Fancy Gap (22 page)
“Louisa, you may be the luckiest woman on earth, ’cause you got this good, ole boy to help you over the hump, so to speak. Not to worry—I promise to be there if you start to drift back to your old ways. I’ll spank you back into our new reality. Promise I will!” Quinn offered.
“Well, you wonderful shit, you! I pour out my heart and you—”
Before she could finish, Quinn’s phone rang. He looked at the display and pointed in the direction of his neighbor’s house.
“Nigel, good morning, my friend! How are you?”
“Quinn, a great mountain morning to you. I’m fine, and thanks for asking. Listen, I was at the deli last night, and a good friend—who must go unnamed for now—told me that the object of your attention is some high-powered former bigwig in the FBI, and the sheriff wants you both to help find that poor little girl before she’s killed.”
“Well, Nigel, I suggest you question the veracity of the information that found its way to you at the deli. First of all, don’t believe all that you hear. After all, we both know that this is a very small community full of folks who like to stay informed of their neighbors business and only get about half of it right. I guess that’s not much different than any other community or neighborhood.”
“Quinn, you’re right about all of that, my friend.”
“Well, Nigel, what else do you have for me this morning?”
“Well neighbor, the USP driver delivered a package to me and did mention that you both sure seemed to be enjoying your morning.”
“By God, Nigel, we were, and thanks for asking. Have a great day, my friend, and best to your wife!”
As soon as he hung up, he burst into a fit of laughter and rolled onto the couch. Louisa suddenly realized why he was cracking up and started to giggle herself when she thought of the UPS driver. She marveled at just how wacky this new chapter in life had become. They both heard a car driving up the gravel road and wondered if it was the UPS driver coming back for an encore performance. They peered over the edge of the deck only to see a Carroll County sheriff ’s car coming around the bend. It was Leroy. He was early.
He parked in the driveway and got out to take in the view. He shook his head in obvious delight and headed up the back porch stairs. He looked through the screen door just as Louisa appeared around the corner from the bedroom.
“Hey, Sergeant Jefferson, come on in. Hope you’re doing well today.”
“OK, first things first: From now on its Leroy and none of that ‘Sergeant Jefferson’ stuff. Agreed?”
“Of course, Leroy, and I promise I won’t forget either.”
“Hey, Leroy,” Quinn shouted as he came up from the lower level. “How the heck are ya? I sure hope you don’t mind having to babysit these two ole senior citizens and keep us out of people’s way.”
“Quinn, it’s a pleasure and an honor to be able to work with two such accomplished and experienced professionals. This is a chance of a lifetime for me. You probably don’t know, but I’ve been a patrol supervisor for a lot of years in the department. I’ve always dreamed of doing some sort of investigative work and dealing with the mental challenges of solving criminal actions.
Now I could have left Carroll County and moved to a big city like Winston-Salem or Greensboro and undoubtedly realized that career aspiration with either of those departments. But my wife has a great business here in town, and we knew that we probably were better off staying put. So in a nutshell, that’s why I’m excited that the sheriff assigned me to work with you both, and I hope I can be of assistance.”
“Leroy, there is no doubt in either of our minds that you are the right person to work with us. I know we’ll all learn from this tragedy. Are you ready to get to work?”
“You bet I am. Where do we start?” Leroy asked.
“Well, the first place we need to go to is Devil’s Den,” Louisa said. “ We need to get a good feel for the place where Pete was found. We might get lucky and find something that connects the site to the killer or where Pete was actually killed.”
“Have you had something to eat yet?” Quinn asked him.
“I just did, thanks. I’m ready to go,” Leroy answered.
“Great. We did too. Let’s go,” Quinn said as he grabbed a satchel he had packed. They rode over in Leroy’s cruiser and talked about the case on the way.
“I understand that you do some competitive shooting,” Quinn asked Leroy.
“Well, Quinn, shooting has been a passion with me for a good long time. My father taught me how to shoot straight when I was very young. It just seemed to come to me naturally. I enjoy competing, and I’ve done well on the regional level. My wife complains that I have too many guns and too many trophies. Most of our kin aren’t excited about guns, but they support me, as it’s important for an African-American in this neck of the woods to get exposure for being recognized as winning any kind of competition.”
