Shadows on the Lake

by Leona Karr

  They both froze and looked at each other.

  “I’ll get it.” Courtney tightened the belt on her silk bathrobe as she hurried down the hall.

  When she opened the door and saw McGrady, hope pounded in her chest. He shook his head in answer to her unspoken question, and her stomach made that too-familiar sickening drop.

  “Just thought I’d drop by and give you a little update,” he said, trying to ease her disappointment. “Am I too early?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Come on in, Detective,” Neil said, coming up behind Courtney. “I make a mean cup of coffee, and if you like waffles, you’re in luck.”

  McGrady touched his ample middle. “My wife would kill me if I had a double breakfast, but I’ll take the coffee.”

  They returned to the kitchen and the detective sat down at the table with them.

  “What’s up?” Neil asked as he poured McGrady a cup of coffee. He knew the detective hadn’t dropped by to chat.

  Courtney’s impatience flared when McGrady responded in that infuriatingly slow way of his. He took several sips of coffee as if this were some kind of a social call.

  “Mmm.” He nodded his head approvingly. “I have to agree, Neil. You make damn good coffee.”

  “You said you had an update?” Courtney prodded, clasping her hands so tightly under the table that her nails bit into her flesh.

  McGrady leaned back in his chair and his soft brown eyes surveyed the two of them. “I thought you’d be interested to know we found a bullet embedded in one of the trees where your car went off the road. The lab tested it against the one taken out of Harold Jensen’s body.”

  “And?” Neil prodded.

  “They matched. That puts a wrap on my theory that the two crimes were linked,” McGrady said in satisfaction. “They both came from the same army revolver, and it’s clear that Billie Kessel is our shooter.”

  “If she uses the gun again, you’ll know it, won’t you?” Neil asked.

  “Possibly. As I told you yesterday, the lab matched the print on the Windex bottle. It was Billie Mae Kessel who bought that camper, all right.”

  Courtney’s stomach turned over hearing the truth once again, and she pushed away her untouched waffle.

  “What happens now?” Neil put his arm across the back of her chair and rested his hand on her shoulder.

  “Now that we can tie Kessel to a specific vehicle, it may be easier to pick up some information on her whereabouts. I talked to the O’Brians last night and got a detailed description of the camper. We’re hoping our national APB will get some results.”

  “What about the license plates?” Neil asked. “Do you think she’ll leave those on the camper?”

  “I doubt it. My guess is that she’s using some old plates from another car or one she’s stolen.”

  “And what if she abandons the camper for a different kind of transportation—the way she did the gray van?” Courtney swallowed hard. “Then we’re back to square one.”

  McGrady took a long swig of coffee before he answered, “Nobody can play Russian roulette forever. Sooner or later the odds catch up with them.”

  “That could be years!” Courtney cried. “You hear all the time about that happening. A stolen baby becomes an adult before it’s found—if ever. Even if parents pay a huge ransom, they may never get the child back.”

  “We’re not dealing with a kidnapping for money,” he reminded her. “And that gives us an advantage. We have more time and more assurance that we’ll find your baby unharmed and safe.”

  Courtney clung to his promise as the next two days crept by without any positive response to the nationwide APB. Nights were a haven of momentary peace in Neil’s arms. She was thankful for the strength they shared. It allowed her to handle the constant worry of her missing child.

  The long days were the worst. While Neil was at the office, Maribeth loyally kept her company. She managed to keep the conversation flowing, and even read aloud some articles from her favorite women’s magazines.

  “You don’t have to entertain me,” Courtney protested. She felt more like crawling into bed and pulling the covers up over her head.

  “Let’s drive down to the city park,” Maribeth proposed. “A good hardy walk will do you good. We can people-watch, buy our lunch from a vendor and soak up the sunshine.”

  In the end, Courtney found it easier to give in than to argue. After all, it really didn’t matter where she was. The same nagging anxiety went with her.

