“No, I’ll do it. Go get some coffee or some food or something. I’ll make some notifications, tape off this trailer, and meet you back at the Coopers’.”
“Fair enough. I’ll see you there.” He clicked off.
Tess turned to Oliver. His face was clouded with worry; she could see that in the dim glow of the mobile’s outside lights.
“Blakely did take Janie?”
“Looks that way. From what I know of Blakely, he’s just as likely to have killed her as not.”
“Oh, Lord, for the sake of those children, I pray not.”
Tess wanted to reach out, to touch him, hold him, maybe even pray with him, but all she said was “I agree with you there. What did Bronwyn say?”
“She’s fine with Chevy staying as long as she needs to stay. But . . .” He paused.
“What?”
“Harp is still there. She insists that Chevy come home with her.”
“I don’t have the strength to argue with her. Chevy is an adult. If she wants to go with Harp, I can’t stop her. Harp’s place is quite the fortress. I just want to be able to get to Chevy in a hurry if we need to. Agent Ferguson will need to see and talk to her in any event.”
Oliver looked at Tess, an undefinable expression on his face. After a couple of seconds, he nodded. “I’ll head over there then, after you take me back to the Coopers’. Harp seems okay with talking to me; so does Chevy. Maybe I can act as a go-between of some sort. I’ll try to find out more about Harp.”
Tess thought about that for a minute. She decided he was right. He had a rapport with both women. He’d be the perfect liaison.
“Okay, I just have a couple phone calls to make. Have a seat in the car.”
By the time she was done with her notifications, it was dark and close to freezing. The clouds had cleared up, but that only allowed the temp to drop further.
Jonkey pulled up to wait for the coroner while Tess took Oliver back to the Coopers’.
“You know, Tess, this isn’t your fault.”
Tess sighed. She was so tired and wrung out, she couldn’t stop herself. “Of course it is. I knew it was a bad idea to bring Chevy here, and I knew Ken Blakely was a bad actor. Not acting on what my instinct told me is why we’re here. Two dead bodies and a missing woman.” She slammed the steering wheel with a fist. “I have rules for a reason.”
Oliver reached across the car and gripped her hand, forcing her to look him in the eye. “Tess, you were reasonably cautious. None of this could have been foreseen. You’re tired. You need to go home and rest.”
“I need to find a killer.”
“You can’t keep driving yourself to the end of your strength. Call the state police; they’ll help.”
“It’s my job, Oliver, not the state police’s. If you can’t understand that I need to do my job . . .”
“Then what? I can’t watch you kill yourself.”
“I’m not asking you to.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Tess regretted them. She saw hurt flash across Oliver’s face and she felt her own pain deep in her heart.
“I’d better be getting to Faith’s Place then.”
He opened the door and climbed out. Tess watched him walk to his car and get in. She wanted to call out, wanted to stop him and say that she didn’t mean it, but she didn’t. She simply watched him drive away.
40
Oliver drove away from the Coopers’ mobile home feeling as if he’d left half of himself behind. Had he pushed Tess too far? She had to see how thin she was stretching herself, and he couldn’t stop himself from pointing that out. He prayed as he drove. They had to find a happy medium. He realized that he loved Tess, but he couldn’t dictate to her how to do her job. He needed to give this all over to the Lord and pray for direction. But he knew in his heart that he didn’t want to lose her, to her job or because of her job.
He arrived at Faith’s Place feeling tired and old and realizing that he should probably follow the same advice he’d given Tess. Taking a deep breath, he climbed out of his car and up the steps to the house. Inside, everyone was in the kitchen. He noticed that Chevy’s small bag was next to her. So she was planning to go. He hoped that it was with Harp and not out on her own.
“Hi, all, what’s up?”
Bronwyn looked worried, Nye noncommittal, and Chevy was chewing on a thumbnail. Livie Harp brought him a cup of coffee. The brew was welcome, and Oliver took a sip.
