“How can you be so sure?” Quade queried, a puzzled look on his face. “I don’t get this. You. Both of you. What are you guys? Some kind of new-age psychic investigators? Is this some kind of publicity stunt gunning for a reality show on television?”
“No. But think about it. Logic dictates that this predator is familiar enough with the locale that he uses the Reservation and surrounding areas as his hunting ground. He then takes his victims to a secure place, somewhere familiar to him, someplace where no one’s around to hear a young girl screaming, no one’s the wiser. He has access to a dumping ground, whether his own or someone’s close to him. His predilection for young girls has been around a long time, but no one noticed. He stayed in the background, hidden, made sure he kept off your radar. He’s been moving in and out of the reservation for years, and you never suspected a thing.”
A shudder went through Quade’s whole body. “You’re saying he probably knew Sara and the others?”
Skye nodded. “You bet. They knew of him or recognized him from around town. Which is how he so easily talks them into getting into his car, whatever vehicle it is he’s driving at the time. These girls let their guard down for a second, and he pounces like the predator he is.”
“Maybe we should start with this new girl who’s missing. This Rosa Andreas,” Josh suggested. “The trail would certainly be fresher than Laurel’s.”
“I don’t think so,” Skye uttered, surprising Josh with her answer. “Quade’s already heading up the investigation. We might be in his way. We should stick to our original plan and start with Laurel Smith, talk to her mom, and go from there.”
Quade looked relieved. For the first time since entering the house, he almost cracked a smile. But then something else dawned on him. “I don’t want you upsetting my mother. She’s been through hell and back.”
“We’re used to dealing with families. There’s no way around asking them the tough questions, getting them to recall that timeframe. But we promise to go as easy as possible.”
“Thanks.” Quade got to his feet and started to pace in front of the door. “With the information you just threw at me, you do realize that I’ll be unable to look at any man around town now without suspecting him.”
“Isn’t that the usual mindset for a cop?” Skye pointed out. “Especially if they fit the right age group. You should be able to eliminate anyone who wasn’t old enough to drive ten years back because that’s when he started abducting kids. This guy’s onset probably started around seventeen or eighteen, though.”
“That young? So, I’d be looking at a guy no more than twenty-eight?”
“You should make it around early thirties. I’m not convinced that Sara was his first victim.”
Quade cut his eyes to Josh. “Is she always like this? If so, maybe you should’ve tried a lot harder to convince me back in January when Laurel went missing. I’ve made a mistake, haven’t I? Somewhere along the way, I’ve screwed this whole thing up.”
“Maybe I should’ve tried harder. That’s on me. Us.” Josh spread his arms out wide. “But we’re here now. Whatever you need help with, large or small, our team is ready to assist. All you need do is ask.”
Quade nodded. “Then you’ve got a green light from me. Just do me one favor. If you should find this guy, you let me take him in.”
“Absolutely,” Josh said in agreement, which seemed to pacify the cop.
After saying their goodbyes, Josh plopped down on the sofa and patted the couch cushion. “Have a seat. If we find this guy, there won’t be time to call a cop.”
“You said it. When he’s cornered, he’ll do either one of two things. Fight to the death—not a good thing for us—to preserve his image. Or, he’ll take his own life like the coward he is to prevent hanging around and suffering the consequences. Either way, there won’t be any slack time to phone for Grayhawk.”
The two sleepy dogs whined and curled up at their feet.
Josh brought her in closer. “Ever wonder if one day we’ll be able to go a year without hunting down a serial killer?”
“I’m just glad I’m not doing this on my own anymore.”
“Really? What happened to the loner I married?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she realized you’re not so bad to have around all the time.”
“Is Sierra asleep?”
“She is. The trip was exhausting. Why? What did you have in mind?”
“Let’s test out the bed and pretend we’re camping in the mountains.”
Skye’s brow knitted. “You already know that mattress is as hard as a rock. And we are in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, almost to the top of the ridge. The air’s nice up here.”
