Stone Cold Heart

by Laura Griffin

  “How did he react?”

  “He was angry. And when I suggested we postpone the wedding, he freaked out. Told me I couldn’t do that to him or our families. And him telling me I couldn’t just reinforced my doubts about our relationship. I felt trapped. So I broke up with him, quit my job, and moved to Guatemala.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Just like that.” Sara sighed. “Which was very hurtful to a lot of people. In retrospect, I should have handled it better.”

  She remembered her mom’s reaction. What on earth is wrong with you? You have something good, and you throw it away with both hands. Sara’s mom hadn’t understood her reasoning any more than Patrick had, and Sara had stopped trying to explain.

  “What’s that look?” Sara asked.

  Kelsey smiled. “I never would have pegged you for a runaway bride. You always seem so levelheaded.”

  “Well, it was impulsive, you’re right.” Her decision hadn’t been logical. For the first time in her life, she’d completely ignored logic and followed her gut. She was still following it, which was why she’d taken the Delphi Center job in Texas, where she knew exactly no one and her family was fifteen hundred miles away.

  The kettle whistled, and she moved it to a back burner. She took down two cups from the cabinet and dropped a tea bag into each of them.

  “Wow, how’d we get on this topic, anyway?” She looked at Kelsey. “You didn’t come here to talk about my dysfunctional love life.”

  Kelsey took a seat at one of the bar stools. “I heard about White Falls Park. Sounds like you guys had a tough day out there.”

  “We did.”

  “Good recovery, though?”

  “One hundred fifty-two bones, along with some personal effects.” She slid Kelsey’s tea in front of her. “Chamomile. No caffeine.”

  “Thanks.”

  “We’re analyzing the twine now.”

  “I heard.” Kelsey’s brow furrowed. “Bindings?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “Aaron told me it’s a homicide.”

  “Yes.”

  “And Nolan Hess is the lead?”

  Sara was surprised. “You know him?”

  “Just by reputation.” The corner of Kelsey’s mouth ticked up. “Alex’s husband is friends with him. I hear he’s hot.”

  Sara pictured Nolan’s strong fingers wrapped around his beer earlier. And the way he’d gazed down at her when he said good night.

  “I also hear he’s a bit of a hard-ass, so I’m sure he won’t be happy to see this.” Kelsey took her phone from her purse, tapped in a code, and slid it across the counter.

  Sara stared down at the screen, not sure what she was looking at. It was a video showing a bird’s-eye view of something. A rocky canyon? A creek bed?

  “What—” The question vanished when she saw the blue tent. “Is this our dig site?”

  Kelsey nodded.

  Sara’s stomach filled with dread as what could only be a drone camera flew closer to the pit. Aaron was hunched over the northwest quadrant with his boar’s-hair brush. He leaned back and wiped the sweat from his brow.

  The camera zoomed in on a cranium.

  “What the hell?” Sara looked at Kelsey. “Who took this?”

  “Some kids, I’m guessing. A student in my Anthro 101 class sent it to me.”

  Sara stared down at the image, which would likely end up on TV. Meaning that Jane Doe’s family, whoever they were, would someday get a look at their daughter’s skull being pulled from the dirt. A hot lump of anger lodged in Sara’s throat.

  “Where was this posted?” Sara asked.

  “My student saw it on Twitter, but it’s probably made the rounds by now. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned up on the news tomorrow.”

  “Unbelievable. This poor family.”

  “I called our cybercrimes lab and asked Alex about getting it taken down, but I’m not sure what good that will do since it’s already gone viral. When you talk to Hess, you might want to let him know whatever security he had at that crime scene was compromised.”

  “Damn right I’ll let him know.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Nolan bypassed his desk and went straight to the break room, where he filled a mug with coffee before heading into the meeting. Hank and Talia were already seated at the conference table.

  “You two keep your radios on today,” the chief instructed as Nolan grabbed a chair. “We’re liable to be busy.”

