Lonesome Lake

by Lesley Appleton-Jones

  The man jerked at her bound arms. Searing pain shot through her. As he pulled, she felt the bear begin to topple. Suddenly, she unhooked her leg. The man stumbled back, still pulling her, but losing his balance. She used the momentum to scramble to her feet as the huge bear crashed to the ground right where she’d been.

  Abbey dug the heels of her sneakers down hard onto the tiles, trying to break free, but it was futile. He regained his balance and dragged her to the top of the basement stairs.

  Frantic, she searched for something to hook with her foot again. There was nothing, so she stopped struggling and decided to push in the direction he was dragging her. She shoved him hard. He once again stumbled. She broke his grip on her arm by twisting violently to the side and shoved him again with her shoulder. His hands groped for her. Catching nothing but air, he plunged backward, down the flight of stairs and into the gloom below.

  She had to find a place to hide. With her arms still bound behind her back, she turned to run out of the house, but the toppled bear blocked the doorway. There was no way she could jump over it. She had to scramble up and over it. The taxidermy base was a thick, round slice of a tree that rocked as she climbed onto the bear. With her hands bound, she couldn’t balance. Her legs trembled, and her knees buckled. She went down hard. That’s when she heard the man bellow as he stomped up the stairs.

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  As Raines turned into Scotty Pepper’s driveway, a man stumbled out of the woods right in front of them. Raines slammed on the brakes and swerved to miss him. The man stared into the headlights. He was covered in blood and began to sway like he was about to fall over.

  “That’s Jesse Keegan,” Raines yelled, slapping the SUV into park and jumping out. He sprinted to the kid just in time to catch him before he fell. Lowering him carefully to the ground, Raines unzipped Jesse’s jacket and ripped open his shirt to inspect the wound. “He’s been shot just above his clavicle. Grab the emergency medical kit in the back of the truck.”

  Holly already had it and was tearing open a large trauma pad to use to cover the wound.

  Jesse groaned as Raines used it to apply pressure. Holly called for an ambulance.

  Jesse’s eyes opened. Seeing Raines, he muttered, “Where’s Abbey?”

  “She’s at home with Po and Melody.”

  Jesse struggled to sit up. “No. She was here with me, but someone hit me over the head, and I don’t know where she is.”

  “You were shot.”

  Jesse’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Shot?”

  “Yes.”

  The teenager muttered, “By Scotty Pepper?”

  “We don’t know. We just got here, and you were alone. What happened, Jesse? Why was Abbey with you?” Fear caused Raines to speak faster and louder than normal.

  “Abbey wanted to spy on Scotty Pepper, so we came over here to see what he was doing. We were over by the shed. I got hit and passed out. That’s all I know,” Jesse said through clenched teeth. “You have to find her.”

  Raines sprinted over to the hut. Holly waited with Jesse. Seconds ticked by like hours before Raines came crashing out of the undergrowth. He looked wild and terrified. He ran to the house. She heard him kick in the door and yell for Abbey.

  Then Holly heard sirens. Seconds later, Angel Natale screeched into the driveway, followed by the paramedics. As they worked on Jesse, Holly called the Chief to request roadblocks while Angel secured the scene. The paramedics loaded Jesse into the ambulance and took off.

  Raines ran back to her. “Abbey was right. And we were wrong. Scotty killed Sherry and now he has Abbey.”

  Fear slithered inside Holly. “No. Nate killed Sherry. It had to have been Nate.”

  “It can’t be Nate,” Raines voice cracked. “Nate’s locked up. Tim Smith’s locked up. Abbey was here. At Scotty’s. I’ve searched everywhere. She’s not here. Scotty’s not here. It has to be him. He’s taken her somewhere, but where?”

  Holly suddenly felt icy cold. An idea had begun to take shape that was so abhorrent it made her shiver. She tried to block it out, but it didn’t work. Her legs went weak. “Cal.”

  “What?” he responded not noticing she’d used his first name.

  “I have a bad feeling.”

  “Jesus, Holly. Don’t say that.”

  “It’s not that.”