He twined a lock of her hair through his fingers. “Yeah, but picture us…lost, five thousand feet up on Mount Bushnell with no one around for miles. We’re alone and surrounded by nothing but lodgepole pine as far as the eye can see. The air’s crisp with spring. We have a fire going. We can hear the sound of the wood crackling. There’s a waterfall in the background that dumps into an alpine lake.”
Skye scooted closer to run a hand down his chest. “I like the effect this mountain air has on you. I’m beginning to imagine quite a bit.”
“Yeah? That’s what I wanted to hear. How about I carry you off to my sleeping bag?”
“I like the way you think.”
Eight
Skye came out of a deep sleep to hear Sierra singing to Kiya and the dogs. Looking over at a still-sleeping Josh, she threw back the covers and walked over to the window to check the view. A heavy morning mist stretched as far as the eye could see, hovering near the treetops completely obliterating the view of the mountains. With the June fog, she couldn’t even make out the cottage next door where Emmadine was probably still fast asleep. In fact, she was sure of it when she finally zeroed in on the alarm clock on the nightstand. 5:30. Why couldn’t kids sleep until at least seven? Why did they have to get up at the crack of dawn? That idea ran through her brain as she realized she was shivering from the cold. Why wasn’t the heater working?
After shoving into her robe, she went out to the main living area and checked the thermostat on the wall. That’s when she spotted the front door standing wide open.
She’d watched Josh flip the locks herself after taking the dogs out for their final walk around midnight and knew for certain the door had been bolted secure.
She darted into Sierra’s room to see the little girl sitting on the floor lining up her dolls. “Sierra, did you open the front door?”
The child shook her head. “Not me.”
Just in case someone was in the house, Skye looked in the closet and underneath the bed. “Did Atka or Bella bark a few minutes ago?”
Sierra rubbed her eyes. “That’s what woke me up. I’m hungry.”
“We’ll eat soon. But we’ll need to wait for the restaurant to open up to get breakfast.” But like any good mom she was prepared for emergencies. “How about an oatmeal cookie for now to tide you over?”
It wasn’t a cookie at all but a baked protein bar that Sierra loved eating on the go.
Confused as to why the dogs hadn’t made more of a fuss, Skye backtracked to the main room to grab her bag. But while there, she checked out any cubbyholes where someone might have hidden. Not finding anyone, she stepped outside on the little stoop and looked up and down the pathway. But it was deserted, not a soul in sight. When she turned back around to go inside, she bumped squarely into Josh’s chest, who’d followed her out. “Someone paid us a visit about fifteen minutes ago. And they must’ve had a key.”
“No way. I didn’t hear a thing.”
“Me either. But Sierra said Atka and Bella barked. Maybe that’s what woke me up instead of Sierra chatting with Kiya. Whatever happened, someone wanted us to know they were here.”
“That’s disconcerting on so many levels.”
“Exactly. Do we have any coffee?”
“No. Somebody needs to make a trip to the store for groc
eries.”
“I’ll ask Emmadine if she’ll take care of it. She might have to take the RV, though.”
“Nah, I’ll ask Harry if we can catch a ride with him to meet Barb Smith. He should probably be there anyway. Let’s go back inside. It’s freezing out here.”
“The temps dipped into the forties last night. We better check with the others and make sure they’re okay.”
When she started to text Judy, Josh put his hand over the phone. “It’s early, Skye. Everybody else is fast asleep and will be for at least another hour. Let them sleep while they can.”
“You’re right. I just want to know if our intruder hit anyone else’s cabin.”
“Thirty minutes. Something to talk about over breakfast.”
Waiting that long was hard. But when everyone showed up around seven to gather at the diner for the breakfast buffet, Skye got her answers.
“Around five o’clock I heard someone prowling around outside our cabin trying to look in the bedroom window,” Reggie admitted.
Judy gave him a blistering stare. “And you didn’t wake me up?”