“Chevy is coming home with me,” Harp said. “I know I can keep her safe.”
Oliver waited a beat before responding, realizing that he considered that good news. “Bass is sending another agent. They’re looking for a place to move Chevy. Why don’t you wait until we hear what he has to say?”
“Why? That other gunman is still out there.”
“Chief O’Rourke is doing—”
“I’m not blaming her; she is doing her best. And she’s a good cop. But she’ll play fair and I won’t.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Just that I’m not constrained by a badge.”
Oliver turned to Chevy. “You sure this is what you want?”
“I’m afraid of Ice. He’s a scary guy when he’s mad. Livie says she has a safe place for me.” She shrugged, her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know where else to go.”
In that second, looking at Chevy, Oliver understood Tess’s reckless, relentless drive. This young woman’s entire life had been shattered by a cruel victimizer, and she’d just been let down by the justice system in a huge way. While his heart broke for the girl, anger ramped up at Beck and the shadowy fellow, Ice.
Catch them, Tess, he thought. Catch them.
–––
Oliver’s car was long gone before Tess climbed out of her car and up the steps to the Coopers’ mobile home, the events of the day weighing her down—Chevy, Tami, Janie, Blakely, a madman called Ice. When it rained, it poured.
Gabe arrived with coffee and pizza. Tess went for the coffee first and drank half a cup before she looked at the pizza. When she did, she found her appetite had disappeared. As she continued to sip her coffee and watch Garrett pick at food, she observed that the young man was obviously distressed. His kids had been packed off with a family friend, and his older sister was with him, and Tess was glad for that.
She found guilt bubbling up again. If only she had paid attention to her instincts and not let Chevy be brought here. The regret was stifling, clouding her thinking. Oliver was right—she needed sleep, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave for rest until she was certain she’d done everything possible to find Janie.
“What now, Chief?” Garrett asked.
Tess told him everything, partly because he deserved to know and partly because she hoped that it would shake some information out of him.
He crumpled, his head hitting the table, and said over and over, “No. No.”
His sister came behind him and put her hand on his shoulders.
“Where would he take her?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.”
Tess leaned toward him. “Think. Something he said, something you saw.”
He looked up at her, tears running down his face. “Oh, man, I wish I never had anything to do with Blakely. The money wasn’t worth it.”
There’s plenty of regret to go around for everyone, Tess thought. Just then Jonkey called to let Tess know the coroner had arrived.
“As soon as the coroner gives me the okay, I’ll tear that mobile home apart. But you have to help me, Garrett. Think, and think hard: where would Blakely hide Janie?”
He nodded weakly.
“Will you look after your brother, call me if he remembers anything?” she asked the sister.
“I will.”
“I’ll call you as soon as we have anything. Gabe, you’re with me.” With that, she and Bender headed back to the Nelson place.
The coroner had just started photographing the scene. Tess told him she’d already done a quic
k walk-through.
“We’re kind of in a hurry,” she said. “There’s a missing woman involved.”
“I’ll move as quickly as I can.”
It was a little tight, what with the narrow hall and small doorway. After a couple of minutes, he put the camera down and donned a pair of gloves. It was during the inventorying of Blakely’s property when things got interesting.
The first thing that came out of his pocket was a thick wad of hundred-dollar bills. The coroner counted out two thousand dollars.
“Where would he get that kind of cash?” Jonkey asked.
“The gunman who is outstanding, Ice, perhaps—he had a bunch of cash as well. My bet is, our suspect was aided by Blakely. How they met up, I don’t know, but maybe he paid Blakely for his help, then killed him.”
“And left the money?”
“He was running for his life.”
“You think Blakely picked our shooter up and got him out of the forest?” Bender asked.
“Had to; it would explain a lot. And it proves that there’s no honor among thieves. Blakely saved the guy’s bacon and got shot for his trouble.”
“Nice guy,” Bender commented.
But the next item the coroner retrieved was the most disturbing. It was a handwritten note, addressed to Garrett Cooper.
