The Kill (31 page)

Olivia blinked, looked at the shredded material through the clear bag. “I don’t understand. What happened?”

They were silent for a minute, then Olivia spoke up, tentatively at first. “What if she removed her jacket? What if she realized the color would attract him in the dark?”

“And placed it in an obvious spot. Then went in the opposite direction,” Miranda said, nodding. “I think you’re right.”

“Why is it shredded?” Olivia asked.

“He was enraged,” Zack said. “She’d outmaneuvered him. That would explain why he didn’t pay attention to the road. The marks on the trail indicate he’d been driving way too fast for the soft ground. He overcorrected when he saw the deer, hit it, then slammed into the tree.”

“Makes sense to me,” Miranda said. “Let’s fan out, figure out which way she went.”

Ten minutes later, Zack called Miranda and Olivia to his location. “Look.” He pointed to a mark on a tree.

N.M.

It was faint, low on the tree, and looked like it had been made by her thumbnail or a small branch. “She may have been marking her path in the hopes of retracing her steps in daylight,” Zack said.

“Maybe she’s hiding. Laying low until it’s safe,” Miranda said.

Olivia called, “Nina!” Zack and Miranda joined her.

“Nina!”

Their voices had an odd, hollow sound in the mist. The entire mountain seemed to hold its breath, waiting.

A bright light cut through the trees and Olivia stifled a scream. Zack took two strides and got in front of her, gun drawn.

“It’s the trail we drove in on,” Miranda whispered.

A Jeep passed slowly only ten feet from them as they hid in the trees. It then stopped.

Zack put his finger up to tell them to stay quiet, and walked along the edge of the trees to the vehicle up ahead. Voices trickled down.

“That’s Quinn!” Miranda said, and emerged from the woods.

Less than twenty feet away, the white truck was still up against a tree.

Olivia stayed back from the group, watching Quinn and Doug Cohn and three others emerge from the Jeep and start talking. Quinn gave Miranda a brief hug, and Zack explained what they’d learned and what they believed happened to Nina.

“Did you find anything useful at his house?” Zack asked Cohn.

“More than enough for a conviction,” Cohn said. “That case you found? Both the underwear and the hair was stored inside, among other things. Maps, old notebooks detailing his plans, fake identifications in dozens of names.”

“What about the stone in the garden? With
angel
in Morse code engraved on top.”

Cohn’s jaw tightened. “Buried two feet under the stone was a blood-soaked tarp and sheet. Considering the location, I’ll bet we’ll find the blood matches Jillian Reynolds. We also used Luminol in the bedroom and discovered traces of blood under Driscoll’s bed.”

Olivia put her hand to her mouth and walked away. Though the police had done a basic search of the island, they didn’t go into any homes because they thought they knew what happened to Jillian. She couldn’t swim, so they figured she must have drowned. Driscoll had kidnapped her, hidden her away until the search was called off. Then he killed her and dumped her far into the woods so no one would find her for a long time.

She walked off the side of the trail.

Then she saw it.

“Zack!” she called.

Zack, Quinn, and Miranda came running down the trail. “What happened?” Zack asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. Look.”

Small footprints followed the edge of the trail, then disappeared down the slope opposite from where they’d emerged when they saw Quinn’s car.

“When we drove up, we must have passed her. But she didn’t know if it was safe to come out. She’s hiding here someplace. We have to find her.”

The four of them started jogging back down the trail, calling for Nina.

“Nina! The police are here. We’re all over the mountain. Please come out. Your mother is waiting.”

Over and over. Olivia called until she was hoarse.

They paused for a minute to drink water that Miranda had brought in her sack.

“Help!”

Olivia held her hand up to stop everyone from talking. Was it her imagination? Had she really heard a cry for help?

“Help! Help, please!”

“Nina?” Olivia called.

“I’m stuck! Please help me!”

“We’re coming!” Zack shouted, and started in the direction of the voice.

Nina had slid off the trail and fallen down a steep slope. They shined all their lights down to see where she was.

“Thank you! Thank you!” They heard her but couldn’t see her.

“Where are you? Nina?”

“My leg is stuck. I fell into this hole. I can’t get out. Please help me.”

