Rock Harbor Series - 01 - Without a Trace (16 page)

A hawk swooped overhead then dived. Kade heard a squeak as the bird snatched a field mouse in its talons and wheeled away with its prey. Nature could be harsh, but there was a simplicity and rightness to death in this environment.

He heard the leaves rustle ahead of him and urged his horse to break into a trot. Rounding a curve in the path, he found Bree and Samson wandering off the path in a bramble patch. “Finding anything?” he asked.

Bree shook her head and snapped her fingers at Samson. The dog came right to her. A wary look came into her face. “Nothing so far. Fay said she’d seen what looked like an airplane seat near a cabin, but Naomi and I have looked for days and haven’t found anything. Fay has exaggerated things like this before, but I have to at least look. Have you seen anything in your treks around?”

Kade shook his head. “Sorry. So if you’re looking for the cabin, what are you doing here?” He knew she’d scoured this area already.

“Naomi and I searched the only place Steve knew she’d been and found nothing. Her backpack was never found. I thought maybe Samson could find it. There might be something in there to lead me to the cabin and the person she talked to.”

“But if it was usual for her to exaggerate things . . .”

“You never know. Maybe she really did see something.”

Kade wasn’t sure he wanted her poking around. She might get hurt. “Want some help?”

“I’m not sure where to start. Maybe if I begin where we found Fay’s body and work backward, we could find where she was killed. Naomi and Charley are checking down the road.”

“I heard forensics confirmed your initial hunches. Pretty impressive. Why were you so sure it wasn’t a hit-and-run?” Kade dismounted and tied his horse’s reins to a tree.

Bree picked her way through the leaves and brambles to the path where Kade waited. Samson followed. “I don’t know; it was just a gut feeling. Besides, why not just leave her? Why run the risk of having someone see Fay being dragged to the cliff? What would she have been doing walking along the road when her car was in the parking lot and the cliff was the opposite direction?”

She had a point.

“Hello up there!”

They both turned to see Naomi and Charley making their way up the slope to join them. Naomi’s dark braid hung over one shoulder. Her orange-and-black plaid wool jacket appeared then disappeared through the thick foliage as she scrambled up the slope. Charley gave an excited bark, and Samson scrambled toward him. Nose to nose and tails wagging, the dogs greeted each other.

“Let’s check out the cliff face again,” Kade suggested. “The pack could be stuck in a crevice or something.” He swept aside arching
bramble branches and headed that direction without waiting for an answer.

The misty fog began to lighten, and the cliff face rose from the grayness like a blue whale breaching from the sea mist. Sunshine began to filter through the rich hues of orange and gold, and the forest appeared to have gilded edges. The women tramped behind him.

Kade paused a moment to appreciate the beauty. “God sure knows how to create, doesn’t he?”

Bree stopped behind him, and he heard her soft intake of breath. “Nature can be awe-inspiring.”

“When you look at scenery like this, you know the creation of it had to be a conscious act. The Bible says creation was finger play for God. Did you know that? It makes me wonder what other marvels he’s created in the universe.”

“He destroys too,” Bree said.

Kade swiveled his head at her clipped tone and caught the look of dismay on Naomi’s face. So Bree blamed God for the loss of her son and husband. Who was he to judge her though? Maybe he’d react the same way if he ever faced a similar tragedy.

“I’ll check out the top of the cliff,” Kade said. “Why don’t you and Naomi take the dogs and scour the riverbank? A wild animal might have dragged off her backpack. If she brought any food along, it could have tempted a bear or raccoon.”

“You’re not going to climb the cliff, are you?” Bree’s voice rose with dismay.

Her concern warmed Kade. “Do I look that stupid?” He grinned to soften the words. “No, I’ll go around to the backside and take the path.”

Bree’s stance relaxed, and she called Samson. The dog bounded toward her, then she and Naomi headed over the rocks toward the glimmering river.

Kade’s breath came hard by the time he’d made his way around the hill and followed the steep but passable path to the top of Eagle Rock. From his vantage point, he could see the sweep of the river and the rounded masses of the trees like great banks of colorful mums.

Bree’s suspicion of him bothered him more than he liked to admit, but maybe she had good reason. His thoughts turned to Eric, and he sighed. Things could get ugly.

