Under Devil's Snare (Under Series Book 2)

by S. Y. Thompson

  “Same here, and Dinah? Thank you.”

  Jamison closed her cell phone and started to toss it beside her onto the bench seat. At the last second she changed her mind and slid the phone back into her jacket pocket. She didn’t want to be without the phone, just in case Lee called or there was some important break in the situation that would lead to her whereabouts. Pulling into the parking lot of the Paul Smith’s Visitor’s Center, Jamison experienced a strong sense of déjà vu. She rolled her eyes a second later when she recognized the sensation arose from her fourth arrival at the station in as many hours.

  A canary yellow Volkswagen Beetle sat idling near the steps. A steady stream of exhaust plumed from the tail pipe, a visual reminder of the dropping temperatures. Jamison refrained from shaking her head at the impracticality of such a vehicle in poor weather on mountainous terrain. She resolved to make the exchange for Cleo and find out as much as she could from the female Samaritan before conditions worsened.

  Jamison pulled up sideways beside the Beetle, with her door adjacent to the other driver. She spotted an open, smiling face and a pink scarf before a woman climbed out of the car holding Cleo. Jamison was so relieved to see the beagle that tears unexpectedly flooded her eyes. Soulful brown eyes met her gaze as Jamison hopped out of the pickup and she had to dash away the moisture that caused Cleo to appear blurry.

  “Thank you so much for taking care of her,” Jamison said, opening her arms up to accept the happy dog. She could sense Cleo’s excitement at seeing a familiar face and hugged her close. Jamison noticed how badly Cleo was shivering and unzipped her coat with her free hand. Then she shoved the beagle under the flap and against her own warm body.

  “No problem, I felt so sorry for her out there all alone. How’d you lose track of her, anyway?”

  “Actually, Cleo is my partner’s dog. Lee went missing several hours ago and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind showing me exactly where you found Cleo. It would really help narrow down our search radius.” Jamison held her breath, hoping this woman wasn’t in too much of a hurry to be somewhere.

  The stranger cast a glance overhead at the gray sky before responding. “Sure, okay. I suppose I have time. Do you want to follow me?”

  Jamison looked briefly at the Volkswagen. “Uh, why don’t we just take mine. I promise to come straight back.”

  The woman shrugged and then walked around to the passenger side of the truck. Once safely on their way, Jamison said, “I didn’t get your name.”

  “Oh right, Sarah Parker. I guess introducing myself would have been the polite thing to do. Since you’re wearing a Park uniform, I’m assuming you know the way to the M22?”

  Jamison nodded. “Just point me in the right direction once we get to the trail.”

  It didn’t take long to reach the trailhead and then they had to go in the rest of the way on foot. Jamison held onto Cleo the entire time, unwilling to let her out of her arms. Cleo rested her head on Jamison’s shoulder and appeared to be sleeping though Jamison doubted that was the case. She could still feel a great deal of tension in the small body. The M22 loop wasn’t wide enough to accommodate Jamison’s pickup and she didn’t relish getting stuck in the mud up to her hubcaps. Sarah led her about a quarter of a mile farther down the path before stopping near a felled Sycamore.

  “This is it. I stopped to tie my shoe and she came out of the trees over there.” Sarah pointed toward the highest nearby mountain. Devil’s Peak.

  Jamison nodded. She had expected as much. The trouble was that she didn’t know how long Cleo had been wandering in the woods and this was still a big area. Still, the information would help narrow things down some. Cleo lifted her head and sniffed the air before returning to her previous position. She showed no sign of wanting down.

  “Thanks you’ve been a big help. Come on and I’ll give you a ride back. Then I’ve got to start calling out some people to help start a search.”

  “Uh, I could stay and help if you want. I just stopped by the park for an early morning hike before I have to go to work. I figured it would be the last of the season what with the storm coming in, but I really wouldn’t mind helping you look.”

  Jamison smiled, truly touched by the offer. “Thank you, I appreciate that. Unfortunately, the front is moving in pretty fast and I’d hate for you to get stuck up here. No offense, but your car doesn’t look like it’s designed for driving in the snow.”