  Triple-digit heat combined with alcohol meant a spike in tempers and assaults. Plus, they were anticipating the usual holiday-related uptick in motor-vehicle accidents.

  “The sheriff’s office already has one fatality,” Hank said.

  “Jeez, it’s only ten,” Talia said. “DUI?”

  “Plain stupidity. Some guy was cliff jumping over at Dove Lake. Guess no one told him about the drought.” Hank turned to Nolan. “All right, catch me up. What do we know from the bone doc?”

  “The victim is a female, probably early twenties, most likely Caucasian,” Nolan said. “Height approximately five-two, and she’s a brunette.”

  Talia sighed. “Not Kaylin Baird.”

  “No.” Nolan looked at Hank. He’d already called the chief last night with the news after visiting the Baird family.

  “And it’s definitely a homicide?” Talia asked.

  “That’s right. She’s still working on cause of death. Hopes to have that soon.”

  “How soon?” Hank asked.

  “I’ll get an update later today.” If Sara didn’t call him, Nolan planned to track her down. “A DNA sample’s been submitted, so we’ll see if we get any hits in the database.”

  “That’s if she’s been reported missing,” Hank said, homing in on a scenario that had been eating away at Nolan. They got a lot of migrant workers in the area, and many of them avoided police. “There might not be a report on her, much less a DNA sample,” the chief said. “What’d she say about time of death?”

  “Nine to ten months ago,” Nolan told him.

  “So, between September and October of last year.” Hank shook his head. “Case is ice-cold. And we’ve had no MPs in that time frame.”

  “I’ll put out some feelers in the community,” Talia said. “I can talk to Father Uribe.”

  “Good idea.” Nolan opened the file folder in front of him. “Meantime, I’m going to check in with some of the park regulars. The climbers, the mountain bikers.”

  “Don’t they have a climbing ban?” Talia asked.

  “Yeah, but people do it anyway,” Nolan said. “I’ll ask around, see if I can find anyone who remembers anything unusual from last fall.”

  “Ha. You’ll be lucky if they remember last week,” Talia said. “Those kids are baked half the time.”

  “What about the video?” Hank asked.

  “Video?” Talia looked at him.

  “Some kid posted a video of the remains being dug up,” Nolan told her.

  “Where the hell’d they get that?”

  “Sent a drone over the gorge. I haven’t seen it, but I hear there’s a close-up of the skull.”

  “I saw it,” Hank said. “Damn thing was on the news this morning. The bones were blurred out, but still. It’ll come back to bite us if we ever get an arrest in this case.”

  “Bite us how?” Talia asked.

  “A defense attorney will say our crime scene was penetrated,” Hank told her. “Contamination of evidence, whatever they can think up.”

  “That’s crazy. How are we supposed to keep out a drone?”

  “I’ve seen crazier.” Hank folded his arms over his chest. “Anyway, this video’s all over everywhere.”

  “Are you worried?” Talia looked at Nolan.

  “About some video? No. What I’m worried about right now is getting an ID on this victim.”

  Brad Crowley poked his head into the conference room and looked at Nolan. Crowley was a rookie, but so far he showed potential.

  “You h
ave a call,” he told Nolan.

  “Who?”

  “A ranger out at White Falls Park. He’s going apeshit.” Crowley glanced at the chief. “Sorry. He’s, um, really worked up about some lady who just showed up there. A Dr. Lawler, and he says she’s unauthorized?”

  “Dr. Lockhart,” Nolan said. “What’s she doing there?”

  “I don’t know, but she brought a cadaver dog.”

  • • •

  Sara eyed the hikers and picnickers as she unloaded gear from her SUV, but no one seemed to notice her. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She’d opted for yoga pants and a pink tank top today, wanting to keep a low profile.

  Sara scanned the woods past the sign at the trailhead. Peaches and her handler had gone ahead, the German shepherd bounding down the path, eager to explore this new part of the park.

