“Okay, I’ll use that as my starting point. Can you pull up a map of streets around Clayton’s house within, say, a five-mile radius? You might as well get Winston in here. We’ll need help reviewing all the video we can lay our hands on from that specific area.”
“You’re taking it frame by frame?” Leo asked in wonder.
“You bet, we’ll study every image until we find that Audi. It’s the only way to find that sneaky SOB.”
And that’s where Josh and Skye found their team, glued to their laptops, eyes locked on monitors, surveying street and traffic footage.
Reggie glanced up when the door opened. “Bosses on deck.”
Skye scanned the room and spotted the sacks and cartons from Country Kitchen. “Good to know Velma’s taking care of you guys.”
“She always does. She’s like a kindly grandmother,” Brayden said as his eyes never left the laptop screen.
“What are you guys doing?” Josh wanted to know as he took a stand behind Reggie. “I told you guys to take a couple of days off.”
“No time,” Leo muttered, skimming frames of street views. “As long as Stacey Dysart is out there, and Clayton may know her whereabouts, we should keep looking.”
Josh finally figured out what they were working on. “You’ve already snagged the CCTV footage around Clayton’s house? I’m impressed.”
“That goes double for me,” Skye put in, looking over Brayden’s shoulder. “What can we do to help?”
“Grab a laptop and queue up any of the files in the Clayton folder,” Leo directed. “The more eyes we have looking, the quicker we’ll be able to locate the bastard.”
Hours slipped by, hours of combing through images finally paid off when Reggie suddenly started pumping his fist up and down in the air. “Got you, you tricky little prick.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing to gather behind Reggie’s laptop as he replayed the clip. They saw Clayton’s Audi enter an intersection about a mile from his home with a date stamp on it that said two-fifty-three a.m. Saturday morning.
“You want to know how he beat the police surveillance?” Reggie mumbled.
“That would certainly help us know who we’re dealing with,” Skye stated.
“Look at this. Notice how the Audi entered the intersection? The only way to do that is if Clayton came out from this alleyway right here. In this particular subdivision, it runs through practically the entire length of the neighborhood.” Reggie enlarged the image, zooming in on Clayton’s Audi.
Skye finished the thought. “Clayton managed to somehow access the alley behind his house with his lights off and bypassed the unmarked police car.”
“Correctamundo. Now let’s see where Mr. Spencer is off to. The Audi is heading west, so put the map up on the overhead and let’s see where he goes from there.”
Leo compared the map to city traffic camera schematics. “If he keeps going straight, the next traffic camera should be right about here,” he said, pointing to a satellite image.
Reggie searched the traffic database until he located the correct camera angle and within a few minutes had the exact time of day that would tell them if Clayton passed through the intersection or turned off somewhere along the route. “Bingo. We’ve got him still heading west. Next intersection,” he called out.
After hacking into each camera along the way, they managed to trace Clayton’s progress until he entered the ramp to Interstate 5, heading south. Now they had to get into the cameras along the highway, including the exit ramps. The process was slow going. But fortunately, Clayton stayed on I-5 all the way until he went through a massive interchange and exited onto the 101, heading west toward Aberdeen.
“This is crazy,” Skye added. “Where is this guy going?” Then it dawned on her. “Oh, my God. He’s headed right toward the North Bay. That would be a great place to dump a body.”
“Wherever he’s going, it’ll get harder to track him out there. Fewer cameras,” Reggie noted.
“North Bay isn’t exactly the boonies,” Winston countered. “After all, people have found human feet there, washed up on shore, still wearing their running shoes.”
Josh stood with his hands on his hips. “I’d forgotten about that. It started back in 2007, didn’t it?”
“Without looking up the facts, that sounds close enough,” Winston returned. “The medical examiners first explained it away by blaming it on the 2004 tsunami. But since then, a lot of right feet have shown up along the state’s shoreline from Vancouver to Klipsan Beach.”