They soon pulled in to the Devil’s Den parking lot. Police tape and barricades still blocked the main entrance. They got out of the cruiser and scanned the lot.
“The CSI team didn’t find any tire tracks that matched the set they retrieved from the spot across the street from the motel in Fancy Gap. Now the killer could have used another vehicle or simply parked somewhere else,” said Leroy.
After they had investigated the lot, Quinn suggested, “Let’s walk down the trail.”
Leroy went back to the cruiser, put on a pair of hiking boots he had in the trunk, and grabbed a folder from the front seat. Louisa led the trio slowly down the path, stopping to look at anything that caught her eye. Quinn did the same, leaving the trail in several spots to inspect something. It took them a good forty-five minutes to get to the cave entrance.
“Wow,” Quinn said as he looked at the entrance. “It’s bigger than I expected.”
Leroy removed crime scene pictures from his folder. Louisa and Quinn examined the pictures closely as they looked at the opening from every possible angle. Quinn walked the immediate perimeter of the cave entrance, pulling back vegetation as he examined the area.
“Leroy, I see several trails that come from below and lead up here. Do you know if the CSI staff examined them closely?”
“I saw some of the technicians go down some of them, but I don’t know how far they went.”
Quinn looked at Louisa and nodded as he headed slowly down the widest trail. She went left and started down another smaller trail opening. Leroy got the hint and started down the smallest one.
About fifteen minutes went by before Quinn yelled for the others to come back to the cave. Not far away, Leroy returned in no time. Louisa came running back up the trail she had followed and burst into the open area near the cave. Leroy noticed that she wasn’t even breathing hard.
Quinn suddenly appeared at the opening to the largest trail. Without a moment’s rest, he waved them in line to follow him back down the trail. One hundred yards down the steep trail, he motioned them to stop. He pointed to a small white object that slightly protruded from under a leaf.
Louisa got down on all fours and looked at the object. Quinn set his satchel down and opened it. He took out a small magnifying glass and handed it to Louisa. She carefully examined the object and asked Quinn, “Do you have any tweezers?”
He reached into the satchel again and pulled out the longest tweezers Leroy had ever seen, as well as a clear plastic bag. He handed them to Louisa. She picked up the small white object with the tweezers and dropped it into the bag. Leroy was amazed that they hadn’t spoken yet. The whole time, Quinn took pictures with a small Sony camera.
Louisa raised the bag into a ray of sunlight as she and Quinn examined the contents. They looked at each other.
“Leroy, look at this,” Quinn said.
Leroy stepped closer and looked at the bag. Quinn handed him the magnifying glass. Leroy held the bag closer as he examined the contents.
“That will match up with what the lab team found from the fragments around the boy’s neck. This also tells us that the killer used this path to come up to the cave,” said Louisa.
Quinn shook his head in agreement. Louisa could tell that Leroy wasn’t yet clued in to what she was talking about. “Leroy, look around us. There are a lot of natural greens, yellows, and purples. Nothing natural looks like this. Now I agree it could have come from someone other than the killer. But I doubt that, as this is a trail far less travelled. As a matter of fact, from what I can see, this trail hasn’t been used in some time. My best conclusion is that the killer parked somewhere down below us. What’s below us, Leroy?”
He looked around to get his bearings. “I’ll bet Highway 52 is straight down below us at the bottom of this trail.”
Quinn carefully placed the bag in his satchel and handed the satchel to Leroy. He looked at Louisa, and she nodded in the affirmative.
“Hold this for a bit, Leroy, as we’ll run down the trail to see if there is anything else of interest.”
They started down the trail at a good pace. Leroy sat on the bench and thought about looking into Quinn’s satchel for the next twenty minutes. He stopped thinking about it as he heard them both coming back up the trail. They stopped at the entrance to the cave, bowed their heads and held hands as they prayed for Pete Preston. Leroy joined them.
When they finished praying Quinn suggested, “Leroy, meet us at the top,” he called over his shoulder.
