“Go ahead. I want to see for myself that the tracking device is still working.”
Josh shook his head and left the man to his own schedule. He’d just gotten off the elevator on the third floor when he spotted Skye, Judy and Reggie huddled in the hallway outside the Foundation, talking to a serious-looking man who stood scowling at everyone else. They kept trying to reason with him, but the guy looked red in the face, mad as an enraged bull pawing the ground about ready to charge.
Skye introduced Josh to Detective Mark Lakin. “He’s here about Clayton’s car. There’s a problem.”
Without warning, the detective tossed Josh the car tracker that had been attached to Clayton’s Audi. “I found that this afternoon in Spencer’s garage. It was off the car. Now if you’d be so kind, I’d like for you to tell me where the hell my suspect is. And don’t bullshit me, either. I’ve already talked to Drummond. He pointed me in your direction and told me what you guys were doing. That old man should not have gotten you involved. I don’t appreciate anyone screwing around in my case. I hope to high heaven and for your own sake that you can tell me where my prime suspect is.”
Leo got off the elevator and darted down the hallway. “We have movement on the tracker.”
Josh waved Leo out of there. “That seems to be the prevailing theory.” He handed Leo the device before turning back toward the detective. “So this is your way of telling us that Clayton Spencer is missing? And so is his car? Is that it?”
Detective Lakin put his hands on his hips. “You could say that. We had Mr. Spencer under surveillance since the day he left our interview room a week ago. My guys even spotted your two wannabes tailing him around town. We even got a judge to sign off on a wiretap for his phone. Whatever you said to him on Friday must’ve scared the living shit out of him, and now he’s in the wind. If you two weren’t friends of Drummond’s, I’d charge you both with obstruction and interfering in a police investigation. Hell, I’d charge all of you. It would stick, too.”
Josh traded looks with Skye. “First of all, we don’t know where Clayton is. And second, we didn’t ask him any questions you hadn’t already asked him in your official interrogation. We pressed him for answers.”
Skye strategically placed herself between the two men. “Look, Detective Lakin, we didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes. The tracking device was simply a way of seeing if he’d lead us to where Stacey is. That’s it.”
Lakin tried hard to get his temper under control and remain professional. “So you didn’t believe Spencer, either?”
“Not really. And if he’s taken off, gone on the run, that pretty much cinches he was lying to you and to us. Flight is a perception of guilt.”
That seemed to settle Lakin down. “Okay. Fine. But from now on just stay out of my way. If you interfere again, I guarantee I’ll charge both of you.” And with that warning, the young Lakin turned on his heel and charged down the hall to the elevator.
“You know when I get played by a friend, it really pisses me off,” Josh lamented as Skye wrapped her arms around him.
She patted his chest. “The game is afoot, Watson.”
Josh couldn’t help himself, he roared with laughter. “If you’re Holmes, where’s your deerstalker cap and pipe?”
Leo cleared his throat with a light cough. “There’s something I don’t get. Either someone told Clayton about the tracker, or he somehow picked up the tracker’s signal, which I just don’t buy.”
Josh looked over at Leo with a question of his own. “I have a better one. How did Clayton slip pass the police surveillance? Something like that takes a skill I don’t think Clayton has.”
“Or maybe it was just dumb luck,” Skye chipped in. She glanced over at Reggie and saw that he was running out of gas. He looked so tired he was about to fall down. “Do me a favor, Reggie, take Judy home. You guys hit the road. Now.”
She narrowed her eyes at Leo. “You, too. Go home and get some sleep. We’ll get started on this first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Are you sure?” Judy began. “Because…”
“Stop it. Go home.”
Once the others had left them alone, Skye and Josh went back into the office and rummaged through the questions they’d asked Clayton.
Skye chewed her lip. “We need to come up with a game plan. And fast.”
“Yeah. Something tells me Clayton just messed up his entire life…and maybe ours. We have two cases and nothing to really go on for either one.”
