voice came over the video. “What is this place?”
I pointed at the screen. “That’s Alex’s voice.”
Alex continued. “There isn’t supposed to be a cabin here.” He panned the camera over the cabin’s exterior. “I’m guessing someone built this illegally on park land.”
He zeroed in on the people who were beside the small shelter. Two of the figures stood close. They were a young man and woman who appeared to be in their early twenties. Hikers from the looks of them. Each wore a backpack. They had their hands resting at the backs of their heads like they were being held at gunpoint, but the video was too dark to see if any of the others held a gun on them.
Two of the others, also a man and woman, removed the younger couple’s packs and forced them onto their knees. The third person standing behind them raised his arm. A gun was definitely visible now.
“Shit,” Luke said around a breathy exhale.
On the video, Alex spoke in a similar hushed tone. “Oh God.”
I slapped a hand over my mouth in horror as we watched the scene play out.
Both hikers kneeling on the ground held out their arms as if pleading to the others for their lives. It made no difference. The man with the gun fired twice. The hikers dropped forward in rapid succession right as lightning lit up the sky.
The video in the playback window shook. “Oh my God.” Thunder boomed overhead, and Alex started backing away from the murderous sight before him. The entire time he moved, he kept the camera pointed at the bodies on the ground.
I reached out and hit pause on the phone. “I think I heard about those kids on the news. Just a couple of weeks ago. They were friends, both taking classes at the university. They went missing from their dorm rooms on the same day. No one knew where they went or why. The police suspected they ran off together, but their families said they wouldn’t have done that. They were last seen leaving campus with only their backpacks.” I pointed at the paused video. “That has to be them.”
Luke nodded as if that made sense. “But why the hell were they killed?”
“And by who?” Richard gestured to the phone. “Play the rest.”
Luke hit the play button again. The shaking of the video stilled as if Alex had composed himself and stopped moving backward. He zoomed the camera in and got a better shot of the guy with the gun. He panned out over the others who stood near the shooter. The rain came down harder, making it more difficult to pick up any details on the video. Then the woman turned toward the camera. Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, providing a better view. She wore a uniform. The same uniform Gus had been wearing that morning.
“That’s a park ranger.” Luke hit rewind and paused the playback right as the lightning lit up the sky. He pointed to the female ranger, then indicated the man with the gun. “And he’s wearing a deputy sheriff’s uniform.”
“Oh my God,” I said.
Richard got a closer look. “You sure that’s a deputy? Not the sheriff?”
“I think so. He looks too short to be Emerson.”
Luke started the video again. Without warning, the man with the gun turned and looked directly into the camera. Lightning struck again. It was the deputy with the slicked-back dark hair we’d seen at the sheriff’s station the other day. He held still for a heartbeat. Then he started right for Alex.
“Shit,” Alex said on the video. The camera quickly shifted down and kept recording the ground as Alex’s frantic footsteps and heavy breaths could be heard over the beat of rain.
The recording continued on like that for several seconds. Then it went dark.
Luke started the second video file.
We were looking at an exterior shot of another building, older, more run-down, surrounded by lush grass and brush several feet high that obscured much of the structure. Alex’s voice came over the recording again. “Okay, I think it’s safe. There was someone here on guard a few minutes ago, but they got a call and left. Maybe to help locate me. You’ve got to see what I found inside here.” He headed for a dilapidated door, opened it, and entered.
The camera captured the interior, a large open room made up of wood walls, plank floors, and yards of rustic beams overhead, like the interior of a barn. It was cleaner and more brightly lit than expected based on the state of the building’s exterior. Wooden pallets filled the room, each loaded with a four-foot-tall wire mesh basket that took up the entire pallet. Every basket was stocked with rocks and small boulders, all about a foot in diameter. It was as if the park service had ordered a delivery of the rocks to use in some kind of landscaping project. Only…
The camera zoomed in on a single rock that had been cracked in two. It was hollow. Hidden inside was a large plastic bag filled with a powdery substance.
Alex spoke again. “I just found all this. These are fake rocks, every single one I checked is filled with this stuff. I’m guessing it’s heroin. I also found several bags full of cash.
