Striking Range

by Margaret Mizushima

  What the hell? Both Skylar and Dawson had stated that they didn’t plan to get together here this weekend. Was this a chance meeting? It could be, but she needed to check into it.

  “We have to go inside here, Robo. I think we need some doughnuts.”

  He was panting happily, she assumed more from exertion than heat, though the day had warmed up nicely, and he stayed beside her as she walked toward the front entrance. Since she knew the owner allowed Robo inside, she let herself in with her dog latched on to her left heel.

  She immediately spotted the foursome sitting together at a center table. Skylar was eating a plateful of scrambled eggs, and the other three were drinking coffee.

  Dawson glanced up, and his face fell when he spotted her. He murmured something to the rest of the crew before pushing back his chair and heading her way. They all turned to watch. Mattie waited just inside the door for him.

  “We decided to stop for breakfast, and Skylar was already here. I swear it.” Worry lined his face. “When I told you we weren’t planning to meet up with him this weekend, that was the truth.”

  Cutter Smith joined them, wearing his usual air of confidence. “We needed breakfast, Deputy, and Skylar happened to be here. This is the first time Wyatt and I ever met him.”

  Now they know the relationship between the dead girl and Skylar, and they want to distance themselves from him. She gave them a noncommittal answer. “I see.”

  “Did you follow us here?” Dawson asked.

  Mattie raised one brow. “Just a chance encounter.”

  Dawson continued to prod. “Why didn’t you tell us the dead girl was Skylar’s girlfriend?”

  Smith touched his elbow. “Reagan, let’s go back to the table. Our food’s there now.”

  Mattie decided to make a point before they could walk away. She kept her voice low but made sure to maintain eye contact with Dawson and enunciate clearly. “If you learn anything about Tonya Greenfield’s death and you don’t report it to law enforcement, you can be charged as an accessory to murder.”

  “If you think any of us had anything to do with this girl’s death, you’re wrong.” Dawson looked grim as he turned to follow Smith back to their table.

  Skylar kept his head down while Mattie purchased a dozen doughnuts to take to the station, and she watched the group openly as she waited for the server to bag her pastries. All four men focused on their plates, those facing her giving her a glance or two, but the conversation at their table had ceased. She paid for the doughnuts and let herself out the door.

  She thought the encounter very interesting and was eager to tell Stella. The detective had been right about not marking the threesome from Lincoln off their list too soon. Evidently they didn’t know how hard it was to maintain privacy in a small town—lucky for her, not so much for them.

  A few steps into the parking lot, she stopped with Robo at her heel to let an incoming car pass by. Recognizing Angie’s silver Corolla, she raised her hand in greeting and drifted out to meet her.

  Ben Greenfield exited the passenger’s side as Angie left the driver’s seat and came around the front of the car with a sheepish look on her face, making Mattie think that Cole had spoken to his daughter this morning as planned and delivered his warning to take things slowly with Ben. Right now, though, she believed the men inside the diner were more dangerous than this teenage boy.

  A bit breathless, Angie hurried to greet her. “We’ve been at Hannah’s today and came to get some doughnuts.”

  With four murder suspects gathered at a table in the restaurant, Mattie didn’t want the kids going in there. She handed her bag to Angie. “Here, take these. I bought them as an excuse to talk to someone inside, and I don’t really want them.”

  Angie frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.” She sidled over to Angie’s car, trying to herd the kids along with her. “How are you today, Ben?”

  Angie’s cheeks flushed. “You guys know each other?”

  “We met last night,” Ben said, and then to Mattie, “I’m doing all right. It helps to get away from the house for a while and spend time with those puppies.”

  “I bet.” She turned toward Angie, whose face was now rosy. “How are the pups doing?”

  A smile eased some of the tension in the girl’s face. “They’re good. Even little Velvet is eating today, and Sassy is a great mom.”

  Mattie smiled at both kids. Ben seemed less mournful than he’d been last night. “That’s a great name for the little one.”

  “Hannah named her,” Angie said.

  Ben leaned against the front fender of Angie’s car, and a shadow crossed his face. “Have you found out what happened to Tonya yet?”

  What Mattie could share with the kids was limited. “We’re making progress, Ben, and we’ll talk with your folks later. But right now, we’ve got several lines of inquiry going and several leads to track down that seem promising.”

  Ben glanced at the restaurant. Skylar Kincaid came around the front of the building and hurried toward his car. Mattie felt herself stiffen as her protective response kicked in.

  When Skylar looked her way, he almost stopped, but then he put his head down and kept moving toward his car. Mattie tucked her thumbs at the top of her utility belt and openly watched him get inside his car and then drive away.

  “That car’s from Nebraska,” Ben said. “Was that Skylar?”

  The kid was observant. “It’s best not to get involved with the investigation, Ben. We’ve got it under control.”

  “Did he kill Tonya?”

  “All the elements in Tonya’s case haven’t come clear yet, but we’ve had a chance to talk to him. And we know how to contact him if we need to. We’ll be able to brief your family again soon.”

  Angie seemed to be studying her and moved toward her car door. “C’mon, Ben. We need to get back. I promised Sophie we wouldn’t be gone long.”