  “What is it, then?”

  She couldn’t look at him. “I don’t think it’s Scotty. When Milbourne talked about the sick woman, it triggered something in me.”

  “This can’t be about Edith Smith. Tim’s in custody,” Raines said, his voice constrained with anxiety.

  “No. Not Tim Smith.” Panic thrummed through her. How could she tell him? “I think it’s Boonie.”

  “Boonie? Your boyfriend?”

  “Yes. His mother is dying.”

  “That doesn’t mean it’s Boonie,” he responded with a good deal of skepticism.

  Holly pushed on, her stomach churning. “He drives a snowplow in winter. He was questioned along with all the other snowplowers in town. Gustafson interviewed Gavin Parrish, but Angel interviewed Boonie. That’s how I met Boonie. Angel introduced us.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Plus, his mother has cancer. I don’t think she has long to live. I don’t know anything about her property or an insurance claim, but I do know she cleaned houses before she became too weak to continue. It’s not a stretch to think that she could have cleaned for Nancy Taggart. And before she went into the hospital, she lived with Boonie. I always assumed it was because of her illness. But maybe she lost her house.”

  She took another deep breath, trying to calm herself so she could focus. “The morning of the fire, Boonie was at my house. He’d cleaned his truck, and he had all his equipment out in the yard. All his equipment is gas powered. His leaf blower. His weed whacker. His chainsaw. He has gasoline cans for them. What’s more, he’d just showered and done laundry.”

  Raines frowned. “That’s not odd,” he said but sounded less skeptical now.

  “Boonie never showers before work. He’s a landscaper. He was doing fall cleanup on Saturday. Why would he clean his work clothes if he were heading out for work unless he had gasoline or blood on him? There’s more. He has a trailer for his rider mower, and an ATV for hunting, which he could have used to get back from Lonesome Lake.”

  Before he could disagree with her, she blurted, “And he was the one who put me onto Gavin Parrish. He told me about the problem he’d had with Mimi.”

  Raines shook his head. “But why would he be here at Scotty’s? It doesn’t make sense. If it’s Boonie, why would he shoot Jesse and take Abbey? It has to be Scotty. This is about Sherry’s murder.”

  Holly raked her fingers through her hair. She felt as desperate as Raines looked. Was she out of her mind? Was she wrong about Boonie? Perhaps it was Scotty. He wasn’t here. Had he taken Abbey somewhere? Had she been so wrong about Nate? Raines was right. Why would Boonie be here? It didn’t make sense. It had to be Scotty. But an idea hit her like a blow between her eyes. “Sunday night Boonie came to the station with pizza.”

  “So what?”

  “Scotty was there. He came in with some information for us. Remember?”

  Raines nodded.

  “I told Boonie that Scotty worked with Mimi. If Boonie killed Mimi out of revenge, maybe he’s here to take it out on Scotty.”

  Angel had come to stand near them. He said nothing, just listened.

  Holly turned to him. “How long have you known Boonie?”

  Angel looked surprised. “He was one of the snowplow guys I interviewed after the Nancy Taggart hit and run. We got to talking about machines, and I told him I had a problem with my rider mower. He came over and fixed it for me. We get together occasionally for a beer and to talk about lawns and mowers. Stuff like that.”

  “And you introduced me to him.”

  “Yeah,” Angel said. “He was really interested in meeting you. He has a thing for female cops.”

 
Holly shook her head. “Or he wanted in on the case we were working.”

  “You think so?” Angel asked.

  Raines thought about it. “If it’s Boonie, why would he take Abbey? And why isn’t Scotty here?”

  “I don’t know,” she practically yelled right as another loathsome idea hit her. “Maybe he’s jealous of you.”

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Raines looked at Holly as if she’d gone off the deep end. “Why the hell would he be jealous of me?”

  “He didn’t like us working together. It wouldn’t surprise me if he thought we’re having an affair.”

  “That’s crazy,” he sputtered.

  “I know, but what if the night Abbey was chased in the woods Boonie was there to spy on your place, trying to catch me there?”

