Frank attached the line to Radar’s collar. Immediately his head bent—nose to the ground—suddenly he’d raised it up in the air where he picked up the scent and started for the road. “What do you want us to do?” Matt asked.
“Someone needs to follow in my SUV; it has the dog’s food and water in it. One or two of you can walk the track with me.”
****
Jessie and Kip walked behind Frank as the dog pulled him along. Dylan drove Frank’s vehicle and Matt drove his car with their lunch in it. Radar kept his nose to the ground and followed the road for close to two miles when he suddenly veered left off onto a barely visible path. He was tugging hard on the line and pulling Frank along at a quicker pace.
“You have to be in some kind of shape to do this for long periods of time. Your friend’s getting a real work out.” Kip grinned.
“I can’t imagine what his arm feels like at the end of the day.” She called out to Frank. “Do you always keep him on the line?”
“Most of the time, especially near the highway. I always do in an area I’m not sure about. If we’re working a large open area, I’ll sometimes let him offline on rare occasions.” Radar tugged on the line, sniffing up in the air, moving faster. “I think he’s on to something.” Frank adjusted his pace to keep up with the dog.
She called Matt. “Frank thinks he’s on to something; he’s pulling hard.”
Frank halted the dog for a minute. He got the water out of his SUV when the vehicles pulled up behind them. He made the dog drink. “How far have we gone?”
“Close to three and half miles…” Matt checked his odometer.
“He won’t stop unless I force him to, but he needs to stay hydrated. Jessie, you’re a runner. Do you want to run with him?”
“Sure, but won’t he get too far ahead of me?”
“He’s trained to keep you in sight, and he’ll pace himself to you. We’ll follow in the car.” Frank put him on his long line. “Here’s a radio. Stay in touch.”
“Jess, remember to use caution. I doubt they’re in the area, but you never know.” Matt made eye contact.
Jessie took a swig of water and put the bottle in Matt’s car. “Let’s go find him, fella.” Jessie took the end of the line in her hand. Frank let go of Radar’s collar and gave him the command. They took off running together.
They kept a steady pace for a while, but then Radar’s pace picked up; just like Frank had said. He slowed, coming back to check on her and kept her in his sight. They came to an open area. Radar was looking up in the trees, then sniffing head down around the area, until he finally sat down.
“Frank…” She keyed the radio. “He just sat down. I don’t know where we are in relation to all of you. He’s found something.”
Matt jumped out of his car a few minutes later followed by Frank, Kip, and Dylan hot on his heels. Matt carefully searched the area where the dog was and found a couple of pooled areas of dried blood. “This could be the place all right.” Up went the crime scene tape so that they would not compromise the evidence still intact. Matt placed the call to Marcy and the crime team, giving them their location.
“Good boy.” Frank patted Radar’s head, taking him over to the shade where he lay down. Frank filled his water bowl and set it in front of him.
****
“What are you thinking, Matt?” Dylan asked.
“Finding the blood evidence on this site points to the fact that they had to be somewhere in the area. The boy couldn’t have run too far before they caught up with him here.”
“If the site is in the area, Radar will find it. Radar can retrace all the places this boy has been to recently,” Frank called out, overhearing their conversation.
Matt walked a few yards away, squatted down next to a recent set of the tire tracks where two vehicles had stopped. “It looks like the vehicles stopped here and one adult took off running.” Dylan and Kip both came to look. “Here are two sets of footprints.” He pointed them out. “It looks like maybe three adult males.”
“One of them must have stayed by the kids, these prints don’t lead anywhere.” Dylan pointed out the stationary prints.
“Look at all the smaller prints. They must have made the kids stand outside and watch what they did to Josh; that’s one hell of a way to control them, keep them afraid. There are quite a few prints, but too overlapped to tell how many kids we’re talking about.” Kip walked the length of the tracks from the front tires to the rear tires. “A long wheel base might indicate a truck or van; transporting kids, you wouldn’t want to be noticed, most likely a van with no windows.”
They walked back to the car and Matt reached for the water and soda, pulling the cooler out of his car. “We may as well eat while we’re waiting for the team to get here to process.”
All of them sat down on whatever they could find. Lunch consisted of a turkey, avocado, and tomato sandwich, a piece of fruit, and something to drink.
“Watching your dog work fascinates me,” Kip addressed Frank.
“A bloodhound tracks by smell. They can distinguish human scent days after they have been in the area even across water.” Frank spoke proudly.
“He was quiet the entire track. I thought they barked all the way during a track—at least they do in the movies.” Jessie smiled at him taking note of his grin.
“Actually, at one time they did, but too many dogs were lost that way. It gave the bad guys the advantage; they could hide and pick off the dogs and their handlers when they came into view. We train the dogs to be silent during the track. The only reason he bays is to let you know he’s found what’s been asked of him.”
“You get a helluva workout holding on to that dog.” Kip chuckled. “I got tired just following you.”
“You’ve got that right, and with each passing year it gets a little harder. I’ll keep doing it as long as I can.” He rubbed his knee. “I have arthritis in this knee. Sometimes it slows me down. My dogs take it all in stride.” He paused. “How’d you like running with him, Jessie?”