I’ve got Janie. I want all the money you owe me or she dies.
The coroner looked up at her. “Is there going to be another body somewhere?”
“I hope not. But we need to tear this mobile apart.”
He stood, scratching his nose with the back of a gloved hand. “Have at it. My crime scene is right here. It’s obvious this is where he was killed. I’ve got lots of evidence bags you can use. It’ll be a few minutes before I’m ready to move the body.” He stepped aside.
Tess turned to Gabe. “You and I can take the back. Becky, you take the kitchen. Janie’s purse is under the table.”
They stepped over Blakely and went their respective directions. It wasn’t long before they recovered a lot of evidence.
Gabe and Tess found wet, bloody clothing in the trash. Clothing that would fit a tall, lean man, similar to what Tess had pulled out of the knapsack. Becky recovered a Kevlar vest, pockmarked with buckshot, and a bloody, torn leather jacket.
“He’s getting sloppy, leaving all this behind,” Tess said. “We’ll get some good DNA evidence off this stuff.” She turned to Jonkey. “Look up vehicles registered to Blakely, put out a BOLO. Dollars to donuts, the killer took the truck.”
“But where’s Janie?”
Tess looked at Bender, heart heavy with the fear that Janie was now as dead as Blakely.
“Let’s think: If Blakely was up on the farthest corner of the Scales property, close enough that he was able to help the shooter escape, why would he be there?”
Bender scratched his head. He looked as tired as Tess felt. Oliver had pointed out that she’d been going nonstop for far too long, and the same could be said of Bender. The hardworking guy had been at this just as long as she had. Oliver’s solution was that Tess call in the state police for help. But Tess resisted. This was her case. Maybe she was taking things too personal, but the shooter was hers and she was going to catch him, no matter what.
“There’s nothing up there that I can think of. But Ken is a poacher. He’s probably been all over after game. If he dumped Janie somewhere . . .” His voice trailed off.
“What?”
“There are some caves up there. I don’t think he ever used them for poaching, too obvious. But if he were hiding something . . .”
Like a body, Tess thought but didn’t say. Yet the information energized her.
“It’s somewhere to start. We need to retrace his steps. Can we get to the back side of the Scales property from here? I know it’s dark and it’s cold, but I have to give Janie every chance. Blakely wanted money. I can only hope that he would have planned to keep Janie alive at least until Garrett got his note. He just never had a chance to deliver his note. But if she’s somewhere exposed to the elements . . .” Now Tess let her thoughts trail off. They both knew that Janie could freeze to death if left in the forest overnight without any shelter.
Bender nodded. “I’ll have to go get our ATV, but I can follow the trail that Blakely came down to get here.”
“Then go.”
Tess turned to Jonkey. “Go ahead and go back into service. If we need you, I’ll call you back.”
Becky nodded.
The coroner loaded up his van with the body and the clothing evidence and was gone. Tess locked Nelson’s mobile home up, then sealed it off with evidence tape, in case the sheriff wanted to send a crime scene technician in the morning to go over everything more carefully.
Filled with a lot of worry and not a little fear when she thought about Janie, she stepped back to her SUV and then remembered Yarrow’s trail cams. Tess flushed hot with excitement. If she remembered right, at least one of the cams was up in this part of the forest, maybe not near Bronwyn and Nye’s fence, but more west, in the direction Blakely and the shooter had fled.
She pulled out her phone and called Win Yarrow. It was after midnight, and she got his voice mail, so she explained the current situation, the search for Janie and the hope that the trail cams would be able to tell them something.
Then she drove back to the Cooper place. She dreaded telling Garrett about the note, but she had to, and maybe, just maybe, Garrett would have a guess as to where Blakely might have taken Janie. He had, after all, been working with the guy.
Lights were still blazing inside the mobile, so she knew Garrett was still awake. She got out and knocked on the door.
“Did you find her?” Garrett opened the door, face full of hope.