  He stared at her for a long moment as he assessed the feasibility of her theory.

  She looked away, waiting for the scrutiny to end. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

  “But why would he take Abbey?” His voice was tight with fear.

  “I don’t know. It’s like he’s a complete stranger. I should have known.”

  “This isn’t your fault, Holly. Just focus on where Boonie would take her. If we’re lucky, we still have time to save her.”

  She chewed her lip and tasted blood. “I don’t know.” She had no idea where the hell Boonie was. She was going to fail Abbey, just as she’d failed her brother. Hysteria, shrill and scary, started to reverberate within her. Panic was out of character for her. As a ski racer, she’d learned to block out the pressure. In stressful situations, she usually grew calmer, more focused. But not tonight. Tonight she felt out of control. Abbey was in danger, and it was her fault. She had to find the kid. “He could be anywhere. Anywhere!” she shouted.

  “Don’t panic, Holly, or we’ll never find Abbey. You’re her best chance. Would he take her to his place?”

  “No. He’s too cunning to make it that easy.”

  “What about his mother’s house? Would he torch it so Maybeth Allen can’t have it?”

  “It’s worth a shot, but I don’t know where she lived.” Holly turned to Angel. “Call the Chief. Get an address and get units rolling to his house and his mother’s place.”

  Angel ran to his cruiser. She watched him radio it in as doubt began to gnaw at her. Would Boonie really burn down his mother’s home? If he was the killer, he was totally dedicated to the woman to the point of madness. “Now that I think about it, I’m not so sure he’d take her there. Boonie cares about his mom. He wouldn’t risk upsetting her by destroying their family home, and any activity there could lead us right to him.”

  “So where would he go?”

  “He’s mad at me for working the case and ignoring him. Plus, he used my house to shower after he murdered Mimi. Maybe he’s there.”

  “Do you know how nuts that sounds?” Dread hardened his features and seemed to pull at the scar on his lip to make it look like he was snarling.

  “Yes. I do, but if it is Boonie, torching my house would be good revenge if he thinks I’m cheating on him.”

  Raines must have bought it because he said nothing, just turned and ran to the Suburban. She followed, yelling to Angel that they were going to check out her house. Holly jumped in and sat staring out of the windshield. She couldn’t bear to look at the agony on his face anymore.

  As they neared the intersection where they had to make a right to head to her house, a weird feeling came over her. “Don’t turn!” she said, placing a hand on his arm. “Keep going straight. He’s not going to my place.”

  “You’re sure? I could see him sticking it to you if he believes we’re having an affair.” Although he questioned her, he didn’t slow down, and they blew through the intersection. There were taillights ahead. Raines didn’t hit the lights and the siren and wait for them to pull over. He swerved out into the other lane and gunned it.

  Holly’s stomach flipped as the massive SUV lurched and rocked on its suspension.

  Raines sped up. “Where’s he going, Holly? Tell me where to go?”

  “I don’t know,” she yelled at him, panic consuming her. “I don’t know.”

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Raines slammed his palm on the steering wheel. “Why not your place, then? You had a feeling. Where’s he taken her?”

  Holly felt stretched taut like she was about to snap. She pulled out her phone from her pocket. Her hand shook, and she dropped it. Fumbling around on the floorboards for it, she dialed and stammered, “I’ll call Boonie and pretend I want to see him so I can find out where he is.”

  “Good idea,” Raines said, his voice tight with fear as he continued to rocket down the road.

  But the call went straight to voicemail.

  Raines looked at her with such desperation, the shock at seeing him like that snapped her out of the panic.

  “It’s not my house. He’d want somewhere more significant. He’s doing this for a reason. In a particular order. He’d have planned it.” She stared out of the windshield. “He’d…”

  “He’d what?”

  “It’s nothing.”

  Raines took a hand off the steering wheel and grabbed her hand. “You thought of something. What was it?”

  “Maybe he’s at the Allen house. I could be wrong. It could be anywhere. It could even be my place. I don’t know. I don’t want to be wrong.”