  Angie was a sharp kid, and she evidently realized that Mattie could only say so much. Mattie and Robo followed the girl to her car door, and at the last second before getting inside, Angie turned to give her a hug.

  “Thanks,” she murmured close to Angie’s ear before backing up out of the way. Robo edged forward to nudge the girl, and she bent to give him his farewell pats as she sank down into the driver’s seat.

  Mattie hesitated to speak but then decided to say what she was thinking. She leaned inside the car to address both kids. “Would you two do me a favor and stay close to Hannah and Sophie for the rest of today? Until we know more about what happened to Tonya, it would give me peace of mind to know you were all together and safe.”

  “Okay, Mattie.” Angie lifted the bag of doughnuts. “Thanks again for these.”

  The kids waved as they drove away, and Mattie raised her hand as she watched them go. She tried to suppress her concern over the fact that one of her suspects had seen her with the kids. Even though Skylar might have had motive to kill Tonya, that didn’t mean he was a homicidal maniac. And there would be no reason for Tonya’s killer to go after her loved ones.

  But still, Mattie felt a ripple of apprehension as she jogged through the parking lot to the next street and set a quick pace back to the station with Robo at her side.

  TWENTY-THREE

  The guys that worked K-9 were all in good shape, and despite a few inches of snow on the trail, they made it to the cave in record time. It made Cole grateful that he’d been on horseback, because he might not have been able to keep up.

  He stood at the mouth of the cave, feeling a chill unrelated to the wind as he studied its interior. He didn’t want to even imagine what Mattie had gone through here, and he turned his back on it to trail after Hauck and the other officers. They had all stopped near an outcropping of boulders about a hundred yards from the cave.

  Dirk and the yellow Lab were standing off to the side while Madsen was leading Fritz over to sniff near the hole that had been dug yesterday.

  “The cadaver dog got a hit,”
Hauck murmured as Cole came up beside him. “Madsen’s getting his second opinion.”

  It didn’t take long for Fritz to lie down beside the hole.

  Madsen praised his dog and then looked at Cole.

  “Do you want me to go get the shovel and pry bar?” Cole asked him. He’d left Mountaineer tied up by the cave.

  “John Cobb liked to burn bodies up in this high country, right?” Madsen asked.

  “Near the base of the ridge on the other side.” He gestured toward the pit the man had dug for Mattie. “And that was his plan up there.”

  Madsen shook his head, his disgust evident. “We’ll have to go slow. If we hit charred wood, we’ll back out and wait for the forensic team to excavate it.”

  “I’ll go get the tools.” Cole turned away and hurried toward his horse.

  * * *

  Back at the station, Mattie took Robo to her office to offer him his bowl of water while she refilled her coffee mug. She regretted not having a bag of doughnuts in hand as she made her way to the briefing room to find Stella. It had been a short night, and a little sugar would have provided some extra energy.

  Stella looked up from her computer screen as Mattie and Robo entered the room. “Wait till I tell you what I’ve found.”

  Mattie had information to share too, but she let Stella go first. “What?”

  “I’ve been researching similar cases. There’s a missing single mother from Denver who disappeared three weeks after delivering a baby boy, and another teenage mom from Colorado Springs who disappeared within a week of giving birth. In both cases, the babies are also missing.” Excitement bubbled from Stella as she went on. “I talked to the detective from Denver, and guess what. Carla Holt delivered their missing mom’s baby.”

  Mattie’s heart tripped. “You’re kidding! Why was this girl living in Hightower?”

  “She was staying with her grandmother until after she delivered. Evidently the family didn’t want her around their other children while she was pregnant.” Stella made a face, shaking her head as if she disagreed with that stance. “This young mom went missing about six months ago, in April.”

  Mattie pulled out her notepad. “And her name?”

  “Rose Marie Harlan, and here’s her picture.” Stella handed her a black-and-white head shot. “Age nineteen, brunette, brown eyes, five feet four, one hundred sixty pounds at the time of her delivery though typically one twenty. Her baby boy is named Sam.”

  Mattie looked into the dark eyes of the girl in the photo and thought she recognized a hint of sadness there.

  Stella went on. “The detective I talked to said that since Rose had been a patient of Carla’s, he interviewed her at the time, and Carla said she knew nothing about the girl’s disappearance. Rose was scheduled for a six-week checkup, which would have taken place three weeks after she went missing, but since she’d had no problems during or after delivery, she hadn’t been seen at the clinic since the day after she gave birth.”

  Finding this connection to Carla Holt was huge. “So did he suspect Carla might have been involved in Rose’s disappearance?”

  “No, not at all. He spoke with her to see if she might have any idea about the girl’s whereabouts, which Carla denied. She was never a suspect, because they still aren’t even sure a crime has been committed. He said Rose was from a dysfunctional family and under a lot of stress, so he thinks maybe the girl just decided to take off with her baby to get out of her home situation.”

  “What did her family think?”

  “They think she wouldn’t have left home without telling someone. And they said she didn’t have money or a way of supporting herself if she did. Her baby was only three weeks old.”