  A green Suburban pulled into the lot, and Sara bit back a curse as Ranger Evans got out. He walked over and glowered down at her.

  “I called the police chief.”

  “Thank you. That saves me the trouble.” She smiled up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun.

  “Where’s your dog?”

  “In the woods.”

  “Unleashed dogs are prohibited in the park, and that’s a minimum fine of two hundred dollars.”

  “Except for service dogs.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Service dogs. Check the sign at the trailhead if you don’t believe me. And working police dogs are permitted to be off leash in the presence of their handlers.”

  The ranger’s face reddened, and Sara wondered about his blood pressure.

  “Tom told me that dog of yours dug up a bone,” he said.

  Sara stepped back and nodded at the cardboard tray containing a small gray metacarpal. “See for yourself.”

  Evans peered down at it. “Probably just an animal.”

  “That’s right. And a human is an animal.”

  “But—”

  “My team and I plan to be here all day, Mr. Evans. Possibly longer, if you continue to impede our work.”

  “We’ll see about that. I could have you arrested for trespassing within the hour.”

  “You’re welcome to try.”

  He strode back to his vehicle, and Sara stared after him as he peeled out of the lot with a spray of gravel.

  Sara took out her metal detector and propped it on her shoulder. Then she locked her doors and started down the trail. The grade quickly became steep, but the path was shaded by oaks and cedars. Mockingbirds chirped overhead as she made her way down. The trail had a lot of switchbacks, and she set an easy pace to avoid twisting an ankle on loose rocks.

  “Sara.”

  She turned around, and her heart skittered at the sight of Nolan approaching. She was happy to see him, but she managed not to grin like an idiot. He was dressed casually in jeans and a golf shirt, but there was nothing casual about his expression as he stopped and gazed down at her, hands on hips.

  “Heard you were back in town,” he said.

  “Let me guess. Evans?”

  Nolan lifted an eyebrow. “You do something to piss him off?”

  “My mere existence pisses him off. I’m a woman intruding in his little fiefdom.”

  Nolan studied her face, and his whiskey-brown eyes looked serious. “You should have called me.”

  “I was going to.”

  “What’s with the canine unit?” He nodded at the metal detector. “And what’s that for?”

  “I’ll explain if you’ve got a minute.”

  “Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

  She started down the path again, and he walked beside her.

  “As I mentioned yesterday, we were missing some bones at the recovery site. Some metacarpals, a tibia, several vertebrae. The dogs are better at this than we are.”

  “And did you find anything?”

  “Only a finger bone. It was down in the gorge, about twenty yards from the recovery site. We did a thorough canvass.”

  “And now you’re up here. Why?”

  The trail ended at a clearing, and Sara looked around but saw no sign of Peaches or her handler.

  “Seems logical.” She took her phone from her pocket and pulled up the topographical map she’d been using. “We talked about the body originating upstream.” She pointed to a place on the map near the entrance to the park where a small picnic area was situated beside a scenic overlook. “See this picnic spot on the map here?” She turned to her right and pointed to a nearby wall of limestone. “At the top of that cliff there? That looks to me like the optimal location. It’s close to the access road, allowing for a quick getaway. Appears to be the perfect place to dump a body into this ravine.”

  “But you said she was intact.” Nolan folded his arms over his chest. “What am I missing?”

  Sara didn’t say anything.

  “You think there are more victims?”

  “I think it’s unusual.” She tucked the phone into her pocket. “You’ve got a missing woman last seen in this park. You’ve got an unidentified woman’s remains found here. Might not be a coincidence.”

  “You make it sound like we’ve got a serial killer on the loose.”

  She just looked at him.

  His eyebrows shot up. “Is that what you think we’re dealing with here?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  His eyes sparked. “I need a better answer than that, Sara.”

  A low yelp had her turning around. Peaches bounded up the path, followed by Raul, her handler. The dog stopped at Sara’s feet and gazed up at her expectantly.

  “Good girl! Look at you!” Sara crouched down and rubbed her ears. She glanced at Raul, and her heart sank. “What is it?”