  Neil was delighted when Maribeth called and told him where they were going. “Good job, sis. Keep her busy.”

  Courtney was surprised when Maribeth drove to the same recreational area where she’d been with Neil on their first outing together. The lakeside park was crowded as usual, and Maribeth set a brisk walking pace that challenged Courtney to keep up. Both of them were sweating and breathing heavily when they finished their walk and threw themselves down on the lawn to rest.

  “Now it’s time for lunch,” Maribeth declared. They were on their way to find a hot-dog vendor when she suddenly stopped and pointed ahead. “Isn’t that Neil?”

  He waved when he caught sight of them.

  Courtney’s heart caught. What was he doing there? Good news? Bad news? His expression was one of excitement when he reached them.

  “Thank God I found you in this crowded place.”

  “What is it?” Courtney demanded in a strained voice.

  “I just got a call at the office from McGrady. He wants us to come to the police station right away.”

  “What’s happening, Neil?” Maribeth demanded excitedly.

  “Have they found the camper?” Courtney’s voice rose in sudden hope.

  “McGrady doesn’t know,” Neil answered quickly. “A park ranger in Ridgewood State Park called in a report a few minutes ago. A camper fitting the APB description has been parked in one of the campgrounds.”

  The ground under Courtney’s feet suddenly seemed to dip and she clutched Neil for support.

  “Oh, my God,” Maribeth breathed.

  “A single woman has parked it there for a couple of weeks. She doesn’t have red hair, but she fits the age and physical description.”

  “And Jamie?” Courtney’s mouth was dry and her pulse thumped loudly in her ears.

  “No sign of a baby, but that doesn’t mean anything,” he assured her. “Billie’s smart enough not to go showing him off all over the place.”

  “I’m sure Jamie’s all right, Courtney,” Maribeth said quickly. “The woman went to all the trouble to snatch him. Why wouldn’t she take good care of him?”

  Her words were meant to be reassuring, but they landed heavily on Courtney’s heart. There was no assurance that the woman’s behavior would remain consistent.

  “McGrady wants us to ride with him so we can make a positive identification of the woman, one way or the other.”

  “I’ll be waiting to hear,” Maribeth called after them as they hurried to his car.

  Neil glanced at Courtney’s ashen face as they pulled into the police station. “Maybe it would be better if I went with the detective, and you stayed here. I can make the identification as easily as you. No need to put you through this, if the woman isn’t Kessel.”

  Courtney firmed her chin. “I’m not going to sit around here, waiting to find out. If I can put my arms around Jamie one minute sooner by going, I’m going to do it.”

  McGrady was waiting for them. “Have you explained the situation to her, Neil?”

  He nodded. “There’s a report of a woman with a camper like the O’Brians parked in a campground.”

  “Right. But you have to remember, thousands of those campers were sold all over the country. There’s no assurance this is the one we’re looking for. We don’t have an updated photo of Billie Kessel, and her general description could fit any number of women her age. That’s why I want you two to come along with Officer Rogers and me. Are you up to it, Courtney?”

  “Ye
s,” she answered readily. “I want to be there just in case…” Her voice trailed off.

  “You’ll both do exactly what I tell you. No arguments. Until we assess the situation, you two will remain out of sight.”

  “Yes, sir,” Neil answered, but Courtney remained silent. Adrenaline was pouring through her at such a rate she wanted to do something besides hold her hands and wait.

  “This could take a matter of minutes, or hours,” McGrady warned. “We may be able to walk up to the woman and learn in short order who she is, but the worst scenario would be if we have to do a stakeout.”

  Dear God, no. “If that happens no telling what danger Jamie might be in,” Courtney said.

  McGrady avoided acknowledging her. “I’ll try to keep you posted on what’s happening. If it’s a false alarm, we’ll know soon enough.”

  False alarm!

  Neil kept his arm around Courtney’s waist. “But if it is Kessel?”

  “She won’t get away,” McGrady promised. “We’ll have units at every exit of the park.”