Reggie lifted a shoulder. “You were exhausted. I let you sleep. Anyway, I grabbed my jeans and ran outside barefoot but by the time I got out there, the guy had hightailed it out of there.”
Skye didn’t like what she was hearing. “And the rest of you?”
“Emmadine thought she saw someone hanging around outside our place last night,” Zoe added. “That was what, around two-thirty?”
“Closer to three,” Emmadine clarified, looking around for the waitress. When she spotted a girl about eighteen who was taking drink orders, she motioned her over to the table. “Keep the coffee coming, will you, hon? I didn’t get much sleep last night and I’m runnin’ on fumes.”
“Sure thing,” the girl returned. “I’ll bring over several carafes.”
“They seem very accommodating here,” Emmadine stated.
Skye looked over at Leo’s cousin in disbelief. “How can you say that when we just had a guy prowling around the cottages on our first night? My initial perception wouldn’t be anywhere close to accommodating. I can’t believe no one reacted to this guy’s roaming the grounds unfettered. The security here is awful.”
“I’ll talk to the manager,” Josh promised as he stacked a couple of pancakes on a plate for Sierra before spooning over a few scrambled eggs.
“What’s all the fuss about?” Harry wanted to know as he walked up to the buffet. “I could hear you guys from the lobby.”
Skye unloaded the details.
Harry took the news in stride. “Let me grab some caffeine and one of those apple turnovers and I’ll go see the manager, ask to look at their CCTV.”
“I’ll go with you,” Josh said before popping a bite-sized quiche into his mouth.
“I’ll fix you a cup of coffee to go,” Skye offered. Leaning into Josh, she whispered, “If at all possible, make a copy of the security video.”
“You read my mind. Has anyone seen Leo yet?”
“All I know is that he was up all night on his computer,” Harry explained. “The guy may be a whiz at research but he’s a lousy roommate.”
“Which might explain why our prowler didn’t bother with you guys,” Skye proffered. “The lights were on.”
“Could be. Look, I got wind of a report that the local police found a body washed up on the southern banks of the Harrison Slough. No other details. So I’ll head over there after looking at the CCTV footage.”
“That would break our guy’s pattern,” Josh noted.
Skye frowned and began to chew her lip. “Yeah. Completely out of character. I wonder…”
“It might mean Rosa isn’t part of the series,” Josh prompted.
“Or…what if our guy wants to prove a point, wants to prove how confident he is and dumps the body in plain sight? With Rosa, he’s making a change, making a bold statement. With us here. He wants us to know he’s not intimidated.”
Harry scrubbed his chin. “You’re saying that he took a girl before we got here just to kill her and leave her out in the open? Just to say, ‘screw you.’ How did he know we’d be here when he kidnapped her?”
“I’m saying that he got wind of us coming. It’s not a coincidence. Either he’s trying to throw us off by leaving this victim where she can be found, hoping we’ll get sidetracked and go another way. Either that, or he’s telling us, ‘I’m not quitting just because you showed up.’”
Harry exchanged nods with Josh. “She might be onto something. That sounds like something he’d do. Barb Smith knew we were headed here Memorial Day. When did the girl go missing?’
“Two days later.”
“Not a coincidence then. Look, for now, I’m not rushing down to the Slough to check out the body only to be told I’m in the way. Unless you want me to.”
“Quade’s probably got it covered. Besides, the CCTV needs looking at before they record over it.”
“Agreed. Then I’ll bide my time, look for an opening down at the Slough later after Grayhawk or whoever’s in charge clears the scene.”
Skye looked around for the other members of the team. “Could that be what Leo’s working on? What time did the news break about the body?”
Harry picked out a Danish and made himself a large cup of coffee in a Styrofoam container to take with him. “You’ll have to ask Leo. He didn’t say two words to me after dinner last night. Instead, he holed up in his room and all I heard was him tapping on his keyboard most of the night. I finally gave up waiting that he might come out and socialize and went to bed after talking to Deborah. That was around eleven-thirty and he was still at it, poking through his database. Or maybe he was looking at porn.”