  “We got a hit.”

  • • •

  Sara, Raul, and Peaches spent the entire afternoon searching, only stopping twice for breaks. The tree-lined ravine was shaded, which mitigated the heat factor, but dense vines and thorny undergrowth covered the steeply sloping walls. Sara swatted at the leaves as she moved through the thicket where Peaches had discovered a cranium. She scoured the ground but found nothing new, and she’d been over this section three times now.

  “Sara?” Raul called from the top of the ridge.

  “Coming!”

  Sara looked around and sighed. It was a steep hike out. She could follow the creek bed until it intersected the hiking trail, but that would take three times as long. Grabbing a sapling, she hauled herself up, trying to avoid razor-sharp thistles. Not that it mattered at this point. Her arms were covered in scratches from tromping through the brush all day.

  After ten minutes of climbing and pulling, she reached the top, where Peaches waited with her tongue hanging out. Her tail thumped as Sara approached.

  “She looks tired,” Sara said.

  Raul nodded. “She’s beat. I need to get her home and hydrated.”

  “It’s almost five. I can’t believe she lasted so long.”

  “She’s a worker.”

  They trekked back to the base of operations they’d established near the picnic area. A uniformed officer—Crowley was his name—stood guard beside a Springville PD pickup truck. The tailgate was down, and a flat cardboard box in the truck bed held an array of bones. Sara surveyed the assortment.

  “You found another femur?” She looked at Raul.

  “It was south of that big boulder. Don’t worry, I photographed it from every angle.”

  “Good.” Sara grabbed a clipboard and added the femur to the inventory.

  “Detective Hess just called, ma’am.”

  Sara looked at Crowley as she peeled off her latex gloves. The officer’s blue uniform was soaked with sweat, but he hadn’t complained about being stationed in the scorching heat all afternoon.

  “What’d he say?” Sara asked.

  “He’s wrapping up some business at the firehouse. Said for you to meet him back at the station.”

  Sara didn�
�t comment. She’d planned to stop by there anyway, but she preferred to be asked, not ordered. Nolan had been brisk with her since Peaches first started alerting on bones all over the ravine. After the fourth hit—a mandible that was clearly human based on the fillings—Nolan made the call to shut down the entire park and then summoned several uniforms to the scene to help cordon off the area. Around noon, Talia arrived, and Nolan left to handle something in town. From what Sara gathered, the police chief had called a meeting with people from the park district and the sheriff’s office to talk about the latest bone discovery.

  Sara retrieved some water from her SUV and walked over to the pickup. She offered Crowley a bottle and gave two to Raul, who crouched beside Peaches and helped her drink straight from the container. When she finished, he opened the second bottle for himself.

  “You two should head out,” she told Raul. “I’ll get the equipment loaded for transport back to the lab.”

  “You need help with anything?”

  “No, I got it.”

  Raul gave her the Delphi Center camera he’d been using and then tossed his gloves into a nearby trash bin. He opened the door to his gray pickup, and Peaches jumped in the front, clearly eager to go.

  With Crowley’s help, Sara got everything packed into the back of her Explorer. The officer looked faintly sick as Sara wrapped the cranium in gauze and loaded it into a separate cooler for transport. The cranium was a gold mine, evidence-wise, and she didn’t want to risk it getting knocked around.

  Sara hitched herself up behind the wheel and plugged her dead phone into the charger. She was tired and sweaty, and her lips tasted like dirt. She wasn’t looking forward to this meeting with Nolan.

  Buzzing the windows down, she let the wind whip around her as she wended her way through the park. Her AC was on the fritz again, and she really needed to get her car into the shop, but she never had the time. Her black ’98 Explorer was on its last leg, but she couldn’t bear to give it up. She used it so much for hauling remains to the lab that people called it her hearse.

  Sara pulled up to the main exit. A ranger—not Evans, thankfully—was stationed there and opened the gate as she approached.