“I have rope,” Miranda said, and opened her pack. “We can’t go down this way. We’ll fall down the slope as well.”

The sharp drop-off was obvious in the light, but Nina wouldn’t have been able to see it running in the dark. She was stuck in a crevice. Looking carefully, Olivia saw her head poking out.

“We’re going to lower down a rope,” Miranda called to the girl. “There’s a loop on one end. Pull it over your head and tighten it under your arms. Then hold on to it.”

“But my leg. I can’t move it.”

“I’ll go down and free her leg,” Zack said.

“You’re too big,” Quinn said. “I’m thinner.”

“You’re both too big,” Olivia said. “Look at that crevice. It’s too narrow for either of you. I’m going.”

“Olivia,” Miranda began, then stopped and nodded. “I agree. But we have to find another way down.”

They told Nina to stay put and someone would come down to help her. Olivia walked with Miranda several hundred feet down the trail until they found a safe place to rappel down the slope. “This is what we’ll do,” she told Olivia. “You free her leg and we’ll pull her up. Then, I’ll send the rope back for you. You cinch it under your arms, just like I told Nina, and we’ll pull you up.”

“Why can’t I just come back this way? It’s not as steep.”

“This ground isn’t stable. That crevice—I don’t trust it. I think it’s deeper than it looks from here. You need to step carefully. The earth could give way anywhere and you’ll be in the middle of a rock slide. The entire Cascade Mountain range isn’t stable. Remember, Mount St. Helens is part of it.”

“You’re not saying we’re sitting on a volcano.” Olivia tried to make light of it, but saw Miranda was serious.

“If you mean is the mountain going to explode tonight, no. But there’s continual seismic activity that’s too sensitive for us to feel. The constant minute shifts underground loosen the rocks and earth, making the ground itself dangerous in steep areas like this. The crevice Nina is stuck in is actually a split in the mountain caused by repeated earth movements.”

“Miranda, I have a Ph.D. and I barely understand you.”

“Okay, more than you wanted to know. But you have to be careful. As soon as I saw the terrain I knew we had a problem, but I didn’t want to scare Nina, and I doubt Quinn or Zack would allow you to do this. Seriously, Liv, their weight wouldn’t have held. You’re light enough; I think you’ll be okay. But please,
please
, be careful. Especially until you get that rope around you.”

“I promise.”

Miranda explained to Olivia the best way to navigate the slope and approach the crevice. The ground was much rockier here, and Olivia lost her foothold several times, sliding partway down until she flattened her body enough to scoot down like a crab. Finally, she reached the rocky crevice and slowly made her way back up the narrow opening to Nina.

Miranda was right. The space was deep. Olivia couldn’t touch the bottom, and had to use the sides of the crevice to balance and move forward.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Nina cried when she saw Olivia. “I was so scared. First of him, then—I thought I’d die stuck here, no one would find me.”

Olivia hugged her, as much to soothe herself as the girl. “I am so proud of you, Nina. You beat him.”

“You got him, right? I saw his truck crash. He wasn’t moving, but I didn’t go back there.”

“You did the right thing.”

“Is he—is he dead?”

Olivia wouldn’t lie to her. “He’s not in the truck.”

Nina shook his head. “No. No! I saw the crash. I—ohmygod, he’s going to come after me!”

“No, I won’t—”

Nina started to flail and pull at her leg. Rocks started falling from farther up the slope.

“Nina, stop moving,” Olivia commanded.

“What’s going on down there?” Zack called from above.

“It’s okay!” Olivia yelled. To Nina, she said, “There are dozens of cops all over this mountain. He’s not going to get you. I promise. You have to remain still and let me get your leg free. This ground is not stable. We have to be careful.”

Nina nodded, her entire body shaking not only from the cold, but from fright.

Olivia knelt in the crevice, bracing herself against the sides, feeling cool air rise up from underneath her. Vertigo overwhelmed her and she paused, taking deep breaths to gather her bearings.

She felt around for Nina’s foot. Her ankle was wedged in between rocks. Using her fingers, Olivia tried to scrape away dirt and loosen one of the rocks, but it was stuck. She started wiggling Nina’s ankle back and forth, back and forth until she could move it to the side and up, out of the hole. Nina whimpered, but she kept her cries silent.