Tess had to dash the hope. “No, I’m sorry; we didn’t. But we know for certain now that Blakely was involved in her disappearance.”
Tess stepped inside. Garrett’s sister was curled up on the couch.
“How do you know?”
She told him about the note. Garrett paled and sat down hard in a kitchen chair.
“I think he was killed before he had a chance to give you the note, and I think that he’s hidden Janie somewhere, up near the Scaleses’ fence line. I have to ask again—do you have any idea where he’d take her?”
He looked at her with red-rimmed eyes, then ran a hand through his hair. “Ah, man, she could be anywhere. I . . . I, uh, never went with Ken when he poached. I’m no hunter, not even a hiker. I wouldn’t know any landmarks.”
Tess bit her tongue hoping that the caves would be the place and that, by some miracle, Janie would be alive.
“He’d be gone for days, hiding in tents while he waited for bears. He used tents, bushes, caves, anything he could to hide from people too.” He swallowed. “You think she’s dead?”
Tess didn’t answer right away. When Garrett said caves, she’d perked up.
“I’m not giving up on her. I don’t want you to either. Gabe went to get our ATV. We’ll head up the trail and look for her.” Tess heard the whine of the ATV motor. “Try and get some rest, Garrett. I’ll let you know the moment I have anything to tell you.”
He nodded, and she stepped outside to where Gabe waited with the ATV. She saw that he’d also brought some powerful flashlights.
“I called Yarrow, left a message, asked him to check the forest cams he installed. Do you think we should give him another try?”
“He’s a good guy to have along on a search in the forest.”
Tess was still tapping her phone when a fish and game vehicle came tearing into the lot, jerked to a stop in front of them, and Win Yarrow jumped out.
“I got your message and came as soon as I could.”
“Well, your poacher is dead; coroner picked him up a little bit ago.” Tess, feeling heavy with the full weight of fatigue and cold, told Yarrow about the events of the day.
“Talk about poetic justice. And you think Blakely kidnapped a woman?”
�
��Yeah, he had a ransom note in his pocket. He must have put Janie Cooper somewhere just before he ran into our shooter—or maybe after, I don’t know—and he never got to deliver the note. Did you get a chance to review the forest cam tape?”
“Yes, I did. Caught an image of Blakely and another guy coming down the mountain earlier. I didn’t see Janie Cooper, though.” He held out his phone to Tess.
She studied the screenshot. Blakely was easily recognized. The other guy was vaguely familiar, but on the small screen, as good as the resolution was, she could not tell who the man was.
Yarrow rubbed his chin. “But you say he met up with your shooter at the corner of the Scales property?”
Tess nodded. “We’re going to try and backtrack him now.”
“I’ll go with you. I know where Blakely crossed the cam. I’ve got a good idea where this woman could be if Blakely wanted to hide her up here.”
Her phone rang, and she saw that it was Oliver calling. She considered letting it go to voice mail because of their last conversation but answered instead.
Stepping aside, keeping her voice neutral, she answered. “Yes?”
“I thought you’d like to know about Chevy.”
She couldn’t tell anything from his voice, but for a second she feared he’d tell her that Chevy wanted to leave, take off on her own. “Thanks. How is she?”
“She’s shaken but okay. She’s going to stay with Livie Harp.”
Tess bit her bottom lip, not sure if this was good news or bad. She knew she had no power to force Chevy to do anything.
“You still there?”
“Yeah, I just don’t know what to say. She’ll be safe there. I just wish I knew more about Harp.”
“I’ve got a contact number, but she doesn’t want me to give it to anyone else, not Bronwyn and not you.”
“Swell.” Tess didn’t have the energy to be angry.
“You sound dead on your feet.”
He just couldn’t resist, she thought. “I just had some more coffee. I’ll be fine.”
“Any news on Janie?”
Briefly she told him what they’d found and their plan. There was silence and for a long moment she thought the call had dropped.
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