  An unbidden horror stabbed Courtney. “What if she tries to run, and holds Jamie as a hostage?”

  “We’ll deal with it,” he answered flatly.

  A few minutes later Courtney and Neil sat in the back seat of a police cruiser as it raced toward Ridge-way State Park a hundred miles way.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Under different circumstances, Courtney might have found riding in a police cruiser an exciting experience, but its wailing siren, high speed and constant radio monitor blended into a pulse-racing roar in her head.

  Seated in the front passenger’s seat, McGrady’s usually relaxed body language was missing. A tight muscle flickered in his jaw, his broad neck was stiff and his shoulders tense. She couldn’t hear what he said in low tones to Rogers, the plainclothes policeman who was driving,

  With siren blaring, the police car made its way in and out of city traffic. When they left Manitou’s city limits behind, traffic thinned on a four-lane highway heading east into a high range of mountains. A few times McGrady turned around and flashed her a reassuring smile that failed to soften the sober glint in his eyes.

  As Courtney sat there, staring unseeingly ahead, her heart was in her throat. As the miles swept by, she was glad that Neil didn’t try to fill the silence with empty words. The way his hand gripped hers betrayed his own inner stress, but his presence was a steadying force.

  As she stared out the window, a view of dark encroaching mountains whizzed past at a dizzying rate. As they drew closer and closer to the state park, Courtney knew she had to prepare herself for either a heartrending disappointment, or an ugly encounter with the wily, unscrupulous woman who had pretended to be her aunt.

  “I’m scared,” she whispered, tightening her grip on Neil’s hand.

  Neil brushed her cheek with his lips. “Honey, you’ll handle it. Whatever happens, you’ll come through it with courage. And I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

  The police car slowed its speed and turned off the highway. They could see some buildings, an archway made of peeled logs and a large sign, Ridgewood State Park.

  “The campground is about ten miles ahead,” Neil told her quickly when he saw the spurt of fright in her eyes. “Those buildings are the lodge, gift shop and café. We used to come up here quite a bit when I was a kid. You know, Boy Scouts. Family outings and the like.”

  Two state-trooper cars were parked just beyond the sign, and uniformed officers were checking vehicles waiting to leave the park. McGrady gave an identifying wave, and one of the highway patrolmen came quickly over to the cruiser’s window.

  McGrady greeted him by name. “Fill me in, Tom. What’s the setup?”

  “We’ve got two patrolmen stationed at both of the park’s exits. Nobody driving is getting through the road blocks without clearance,” the officer assured him. “We responded as soon as we were notified, and so far, no woman close to the description has tried to come through.”

  “Good,” McGrady said. “We’ll let you know whether we need more backup.”

  “The forest ranger who made the call is waiting for you right outside the campground, and we have another unit on alert,” the patrolman told him.

  “Thank you, Sergeant. We’ll assess the situation, and let you know.”

  The officer glanced in the back at Courtney and tipped his hat as if to assure her that he was on her side.

  “All right, let’s get on with it.” McGrady nodded at the driver.

  Courtney pulled back into the shadows of the back seat as their police cruiser passed a line of halted cars waiting to leave the park. She could see people staring out their windows with expressions of irritation and curiosity.

  Neil was thankful that the press hadn’t gotten wind of what was going on and showed up with their cameras running. He hoped the police had orders not to admit them to the park. Courtney didn’t need that kind of hassle.

  “Looks like they’ve got everything under control,” he assured her in a low voice.

  She nodded, but didn’t believe it for a minute. Someone as resourceful as Billie Mae Kessel wouldn’t be stupid enough to drive up to a police road block and expect to get through. As cunning as she was, it was impossible to predict what her twisted mind might conceive, especially if the pressure was on.

  Thick stands of conifer trees boxed in the two-lane road leading into the heart of the state park. Occasionally, a narrow dirt road identified with a poetic name like Harmony or Meadowlark wound its way into a tunnel of trees, and Neil realized how difficult it would be to find someone hiding in the concealing thickness of trees and undergrowth.