Leroy was stunned at how quickly they both moved out. He laughed as he started his ascent up the trail. At the halfway point, he had to stop to catch his breath. It took him another ten minutes to reach the parking area. He looked around but didn’t see Louisa or Quinn anywhere. He finally heard them laughing and realized they were sitting in the grass near the cruiser.
“Well, you two, I really need to know who finished first,” he said.
Louisa slowly stood and bowed in Quinn’s direction. Leroy was surprised because from what he had seen earlier, his money would have been on Louisa. Then Quinn stood, and Leroy immediately saw blood and gashes on his right arm and leg.
“I knew I had him beat when I looked up and saw the parking lot ahead of us. There were only two switchbacks left till the top. Well, my friend here charged on through the pucker bush thickets to take a turn out of play. Advantage, Quinn, and I learned another valuable lesson: This competitive beast will risk life and limb to finish first,” Louisa explained.
Quinn gave them both the
aw, shucks
look as he smiled the smile of someone who put it on the line to win. But he also had the look of one who knew his time to wallow in this victory was short and he’d better not rub it in.
Louisa teased, “Sure hope you don’t get any poison ivy from your little trip.” They all laughed.
“Hey, almost forgot,” Quinn said, “Leroy, please call the lab team and have them meet us at a spot we marked on Highway 52. We found tire tracks at the hidden trailhead on the highway. My bet is that they’ll get a match. This was good. I just knew we would find something.”
On the way back to Quinn’s house, they discussed what might have happened when Pete was taken to the cave. They were convinced it was the work of one person.
They had time to clean up; as it would be awhile before the lab team arrived from Wytheville. Quinn smarted when Louisa washed his arm and leg with witch hazel. She smiled as she slowly pulled the long thorns and burrs from his skin.
Payback was a bitch.
The ride from the funeral home in Hillsville to the airport in Greensboro was an emotional roller coaster for the Prestons. Each county sent a police escort to lead them into the next county until they finally reached the Piedmont Triad International Airport.
The airport police opened the gate to the tarmac and escorted them to the jet that was parked at the gate. They parked next to the plane and walked out onto the tarmac. They saw the airport police officers, firefighters, and Delta ramp staff line up along the conveyor that would carry Pete’s coffin into the belly of the jet. Tim and Susan cried and thanked everyone there. The Delta station manager then escorted them up the stairs to the first-class cabin.
Tim looked at him and asked, “Who arranged for all of this?”
“The Carroll County Sheriff ’s Department made all of the arrangements,” he replied. The Prestons thanked him as they settled into their seats for their short, somber flight to Detroit. The pilots and flight attendants had offered their condolences before they took off. When they landed, the Captain asked the other passengers to stay seated as the Prestons were greeted by the ramp manager. He escorted them down the stairs to the conveyor that had been pulled up to the plane.
The funeral home staff, airport police officers, and officers from the Wayne County Sheriff ’s Department stood at attention when Pete’s coffin inched down the conveyor. Tim and Susan hugged each other and cried bitterly.
The deputies drove slowly through traffic as cars pulled over out of respect. They soon arrived at the funeral home in Grosse Pointe Farms. Their families greeted and consoled them while the coffin was taken inside. Father Phil, their pastor from St. Paul’s Catholic Church, spent time praying with them before they left for their home.
Tim’s cousin Shannon had driven over from Wisconsin to make the arrangements for the funeral and subsequent reception at the house. The funeral was scheduled for eight o’clock Friday morning, and only the immediate family was at the funeral home on Thursday night. Susan and Tim had a tight schedule to keep. They needed to fly back to Greensboro on the last flight out of Detroit at three o’clock on Friday afternoon.
Friday morning came soon enough. Shannon had prepared all of their clothing in advance and had breakfast ready by six. The car from the funeral home arrived at seven to pick them up. As they arrived at the funeral home, their relatives again greeted them. Hugs and tears were the order of the moment as the procession readied for the ride to St. Paul’s Church.
Tim looked out the window of the limousine on the short ride to the church. He couldn’t yet believe he was about to bury his first-born child. This stretched the power of his faith. He believed that God was all powerful and ever merciful. Yet the reason that his mother and now his son were gone was incomprehensible.