“Right feet?” Skye muttered. “No left? That’s…weird.” She turned her attention back to the screen as they all followed the Audi until it entered Aberdeen. But the minute the car bypassed the State Road also known as the 109, Skye’s stomach dropped.
While everyone else was glued to the footage, Skye realized this route looked familiar, too familiar. An uneasy feeling swept over her as she accessed the travel app on her phone, the one she always used to get from Point A to Point B. “Holy crap, I know where he’s headed. Griffiths-Priday State Park is off the 101. He’s going there.”
Josh turned to stare at Skye with wide eyes. “Then this is the same route you took Friday afternoon to see where Dave’s Jeep had been left.” It wasn’t a question.
“Almost identical.” She went to the map, retracing the directions from the GPS. “This route is full of woods and plenty of other places to dump Stacey’s body. Although it is fairly populated, albeit rural. But in the dark, no one would pay much attention to turning off any one of these side roads and taking care of business. I think we should head out there. If Clayton’s destination was that beach, that’s a huge tipping point for me. If I’m wrong and he’s headed to the North Bay area, that’s an even better place to dump Stacey’s body. Copalis Beach is within two miles of there. Eerily coincidental to where Dave’s Jeep was found, in fact.”
“I don’t like those kinds of coincidences,” Josh stated.
“Yeah. Me either. And after ten years, that isn’t even somewhat plausible, not without a connection. That’s why we’ll have to physically check out the State Park and the North Bay area. There’s no way around it.”
“Agreed,” Josh said, turning to the guys. “Meantime, keep the updates coming.”
Reggie nodded. “We’ll keep you posted if anything weird comes up.”
****
Skye tried hard to drive the speed limit, but it was difficult to do. Anxious, she kept inching the minivan above seventy miles an hour.
For a Monday, traffic wasn’t bad, but it seemed like it took forever before they got to Aberdeen and took the jag around to the 101.
They left the city limits behind, jutting the lower peninsula as Skye drove for several more miles before passing through the small town of Hoquiam, past a spattering of houses and small businesses. From there, a northwesterly turn took them away from North Bay and deeper into forestland. “We’ll save the bay area for later. Right now, I want you to see this spot for yourself. Along the way, we’ll look for the Audi.”
Skye slowed to a crawl along that point while Josh scanned the right side of the road and she took the left, looking for Clayton’s car. But there was no sign of it anywhere along the route, not at any of the bars or places to eat, not at the motor courts or cabins.
“You’d think he’d have to sleep,” Josh grumbled, skimming the lots of the motels.
Deep woods surrounded the touristy places where visitors enjoyed pricey resorts and beach access.
“Hard to believe Bigfoot wouldn’t want to chow down at some of these nice restaurants around here,” Skye mused. “Although it gets a lot more desolate where we’re going.”
“Why go to a restaurant when Bigfoot could just as well dig for littleneck clams and oysters on his own? Pick one of these great spots along the stretches of sand and take some home to the missus?” Josh pointed out. “Getting out like this makes me appreciate what a beautiful state we live in.”
“It gets better up around the Stat
e Park, but maybe that’s the reason Bigfoot hangs out here—access to the seafood.”
“It’s as good a reason as any.”
“Do you believe in that sort of thing?”
“Bigfoot? Why not?” When she gave him a strange look, he added, “Hey, I never believed in spirit guides until I met you.”
“There is that.”
When she came to a fork in the road, she left the 101 and headed west on Ocean Beach Road. “This will connect to Copalis Beach Road. Another five miles and we’ll be there. Maybe you should call Leo for an update,” she suggested, pulling off the road so Josh could use his phone. “Unless there’s no service here.”
Josh held up his iPhone. “Ah, one bar.” Punching in Reggie’s number, he waited. “What do you have for us?”
