Forbidden Entry (6 page)

“And who is she?”

“Law Enforcement Ranger with the BLM. She notified us.”

“And what do you know about Burton Carr?”

“Not much. Just that he works as a forest ranger and he lives in… let's see…” he glanced at his paperwork again. “Mayer.”

“Okay.” Puzzled, I tapped my pen against my lips before asking, “What do you suppose Jenessa and Nathan were doing on a road that was closed to the public?”

“Don't know. According to Carr, that particular one had been abandoned for years. It's unmaintained and in pretty rough shape, I can tell you that. Them getting stuck out there in the middle of a snowstorm was a recipe for disaster. But then, I guess that's something you'd know all about.”

With a grim smile I acknowledged his reference to my recent ordeal while investigating my last disturbing story. “Yeah, all too well. Anyway, I'm wondering about something. Was this road clearly marked as closed?”

He glanced again at his notes. “Uh, huh. Carr says it is and also gated and locked.”

I drew back, surprised. “Well then, how do you suppose they wound up there?”

Marshall wet his thumb and turned to another page. “We can only guess at this point. Assuming that visibility was probably poor, most likely they drove off the main road, somehow ended up getting stuck there and well, you know the rest.”

“Can you share details of where exactly they were found inside the camper?”

He didn't answer directly, but drummed his fingers on the clipboard, apparently deep in thought. His obvious hesitation spiked my interest level further and when he finally turned his skeptical gaze on me, he cautioned, “We don't know yet if any of this is relevant, so what I'm going to tell you is off the record for now because we still haven't notified the young man's mother. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

He consulted his report once again. “It appears that at least the Taylor kid may have realized they were in trouble because his body was found facing the door of the camper where he had collapsed. Jenessa was found inside a sleeping bag in the back. We can theorize that he woke up, made an attempt to get the door open, but it was either frozen shut or perhaps he was too disoriented to know where he was or what he was doing at that point. We'll probably never know for certain.”

Something about his explanation wasn't gelling. “So, you're saying that these two supposedly experienced campers may have been burning charcoal for heat? They didn't have another heat source?”

“We found a propane heater with extra canisters that appeared to be full.”

I blinked my confusion. “That doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't they just use the propane heater?”

“We don't know. Evidence shows that the grill had been used at some point for cooking.”

“And they didn't have a window cracked open or anything?”

“That's correct.”

His troubling answer fueled my curiosity even further. “Where was the grill located?”

“Just inside the door. We found the lid on the floor nearby so, again, we can only speculate that it was either already off or perhaps he knocked it off when he fell.”

I threw him a sharp look. “So, if they were using the grill for heat, would it have been covered or not?”

Marshall met my questioning gaze. “We don't know that either. Again, we can only speculate. Whatever, at some point the coals re-kindled.”

I sat in silence for a few seconds before asking, “Did Nathan try to call for help?”

“We didn't find any cell phones at the scene.”

“You're kidding! What are the odds of two young people not having their cell phones with them?”

A pensive nod. “I agree. We're still searching for them.”

“Shouldn't you be able to track them through their providers? When was their last communication with the cell tower?”

“We're working on it.” He consulted his notes again. “Marcelene told me that they intended to rent an ATV in Crown King and also had planned a nighttime hike and rock climbing. It's possible their phones were lost prior to them getting stranded.”

I frowned disbelief at him. “That doesn't sound plausible that they'd both lose their phones.”

He hitched one shoulder. “As it turns out, they wouldn't have been of much use. There's no cell service in that particular spot anyway.”

My discomfort level increased markedly. “Marshall, why wouldn't they hike out to the main road? Why would they just stay there and freeze to death? It doesn't make sense.”

“Dr. Garcia told us that Jenessa had multiple cuts and bruises on her body and he is almost certain her left ankle was broken. If he confirms that, it would offer an explanation as to why she was unable to hike out of there. And remember, the snowdrifts in that area were over four feet deep at one point.” His weary sigh filled the space between us. “Anything else?”

“One more thing. If it was simply an accident, why did you call in Dr. Bartoli?”

His expression turned guarded. “Just covering all the bases.”

“In other words, you're not going to say.”

“Look here, Kendall, I know you're looking for a headline, but I can't comment any further until we know all the facts. What I can tell you is that there have been two other deaths reported within a few miles of that general location during the past year, so I wanted to make sure our investigation is thorough.”

“Well now, that's intriguing.”

“Normally, we wouldn't call her in on this type of case, but since the bodies were in a state of decomposition and Dr. Bartoli is the best forensic anthropologist in the business, it seemed like the right thing to do. If this case is anything other than what it appears to be, she'll know.”

Pride for my old friend Fritzy welled up inside, but in the same instant the sheriff's quiet revelation stoked the flames of my seemingly insatiable curiosity, as Tally was always quick to remind me. “Can you fill me in on the other two cases?”

“I can't give you too many particulars off the top of my head, but I believe one guy was filming stuff for a documentary and the second one was a Department of Transportation surveyor. Call or stop by the office tomorrow and I'll be able to give you more information.”

“Were they homicides?”

He blinked and stared into space, searching his memory. “I seem to recall that both cases were eventually ruled as accidental death or maybe one of them was a suspected suicide, but again, I have to review the records. I'll have Julie pull 'em for you.” He focused on the digital clock. “Look, it's getting pretty late…”

“Right. Thanks, Marshall.” I stuffed my notepad into my purse and stepped out of the patrol car into the brisk night air before turning to lean back inside. “I'm going to file what I've got in the morning, but I'm going to be out of the office all next week with my family here, so if anything new develops, can you follow up with Walter?”