Whoever left all this here must’ve done some renovations on the building. The last time I was here, this place looked nothing like this. There’s now a generator running electricity, and the whole building is temperature controlled.” He swung the camera toward tables that were set up in the far corner of the room with scales and empty plastic baggies. Then he rotated around, getting a shot of more pallets containing the faux rocks and boulders. The room was jam-packed with them.
“Jesus,” Luke said. “That’s a lot of fucking drugs. That’s gotta be worth a shit-ton of money.”
“Where is he?” I asked. “That place looks familiar. What kind of building is that?”
Richard shook his head. “It’s hard to tell. Someplace that’s been around for quite a while.”
Luke stopped the video once more. “That was a smart move.”
“What was?” I thought he was talking about something Alex had done until he explained.
“Storing drugs on state land. If the cops or the feds find that stash, the building and the land can’t be traced back to a private property owner. It’s like when dealers keep their drugs in a stolen car on the street. No way to prove it’s theirs.”
He hit play again. Alex continued filming more of the building’s interior, zooming in on the additional faux rocks he’d opened, the bags with the cash, the temporary power setup, and new lighting fixtures that had obviously been a recent addition.
A loud bang came from behind him. He gasped and spun around. “Shit. Someone’s here.” He lowered the phone and started running again, the camera lens pointed at the floor. He sped out a back door of the building and into the forest.
A minute later the recording stopped.
When Luke started the third video, Alex’s image filled the screen. He was crouched inside the cave where we’d found his phone and backpack. He spoke softly but loud enough to be heard over the muted rush of the waterfall outside the cave’s opening. “This is for Natalie.” He glanced down for a long breath, then lifted his head to stare directly into the camera. “Honey, I don’t want you involved in all this, but I know you’ll make Gus tell you everything. You’ll want to know what happened to me. Please, do not trust the local sheriff, his deputies, the rangers, or anyone else. These guys have almost caught me once already. They saw me recording the murder of those hikers. They were shouting at me that they wouldn’t hurt me if I just gave them my phone. I’m going to hide the phone here in this cave so if they catch me I’ll have something to bargain with, but—” He stopped and lifted his head as if he’d heard something or someone outside the cave.
When he refocused on the camera, he talked more quickly. “I don’t think they’ll want just the video. They’ll want to silence me.” Tears filled his eyes. He breathed deep and glanced down for a moment. “I’m going to travel at night and hide wherever I can during daylight hours. I wish I could hear your voice before I go, but I’m still not getting a cell signal here. I’m going to do everything I can to make it back to Windtree.” He hesitated, clearly choked up again. “But if you haven’t seen me yet, then I’m guessing something happened to me. I’m so sorry that I can’t be with you when you have the baby. Tell our kids I love them. And tell Tomas I’m so very proud of him for who he is.” He raised his head as if listening for something outside the cave again. “I’ve gotta go, honey. I love you all very much.” Then Alex reached forward and stopped the video.
A low-battery message flashed on Alex’s phone. Then it shut off. Luke fiddled with the phone for a minute, then said, “It’s dead. I’ll have to charge it more.” He turned his own phone off and slipped it into his backpack, then plugged Alex’s back into the charger.
I stood completely immobile, saying nothing. I couldn’t believe what we’d just seen and heard.
“Matthew,” Richard started. “I think…”
“I know. They probably caught him and killed him.” I breathed deep, letting that realization sink in.
Feeling anxious and needing to move, I stepped away from the truck. I didn’t want to look at the vehicle any longer. Despite having found the truck and the videos and knowing that would at least lead to some answers for Tomas and Natalie, I couldn’t help but feel the crushing weight of despair.
Richard came up behind me.
I shook my head, not wanting him to say anything. Frustration rolled off me in waves that I couldn’t contain. I had truly hoped—no, I believed—that Alex might’ve just gotten hurt and was still somewhere in the park, injured, but able to keep himself alive as he waited for help. No matter how slim the possibility anything like that could’ve happened, knowing that someone had most likely intentionally hurt him and that we weren’t going to find him alive was almost more than I could stand. Tomas had truly lost his father. “He’s really dead.”
Richard held me from behind. He kissed the side of my head and kept his lips pressed there. “It looks that way.”