  The tendons in his neck stood out. “It’s the Allen house. It has to be. The kids interrupted him in the middle of God knows what. He’s going to stick to his plan but substitute Abbey for Maybeth Allen. Call the Chief and have him send some units there. They may get there before us.”

  “Fennis Cooper is posted at the Allen place to secure the scene until they process it,” she said.

  “Radio him to expect trouble.”

  She tried, but Fennis didn’t respond. She called dispatch.

  The drive seemed to take hours, and Holly felt the need to scream or beat the dash with her fists. The pressure only escalated when dispatch said they hadn’t been able to reach Fennis and were sending a unit. As Raines tore up the hill toward the Alpine Village, his headlights picked up the reflective decals of a cruiser. As they drew nearer, Holly realized that Fennis’ brand new Ford was upside down in an embankment.

  Holly swore loudly and jumped out before Raines had time to come to a complete stop. She yelled for him to call it in as she ran toward the accident. Shattered glass crunched underfoot. There was no sign of Boonie or Abbey anywhere. Dropping to her knees, she peered inside. Fennis Cooper hung upside down, suspended by his seatbelt. The airbags had inflated. He was unconscious. “Coop? Can you hear me?” When he didn’t respond, dread ran its fingers down her spine.

  Raines squatted down beside her and pressed his fingers against Fennis’ neck. “There’s a pulse. He’s alive.”

  Fennis groaned. A few seconds later, he muttered, “What happened?”

  The swell of relief threatened to overwhelm her. “Don’t move. You’ve been in an accident. Do you remember what happened?”

  “The last thing I remember was headlights coming up the road. Sarge, the Chief is going to kill me. The car’s new.”

  She almost laughed at that. “Don’t worry about the Chief. Everything will be fine. Did you see anyone?”

  “No. Just the headlights coming right at me. I didn’t have time to move before he slammed into the side of me, and I started to roll.” Fennis braced himself with one hand on the roof while using his other to fumble with the seatbelt. “I need to get out of here. I can’t take being upside down. My head is pounding.”

  She reached in and gently placed a hand on his head and another on his arm to stop him unbuckling the belt. “Don’t move, Coop. I can hear the sirens. We have to wait—make sure you’re not hurt.”

  Ignoring her instructions, he turned his head toward her. “I’m okay. Just get me the hell out of here, Sarge. This seatbelt is killing my neck.”

  “Damn it
, Coop. Hold still.”

  Then a piercing scream came from the direction of the house.

  By the time she looked up, Raines was already running.

  “Abbey!” he yelled as he pulled his gun from his shoulder holster.

  “Go, Sarge,” Fennis said. “I won’t move. I promise.”

  In the distance, Holly heard multiple sirens. It sounded like dispatch had sent every emergency responder on duty. They were seconds out, but she hesitated.

  “Go, or I’ll pop the damn seatbelt,” Fennis shouted.

  With that she took off, yanking her Glock out of the belt holster.

  Because of the Suburban’s bright headlights shining across the front yard, Holly could see Raines sprinting toward Maybeth Allen’s chalet. She ran after him, pain searing up her damaged leg, but she pushed herself to move faster.

  She spotted Abbey stumbling toward them. Behind her, the bulk of a huge man charged after her, his gigantic stride rapidly closing the distance between them. To her horror, she knew it was Boonie Taylor. Even though he had a mask on, the man closing in on Abbey was too big to be Scotty, and he ran just like Boonie.

  Although Raines ran flat out, he was too far away to reach Abbey. Holly couldn’t take a shot because Abbey was in the direct line of fire. Just as Boonie reached out to grab her, Holly did the only thing she could think of. She screamed Boonie’s name.

  He stopped so abruptly, he almost fell.

  Abbey kept running, heading straight for Raines.

  Boonie quickly regained his balance, ripped off his mask and stared at her with such hatred, she could feel it. Blood ran down his face from a gash on his forehead. He sneered at her and made a break for the woods, running at an angle that kept Abbey between him and their line of fire. By the time Raines reached Abbey, Boonie was almost at the tree line.