Tampered

by Stella Bixby

  Tampered

  A Rylie Cooper Mystery

  Stella Bixby

  Ferry Tail Publishing LLC

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2020 by Crystal S. Ferry

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system presently available or yet to be invented without permission in writing from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  For my sweet Faith. I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but if you do, I hope you know how much I love you.

  (Hint: It’s way more—but different, of course—

  than Jim loves Pam.)

  1

  What had I done to deserve this?

  Every part of me wanted to cry. To hide in a prairie dog hole and never come out.

  But hiding wasn’t an option. I had to stay strong. They could sense fear.

  If I could make a gruff old fisherman smile after writing him a ticket, this should be nothing.

  It wasn’t nothing.

  It was ten tweenagers with chips on their shoulders and community service hours to complete. It was a spring break program the courts had determined would help them build character.

  It was all Nikki’s fault.

  Just when I thought we were becoming friends, bam, she hits me with this. And I couldn’t say no. I’d been in a room with the director—my big boss.

  So I’d agreed. Stupidly.

  I should have said no, even if that made me look like less than a team player. I’d rather have the director mad at me than hang out with a bunch of baby criminals.

  Ugh.

  “Where’s the bathroom, Rusty?” a twelve-year-old boy with spiked hair and a shoplifting habit asked.

  “It’s Rylie,” I corrected for the umpteenth time. “And the bathroom—or rather—the port-o-potty is on the other side of the hill.” I pointed behind us toward the nearest portable toilet. “We passed it on the way over.”

  “I’m gonna need running water,” he said.

  “Sorry.” I shrugged. “Can’t help ya.”

  “Wait, are you saying there’s no running water here?” the princess of the group with her bleach-blonde hair and over-tanned skin asked. She probably thought she’d be spending her spring break in Florida.

  Mmmm . . . Florida sounded nice right about now.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” I said, shooing away thoughts of warmer weather. “It’s not ideal, but it does the trick.”

  Spike crossed his arms. “I’ll hold it.”

  “Great,” I said, ignoring their attitudes. “As was stated in your informational packet, we have an opportunity to get this trail in better condition before the summer.” I had memorized the speech Nikki prepared for me.

  “Yeah, opportunity,” Princess murmured to the girl next to her. “More like free labor.”

  “Legal slavery,” Spike added.

  I sucked in a breath and acted like I hadn’t heard them. It wasn’t like I enjoyed trail maintenance, either, but Shadow Trail Reservoir was known for its pristine walking trail.

  Shadow Trail was the smallest of the three reservoirs owned by Prairie City, Colorado. It was a great fishery and hiking trail, but bikes, swimming, and anything motorized—besides the ranger vehicles—were strictly forbidden.

  That also meant the park was incredibly slow, especially compared to Alder Ridge Reservoir—the park where I’d done most of my shifts since I was hired as a park ranger almost a year ago.

  “We’ll start by picking up trash.” I pulled big black trash bags from my supply box. “You should have gloves.”

  The tweenagers looked around—their attitudes building off each other’s like fire with an accelerant.

  “Yeah, I didn’t bring gloves,” Spike said.

  “Me neither,” Princess said.

  The others went right along with them.

  “Good thing I have extras,” I said.

  Spike deflated when I handed him the first pair.

  “Now take a bag and start filling it. The trail is five miles all the way around. I figure we should be able to get all the trash picked up by the end of the day so we can move onto something else tomorrow.”

  They groaned but took trash bags and started picking up trash . . . slowly.

  I unzipped my jacket and pulled my phone from the pocket of my light gray button-down uniform shirt. Only one message from Shayla, my roommate and best friend.

  spaghetti for dinner tonight?

  I punched out a quick response before the kids caught me using my phone. They’d think I was a total hypocrite if I was on my phone when they couldn’t be. Granted, I wasn’t the one who had broken the law and ended up with community service hours.

  “Were you texting your boyfriend?” Princess said from behind me.

  I slipped my phone back into my pocket. “What I’m doing is none of your business.”

  “Is he cute?” Her tone was teasing—I couldn’t tell if she was trying to bully me or make me her friend. Either way, she was stalling, and there was no way I would talk to her about my love life.

  “Your bag looks pretty empty,” I said. “Better pick up the pace.”

  I turned to the group. “Whoever has the heaviest bag by the end of the day will get a special surprise.”

  “A special surprise?” Spike said. “How old do you think we are?”

  That trick always worked on my nephews, but they were much younger than these kids. “I’ll make it worth your while,” I corrected.

  “Cash,” Spike said. “Or we walk.”

  How was this backfiring on me? Nikki told me to offer incentives but to be firm. Just as I was about to tell the little extortionist that he could walk his sorry ass right back to juvie, Princess called out to us.