“It was cool. He would get out ahead, pull hard on the line, and then come back to me, taking off again.” She ate a bite of her sandwich. “I hope we can find where they had all the kids before they were here, it might help us in finding Abigail. I know she holds the key to the other kids’ identities. She might be able to give us a description of her abductors.”
“Like I said, if it’s anywhere in the vicinity, Radar will find it. He’s been routinely utilized at cold crime scenes. He’s one of the best with decomp. If it’s out there, he’ll find it.”
“I, for one, am impressed.” Dylan stood up to stretch.
“Me too…” Kip stretched out his long legs. “I’m anxious to see what he does in the next part of the track.”
Once the rest of team was in place doing their job, Frank could proceed with the next phase of the track.
“Okay, Frank, let’s see if he has one more find left in him today.”
Frank led them to the tire tracks. He knelt beside the dog, back on the line, and let him smell the shirt and glove again. “Find the boy, Radar.”
The dog’s routine began again. He sniffed the ground where the vans had been and started down the path where they had come from. He sniffed the air, then his nose was down smelling at ground level until he caught a scent, then he pulled on the line moving more quickly. Frank kept pace with him, working in tandem. After about fifteen minutes, they rounded a corner into an area where an old barn was standing. Frank let go of the line. Radar ran to the barn and started baying, trying to get in.
Matt and Kip, with guns drawn, cleared the site before they let anyone else go in. They had been there. The remnants of their stay had remained. Matt called Dylan.
“Dylan, when you wrap it up there, we have another site to process straight down the path from where the tire tracks are. It took us about fifteen minutes to walk here, so it’s not far. Look for the old barn. Whoever is done there, send them over. It looks like this is one o
f the places where they stayed.”
“What’s on your mind, boss? You have that sound about you.”
“It has to be someone who knows the area well. Someone passing through wouldn’t know these old paths, much less where they lead.” Matt looked around.
“I wonder if they have taken kids from the area before.” Dylan sounded thoughtful.
“I think we may be dealing with some locals. None of this fits the normal profile, but maybe we’re in new territory. We’ll be writing a new playbook as we go along.”
“Tom Maxwell just got here. He’s following us down to look over the site.”
It didn’t take long for the small group to get there. Matt strode over to talk to Tom when he got out of the car, and filled him in on the morning’s progress. Tom was almost as tall as Matt was, with brown eyes and broad shoulders.
“I’m sorry for not getting here earlier. I had a few things I had to take care of before I could leave the office. A lot of paperwork, I’m sure you know how that is.” He shook Matt’s hand.
“I do now.” Matt laughed. “I want you to meet the man who is working the track for us.” They walked together to where Frank stood with Radar. “Frank, I’d like you to meet a friend of mine with the FBI. This is Tom Maxwell.” They shook hands. “Tom, this is the other hero of the day, Radar.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Frank. You have a good-looking dog here.” He put his hand out for the dog to sniff it. “He’s a damn fine animal. You must be pretty proud of him.”
“I am, especially on days like today when things go well and he gets down to business without any shenanigans.” Frank smiled.
“Did you train him yourself?” Tom asked.
“I did. I have two dogs, which I have trained in search and rescue. I also have a dog trained to find drugs.”
The two men walked toward the barn to have a look around. Marcy was busy taking pictures. Dylan was helping one of the newer officers with measurements and drawings.
“How did you hear of Frank? There are so few really good dog handlers to go around,” Tom asked.
“He’s a friend of Jessie’s, the woman that helped me in the last case with the Harvest Club. I told you about her. She is a writer with a great instinct for digging up facts. I don’t think you ever got to meet her.”
“I don’t remember if I did or not.” Tom stopped to shake Dylan’s hand. “Is she here now?”
“Believe me, if you met her, you’d remember.” Dylan chuckled.
“Why’s that?”
“She has a face you can’t forget, and a…” He stopped when he saw the look on Matt’s face.
“Several of my officers are taken with her.” Matt changed the subject. “She’s going to have to tell you how she got involved in this case. I don’t think you’ll believe it.”
“Sounds good, Matt; if you don’t mind I’m going to go check into the motel. Call me and let me know where you want to meet for dinner. I want to hear all you’ve got on this case so far. We’re beginning to hear more in the rumor mill about this kind of activity. If you ever want to switch over to the FBI, just let me know.” Tom laughed at the scowls he got from the rest of the team.
Matt walked Tom over to his car. “Let’s meet at six thirty at Anthony’s on the waterfront. I’ll call for reservations now.”
“I’ll meet you there.” Tom got in his car.
Matt called Anthony’s.
Matt informed Dylan and Kip of plans to take Tom and Frank out and invited them to come along. “Have either of you seen Jessie?”
“I saw her walk down the path a while ago.” Frank pointed in the direction.
Matt started down the path. He wanted to ask Jessie to come to dinner tonight, and tell her to invite Katie so she wasn’t the only woman. It was short notice, but it wasn’t a date after all. He rounded the bend in the path and saw her sitting on a fallen tree. She looked deep in thought and very vulnerable.
