by Unknown
“He would if it meant he’d be free to try again another day.”
Okay, it was possible. “All this from a man who once told me he didn’t deal in theoreticals.”
Finn pulled his gloves off and began rubbing his hands together to warm them. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been this cold,” he muttered before switching back to the topic. “The other alternative is that the killer isn’t O’Shea. He’s still out there, and he’s counting on leaving no witnesses when we go after Tiffany.”
The second scenario seemed more probable. “Okay, either way. He knows we wouldn’t arrive at any of those forest locations at three am alone. That’s why he posted ten pictures, to divide up the law enforcement team we’d be sure to bring.” And once he could be assured of only dealing with a few of them at a time, he’d wait in ambush.
“You’ve been at the center of this from the beginning,” Finn said. He dragged off a stocking hat she’d borrowed for him from Brody. Her lips quirked. His hair beneath it was mussed endearingly. “It’s you he wants at his final showdown. This is his big endplay. You have to be a part of it. So…how’s he going to be certain you’re the one who discovers the spot where he’ll be with Tiffany?”
She looked at him and knew they had the same thought. “I know how I would ensure it,” Keira said grimly.
“So do I.” Leaning forward a little, he held his hands up by the air vents. “Head over to the county garage. Let’s get under the car and see if he put a GPS device on it.”
_______
“All the spots are in the Hiawatha Forest.” Keira had the photos they’d recovered in O’Shea’s shed displayed on the wall of the conference room. Below each was the daylight picture she and Finn had taken of the same location earlier today. “As you can see there is ten total. No two are less than three miles apart. The furthest distance between any two is twelve miles.”
“They all look alike,” Phil said. “Lots of trees.”
“Each area is well away from any roads or paths,” Finn put in.
“And you didn’t find the woman at any of these places?”
He shook his head in response to Hank’s question. “Which wasn’t totally unexpected. The time on the photos says three am. In the meantime, we can be fairly certain the offender is holding the victim in some sort of structure.”
It was difficult to hear her friend referred to that way. The victim. Keira shoved away the feeling. She needed to be a cop first. That’s what was going to help bring Tiffany home.
“The one thing the places have in common is there are plenty of pines in the areas,” she said. And they’d been chosen with one thought in mind, she knew. Cover for the killer. There were many deciduous trees in the forest that were denuded now, and would provide little in the way of safety. She wondered if the offender had given a thought to the fact that the scattered copses of firs would furnish shelter for them as well.
“So what’s his game plan?” Mary put in. “Lead us like lambs to the slaughter to these sites?”
“That’s how he’ll think of it, yes.” The group grew even soberer at Keira’s response.
“I’ll coordinate with MSP and the criminal investigators from the Forest Service and the NPS. We’ll want to muster as large a team as we can when we go in.”
“It won’t be tonight,” Phil said flatly. “There’s a blizzard warning advisory for the county. The wind’s supposed to start blowing at eleven pm. They’re predicting gusts of forty miles an hour.”
Frustration slashed through her. “And we all know how accurate the weather forecasts are.” Another delay. Try as she might, Keira couldn’t help feel like Tiffany’s time was running out.
Finn’s voice was quiet. “Putting a response operation together is going to take time. We don’t want to make the mistake of underestimating this offender. Earlier today we discovered that there’s a tracking device on Keira’s cruiser.” He waited for the comments from the group to die down before going on. “We examined it for prints, but it had been wiped clean. Then we put it back in place. Keira will switch vehicles if she needs to keep her location secret, but otherwise we want the offender to think we don’t suspect anything.”
“That’s one ballsy SOB,” Hank murmured. “You’ve only been driving it since your SUV was in the shop. He couldn’t get to it in your garage. Which means he may have accessed the cruiser here in the lot, probably when it was dark.”
“He thrives on risk. Remember that.” She sneaked a look at the clock. Felt tightness in her chest when she saw the hour. “Phil and Hank, you’ll be calling the realtors on these lists.” Keira pushed the papers across the table toward the men. “We want information on any properties in the vicinity on private lots that aren’t vacant now, but are currently being rented. Ours is a small county. Chances are the real estate agents know many of the landlords. Once you get their names, split them with Mary and Brody to follow up with.”
She switched her attention to the other two deputies. “We’re looking for any other property Doug O’Shea may be renting.” If he had somewhere else he was keeping Tiffany, it’d be close, for convenience sake. “See if you can get the landlords to give you the renters’ contact information, and the addresses.” They couldn’t be compelled to do so, but Keira was betting many of them would. “We don’t have much time. Let’s get on it.”
_______
“Listen to that wind howl. You’re going to have to give the meteorologist props for calling this one right.” It was after midnight. If Keira had had her way, she’d still be in the office. Instead they were in bed. Despite the hour, Finn wondered if she would sleep. She was wound as tightly as he’d ever seen her.
“We could have been out there tonight. In a few hours, this would all have been over.”