Why are you walking so fast?”

Naomi’s plaintive voice brought Bree up short. She stopped and turned with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. There has to be some clue out here we’re missing.” She dug a handful of pistachios out of her backpack. “I’d offer you some, but I know you’d just turn them down.” Biting reflectively into a nut, she nodded toward the forest. “Time to get back to work.” She tossed the nutshells to the ground and dusted her hands on her jeans.

“You seem positively . . . driven about this, Bree.” Naomi’s chest heaved from exertion. “What’s up with that? Mason can handle the investigation.” She finally caught up with Bree. “That’s his job.”

Bree chewed on a nut. “I know the story about the woman and the airplane seat is probably nothing, but what if it’s not? The only way to find out what Fay knew is to retrace her steps, and if that involves finding out who killed her, so be it.”

“Are you sure you’re not just trying to find a reason not to give up the search?”

Bree swallowed and turned away. Naomi’s words had hit a little too close for comfort. “That’s not it at all,” she said. “I should be done with the quadrant by the new year. I’m done then if I don’t find them. I told you, Anu is helping me get started with training search-and-rescue dogs. I’ve even started looking for a place. But I have to give it my best shot until then.”

“Just so you don’t go overboard,” Naomi said.

Bree scanned the landscape. Both dogs began to bark then ran toward an object along the riverbank. A flash of red drew her attention, and she squinted. “What’s that, Naomi?”

“I think it’s her backpack!” Bree ran after the dogs. As she drew nearer, the red object came more into focus, and she smiled in triumph. Samson picked up a stick, his signal of a find, and brought it to her. She paused long enough to praise her dog then followed him to the backpack.

“Don’t touch anything,” Naomi warned. “Mason will want to run forensics on it.”

Bree drew back her hand. Naomi was right, but she longed to open the backpack and see if it held any clues to Fay’s death. “You got the cell phone with you?”

Naomi nodded. “I’ll call it in.”

Bree was thankful Kade waited with them for the hour it took the sheriff to arrive, though she knew she needed to get back to work. The dark shadows in the woods spooked her. Mason and his deputies arrived and Kade left to find his horse.

It was another hour before Janna and her forensics team arrived. Bree and Naomi stood out of the way and watched as they went over the backpack and combed the surrounding area for clues. Bree shifted her feet restlessly, wishing she could peer inside the pack herself. She knew Fay, and these strangers didn’t.

“I think we can wrap it up now,” Janna finally said. Mason stood and nodded to his officers. He joined Bree and Naomi at the edge of the action. “Good work,” he told them.

His praise warmed Bree. “Any idea how the pack got down here?” she asked. “It’s at least a mile from the cliff.”

Mason shook his head. “No teeth marks from animals, which would have been my first assumption. My gut feeling is that the killer dumped it. But maybe the lab can come up with something.”

“What was in her backpack?”

“The usual. Climbing gear like pitons, rope, a compass, that kind of thing. A bottle of water. No food, which would explain why the animals left it alone. Oh, and a notebook of some kind.” He grimaced. “The backpack seems to be a dead end.” His penetrating gaze lingered on her face. “This has really gotten to you, hasn’t it?”

Bree nodded. “Not much I can do to fix it.”

Mason shook his head at her dejected tone. “You’re a crusader, Bree. If you’d been a man during the Middle Ages, you would have been the first to vie for a seat at King Arthur’s Round Table. But you can’t right every wrong. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.” His voice held kindness, and he clasped her shoulder. “Innocent people like little Davy. You can’t stop it from happening, and you can’t fix it. The sooner you realize that, the easier time you’ll have.”

Bree didn’t know what to say. “Could I take a look at the notebook when forensics is done?”

Mason released her shoulder then put his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We’ll see,” he said with heavy resignation. “Steve will want to see it first, and it will be up to him whether to let you look at it. Now I’ve got to get back to town.” He joined his deputies and they began to wrap up.

Bree, Naomi, and the dogs went back the way they’d come, clambering over huge boulders and picking their way over slick stones along the water. Bree pulled an unopened bag of pistachios from her pocket. Before she could open them, the back of Bree’s neck began to prickle. She whirled around, expecting to find someone standing behind her, but there was no one there. Samson whined, and she gave a shaky laugh. “Sorry, boy, I must be going wacko.”