“I’ve been going over those pictures Skye sent me from Friday, trying to blow them up so I could get a better feel for the place. I researched the area above the beach. Because of the Bigfoot sightings there, I had an idea. I know a couple of serious enthusiasts who set up cameras at every spot along the trail where there’s been a sighting in hopes of catching him in action.”
“And?”
“Since that area is a major hot spot, it occurred to me there’s gotta be several cameras located near the woods around that park for that specific reason. If I can locate them, then tap into the data, it might be a goldmine.”
“Great, let us know if you find anything useful.”
Skye pulled back onto the roadway and continued in a westerly track. “Do you think Clayton got the idea to come out here after reading the files on my desk?”
“Why else would he head here? Of all the places in the state he could’ve hidden out, he picked the very spot where Dave’s Jeep was found.”
“Then he’s not very creative.”
“Clayton didn’t strike me as having an original thought in his thick head.”
“You really don’t like this guy very much, do you?”
“Nope. What’s to like? Arrogant. Privileged. I don’t know what Harry sees in the guy. He’s usually a better judge of character.”
Skye sputtered with laughter. “You do realize you just described yourself? Somewhat.”
“I’m not arrogant. Although your father certainly thought I was.”
“So just privileged then?”
“I’m not anything like Clayton Spencer.”
“You’re right about that.” As soon as she reached the turnoff, she gunned the van along the winding roadway, climbing up to the top. The view stretched out along the treetops and the valley that was nestled there. “We’re coming in from the backside of the park.”
“This isn’t high enough in elevation to be called a cliff,” Josh noted.
“That’s what I said, more like a scenic overhang,” Skye muttered as she pulled into the same clearing she’d used on Friday. But before she could park, she spotted the Audi convertible with the top up about the same time Josh did.
Instinct had her taking out her cell phone. She began using it to take pictures. “Look at this, there are no tire tracks around here at all. In fact, I don’t see a single footprint either.”
Skye slid the gear into Park and looked over at Josh. “I’ve got to be honest with you, I didn’t really think Clayton would be here.”
“I hope this isn’t a suicide,” Josh groaned as he opened his door to get out.
“I don’t see anyone in the car. He could be slumped over in the front seat, though. I should’ve brought binoculars.”
“I’ll go check it out,” Josh offered. “You stay here.” Bounding out from the front seat, he’d taken a few steps when other vehicles roared to a stop behind them.
Detective Lakin climbed out of the first car and shouted, “Don’t you dare mess up my crime scene. Without the tracker, how the hell did you guys know exactly where to find his car?”
“Gee, I don’t know,” Josh began. “We have a team in place that actually does good old-fashioned police work. You know, the kind of stuff detectives usually do when they’re trying to find a missing female who might be in danger. You might’ve heard how we’ve solved cases in the past.”
“Just get back in the car,” Lakin ordered. “Now! Don’t leave though. You two don’t move that van until I tell you that it’s okay.”
“I can hardly wait,” Josh muttered under his breath as he got back into the front seat. “What an ass. Harry owes us big time for this.”
Skye felt just as outraged. “I’ve never felt so played before now. I’m calling Harry and letting him have a piece of my mind.”
They sat in the van until they got bored. While watching Seattle PD’s tactical force deploy and surround the Audi, they heard the lead guy shout, “Clear!”
Josh looked over at Skye with a sly smile. “I’m pretty sure that means Clayton got away.”
“And we’re no closer to finding Stacey than we were before. Lakin said we had to stay put, but he didn’t say we had to confine ourselves to the van.”
“That’s true. What’d you have in mind?”
“Fresh air,” she said, opening the driver’s side door. She watched black clouds churn on the horizon. “That storm looks huge. If they don’t hurry up and do what they do, it’ll probably dump enough rain to wash away any evidence left out here.”
“I think Lakin’s taking care of that. The least he could do is share what he found,” Josh groused. “What did Harry say when you talked to him?”
“He still claims Clayton isn’t responsible for Stacey’s disappearance.”
