by Jeff Carson
Chapter 16
“How did you know?”
Wolf leaned toward the windshield and squinted. Shumway’s and Boydell’s trucks had kicked up a cloud of dust. There was no way to tell how far ahead they were, but it looked like they were going fast.
The dirt road twisted with the occasional straightway, all the while descending back off the plateau’s top.
“How did I know what?”
“That I’m the sheriff’s daughter.” She was preoccupied with rubbing something on the inside of her propped leg.
Wolf kept his eyes out the windshield. “You two have the same blue eyes. Identical. And you have the same inflection in your voices, the same pronunciation of certain words.”
“Really?” She leaned back and laughed. “You are so cute.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m forty years old. What are you, twenty?”
“Bingo. Right again. I bet you think I’m a lot better looking than my dad, though. Right?”
She leaned back and stared at him.
“I was going to say I’m old enough to be your dad.”
“My dad’s fifty.”
Trying to comprehend her logic, Wolf leaned forward and braked. The cloud of dust seemed to get denser, more immediate, but there was still no sign of brake lights.
The cloud dissipated, and Wolf pressed the accelerator again.
She laughed. “You might want to slow down.”
“Why?”
“Because you just passed them.”
Wolf saw the two trucks in the side view mirror. They had pulled off and Boydell was out of his truck, staring after Wolf.
“Shit.” He stopped and turned around.
Boydell was swinging open a wooden gate set in barbed wire. He fastened it open with a loop of rope and jogged back to his truck.
Before Wolf had reached Shumway’s bumper they were already on the move again.
“See?” Megan said. “I told you you’d need me.”
Like a hole in the head.
The SUV drove spongy as they followed in the caravan, sliding in the sandy wash that meandered through terrain strewn with boulders. The rocks were cinnamon colored and streaked with black water marks, some of them dwarfing the SUV. Canyon walls towered up to their left and right, with layers of white on top and maroon underneath.
Dust having dissipated, the scent of juniper flowed in the window, mixing with the dog fur and coconut oil inside.
The curves were tight and Shumway’s truck rarely came into view, so Wolf concentrated on the well-worn tracks in the sand.
“Just go along this wash. I’ll tell you when you need to turn. It’ll be a right in about a half mile.”
Wolf nodded thanks, and they rode in silence for a while.
“So … what’s this all about?” She bounced her eyebrows.
Wolf ignored her.
“Oh, come on.”
“Is that why you’re here?” Wolf asked. “To get the inside scoop?”
She shrugged. “I want to go visit Dig 1. I have a friend there named Karen.”
They rode in silence for another beat.
“And I want to help. Feel free to ask me any question you want to.”
Wolf gripped the wheel as they turned a tight corner.
“So, what about you?” She asked. “How’s Sluice … what county are you from?”
“Sluice-Byron.”
“And how’s that?”
Wolf raised an eyebrow and sighed. “It’s nice.”
“Where do you live?”
“Town called Rocky Points.”
“Oh I’ve heard of that. Skiing. I’ve never been, but I bet I’d love it.”
Wolf plucked his cell phone out of the center console and checked it. It said No Service in the corner of the screen.
“No service except for in town. Doesn’t matter which of carrier you have,” she said. “Okay, turn up here.”
They climbed steeply out of the wash. Wolf only saw blue sky for a few seconds as he pressed back in his seat. The truck slowed to a stop, and he gunned it, tires spinning in the sand and catching, until they dropped down the other side of a hill.
The other two trucks were meandering their way through trees and rocks, already halfway up a rise on the left. Ahead of them, at the top, was the edge of the plateau and then blue sky.
The route started making sense to Wolf. They were going to the dig they’d seen from the visitor’s center, but along a circuitous route off the plateau and back onto it.
To the right the view to the south opened up with rolling hills and plateaus.
“Pretty beautiful,” Wolf said.
She looked at him with a bashful smile.
Wolf ignored her.
“The other dig is down there.” She pointed.