“With no access to the Stacey Dysart disappearance and even fewer clues about Lindsey and Dave, we’re basically screwed.”
“Speaking of screwed…” Josh was tired, but he looked over at his wife and cocked a brow. “You know, now that I think about it, you would look great wearing a deerstalker cap and holding a pipe and nothing much else. When’s the last time we made love in this office?”
Skye shot him a coy grin. She instinctively reached over and bolted the lock on the door.
****
It was later that evening that they headed out to Everett to pick up Sierra from Travis and Lena. It was a twofold mission. Not only would they likely be invited to supper and Skye wouldn’t have to cook, but she could also get a look at this Judd Cawood guy and see if he was worth keeping around.
She knew how that sounded. But a little paranoia never hurt anyone these days, mainly since she’d been wondering about this guy from Colorado who showed up out of the blue. Besides, one couldn’t be too careful. So she’d check him out. If Cawood passed the test, then maybe the man could help Travis raise the American Paint Horses he loved so much. But she had to meet Cawood for herself to put her mind at ease. After all, Sierra often stayed there on the ranch. As of today, the pony Travis had brought back was now named Roscoe.
Josh drove the minivan under a weathered sign that read The Painted Crow and gunned the engine past an iron gate. The ranch sat on forty acres of beautiful pastureland among the rolling green knolls where spruce and fir grew tall and willowy.
This place had always been a retreat for her father, a place where he could kick back and leave behind his troubles, forget the hassles from all the businesses he owned. That’s why she knew that him finding a steady and reliable employee to handle things on the days he couldn’t be here was so critical. But it would take more than a background check to convince her that this Cawood was the right man for the job.
Josh took a right into the circular driveway and parked in front of a sprawling ranch-style house. Greeted by an open design and plenty of mahogany and wood, Skye wondered if Lena would change the décor. She was looking around for any signs of that when she heard Sierra in the other room throwing a hissy fit.
Skye threw open the French doors and walked into the den. She saw her daughter pitching a major temper tantrum, refusing to quiet down. She darted around the coffee table and made a mad dash across the room to see what she could do. “What on earth is wrong with her?”
“She’s upset because she thinks we’re not trying hard enough to find the woman with the boat,” Travis explained, his patience running thin.
Lena stood next to the sofa wringing her hands. “On top of that, she wouldn’t take a nap again today because she kept saying she sees this woman with the boat.”
Skye plopped down on the leather couch and brought Sierra into her arms. Cuddling the girl up against her chest, she grazed her fingers through the baby’s thick mop of hair. “Oh, honey. Believe it or not, I do know how upset you are. Seeing a woman whom you don’t know, pop in and out of your life like that…must be…scary.”
In a stubborn bent, Sierra shook her head. “I’m not scared. I’m sad. The lady wants to go home. She wants Kiya and me to help her.”
“Kiya is it? Okay, I know how helpless that makes you feel when you keep seeing this person. But sweetie, you need to know finding someone who’s lost, takes time. Kiya knows that. You need to be patient.”
“How about telling this Margie to be a little more patient?�
� Lena retorted. “Maybe leave a little girl alone?”
“If only,” Skye muttered with a scowl. In a soothing voice, she kept trying to make Sierra feel better. “It’s not an easy thing to do—find someone who’s gone missing. Mama and Daddy are doing everything we can so far. But it’s early in the search. Kiya knows this. We just started two days ago. We will find her, though. I promise.”
Sierra sniffled and laid her weary head on her mom’s shoulder. She let out a tired hiccup. “The lady is sad.”
“I bet she is, but she shouldn’t be making you sad—and tired,” Skye cooed in a low voice. She glanced up at Josh. “Now tell us something else. What else does this lady say to you?”
“Um, she says she’s lost and wants to go home.”
Josh made a motion for Travis to scoot over so he could sit down next to Sierra. “The lady’s name is Margie Dolan. She went missing with her husband.”