And therein lay the source of her frustration. And his. “Waiting is the worst part. But tomorrow we put the finishing touches on our tactical response.” She’d contacted the agencies to be involved, and begun to devise the team. But there would be far more to be done to ready for the showdown with a madman. “The offender has been planning this for months. We have to strategize just as carefully.” Finn’s arms were around her, but she was stiff in his embrace, her muscles tense.
“Before I worked homicide I responded to more than my share of domestic calls.” Her voice was husky. “They were volatile because of how quickly they could go sideways. I had a couple that turned into hostage situations. We had to respond with the captives’ safety in mind, but I couldn’t think of them as individuals. They were part of the setting, and as such defined our response. But I had to remain objective to do my job.”
His arms tightened, as he understood the correlation she was making. “Your thinking has been clear throughout this case, despite your father and Tiffany’s involvement.”
“And sometimes that makes me feel like I’m letting them down another way.” The words were a whisper drifting in the darkness. “Three days. That’s how long it took to find Danny’s body. And that’s how long it will be if we don’t get to Tiff before tomorrow night.”
He knew exactly where her thoughts were heading. “It’s different with her.”
“Is it?”
“She isn’t part of the challenge for him the way your father was. He needs her alive.” He tasted the lie on his lips as soon as he uttered it. The killer merely needed them to believe the woman was alive. “We won’t be too late.” They couldn’t be.
“The entire time we searched for my father, he was already dead. But I still felt like I failed him. I can’t fail Tiffany.”
“You won’t. We won’t.” He brushed the hair from her face, his fingers pausing when they felt moisture on her cheeks. Finn felt his heart constrict. He knew better than most that there was a limit to the loss each person could handle. He’d do what he could to make sure that Keira didn’t suffer another one.
Chapter 13
Keira spent hours on the phone the next morning, coordinating with the different agencies th
at would join them for the operation tonight, and lining up the equipment they’d need. She’d hoped to have a strategy meeting with representatives from all the entities involved. But the aftermath of the storm would make travel difficult until later in the day. She’d have to content herself with getting everyone here at nine pm to fine-tune every aspect of the plan she and Finn had hammered out. They were in the process of sharing it with her deputies.
She looked at the people gathered in the conference room. “We found ten photos of possible locations where the action may take place tonight. The killer probably selected that many to ensure that he doesn’t have to deal with more than one or two of us at any one place. He knows we’ll try to cover as many of them as we can.”
“Are going to have twenty people?” Hank asked.
Her mouth kicked up wryly. “Doubtful. Finn and I are in the process of prioritizing the locations. Some would be slightly more beneficial for access than others. It will be a struggle to reach the areas. More so for him. He’s going to be bringing an unwilling captive with him, which will slow him down. He’ll have a method figured out in advance. You can count on that.”
“So he set the thing up for three am. We get there a couple of hours earlier. Catch him before he gets things in place.”
“Good thought,” Finn said to Brody. “Unfortunately, these spots he’s chosen also allow access from multiple sides. We could be watching an area, and he could show up from behind it.”
“Or behind us,” Phil muttered.
Keira nodded. “That might be his plan. Pen us in. We have to be ready for anything. We’ll use two-man teams to cover as many of the spots as possible, focusing on those we deem high priority.” She had to force the next words out of her suddenly dry throat. “There will be a civilian in the center of things. She’s the bait that draws us there, and he knows she’ll provide a distraction.” While the offender wouldn’t consider Tiffany’s safety, it would be of utmost concern for law enforcement. That gave the killer an advantage.
“I’m in the process of acquiring enough Kevlar for everyone. That includes helmets.” She scanned the group. She’d go over this several more times before this evening, with each person taking part in the mission. “Under no circumstances does anyone go without armor.” The vests and helmets would be heavy and cumbersome. They’d also be lifesaving. “As we finalize things we’ll update you. Everyone will meet here this evening at ten pm. I suggest grabbing a couple of hours sleep after work if possible.”
That got a few laughs, and Keira smiled. With anticipation running high, there wasn’t a person in the room who would be able to unwind before this thing was over. And, depending on the outcome, maybe not even then. “Thanks to our talented consultant here…” she gestured toward Finn, “…we might have put this thing together faster than the killer expects. If he doesn’t appear this evening, we’ll try it again tomorrow. And the night after that.”
“Maybe he won’t come at all,” Brody suggested.
“Oh, he will,” she replied grimly. “This is his show. You can be sure he’ll want to be in the center of it. Until then, we keep working our assignments. Where are we on landlords of rental properties?”
“We got a lot of names of renters,” Hank noted. “O’Shea isn’t one of them.”
Keira glanced at Finn. Not for the first time she wondered if they were spinning their wheels with Doug O’Shea. Then she thought of Tiffany and her resolved hardened. If she wanted to find her friend, she’d follow every lead. “Keep me posted.”