  “Hey, come look at this,” she said.

  The group meandered over to where she stood.

  “Those look like mountain lion tracks.” Princess pointed to what could have been any sort of tracks as far as I was concerned.

  But the other kids’ eyes were wide with excitement. Maybe I could use this to my advantage.

  “There have been reported sightings of mountain lions in the park recently,” I said. It wasn’t a total lie—a woman who lived in one of the houses bordering the reservoir had called a few times to say she thought she saw something big. She assumed it was a mountain lion, but we’d never gotten any actual confirmation.

  “We should follow them and see if they lead to a mountain lion cave,” one of the boys said.

  “Mountain lions don’t live in caves,” a girl said. “They live in trees.”

  Everyone looked up into the bare aspen trees surrounding us.

  “We can follow the tracks,” I said. “But along the way, we need to collect trash. Deal?”

  They all nodded in excitement. Heck, I’d be excited if I thought I might come across a mountain lion too.

  “What do we do if we find it?” Princess asked.

  “Fall on the ground and play dead,” Spike said.

  “No,” I said. “Do not play dead.” Not that we would find one, but I figured I’d better at least give them solid advice. “You would want to make yourself as big and loud as possible. Don’t turn or run. Don’t look into their eyes. Just back away slowly.”

  “Do you think we’ll see one?” Princess asked.

  I shrugged. I didn�
�t want to tell them that there was no chance of seeing a mountain lion in a group this large, in the light of day, in the middle of a city where there hadn’t been any confirmed sightings. If I told them the truth, they wouldn’t have the motivation to pick up trash at the pace they’d increased to.

  “Maybe,” I said. “But let’s stick together. That way, if we do, we’ll have numbers on our side, and it’ll likely run away.”

  They nodded and stayed close. It was easier to see them this way, and whatever kind of animal we were following had conveniently walked right next to the trail. My guess was the tracks were probably made by someone’s dog, but if the idea of tracking a big ferocious cat made the activity more fun, then so be it.

  A yawn escaped my lips as a park visitor jogged by flashing his pass. “Thanks, Jacob.”

  He waved and continued down the path and out of sight. Every day, he ran into the park from who knew where, twice around the trail, and then back out. He’d introduced himself briefly the first time he’d seen me, insisting I call him by his first name, but other than that, we hadn’t spoken much.

  Unlike the chatty fishermen at Alder Ridge Reservoir, the Shadow Trail visitors seemed to keep more to themselves. Where Alder Ridge was a place for recreation and big fish stories, Shadow Trail was a place to relax and recharge. And in the cool spring air, it was an excellent place for an invigorating morning run.

  About halfway around the trail, as the sun hovered high in the sky, one of the girls a few yards ahead let out a blood-curdling scream yanking me from my thoughts.

  I froze.

  Had she spotted a mountain lion?

  Princess and Spike got to her before me. All three of them stood staring at a place a few feet off the trail.

  “What’s wrong?” I yelled, hurrying to where she was standing.

  The girl’s face was pale, her eyes wide, as she pointed to the ground. She pulled her jacket tight around her.

  “Is—what is that?” I asked, peering closer.

  Four fingers poked up through dirt and dead leaves as if reaching out for something to grasp.

  “It’s a zombie,” Spike said.

  “It’s not a zombie,” I said. “Zombies aren’t real.”

  One of the boys leaned down to pick it up, but I stopped him. “Don’t touch it,” I said. “It could be part of a crime scene.”

  Another crime—especially a death—was the last thing I needed. But I couldn’t think of another explanation.

  “I’ll call the police,” I said, pulling out my phone and dialing Luke—my ex-boyfriend and local police officer—rather than the actual police station.

  “Hello?” Luke said on the first ring. He had been my high school sweetheart, and about a year ago, I thought he and I might reconnect. Instead, he and Nikki—the ranger who had gotten me into this tweenage hell—had started dating.

  “Are you busy?”

  “If this is about Garrett, then yes, I’m busy.” Luke’s voice was distracted.

  “No,” I blushed, thankful the kids couldn’t hear what he’d said. “This is official business.”

  “What do you mean official?” he asked. “Not another dead body, right?”

  “Well . . .”

  “Seriously?” He grunted. “Where are you?”

  “At Shadow Trail.”

  “I’ll call dispatch and be over shortly. Don’t touch anything.”

  “Thanks. See you soon,” I said in my most chipper voice so the kids wouldn’t get more freaked out than they already looked.

  “Shouldn’t we dig it up?” Princess asked. “What if she’s still alive under there?”

  “What makes you think it’s a she?” I asked.

  “Fingernail polish.” Princess pointed.