  “You’re right about that,” Sarah laughed. “Oh well, it would have been a good excuse to get out of work.”

  Jamison focused on the road, pondering Sarah’s comment. She doubted getting out of work was the real reason Sarah wanted to stay. The remark was more self-deprecating than truthful, an attempt at deflection. Thinking about it, Jamison realized Sarah had done much more than was strictly necessary. Many people would have ignored a dog wandering alone in the woods, even one wearing a collar and tags. Now she offered to stay and look for someone she’d never met in the worst weather of the year that threatened to become more so. Yet she couldn’t see any angle in it for Sarah.

  There were those in the Council of Elders convinced that humans had no redeeming qualities. Marie Tristan was one of those and if she had her way, none would be allowed to live in the Harmon city limits. Then people like Sarah Parker came along and proved her wrong, wanting to help just because it was the right thing to do. Jamison had to remind herself that Sarah didn’t know about the Panthera either. She was offering to help search for a fellow human being, not a shape changer that could rip her lungs out without any effort.

  Jamison decided to let the remark go without comment. As much as she appreciated the offer, she wanted only Panthera hunters or trained law enforcement involved in the search. The last thing they needed was to bring in civilians that would get lost in an impending snow storm and add to their problems. She dropped Sarah off at her Beetle and offered her a wave before the young woman drove away.

  As soon as they were alone, Jamison hefted Cleo up and looked into the curious brown eyes. “I don’t suppose you want to tell me where your mom is?”

  Cleo leaned forward and touched her wet nose to Jamison’s. Jamison could tell that the dog was worried, no doubt picking up on her own dread. Unfortunately, without the ability to speak Cleo couldn’t give Jamison the information she so desperately desired. Jamison could get impressions from the beagle, but dogs and cats communicated in fundamentally different ways. About the only thing she could determine for sure was that Cleo was cold. Considering how badly she shivered, that didn’t take much of an interpretation.

  “Well, come on. Let’s get you inside and warmed up.”

  Jamison unlocked the station and settled Cleo in her office. An old pad taken from the gardener’s shed served as a makeshift dog bed. By the time she had Cleo settled, the sun was up and Jamison was more than ready to get started looking for Lee. The sky was still heavily overcast and she didn’t expect to actually see the sun anytime soon. Jamison’s phone rang as soon as she placed her hand on the front door in preparation of leaving the visitor’s center. Taking advantage of the warmth inside the building, Jamison stayed where she was to answer Detective Hex’s call.

  “Do you have something?”

  “Yes,” Hex answered promptly. “It looks like you were right to suspect Ranger Thomas. Detective Seaver just called to let me know that the lab got a hit on a partial pinkie print left on your partner’s Mercedes.”

  “And?”

  “Her real name is Bethany Brenda Waters. She changed her name after her release from juvenile custody. Thomas is her mother’s maiden name.”

  “Do I want to know why she has a juvenile record?”

  Hex didn’t respond to the question. Instead, she chose to give Jamison the full rundown. “How about stalking and petty theft followed by a restraining order filed by an ex-girlfriend? After her ex filed the restraining order, your girl killed her. Thomas was convicted of second degree manslaughter, mitigated for psychiatric reasons. She d
id four years in juvie with mandatory psychiatric counseling and was released at twenty. By all accounts she was a model prisoner.”

  “Why wasn’t this discovered before?” Jamison asked in anger. “She’s a federal law enforcement agent. How could something like this slip through the cracks?”

  “You know how it is,” Hex offered rationally. “A juvenile record is sealed and because she changed her last name, nothing flagged on a background search.”

  “That’s a piss-poor excuse and you know it.”

  “Maybe, but it’s all we’ve got. It’s also enough to show a pattern. Now we just have to see where that pattern leads us.”

  Jamison considered Hex’s information for a moment. “It explains why we couldn’t find any evidence at the crime scenes. Thomas knows forensic countermeasures.”

  “True, and the victims would have seen her ranger uniform and would have trusted her. Thomas could have been right on top of them and those women wouldn’t have suspected a thing.”

  “I think that fact makes me even more furious,” Jamison responded honestly. “Those women trusted her and Brenda took full advantage of her authority. Sometimes I wonder if Marie wasn’t right about humans.”