For an instant Wolf saw a blue spot on the floor of a valley below, then it was gone behind a hill.
“Dig two?”
“Well. You missed it,” she said. “But we’ll be able to see it again from the top of the plateau.”
They bounced in their seats as Wolf cranked the wheel and feathered the gas, avoiding the twisted overhanging wood of the pinyons and junipers.
“Used to be our land, you know,” she said.
Wolf frowned. “What?”
She put her hand out the window. “That whole thing, thousands of acres. Until my dad lost it.”
Wolf looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“The private land that Dig Two is on used to be our family’s land.”
Wolf kept his face neutral, but his mind was racing.
“And when my grandfather died, somehow my dad screwed up the whole transfer of land to him … or my grandfather did … or whatever. Nobody will tell me what happened. But anyway, we lost the land. Some other guy got it.”
She clamped her lips shut and looked out the window.
Wolf eyed her. She was blinking a lot. Fighting back tears?
“Watch out!” She pointed out the windshield.
Wolf jammed the brakes, stopping just short of a boulder.
Jet let out a squeal from the back seat.
“Oh, are you okay?” Megan pursed her lips and reached back to scratch Jet’s head.
Jet shuffled back into his comfortable position with Megan’s help.
“Megan.”
She turned around. “What?”
“Can you please finish your story?”
“I thought I did.”
“Not really.”
“Yeah. I did. Dad lost land. Done.”
They sat silent in the idling car. Rays of sun cooked Wolf’s arm through the open window.
“Are we going to go?” She looked over with a devilish grin. “Or just stay here?”
Wolf backed away from the boulder and drove on.
Just underneath the lip of the plateau they passed a red tent and a full-sized Dodge pickup off to the left side of the two-track.
“Who camps here?”
“That’s Levi’s camp. One of the grad students at Dig One. Levi Joseph. See? Aren’t you glad I’m here to answer all these questions for you?”
Wolf slowed to a stop next to the truck and peered at the tires. They were the wrong brand.
“Hello?” Wolf called out.
No one answered.
“Probably up—”
Jet barked, and the sound filled the interior of the cab with the volume of a jackhammer.
Megan screeched and plugged her ears and Wolf jumped in his seat.
“Jet!”
Jet was standing on the rear seat, staring out the passenger side rear window and barking with snapping jaws. Saliva stuck to the glass. After every second or third bark he shut his mouth and looked at Wolf and whined.
Wolf shoved the truck in park and got out. Stepping to the back door he opened it and Jet was out, almost barreling over Wolf.
With ears raised, Jet trotted around the rear of the SUV and turned, barking and staring at Wolf.
“Go!” W
olf shook his head and looked at his watch.
Jet took off down the steep slope toward the south and weaved his way down through the brush.
“What the hell?” Wolf watched the dog trot halfway down the mountain before he stopped and started barking again.
“What’s he doing?” Megan was outside standing next to Wolf now.
“Let’s go!” He yelled.
Jet ignored him and started whining again. He was preoccupied with something on the ground.
“Probably saw an animal and is chasing it,” Megan said. “We used to have a dog growing up that would chase jackrabbits. He would go crazy, just like he’s doing.”
Wolf nodded. Jet looked like he had an animal cornered.
“Dammit … Jet! Come! Now!”
Jet hesitated for another few moments and then trotted back up the slope, weaving in and out of the trees and shrubs, stopping every few yards and looking back.
“Now!”
Jet reached them with a lowered head and followed Wolf’s prompting back into the truck.
Slamming the door, Wolf turned and surveyed the valley below. It must have been five hundred feet to the valley floor. A lone blue tent stood amid the foliage and rock.
“Oh yeah. There’s … Dig Two.”
She stared intently below.
“You know them?” Wolf asked.
“What?” She blinked and looked at him.
“The students at Dig Two,” Wolf said.
“Yeah, I guess. I know everyone. Everyone knows everyone.”
“Is there anyone here that wears Converse All-Star shoes?”
She swallowed and looked at him with a perplexed look. “Converse All-Stars?”