Chapter 7
Jessie had followed the pathway down around the bend, away from all the activity at the barn. She needed to be alone. Once again, she found herself overwhelmed with the strange occurrences happening in her life. If this case went like the last one, she would hardly have time to process one event before the next came along. She leaned her shoulders against the smooth trunk of a young alder. Why did she have a girl talking in her head? She sat down on a rock close by and closed her eyes. She had never been interested in the paranormal. She was a journalist, for heaven’s sake, who dealt only in facts. Why me, she wondered.
As she stared off into space, her thoughts turned to the words Katie had said in fun the other night. Was she aloof, did she scare men off? She hadn’t had time for a real relationship, between building a career and wanting to date someone who was a least as intelligent as she was. She frowned. Maybe she was just being too fussy. Anyway, what man in his right mind would want to hang out with a woman who talked with ghosts and had a girl running a movie reel in her head? She did an internal eye roll.
“What are you doing here all by yourself?” Matt’s voice startled her.
“Gathering wool, as my grandma would say.”
“Have you worked it all out?” He grinned, his hand pulling a leaf from the tree. He twirled it for a moment, checking it out. He let it fall and watched as the golden leaf floated to the ground. “You looked like you were about to take someone out. I was hoping it wasn’t me.”
“I can assure you, I wasn’t thinking about you.” She smiled, glancing at him.
“That’s nice to know. I’d hate to think I could cause such a scowl.”
“I wonder where this path goes from here.” She changed the subject rapidly. “It looks a little like the road that was more of an overgrown pathway that Abigail described.”
“I take it the subject is now closed.” He leaned against the tree watching her. “Yes, I can see that it is.”
“Really, there’s nothing to talk about. I’m just trying to figure out why this crazy stuff has started happening to me.” She rubbed the back of her neck feeling a pinch of pain starting in her head.
“It could be just like Reba told you.”
“Meaning…” Her eyebrow arched up.
“You are a caring person, Jess. Maybe you are simply hearing cries for help that the rest of us miss. Don’t make it something it’s not. It is what it is. Did you go looking for Gina’s ghost or Abigail for that matter?” He pushed away from the tree and walked toward her.
“Of course not!” She shook her head. “It just happened.”
“I proved my point. You are being sought out because you care.” He sat down on the rock beside her. “I’m taking Frank to dinner, along with Tom. I’d like Tom to meet you. Why don’t you join us, and see if Katie wants to come along.”
“That would be nice.” She smiled at him. “That way I could spend some time with Frank.” She looked down at Matt’s hand next to hers. “I’ll see if Katie’s free. What details should I give her?”
“We’ll meet at six thirty at Anthony’s. I’m picking up the tab.” His hand brushed her hand. “Stop worrying. I think you’re pretty normal; most of the time anyway.” He grinned when she jumped.
“Ha, ha, aren’t we funny.” She stood up quickly.
“In the meantime, we should probably make our way back.” He stood beside her and motioned. “After you, sweetheart.” He chuckled as she glared at him. “I see you’re back to normal.”
They strolled toward the crime scene. Matt veered off toward the barn, and she walked to the car. She saw Kip lean his hip against the Durango as he talked to Frank. She had never noticed how tall he was before.
“Hey, Jessie,” Kip called out to her. “Where have you been? Matt was looking for you.”
“He found me.” She stopped to talk to him. “I walked down the path a little ways.” Kip had a nice face, she thought, one with a lot of character. His grayish-blue eyes always focused on whomever he was talking to with interest. She had noticed that earlie
r when he was talking to Frank. Kip was his nickname. His given name was Keith Peterson; but Kip suited him. She was tall, but she still had to look up to see his eyes.
“So, will you be at dinner tonight? Anthony’s is a pretty swanky place on the waterfront.”
“I’ll be there. That reminds me. I need to call Katie.” She pushed Katie’s number on speed dial.
“Hi, Jessie, what’s up?” Katie’s cheery voice came over the line.
“Matt told me to ask you if you want to come to dinner tonight. He’s taking Frank, Tom, his friend from the FBI, and a few others for a meal at Anthony’s.”
“Dinner is already started, and my assistant can take over for me tonight; sure I’ll be there. Anthony’s is a really great place, lots of atmosphere, and a wonderful crème brûlée that is out of this world.”
“What should I wear? I mean, should I dress up, or what?” Now she had done it. She couldn’t keep the words from flying out of her mouth.
“Of course—umm—I know, you have to wear that little red dress I made you buy the last time we went shopping in New York, and those killer heels.”
“I’ll think about it, but I think it’s a little too fitted for an evening out with all the guys. I should have never let you talk me into buying it.” Jessie sighed. “What are you wearing?”
“Don’t give me that, Jessie, you look terrific in it, wear it! It accentuates your curves without being indecent, as Sadie would say. I’m wearing the great little number I bought. You don’t see me afraid to wear it, do you? I swear, Jessie, you better wear that red dress or I’ll make a scene, and you’ll wish you had.”
“Do you want to ride with me?” Jessie changed the subject. That was the only way to stop Katie once she got started.
“No, I’ll drive in case I need to leave early. What time are we supposed to be there?”
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