“How is that possible? The guy ran. He left his car in the same identical spot where Dave’s car was left. There has to be some reason he used what he read in Dave’s file to disappear.”
“I know you don’t like Clayton. But don’t let that total dislike cloud your judgment. Don’t get tunnel vision.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“Maybe. Think about it. Why would a preppy guy like Clayton come all the way out here to dump his car in the mud? I mean, this place is what’s known to the locals as Bigfoot’s Backyard. So why would he abandon it here and tip his hand like this? He’s bound to know how bad this looks for him.”
“Because he doesn’t have an original thought in his head.”
“That’s just it. This is a clumsy way for Clayton to arrange his own disappearance. What’s so special about the outcrop here, above Copalis Beach anyway? Why would he lead us here?”
With no real explanation to that, Josh grew impatient. “Look, I’m getting tired of standing around here. Antsy. Lakin has no authority to detain us like this. I’m heading over there and telling him so.”
When he started to storm off, she grabbed his arm. “Don’t give Lakin the satisfaction of seeing you pissed off. We stay calm, cool, and collected when dealing with him. We’re pros, remember? Show him we’re the epitome of cooperation.”
He grinned. “Sweet emotion instead of raw hostility? Got it.”
The play-nice strategy worked. Josh had dangled the prospect of sharing more information down the road. Which is why he strolled back to the minivan with a big smile on his face. “Turns out, Lakin isn’t as stupid as we thought. He’s decided we’re a valuable asset after all.”
“How’d you manage to change his mind?”
“I gently pointed out how many cases we’ve helped solve over the years.”
“Yeah. Right. Gently, huh? If you say so. But we still can’t leave, right?”
“Not yet.”
“Some compromise,” Skye noted.
Slouched against the minivan, they watched as the police crawled all over Clayton’s spiffy Audi. From there, the cops combed every inch of the parking lot, the beach below, and the surrounding forest, collecting evidence.
Almost an hour ticked by before Skye nudged Josh. “Don’t look now but we’re getting the evil eye from Lakin. I thought you said he needed us.”
“He’s hopeful we’ll give him all the informati
on we get moving forward.”
“With that stink eye? No way.”
“What happened to cooperation? We’re pros, right?”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Lakin is glowering at us. You know in some cultures he could be trying to put a curse on us.”
“Got it covered,” Skye said as she reached for the talisman she wore around her neck and pulled it out from under her sweater. “Do the Nez Perce know how to handle the White man’s curse or not?”
They both tried to muffle their laughter, which brought a hard stare from the stone-faced detective.
As inconspicuously as she could, Skye busied herself by taking pictures of the Audi, as well as the surrounding area, doing her best to give Lakin a wide berth.
Josh tried to start a conversation with a few of the forensic technicians as they walked back and forth between the crime scene and their mobile laboratory box truck, but all he got was a few nods and grunts in return.
Another hour slowly dragged into two before the tow truck showed up for the Audi and loaded it for transport. When the techs began to pack up, Lakin walked over to where they stood by the van.
“Look, I know we got off to a rocky start. I just want you to know that I’m grateful you led us to the Audi…”
“There’s a but coming,” Josh prompted.
Lakin smiled. “But…this is my case and I want you to stay out of it. Drummond had no right bringing you into this like he did. I’ve got your card if I ever need your help, which I won’t. Just…let me do my job.” With that, he walked back to his car and left.
Once he’d gone, Skye walked to the spot where the Audi had been parked and took a series of photos. “This whole time I’ve had this weird feeling that someone is watching us.”
“I had the same feeling. In fact, the hair on the back of my neck hasn’t stopped tingling.” He did a slow three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn to inspect the tree line, looking for anything that seemed out of place. It wasn’t until the second scan that he noticed something stood out and wasn’t part of nature.
He grabbed Skye’s arm and walked her over to the van. “See that third tree on the left about halfway up from the beach? Get a shot of that and don’t be obvious about it.”
Sea of Bones Page 8