Wolf nodded.
She shrugged and looked away. “I haven’t noticed. Why?”
Wolf stared at her.
She stared back, and then she blinked first.
“Are you telling me the truth?”
“I mean, I have a pair. Why are you asking?”
Wolf left her in her thoughts and walked back to the driver’s side door. She trotted to her door and hopped in.
They got in and Wolf eyed Jet in the rear view mirror. “You got that out of your system now?”
Jet barked and looked out his window again.
“All right. That’s enough.” Wolf put it in drive and the tires spat dirt.
A few seconds later they were at the top of the plateau, and in the far distance Boydell and Shumway had parked their trucks next to one other. They were milling around a complex of tents and tarps, and a man and a woman were walking to them.
“So Levi camps all the way down here and walks to the dig? Do you know why that is?” Wolf asked.
She laughed, like Wolf had asked the funniest question in history. “He probably can’t sleep with all the sex noises coming from the other tent.”
Wolf raised his eyebrows.
She stopped laughing and looked at him. “A guy named Doctor Mathis heads up this dig, and the other student besides Levi is a girl named Karen. Doctor Mathis and Karen think they’re keeping it secret, but they’re clearly screwing. So Levi gives them their space. Although now that I think about it? Even if they weren’t screwing, Levi would probably be camping back there. He’s kind of a loner. Kind of strange like that.”
“And you’re friends with Levi, too?”
She looked out the window. “Yeah. I guess. We’ve gotten to know each other.”
Four people stood in a group watching Wolf and Megan drive in—Shumway, Boydell, a woman, and a man.
Shumway was in mid-sentence with Boydell and stopped and squinted to see inside Wolf’s truck as they approached.
“Stop here, wait,” Megan said. “Wait, wait, wait …”
Wolf frowned and stopped.
Before he could ask why, he pressed himself back into his seat as Megan leaned over him and out his window.
“What the hell are you doing?” Wolf asked with unmoving lips.
“Hey, sister!” Megan shouted out the window. “Long time no see!”
The woman Wolf assumed was “Karen” paused in mid-sentence and waved.
“When did you get back?” Megan asked.
Sheriff Shumway stood next to Karen, his head tilted, his eyes wide and locked on Wolf’s.
For another few seconds Megan and Karen chatted, and then Megan drew her left hand down into the cab and planted it squarely on Wolf’s crotch, then pushed hard off her hand and launched back into her seat. Without a word she opened the door, jumped out, and slammed it. With a happy jog she ran around the front of the SUV and went to embrace her friend Karen.
Wolf sat still for a second, and then let his foot off the gas and pulled alongside the other trucks.
A few seconds later Wolf had Jet out of the back seat and they were walking toward the camp.
Shumway was glaring at Megan with a reddening face, and she chatted happily and ignored her father altogether.
Wolf studied the trucks as he walked by.
The BLM truck Bradley Boydell was driving had the Goodyear P265/70R17’s, and so did the red truck with civilian Utah plates, which since they’d passed Levi’s truck, by process of elimination would have to be either Doctor Mathis’s or Karen’s.
Add Sheriff Shumway’s tires, which also matched, and the whole tread piece of evidence seemed to be getting less useful by the second. But Wolf knew that’s how the truth lulled you to sleep—by hiding in a sea of anonymity.
Chapter 17
“Hello, I’m Detective Wolf.” Wolf held out his hand to the man standing next to Shumway.
“I’m Doctor Mathis.”
The short man stepped forward and pumped Wolf’s hand with a firm, rough grip. He wore Birkenstock sandals with dusty white socks, cargo shorts and a tee shirt that had a picture of a dinosaur with glasses, and “The Saurus Knows All The Words” written underneath.
“Welcome to Dig One, as they call us.”
“I’m Karen.” A bright-eyed woman stepped away from Megan with an outstretched hand.