  “Who’s Marie, and what about humans? I’m not following.”

  “It’s not important,” Jamison said quickly, worried that she had said too much. “I’m getting ready to leave the station. Sarah, the woman who found Cleo, showed me exactly where she found her. Tell Sheriff Macke to meet me at the trailhead for the M22 loop, she knows where it is. My sister is a helicopter pilot and she’s already started flying over the area looking for signs of life. In this cold weather, the heat bloom from a fire should stand out like a flare.”

  “Will do. Look, Ranger Kessler...I know we don’t know each other very well, but we will get Ms. Grayson back in time.”

  “How do you know?” Jamison realized she sounded desperate, but she felt like clinging to anything that might offer a bit of hope. She and Lee had fought so much lately and if she lost her now, Jamison would carry the guilt for the rest of her life. Meeting Lee had been like coming full circle, the completion of herself that she’d been looking for since she could remember. She loved Lee with every fiber of her being and intended to spend the rest of eternity proving it. If only they could get Lee back before it was too late.

  “I have an instinct about these things. Trust me.”

  Jamison snorted and sniffed against the tears. “Classic overachiever, right?”

  “First in my class.”

  “I’ll try to keep it in mind.”

  “You should. Listen, Macke says we’re about five minutes from the park. We’ll meet you at the trailhead and finalize the details from there.”

  Jamison hung up and put her hand on the push bar. Again, she was interrupted by an external source but this time it wasn’t the phone. Cleo had sunk her fangs into the hem of her right trouser leg and hauled backward with her stumpy body to prevent Jamison from leaving. Cleo tugged hard and threw her head from side to side like a bulldog with a ragdoll, a low growl emanating from her throat.

  “Cleo, stop. What’s your problem?”

  It didn’t take much to figure out that Cleo didn’t want Jamison to leave her alone. What took a little more work was putting the piece of the puzzle together. Click, click, click...they fell into place. Cleo was just as concerned for Lee as Jamison. She wanted to help find her master to make her pack complete.

  “You want to help find her, don’t you girl? I wanted to leave you here to warm up, but that isn’t gonna work, is it?”

  Jamison rubbed Cleo’s head, but the beagle didn’t flinch. Brown eyes met her own, full of purpose. Jamison realized that her idea of leaving Cleo behind in a warm, soothing sanctuary wasn’t going to fly. The dog was determined to accompany her. On reflection, maybe that was a good thing. Cleo knew where she’d come from. Perhaps she could retrace her steps. Humans often didn’t give dogs enough credit and Jamison thought Cleo had a better chance of leading them to Lee than if they went on a blind search without more information.

  “Okay, girl, you win. Let’s go find Lee.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “TELL ME AGAIN why we’re going in on foot,” Sam groused. “I thought Park vehicles were equipped with four-wheel drive.”

  “That doesn’t mean they can fly. The terrain here is too rough for a vehicle and besides,” Detective Hex paused to take a panting breath, “it’s too slippery.”

  The brief flurry of freezing rain during the night had left a light coating of ice over the ground. Sam could hear it crunching underfoot as they walked and her toes already felt numb. She couldn’t believe they’d only been out of the car for about ten minutes. Sam sniffed against the cold and adjusted the scarf covering her face.

  “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

  Pat shrugged. “You tell me, you’re more familiar with this area than I am. All I know is that Kessler said to head east overland from the trailhead.”

  “We’re in the right place then.” Sam glanced down and checked the compass. “Dinah reported seeing something near that old mining town Kessler mentioned, but the trees were too thick for her to get very close.”

  “Dinah...she’s Ranger Kessler’s sister?”

  “Yeah, she runs a helicopter service to fly tourists around the area and she’s been known to help law enforcement out in a pinch.” Sam stumbled slightly and had to clear the moisture from her eyes with a thumb.

  “In that case we probably don’t want her to get too close to Thomas anyway. There’s no telling what would happen. It’s too dangerous for a civilian.”

  Sam’s lips twisted with distaste beneath her scarf. “Yeah, dangerous,” she mumbled.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Nothing, can we just not talk about it?”