When her deputies filed out of the room minutes later, Phil Milestone remained. “Just wanted you to be aware that I’m planning on being there tonight.” The jut of his jaw told her that he expected an argument. He wasn’t going to get one. His arthritis might tire him faster than some of the younger deputies, but there was no one whose instincts she trusted more.
“Damn straight you are.” She smiled slightly. “We need every man we can get. Wear your long johns. Finn and I nearly froze out there yesterday.”
“Supposed to be another cold one tonight.” He gave her a long look. “I expect we’re all more than ready for this to be over.”
Over. Keira stared at the man’s retreating back. She’d dearly love to think about the ordeal being concluded. But only if it meant that it ended with her friend unharmed. The killer behind bars, and the rest of her team safe. Life didn’t come with those kinds of guarantees.
When she looked at Finn, he was bent over his computer, engrossed in something. Keira went back to her office, but once there, she couldn’t seem to concentrate. She bounced out of her chair and roamed the room, hands shoved in her pants pockets. She thought better on the move. And right now, her mind was teaming.
She was missing something. Had been all along. At least, that’s the way it felt. As if something was right there, almost within her grasp before slipping away again. Going to the victimology profile she’d taped to the wall, she stared at it as if it would suddenly give her the answers she sought. The outdoors was the link that connected the victims to the killer but as Finn had pointed out more than once, they knew far too little about the offender.
Reaching up, she traced each of the victim’s names with her index finger. What did the offender do with the bodies? If he were responsible for killing some of the missing persons, as they believed, his victims would number a half dozen, not counting Yembley. That man had been murdered out of rage, not because he fit a victim profile. Aside from his, only one body had been found. Her father’s.
She ignored the pang the thought brought. Why had Danny’s been discovered when none of the others had? Finn had once speculated that her dad had wounded the killer. They knew Danny had fired two shots. If he’d injured the other man badly, it would explain why his body had been left where it fell.
In a wilderness area. Where he’d be unlikely to be found.
Keira backed up enough to prop her hips on her desk. She was drawing closer to something now. She stared at the sheet on the wall and let her thoughts wander.
I figure there aren’t many around here that know the forest as well as I do. The district forester’s words came back to her. But the killer knew the region at least as well. Keira had once told Finn how many places there were on the UP where the unwary could disappear. The Hiawatha Forest housed some of those spots. The Big Island Lake Wilderness was about eighteen miles away. Her dad had died in the Rock River Canyon Wilderness area near here. People who knew the forest would be familiar with those areas.
That thought summoned another. Keira turned and sat down at her desk, bringing up the Alger Herald and typing forest in the search window. That elicited a long list of varied stories. Several, however, dealt with the same topic. Friends of the Forest.
The title was familiar. Keira brought up one article after another and skimmed them to re-familiarize herself with the organization. Its missions were conservation, recreation, and education about matters concerning the forest. Various agencies supported it, from what she could see, including DNR, foresters, and the National Park Service. Many of the articles had pictures. The group relied on volunteers, and its activities often revolved around kids. Offering hiking, botany lessons, reptile education… Keira stopped at one picture that showed Doug O’Shea with a broad smile on his face, a mob of children surrounding him. In his hand he was holding a flier about signing up for a tracking class.
She flipped through the articles faster, this time concentrating more on the pictures than the text. One story concerned the founding members of the Friends of the Forest. Before the article could open, Finn came into her office. His expression succeeded in distracting her for a moment. “What’s wrong?”
He looked mildly disturbed. “What do you know about Roger Wilson’s life before he came to Munising?”
“Nothing.” Her tone was wry. “I don’t know a lot about his life since he’s been here, to tell the truth. He seems to live quietly.”
Finn nodded. “That’s what I’ve
discovered. But he was in the military before he moved to the UP. He was a sniper for the Marines. And he received a general discharge.” She must have looked blank because he continued. “That’s not an honorable discharge. It means he performed less than satisfactorily, or there was some unacceptable conduct on his part.”
“That’s a bit hard to believe,” she said doubtfully. “He seems to be a rule follower.” When Finn cocked a brow, she remembered the story about the man and her mother, all those years ago. “Okay, maybe not. What sort of behavior are we talking about?”
“The military doesn’t release that information.”
Then it was irrelevant, as far as Keira was concerned. “Why are you looking at his record, anyway?”
Finn approached her desk, holding a few pieces of paper. “I told you I’d look further into both his and Fallon’s backgrounds. I’ve finally gotten the results.”
Annoyance filtered through her. “Hank would have had to undergo an extensive background check for this job. I’m sure it’s as thorough as whatever you were able to do. Maybe more so.”
She’d expected an argument. So when he said nothing, his silence alerted her. Keira wrestled with herself for a minute before giving a mental sigh. “You found something.” The muscles in her belly clenched. Investigating her deputies made her feel disloyal. Especially since she never believed Hank had belonged on the list for someone with a grudge against her father.
“I think you have to know.” But Finn didn’t look any happier about sharing the information than she was to receive it. He set a page on her desk. “There’s a rumor in town that he’s having an affair.”