Wolf took in her slender hand, which was callused and dusty. She was a couple inches taller than Doctor Mathis, a comparison Wolf made only because of Megan letting him in on the “secret”. Karen wore jeans shorts that displayed her muscular, tanned legs. A mesh, wide-brimmed hat sat on her head of short black hair, shading a smile that was bright and pleasant.
“And where’s your other grad student?” Wolf asked. “Levi Joseph?”
Dr. Mathis and Karen looked at one another. “Beats us. Been gone all morning. Heck, he was gone all day yesterday too.”
“Without taking his truck?” Shumway asked.
“Sometimes he takes long hikes,” Karen said with a shrug.
Dr. Mathis looked skeptical. “Yes, but he usually tells us when he goes on his little hikes. He brags about them first, talks about the route for days, then shows us the map in case he doesn’t come back.” He waved a hand, “Sorry, we’ve just been discussing it. He just kind of up and disappeared on us this weekend.”
Shumway glared at Boydell. “You haven’t seen him?”
Boydell shook his head.
Shumway put his hands on his hips and shook his head. Then he gave his daughter a sidelong glance.
There was real urgency in Shumway’s tone.
“Should we be putting out a search party?” Wolf asked.
“Oh my,” Karen gasped.
Shumway peered down the two-track toward Levi’s camp, which was out of sight over the edge of the plateau. “No. But keep us posted if he doesn’t show himself.”
They stood mute for a few seconds, and then Wolf cleared his throat.
“I’m not sure what Sheriff Shumway has told you two yet, but he and I are conducting an investigation and we have some questions.”
“Yes, he told us there was an investigation. What’s it about?” Dr. Mathis asked. “What kind?”
“I can’t discuss the particulars.”
Dr. Mathis gave a skeptica
l frown. “Well then we can’t answer any questions you might have. I’m sure you understand, Detective. I don’t want to implicate myself in anything. So I’m going to respectfully decline speaking to either of you. And I advise Karen to do the same.”
Karen looked dumbfounded.
Dr. Mathis folded his arms and pretended everyone around him had vanished.
“We’ve had a homicide,” Wolf said. “A fossil dealer in Rocky Points was shot twice and killed.”
Megan gasped, then put her hand over her mouth.
Karen blinked rapidly.
“Wow.” Dr. Mathis unfolded his arms. “A murder? And you’re here now?”
“Yes.” He nodded to the centerpiece of the camp, which was a shallow, wide hole in the ground. “Could I see your dig?”
It was time to get them talking.
“Yes, sure.” Dr. Mathis led the way and waved them to follow.
They stopped at the edge of the hole, and there was a grid of string, and various digging tools and plastic sheets strewn about. Underneath it all were a few exposed fossils.
“What are we looking at here?” Wolf asked.
“It’s really quite a find. An Ornithopod from the late Cretaceous. A Hadrosaur.”
Wolf shook his head.
“An Iguanadon?”
“Yeah, okay. I remember those,” Wolf said, referring to his own childhood dinosaur phase.
“The Hadrosaurs were prolific in the late Jurassic through the Cretaceous. In the Jurassic they were small, and then,” he paused for effect as he stopped at the edge of the hole and spread his arms, “they grew into giants, like these.”
Shumway leaned over and squinted, looking unimpressed.
Inside there were clearly pieces of bone, but it was a jumbled mass that was hard to put into context in the mind’s eye.
Boydell stood back a ways and kicked at a rock.
Dr. Mathis eyed them all in turn. “Well, you’d have to see the GPR readouts to really get a sense of it.”
“GPR?” Wolf asked.
“Ground Penetrating Radar.”
“Ah.”
Dr. Mathis looked dejected, like he was surrounded by three year olds that understood nothing.
They were standing in fine dirt, and Wolf took the opportunity to study shoes, and none of the prints they were leaving matched the crime scene in Rocky Points. Not even close for Dr. Mathis’s sandals. Megan’s and Karen’s feet were way too small. Boydell’s feet were average size, just about a sized 10, but the imprints of his well-worn boots didn’t fit either of the patterns at the scene.