“What is it?” Naomi asked.

“Nothing.” Bree said.

The dog didn’t seem to sense anything, but then he often ignored
scents he hadn’t been told to search for. Bree started off toward the Jeep again. The tingling feeling returned in a rush, and she glanced around uneasily as her breath became sharp in her chest. Another panic attack? She fought the encroaching terror.

Her gaze scanned the shrubs around her, but she saw nothing. Still, the feeling of being watched persisted. If she told Naomi, she’d likely say it was God pursuing her. She shook her head nervously. More likely it was her imagination; Samson and Charley remained unconcerned. But all her self-reassurances failed to quell her panic.

Her pace quickened, and the bag of nuts slipped from her hand. She and Naomi were practically running by the time they got to her Jeep. She opened the back door and let Samson in then slid quickly into the driver’s seat. Starting the Jeep, she slammed it into reverse and floored the accelerator. Bits of gravel spit from under her tires, and the vehicle roared toward town.

Her breath fogged in front of her in plumes. Rachel rushed from tree to tree and watched until the red Jeep disappeared from view. She bent over at the waist, panting with exertion. A bag of nuts lay at her feet. Sam loved nuts. She picked up the bag and stuffed it into her pack.

Her breathing finally relaxed. She wasn’t as young as she used to be. There had once been a time when crowds cheered as her long legs ate up the fifty yards to the finish line. Now those same legs were layered with more fat than muscle, and the last crowds she’d heard had been howling for her conviction.

People were too quick to judge others. Just because she lived alone and worked with old folks, the public had been quick to believe she would kill to put them out of their misery. They didn’t understand that the love of her work came from the friendships she’d formed with these elderly folks. She’d been innocent.

Rachel worried her lower lip between her teeth. Those women and their dogs had been too close. Could the one woman be Sam’s mother? Same red hair. Rachel set her jaw. No. It was ridiculous. Besides, he belonged to her now. With his hair dyed brown, he didn’t even look like the same boy. She had to find some way to get that red-haired woman’s focus away from here. At least until Rachel found a job somewhere. Maybe she would hear soon from the applications she’d mailed out yesterday.

She could feel the blood pumping through her veins as she walked toward the cabin. Sam would want his lunch. “Such a good boy, so obedient, a boy any mother would be proud of.” She said it aloud now, and the pride she felt calmed her anxiousness.

Nearly an hour and a half later, Rachel located the path she’d marked in such subtle ways only an expert would be able to follow it. Her gaze scanned the clearing. Sam had stacked the wood she’d chopped before heading to town. Some of it had fallen over, but for such a young child, his efforts were praiseworthy. Her lips curved in approval.

She cocked her head and listened, but the only sound in the clearing was the rasp of her own breathing. Sam must be inside, where she’d told him to stay once he finished his chores. Rachel pushed up the sleeve of her wool jacket and glanced at the watch on her wrist. Nearly two. Sam was probably starved. Though she always fixed him a peanut butter sandwich before she went on her excursions, he rarely ate it until she walked in the door.

She didn’t know whether that was because he didn’t like to eat alone or because his fear of being abandoned killed his appetite. Her own stomach rumbled like an avalanche coming down Squaw Peak, and her pace quickened.

Sam was sitting on a chair at the table. His peanut butter sandwich lay before him, unwrapped and drying. Jerking his head around at her
entrance, he stared at her through frightened green eyes. A tremulous smile touched his lips as Rachel went quickly toward him.

“You still haven’t eaten, son. Were you waiting for Mother?”

Sam nodded. “My tummy’s hungry.”

“You don’t always have to wait for me, darling. That’s why Mother fixed you a sandwich before I went to town. I don’t want your tummy to complain. You go ahead and eat, and I’ll fix me something and join you.”

Sam looked down at his sandwich with obvious reluctance then picked it up and bit into it. He chewed slowly, his gaze fixed on Rachel. She hurriedly tossed her knapsack on the floor and went to the old table that served as her counter. She slathered peanut butter on bread then mixed Carnation milk powder into a glass of water and gave it to Sam.