He gave me a two-fingered salute. “Will do.” I was in the process of closing the door when he added, “And, Kendall?”

“Yes?”

“If by any chance you find anything of interest, you'll be sure to let me know, right?” Even though the light was low, I didn't miss the unmistakable gleam of skepticism reflected in his steady gaze.

I grinned. “What makes you say that? I told you I'm not going to be working this story.”

Humor sparkled in his eyes. “Just asking.”

It was no secret that I thrived on breaking a provocative story, and this one was packed full of more questions than answers, but as much as I yearned to follow up on my mounting suspicion that there might be more to the situation than met the eye, it wasn't going to happen this time. Tally's sage words, ‘You can't have them all,' rang in my ears. “Night, Marshall.”

When I returned to the motel lobby, Duane Potts was crossing to the front door. “Sorry about that, Kendall. Sometimes duty calls,” he said, shoving some papers into a folder. “I have a few minutes now.”

“No worries. I think I got what I need from Marshall for the moment, but as you get more details, I'd appreciate you keeping me in the loop.”

He stopped close enough for me to get a whiff of his cloying aftershave. “I'm always happy to help you out with anything you might need.” His intimate, insinuating smile was combined with his signature tongue click. “And you know where to find me.”

Good grief. It took all my willpower to bite back a cutting remark. “Thanks, Duane.”

When the door closed behind him, it suddenly seemed deathly quiet standing there alone in the small lobby listening to the solitary ticking of the clock behind the desk. Mentally bracing myself, I crossed to the office and rapped gently on the doorframe. “Okay if I come in for a minute?”

Both women looked up, their red-rimmed eyes moist with tears, the tips of their noses bright pink, piles of used tissues scattered on the couch and floor beside them. Heavy-hearted, I bent down to embrace Marcelene. I could only wonder at the sheer enormity of her grief, having lost first her husband and now her only daughter within a year's time. “I don't know what to say except I am so terribly sorry,” I whispered, patting her bony shoulders.

“Thank you, Kendall.” She grabbed for more tissues.

I took a seat beside Ginger and folded her hand in mine. “Are you going to be okay?” Her face was so pale the maze of freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks stood out in sharp relief. I had never seen her look so distraught, so utterly crestfallen.

“What can I say?” she sniffed. “I'm alive and kickin' an' Jenessa ain't.”

Marcelene dabbed the corners of her eyes. “All I want is my baby girl back. I can't believe she's gone, that I'll never see her again, never hold her, never hear her laugh…” Choking with anguish, her voice cracked and, when I tried to swallow, it felt like a cold, sharp-edged rock was lodged in my throat. Realizing there was really nothing I could do or say to soften such a horrendous loss left me with an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Ginger honked loudly into a wad of tissues. “I just can't reconcile them two kids being so dang stupid. What were they thinkin'?” She stared at me blankly as if I had the answer. With both of them in shock, I had no intention of pressing for additional information, but Ginger's remark appeared to have caught Marcelene's attention and she leveled me a curious look.

“She's right. Jenessa of all people would know better.” With that she burst into heaving sobs again and I knew it was time for me to go.

Rising, I murmured to Ginger, “I'm going to leave you two alone now,” and then added, “Marcelene, if there is anything at all that I can do to help, just name it.”

Ginger pinned me with a meaningful look that left me perplexed. She jumped up and then bent down to kiss her aunt's cheek. “I'll be right back, darlin'.”

She practically pushed me out the door into the lobby. Closing it behind her, she whispered fiercely, “Sugar, I need to talk to you for a minute.”

“Sure. What's up?”

She grabbed my elbow and steered me towards the big, potted fern in the far corner of the lobby. “Okay, here's the deal.” She drew in a deep breath. “Maybe I'm full of it up to my ever lovin' eyeballs, but…did you ever get one of those tickly feelings that kinda roll around inside your belly? The kinda feeling that tells you something just ain't quite right?”

“Sure. All the time. What's going on, Ginger?”

She shook her head slowly. “I don't really know how to put it into words except…well…something's not right.”

The fact that she was echoing my exact thoughts bothered me. “What do you mean?”

“It wasn't these kids' first rodeo. I remember Aunt Marcelene and Uncle Arnold taking Jen along on camping trips from the time she was an itty, bitty toddler. As for Nathan, well, Jenessa told me that he's…he was a real super jock. Besides hiking, mountain climbing, zip lining and riding his quad all over creation, she said he was into extreme sports like base jumping, skydiving, rappelling off cliffs an' flying around in one o' them wing suits like a danged bat. I went online and watched a couple of videos he'd posted. He did some crazy stunts.” She folded her arms and locked eyes with me. “So, don't you think he'd know better than to do something so boneheaded?”

“Ginger, you know I'm always looking for a good story angle, but I just finished talking with Marshall. Even though there are a couple of things that seem questionable, right now the initial assumption is accidental death, so that's what I'm dealing with unless something else comes to light. And remember, nothing is definitive until the investigation is complete but, just for the sake of argument, how about I play devil's advocate, okay?”

She frowned skepticism, but said, “Okay.”

I filled her in on everything Marshall had told me with the exception of what he'd asked me to keep confidential. “So, the question is, considering what must have been dire circumstances, does it sound plausible that they opted to use the charcoal grill for heat rather than freeze to death?”