What would happen to Tomas now? And the new baby? He or she would never know Alex, never see what kind of person he was.
“I was hoping maybe…” I couldn’t form the words. I shrugged. “I wanted to find him before it was too late.”
“I know.” He tightened his arms around me. “At least Tomas and Natalie will know for sure that he didn’t leave them. And maybe they’ll find out what actually happened to him. Let’s just hope whatever that was, he didn’t suffer.”
“Yeah.” I still couldn’t shake my intense disappointment.
We made our way back to the truck. As I stopped in front of the open door, I said, “Maybe the people who were after him took him back to that cabin where they shot the others.”
Richard nodded. “They could’ve buried him there.”
“Or anywhere,” Luke said as he got up from the truck’s seat. “They could’ve ditched his body anywhere in this park. In one of the rivers or the lake.” He stopped and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Matthew. I’m just frustrated. How the hell are we supposed to know who to trust?”
“I don’t know.” Richard scanned the area around us. “But we need to get away from this truck.”
I threw him a startled look. “Do you really think the sheriff’s involved?”
“Yeah, I do. I’m betting his search for the doc ended very differently than he told us.”
“He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d—”
Luke interrupted with, “That’s because you want to believe the best in everyone. He was an ass. But even if he’s not involved, some of his deputies obviously are.” He came toward me. “Richard’s right. We need to get away from this truck. Now.”
“Come on.” Richard gripped my hand and got us moving toward the trees.
Luke called out after us, “I’m just going to grab Alex’s phone and the charger.”
“Hurry up.” Richard paused for a second as if he were going to wait for Luke, but then got us moving again.
A few feet from the tree line, I hesitated, and Richard stopped with me.
“You really think they’ll hurt us?” I sounded on the verge of panic.
“It’s okay.” He tightened his grip on my hand. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
A high-pitched sound whizzed by my head. A small section of bark on the tree beside Richard exploded. Then two more impacts hit another tree to the right of him.
“Someone’s shooting at us!” Luke shouted.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Another shot hit the tree.
Richard tackled me to the ground, his heavy weight pressing down on me. He waved an arm at Luke. “Get down!” More shots impacted in the grass beside us.
He spoke against my ear. “We have to run. We’re sitting ducks here.”
I nodded.
He yanked me off the ground and shouted, “Luke, run!”
Clasping my arm tightly, Richard practically dragged me with him as we sprinted for the trees. Once we were thirty feet inside the tree line, we hunkered behind the base of a massive red oak tree.
Richard peeked out toward the truck. “Luke!” he shouted again. Then he ducked down as more bullets hit a tree near us.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“He’s inside the truck.”
I turned to look.
“No. Stay back.” Richard scrambled to pull me behind the tree, but not before the rear windshield of the truck imploded.
“Luke!” Richard sprang up.
Luke rolled out of the passenger side of the truck and raced toward us. He had his backpack in one hand, Alex’s phone and the charger in the other. Divots of grass shot up behind his feet as gunshots pummeled the earth. He didn’t stop. He ran straight for where we’d entered the grove of trees.
As soon as he was within arm’s reach, Richard grabbed him and hauled him behind the tree with us. With both hands, Richard frantically examined Luke’s torso and head. “You hit?”
“No.” But Richard didn’t let up until Luke gripped his wrists to stop him. “I’m fine.”
More shots came, and we ducked our heads again. Richard had a hand on the back of my head and one on Luke’s, pushing us both down. Then the shots halted right as Luke asked, “What the hell do we do? Make a run for it?”
I didn’t like the sound of that. At least behind the tree we had some cover from the bullets flying our way.
I wasn’t sure Richard agreed with me. He glanced at our surroundings. “We’ve got to get out of here. They’ll be coming for us.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the meadow. “That way. Toward the river.” He started to get up but stopped when a booming voice rang out.
“We just want the doctor’s phone.”
Richard crouched back down.
The voice hollered again. “If you have the phone, throw it out into the grass, and we’ll let you walk away.”
We were all breathing heavily, no one moving a muscle.
The man called out again. “Just give us the phone. That’s all we want.”
“Who is that?” Luke whispered.