When Skye reacted, Harry grinned and lifted a shoulder. “Well, you never know.”
Skye choked down a swallow of coffee. “This whole thing is a mess, isn’t it? We’re not exactly running like a well-oiled machine.”
Josh squeezed her shoulders. “Give us time. We’re still settling in. We haven’t even dipped our toe into the case yet.”
“It’s just…I have a bad feeling. Someone walked into our cabin last night. Why aren’t you freaking out?”
“Because you’re doing a pretty good job of it for both of us.” He watched Harry walk off without him. “I gotta go. I want to see if there’s any surveillance video of our intruder.”
“Fine. I’ll get Emmadine squared away with Sierra and the dogs then meet you in the manager’s office.”
****
The lodge owner, a barrel of a man named Oscar Hardtack, was accommodating. He left them alone to peruse the surveillance video in a small office the size of a closet. After apologizing for the lack of safety measures, he scurried off to take care of another complaint from another guest.
“He doesn’t exactly seem surprised this happened,” Josh muttered as he tried to peer over Harry’s shoulder to get a look at the computer screen.
“Yeah. I caught that, too.” Harry finished off his pastry and licked the sticky icing from his fingers. Sitting in front of the hotel’s computer, he leaned in to get a better look at the monitor. “That’s our guy. Look at him, flitting from one cottage to the next, peeping in through the windows or trying to. Bastard wears a hoodie to hide his face. I’d say he’s roughly five-eleven to six-one and weighs anywhere from one hundred and eighty pounds to one-ninety. Notice anything strange?”
Josh stepped closer to the screen. “He’s got a funny gait to his walk.”
“Yep. The next question is why he’s out and about snooping around our cabins a few hours after we checked in. How did he know which cottages were ours, which ones to hit?”
Josh’s jaw tightened. “Someone at the hotel passed along the information.”
“That’s my guess. Why? For money? Or because they know this guy and know what he’s up to?”
“Well, it had to be someone at the lodge. Otherwise, how did he have a card key to use to gain entry into our room? That
just pisses me off.”
“You’ll need to take extra precautions from now on,” Harry asserted.
“Or set a trap.”
Harry’s eyebrows shot up. His eyes shot over to the open doorway to make sure no one had overheard. “What’d you have in mind?”
“When we have everything in place, we’ll make sure to drop a few hints around the hotel that we’re on to someone, lure this guy into taking the bait.”
“That’s not much of a plan.”
“Give me time to come up with the juicy specifics and it’ll get better. But for now, we’ll need to pass along this guy’s particulars to the others, make sure everyone keeps their doors locked. I’m going to insist that Hardtack change out all our card keys and start from scratch. But even then, we’ll need to be extra vigilant.”
Leo knocked on the office door. “Got something that might be important. The Internet’s been blowing up since daybreak about the body they found in the Slough this morning. Young female. Some of the posts online indicate that people are convinced this is Rosa Andreas. And with each post, I’m becoming more and more convinced they’re right. Did you guys know that she’s a cousin of Gabby Knight, one of the girls who disappeared back in 2013 at Sawtooth Lake?”
“Family on vacation. Yeah, I remember,” Josh said, cutting his eyes to meet Harry’s. “I’ll be damned. Grayhawk never said a word about the connection.”
“It might be nothing,” Leo stated.
“Yeah, and then again, it might be a solid tidbit.” Josh checked his watch. “Look, Barb Smith is expecting us in half an hour. After meeting with her, we head out to talk to Sara’s mother. That means we’ll be gone for several hours.” He pivoted to Leo. “I’d like to corner Grayhawk at the morgue that means I need you to keep an eye on things here for me, okay?”
“And by things, he means Sierra, Zoe, and Emmadine,” Harry clarified.
“Got it. I’ll pretend I need their help to organize the canvassing.”
Josh’s lips curved. “The canvassing does need organizing. Throw that chore to the kid with the big mouth.”
Forgotten Bones Page 11