  “Talk about what?” Hex sounded curious but a little distracted as she navigated around a steep drop.

  Sam remained silent, following the other woman into the tree line.

  “Fine, whatever,” Pat finally said. “If you don’t want to talk about that, can you tell me why you won’t go out with me?”

  Sam froze and stared at Pat’s back. The detective had stooped over slightly in preparation of stepping over a felled tree trunk. She sounded slightly distracted and Sam determined Pat wasn’t really paying attention to her. When she reached the other side of the tree, Pat turned and met her eyes.

  “Why can’t you just take no for an answer?”

  “It’s not in my nature.”

  Sam smiled a little despite the uncomfortable nature of the conversation. She knew it wasn’t fair to keep blowing Pat off without any kind of explanation and so far she’d gotten away with it because of the case. That excuse was wearing thin. Sam had a feeling they’d find Thomas soon and she would turn out to be their killer. Though everyone was already convinced of that fact, Sam didn’t like leaping to conclusions. Still, she had to admit things looked pretty incriminating for the park ranger. Once that happened, Pat would leave.

  “All right, you win. I won’t go out with you because there isn’t any point. This case will end, probably today, and you’ll leave. Why start something that doesn’t have a chance of going anywhere?”

  “I’m not asking you to marry me,” Pat pointed out. “What’s wrong with having dinner together and having a little fun?”

  Oh, Sam thought. She certainly hadn’t expected such a cavalier attitude from Pat. Sam wasn’t the type to have casual sex, which sounded like what Pat had in mind. Sam wanted what she’d had with Nicky, a committed monogamous relationship. Apparently, she was the only one. This was just further proof that getting involved with Pat was a bad idea.

  “It’s not in my nature.”

  Sam walked past Pat and headed toward the canyon at Devil’s Snare. Disappointment prevented her from being able to look at Pat anymore. She refused to respond to any other comments and eventually Pat stopped trying. They continued on in s
ilence and Sam forced herself to concentrate on finding Lee Grayson and Brenda Thomas.

  JAMISON KEPT HER eyes on Cleo as the beagle trotted through the woods with her nose to the ground. From the moment she had taken the dog in her arms, she’d been able to smell Brenda. That the woman’s scent was all over Cleo was further proof of Brenda’s culpability in all of this.

  Find her. Jamison gently touched Cleo’s canine mind with her stronger presence, careful not to overwhelm the dog while continuing to encourage. Cleo’s desire to locate Lee resonated within Jamison and she watched as Cleo suddenly threw her head back and bayed loudly. Jamison smiled as the dog took off at a run, clearly on the scent. Jamison’s nostrils flared as she attempted to pick up the spoor. Cleo had picked up on her own trail from earlier in the morning hours and now used it to backtrack her starting point.

  “Smart girl.”

  Jamison picked up the pace, jogging through the high grass in pursuit of the beagle. Like most National Parks there were vast open areas as well as heavily treed regions. At the moment, Jamison felt exposed without the protection of the forest canopy. Her boots felt heavy, pulling her feet down and preventing her from keeping up with the dog. If Cleo kept up the pace, Jamison would lose her in the grass. Jamison shivered at the thought of having to shed her clothing and assume her cat form. Panthera were no different than the average housecat when it came to the cold. She decided to wait until they came in sight of whereever Brenda held Lee, otherwise she’d be running naked through the wilderness from an undetermined distance if she had to shift back to human form.

  Within ten minutes, Cleo stopped and looked back over her shoulder for Jamison. She trembled from the cold, but still seemed determined to continue looking for Lee. She stood beneath the shadows cast by a grouping of four giant pines. Here the grass ceased to grow, but ice had accumulated at the base.

  “What is it, girl?”

  Jamison squatted down and lifted Cleo to her knees to get her feet off the frozen tundra. She peered through the trees and shrubbery and could just barely see the outline of an ancient man-made structure. Rough-hewn boards outlined a cabin that had been all but reclaimed by the forest. Jamison could smell a fire from inside the structure and something else that made her feel sick. She hadn’t seen smoke from a fireplace because the trees were too thick. The cabin sat at the base of where the heavy forest resumed.