Skye locked onto his arm in a tight grip. “What are you doing? I don’t think we should encourage…”
“Maybe if Sierra knows the deets, she might be able to glean more information out of Margie. It might be the only way to locate her.” Josh picked up his daughter and cuddled her on his lap. “So…if Margie doesn’t scare you, what does she do that upsets you so much?”
“She likes the water. But she doesn’t like the cold. She’s cold and sad.”
“Margie is cold and sad?”
“Uh-huh. And she doesn’t like the water so much anymore like she used to.”
Josh traded looks with Skye. “Maybe having her talk to that shaman isn’t such a bad idea after all.”
“What do you think, Dad?” Skye asked.
“The Nez Perce have been dealing with spirits and voices from the past for two centuries or more. But when it happens to my three-year-old granddaughter, I think I’d prefer she listen to music rather than voices from ghosts.”
Skye sent a concerned look back at Josh. “I’ll set it up…with the shaman. And guys, until this thing settles down a bit, I think we should prepare to respond to Sierra’s…concerns. Maybe listen to her take us through what she sees and hears…from Margie. It may not make any sense to us, but it does to her.”
Lena leaned over and kissed the top of Skye’s hair. “That’s fine. Travis and I are prepared to cross Puget Sound if we need to any time you want us to look after Sierra, voices and all. Are you staying for dinner?”
“That was originally the plan, but Sierra’s so tired. I think we should get her home, settle her in for the night.”
Lena bobbed her head toward Sierra. “She fell asleep curled up on her daddy’s lap.”
Josh hugged Sierra a little tighter. “She wore herself out. I’m really worried about the toll this is taking on her.”
“Give her to me, I’ll put her down,” Skye said, scooping her up off Josh’s lap.
“Then you might as well stay for dinner,” Travis suggested. “That way you get the chance to look over Cawood and make sure he checks out just like I said.”
Unfazed, Skye headed out of the room carrying Sierra in her arms. “One day you’ll appreciate my over-protective nature.”
Nothing seemed truer over dinner—roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, and pork roast—when Judd made an appearance, wiping his feet at the backdoor.
From a distance, the man looked like a thousand other ranch hands who worked around the livestock, only much younger. He wore a blue plaid shirt and a pair of jeans that had been washed so many times they were no longer dark blue.
“Sorry, I’m a little late. But the sabino mare didn’t want to eat. I think you need to get the vet over here,” Judd said, surprised at the new faces in the dining room.
“I’ll check the mare out after dinner,” Travis began. “She’s probably still settling in from the long trip.” He saw Judd eyeing Skye and Josh and made the introductions. “This is my daughter and her husband.”
“The crimefighters,” Judd supplied, extending his hand. “I read about you guys. You do good work.”
“Where in Colorado are you from?” Skye asked as Lena brought in the dinner rolls.
“Let the man sit down first,” Travis stated. “Before you start grilling him.”
Judd smiled over at Skye. “I don’t mind. What is it you want to know?”
Steadfast in her mission, Skye wasn’t shy. “For starters, what have you been doing for the last thirty years?”
Josh leaned toward the stranger with a sly grin on his face. “Here’s a tip. Start with when you were born and work your way to how you came to be here in Washington state. Be sure not to leave anything out. Believe me, she’ll know. Why’d you leave Colorado?”
“My uncle had a big spread outside Fort Collins. But he died last May. The ranch passed to his wife, who immediately put it on the market. When it sold, I didn’t like the new owner, so I lit out for greener pastures. Spent some time in Wyoming before seeing the ad Travis posted on the Internet. He offered me a full-time job here and a place to bunk. I thought it was a pretty sweet deal.” Judd reached over and helped himself to a roll and slathered generous pats of butter on it. “And the food is first-rate. Lena’s an excellent cook. So, it’s a win-win for me all around. I like it here.”
“She is that,” Skye noted, glancing over at Lena. Even though she dug into her own helping of mashed potatoes, she was hardly satisfied with Judd’s answers. “How long do you think you’ll stay in Everett?”