  If Billie Mae decided to run—

  He shoved the thought away and kept his eyes lowered, fearing Courtney might read his thoughts.

  “The ranger station is just ahead at the entrance to the campground,” McGrady said, looking back at Courtney. When a tremor passed her lips, his eyes shifted to Neil. “I’m depending on you, Neil. She many need some looking after.”

  “I’m your man,” Neil assured him.

  The station stood just inside the entrance to the main campground, and a park ranger was waiting on the porch. He came quickly down the steps as the police cruiser pulled to a stop and McGrady got out.

  “I’m Ranger Bob Lewis,” he said, identifying himself.

  “You’re the one who made the call?” McGrady asked.

  “Yes, sir. I’ve been off for ten days, and only read the APB this morning,” the ranger explained. “I noticed the woman this morning when was she coming out of the laundry building. When I said hello and asked her a couple of innocent questions about how long she’d be staying, her reaction was so defensive it caught my attention. If it hadn’t been for the APB, I would have probably shrugged it off.”

  “I’m certainly glad you didn’t,” McGrady told him. “We want to follow up on every possible lead.”

  “I’m sorry the other ranger isn’t here. He was called up to the lake last night because of some emergency, and I’m not sure when he’ll be back. That makes us one man short.”

  “We’ve got manpower in reserve, if we need it. First of all, we have to find out what we’re dealing with here.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  McGrady motioned for Courtney and Neil to follow him. “You two can stay inside the station while we check things out.” His tone softened as he looked at Courtney. “You going to be okay?”

  Not trusting her voice to answer him, she just nodded. How could she know whether she would be “okay”? It was all she could do to maintain a semblance of normality when her insides were churning and her skin was clammy with nervous sweat.

  “We’ll have to take it slow and sure,” McGrady warned her. “If we’re dealing with Billie, we don’t want to light any kind of a fuse in that crazy head of hers. Right?”

  Courtney managed to echo, “Right,” even though she wondered how she could possibly handle the wait. She knew better than anyone ho
w devious and ruthless the woman could be.

  “We trust your judgment,” Neil assured him as they mounted the front steps and entered the wooden rectangular building.

  The inside of the ranger station was strictly government issue. The furniture was serviceable, the walls painted a sandy beige, and had very few personal effects of the two men who lived there.

  “You’re about my size,” McGrady commented, studying Bob Lewis’s thick build. “I’ll need a ranger’s jacket and hat. And one of those clipboards you carry around.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Is there some place where Officer Rogers can view the camper without being seen?”

  “Sure. The laundry and shower building. He can go in the back way, and find a position at one of the front windows. The camper in question is parked in a site a little north.” He pointed out the window. “You can see the roof of the laundry building through those trees.”

  McGrady nodded at Rogers. “Keep a lookout from there. We’ll approach the camper as if we’re making some kind of a ranger check. If there’s any kind of trouble, radio for a backup unit.”

  “Yes, sir.” The plainclothes officer quickly left the station and disappeared through the trees in the direction of the laundry building.

  Neil wished he could change into ranger’s clothes and join the surveillance, but he knew better than to argue with McGrady. If word came back that it was Billie Mae, Courtney would need him to be with her. Both McGrady and the ranger wore gun holsters under their jackets, and probably considered his unarmed presence a risk.

  When Courtney saw the guns, she paled. The woman had a gun, and she’d killed before. In a showdown with police, would she sacrifice the baby to save her own miserable skin?

  “There’s coffee in the kitchen,” the ranger offered, as if trying to ease the tense situation. Neither Neil nor Courtney responded even though neither of them had eaten lunch.

  As McGrady and the ranger left the station, Courtney and Neil watched through the front window. Since the station was built at a slightly higher elevation than the rest of the campground, they could glimpse cars, trailers, campers and campsites along a narrow road snaking through stands of pine, cedar and aspen trees.