  Mattie was thinking of the dead body west of Timber Creek that was awaiting excavation—the one buried in a spot that John Cobb had marked on a map. If this body turned out to be the missing girl from Denver, it would implicate Cobb in her death or at least in the disposal of her body. “And now … what do you think?”

  “I told the detective about our DB. He said to keep in touch. If it’s female, he can retrieve his missing girl’s dental records. I told him to go ahead and get started. I have a terrible feeling about this.”

  Mattie did too. “What about the case in Colorado Springs?”

  Stella handed her a second photo, a candid shot of a young pregnant girl who looked happy. “Kaylee Cunningham, blonde, green eyes, five feet two, one hundred five pounds before pregnancy. Her baby is a girl, named Joyelle.”

  “And she was also Carla’s patient?”

  Stella shook her head. “That one isn’t tied to our midwife. I’ve already spoken to the detective that handled her case, and according to him, Kaylee was living with her boyfriend after giving birth, and their baby was two weeks old. She disappeared in March. The boyfriend was at work, which the detective verified, and when he got home, both Kaylee and baby were gone. They traced her movements. Her mother said Kaylee had called to tell her she was going crazy staying at home and had decided to walk to a nearby store to pick up diapers.

  “Kaylee was last seen on the store’s CCTV checking out at the self-serve cash register. She had the baby in a front pack and was carrying a grocery bag as she walked out of the store. Outside view from CCTV at the next store captured her walking down the sidewalk and turning into the residential neighborhood where she lived, apparently heading home. That was the last camera that spotted her.”

  “Oh no.”

  “According to the boyfriend, the grocery bag and diapers were not found at their home. Doors were locked, and there was no sign of forced entry or a scuffle. Boyfriend’s statement that he was at work all day was confirmed, and his distress over her disappearance seemed genuine. All family members said that Kaylee was happy about having a baby, and they swore she had no plans to leave her boyfriend. Neighbors didn’t observe anything that looked like an abduction, but no one noticed her out walking that morning either. This case is classified as a missing person and infant.”

  “Does the detective think she could have been abducted before she made it home?”

  “He thinks it’s a possibility, though he doesn’t have evidence of it. She might have gotten into someone’s car willingly and is happily living somewhere else.”

  Though Mattie had nothing to base her assumption on, she didn’t think that was what had happened. She had a bad feeling that something more sinister was afoot. “What’s your take on it, Stella?”

  Stella rocked back in her chair and stared forward for a brief moment before looking at Mattie. “I think we have to listen to the families of these girls and give their concerns credibility. Both believe their daughters wouldn’t run away and leave their homes willingly. We have to take these reports seriously.”

  “Agreed, but why do you think these girls and their babies might have been abducted?” Mattie had her own thoughts on the subject, but she wanted to hear Stella’s.

  Stella’s eyes glinted with anger. “What we talked about before … infant trafficking. When we include Tonya, we’ve got three missing babies from different parts of the state. Is it likely the cases are connected? No. But is it possible? Absolutely. You know as well as I do that we have two of the major highways for human trafficking running right through our state.”

  She was referring to Interstate 70 running east and west and Interstate 25 going north and south, intersecting in the city of Denver, where other major highways branched to create a hub for trafficking of all types, including human. Timber Creek felt secluded within its sheltering mountains, but despite its small size, the town had already suffered the impact of drug running and animal trafficking. Infant trafficking was not out of the question.

  The thought caused a shiver to run down Mattie’s spine. “Is it time to confront Carla Holt?”

  “Not yet.” Stella paused, obviously thinking. “I want to see if I can turn up a connection between that Colorado Springs case and Carla’s clinic. I have contact information for the girl’s m
other and her boyfriend, and I need to talk to both of them before we talk to Carla again.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Oh, and one more thing. The lab report came in on the powder you found at the cave. It was definitely fentanyl.”

  It was good to have the type of drug confirmed, although there were still unanswered questions. When had John Cobb hidden drugs up at the cave, and why? It had to have been before his arrest in May, which was probably what had prevented him from going back to retrieve it. She regretted that she hadn’t taken Robo up to search the cave sooner.

  “Let me tell you who I ran into at Clucken House.” Mattie summarized the apparent meet-up of the Nebraska crew and her subsequent conversation with Reagan Dawson.

  Stella was frowning as she listened. “Do you believe their meeting at the restaurant was by chance?”

  “It could have been. Skylar was already eating, and the three hunters hadn’t yet received their food. But I felt like their reactions were sneaky and covert.”

  “Could be guilt or feeling guilty about being caught together.”

  “Right.” In light of the information Stella had turned up, Mattie was eager to have that body near the Redstone Ridge trailhead excavated and identified. If it turned out to be the remains of Rose Marie Harlan, then Carla Holt would be associated with two young mothers who were now dead with missing infants. “When will the forensic team from CBI have information for us?”

  “Brody called in and said they were getting started. I asked him to call us as soon as the team discovered details from the site.” Stella glanced down at her notes. “I need to follow up on that Colorado Springs case. Would you take a look at the CCTV film from the Double Dollar to see what we’ve got on it?”