Judd’s brown eyes flashed in amusement. “At The Painted Crow? I hope Travis and Lena will keep me around until I’m old and feeble. Like I said before, this is a nice place to live.”
“Have you met any of the locals?” Josh asked. “What do you do for entertainment?”
Unbothered by the questions, Judd simply continued to eat. In between bites, he’d gaze around the table and offer a few tidbits of information. “You mean like meeting members of the opposite sex? Well, for one thing, I go down to the rec center in Everett once a week, and there’s a dance. Saturday nights I hang out there. I’ve only been here six weeks, but I think there’s a couple of women there who like me.”
For the rest of the meal, they chatted Judd up. He seemed nice enough. But Skye still had reservations about the man, which she shared with Josh on the way back to Bainbridge Island.
“Did you get the sense that he wasn't completely honest with us?”
“I have to admit, I did. But I couldn’t put my finger on it. Until I check him out for myself, I don’t think Sierra should stay around him.”
Skye shifted in her seat to stare at Josh. “You felt it that strongly?”
“Yeah. I’ll do a background tonight when we get home. Even then, it won’t tell us everything.”
“Maybe enough to know whether or not he’s lying about certain specifics.”
But after getting Sierra to bed, their unease didn’t fade once Josh ran him through a criminal background check and found nothing out of the ordinary. “I still don’t like it.”
“Neither do I. If we need Lena or Travis to babysit, I guess we’ll suggest they stay here.”
“That’s probably a good idea. They did offer to come to Bainbridge whenever we needed them.”
“But Travis bought her a pony. She’ll want to ride Roscoe there…with Pop-pop at her side.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we have to.”
“What else is bothering you?”
“It’s the bug. I can’t get past it. That software was tested…thoroughly. It checked out on every level before the release, several times over. I don’t know what happened, but it makes me wonder if a rival, a competitor, didn’t sabotage it somehow.”
“That’s impossible. You said yourself there are so many firewalls to overcome that no one could get through.”
“Nothing is impossible. No software application, no matter what anyone claims, is truly safe from a hacker. You should know that by now.”
She tugged him up out of the chair and to his feet. “Just be glad
they found it. Now, let’s go to bed. I’m as exhausted as Sierra. And tomorrow will be a long day.”
“You want to try dropping Sierra off at daycare?”
“Sure. It’s worth a try, right? If we’re lucky, Margie’s ghost will leave her alone.”
Six
Around noon on Monday, Reggie dragged himself into the office to find Leo sprawled out on the leather sofa, snoring away. Leo’s laptop sat on the floor along with several discarded, empty bottles of Starbucks’ Frappuccino nearby.
Reggie couldn’t help himself. The scene was too good to pass up. Knowing Leo’s favorite movie was Tremors, he grabbed the end of the sofa, started moving and shaking it, all the while shouting, “Stampede, stampede!”
Leo shot up from the sofa like a man on fire, looking wild-eyed. He swung his legs to the floor, prepared to run. But instead of handling the crisis, his eyes narrowed on Reggie who stood at the end of the couch doing his best not to burst out laughing. “Very funny. Just remember the old Klingon proverb, ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold.’”
Reggie made sure to keep the foosball table between him and Leo until he was sure it was safe. “What got you here so early? Or, maybe you never left?”
Leo bobbed his head at that last part. He picked up his laptop and leaned back on the sofa. “We got problems. You know about the police recovering the tracker in Clayton’s garage, right? Could you check the logs and look for any anomalies, anything that doesn’t look right?”
“Don’t you want to get breakfast first?”
“Call Brayden. Tell him to pick up some croissant sandwiches from Country Kitchen on his way in. So will you go over the logs?”
“I’ll do better than that, I’ll access all the traffic cameras in the area, and all the CCTV feeds that I’m able to hack. Remind me again the last time we had eyes on Clayton?”
Leo studied his screen as Reggie opened up his laptop. “The last time was Friday when Winston and Brayden were sitting outside his house.”
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