“It hurts,” she finally said when Olivia stood.

“It could be broken, or sprained.” Olivia held Nina’s cheeks. “Are you ready? Hold on to the rope tightly, but let them pull you up. Stay as still as possible. It’ll be slow work, but you can do it. Okay?”

“Okay. I can do it.”

“I know you can.” Olivia called up. “She’s ready!”

There was a lot more noise up the slope, car doors slamming. More deputies must have arrived. Flashing red lights cut through the growth. An ambulance, most likely. They’d had one ready at the lodge in case they needed it.

Olivia braced herself in the crevice and awaited her turn.

Zack didn’t like Olivia going down the slope herself, but Miranda was right—she had the best build for the job, considering the terrain. He was antsy and knew he wouldn’t be at ease until Olivia was back up the mountain. Safe.

He and Quinn took brisk orders from Miranda as they prepared to bring Nina up. “We’re going to use this tree as a pulley of sorts,” she said as she wrapped the rope around it. “Put those gloves on, Quinn. That rope will leave some nasty burns if it gets away from you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Can it, Peterson,” she said.

Though the banter seemed light, Miranda’s face showed strain and worry.

“What’s wrong?” Zack asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “We’re just trying to get two people up a steep slope at one o’clock in the morning with a killer wandering loose in the woods. What could be wrong?”

“Miranda,” Quinn said, “you’re not telling us something. Is Olivia okay?”

“She’s fine,” Miranda snapped.

“What she’s not telling you,” Doug Cohn interjected, “is that this slope is unstable. That’s why we had that little rock slide a few minutes ago.”

“Unstable? How?”

Doug explained how this side of the mountain experienced regular rock slides, and that the continuing seismic activity made any treks off established trails dangerous.

“Why’d we let her go down there in the first place?” Zack demanded. “We should have waited until we had a team in place.”

“Because a ten-year-old girl was trapped in that crevice,” Miranda said, “and neither you nor I nor Olivia would have wanted her to wait hours for rescue after what she’s been through.”

Zack sighed. “You’re right.”

“Do we have lights yet?” Quinn asked. The sheriff’s department had hauled a high-wattage construction light to the scene.

“Just about,” someone called. A few minutes later, the bright light not only lit up the side of the mountain, but provided warmth as well.

“Okay, let’s get Nina out of there,” Miranda said. “Start pulling on the rope. I’m going to watch her ascent. Listen to my orders.”

“Always,” Quinn said.

Miranda rolled her eyes, but gave a half-grin.

Zack saw something in the newlywed couple that he never remembered having with his ex-wife, or any of the women he’d dated. Solid respect, playfulness, and deep affection. From the silent looks to the discreet touches, Quinn and Miranda obviously had something special between them.

Something that Zack wanted for himself.

He’d never thought that way before. He’d been content with casually dating. He was a cop—the job came first.

But the job was important to Quinn Peterson, and his wife not only knew it, but relished it. At the same time, there was no doubt in Zack’s mind that Peterson would drop the world to be with his wife.

That kind of support and love was hard to come by.

He and Quinn slowly pulled Nina up. Hand over hand, they developed a rhythm that worked. He glanced down the slope, saw Nina, and then Olivia farther down, hunkered in the crevice, holding on to a young tree that seemed to be growing precariously on the slope.

There was something about Olivia—something more than her brains and beauty, her dedication to her job. Something he wanted to explore more fully.

Like he’d told her this morning, he wanted to spend time with her. When this was over. When Driscoll was behind bars.

The thought of having Olivia all to himself for a week or two, to learn everything about her, thrilled him.

“Hold it!” Miranda suddenly called, and both Zack and Quinn halted their movements.

Zack heard rocks rolling. He thought they would stop. They didn’t.

“Nina! Stay still!” Miranda called down.

Nina cried out, then Olivia screamed.

“What happened?” Zack looked down and couldn’t see Olivia.

“She’s okay. She slipped.”

“I can’t see her!”

“I see her hand. Get Nina up. Fast.”

Miranda didn’t have to say it twice. Quinn and Zack worked double time to bring the girl up the slope. They handed her off to the EMTs who were waiting, and Miranda tossed the rope down to Olivia.

“Olivia! I’m sending down the rope. Grab it.”