  The skin on the fingers looked cracked and caked with mud, but a hint of dull red nail polish could be seen on a couple of the fingers. Patches of snow still covered where the rest of the body would be buried. “I think whoever is down there has been there a while.” It would take the forensics team hours to get through the frozen ground to recover the body.

  One of the girls threw up.

  “How about we back away from the crime—I mean—the area.” I motioned for them to follow me to the other side of the trail. “You can put your trash bags down and sit on the edge of the lake. We’ll get back to picking up trash shortly.”

  The kids meandered over to the shoreline. Well, all but one. “You sounded cozy with the policeman on the phone,” Princess said.

  “He’s a friend,” I said, instantly regretting my admission.

  Her eyebrows rose toward her hairline. “Is he cute?”

  “Yeah, sure. But he has a girlfriend. And no—” I held a hand up, stopping her from asking anything else “—it’s not me.”

  She shrugged as if she didn’t care anyway, and joined the other tweens.

  “Ranger Seven, Ranger Five,” I said into the mic on my shoulder.

  “Five,” Antonio’s voice echoed through the speaker. I chided myself when my stomach did a little flip-flop.

  “I have a possible code fifty-five over here at Shadow Trail. The police are on their way.”

  “Copy.” His voice was almost annoyed. We hadn’t interacted much in the past three months.

  Not since he kissed me on Christmas Eve.

  2

  Luke wasn’t the first to arrive at the reservoir. In fact, he wasn’t even in the top ten.

  Apparently, sending the kids to sit on the shoreline by themselves gave them permission to start texting their parents and friends.

  I was blissfully unaware until I noticed two men approaching—one with a rather large camera slung over his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry.” I held up a hand to stop them. “This part of the trail is closed.”

  The better-dressed man held up a microphone, and the other leveled the camera directly at my face.

  “Are you the ranger who found the dead body?”

  I did not need this today. “I have no comment on what has or hasn’t been found. Please wait in the parking lot until our public information officer gets here.”

  Just another person I’d need to call.

  “Isn’t it true you’ve found a record number of dead bodies over the past year?”

  “Me?” I asked, defensive, even though it was true.

  “We have word that there have been at least three, if not more, dead bodies in Prairie City parks over the last year.”

  “Again, you’ll have to speak to our PIO.” I put my hand up to the camera, forcing him to turn it off. “You can wait in the parking lot.”

  The man asking the questions gave a curt nod before turning and walking away.

  He was replaced with a group of angry-looking adults.

  “Can I help you?” I asked.

  They all started talking at once.

  When the tweens saw them, some rushed to hug their parents, and others just stood next to them.

  “We’re taking our children home,” Princess’s mother shouted even though she was only a couple of feet from me. “This is the last thing they need. Dead bodies. They’ll have nightmares for months.”

  “Of course you can take your children home,” I said. “After the police have had a chance to speak with them.” If there could be anything good about finding a body, it was that I’d get out of babysitting these little hoodlums.

  “Do you think the mountain lion killed her?” Spike asked.

  All the parents’ eyes widened.

  “What mountain lion?” one of the fathers asked.

  “There are no confirmed reports,” I said.

  “There have been reports of mountain lions, and you have our precious babies traipsing around picking up trash?” one of the mothers said.

  “Like I said, the reports have not been confirmed,” I said. “They were likely large housecats or dogs.”

  “But we saw the tracks,” Spike said. I couldn’t tell if he was excited about the prospect of there being a mounta
in lion or if he was intentionally trying to get me in trouble.

  “Those tracks could have been from anything.” I let out a nervous laugh. “Probably a dog or—”

  “I will be contacting your supervisor,” Spike’s mother said.

  Luke and his partner, Jerry, walked around them toward me. They were the odd pair—Luke tall and gorgeous, Jerry short and stalky.

  “Ooh, he is cute,” Princess said with a wink before her mother called for her to follow.

  Luke blushed.

  Jerry rolled his eyes. “Where is it?” he asked in his bullfrog voice.

  “Right over here,” I said. “We didn’t touch it. At least, I don’t think anyone did. I guess the kids could have touched it before I got here. One threw up close to it, but not directly over where the body would be.”

  “Where were you when they found it?” Luke asked.

  “I was just behind them on the trail. They’re hanging out so you can talk to them.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  “Unless you need me,” I said. “I’ll head up to the ranger office to keep an eye on the parking lot.”

  “Don’t let anyone back here except the forensics team,” Luke said, following me toward the group of parents and kids as Jerry inspected the fingers more closely with his gloved hands. “And when we’re done with this, I need to talk to you about something.”

  “About what?” I asked, but Luke had already started talking to one of the mothers.

  Jacob was coming around the corner for his second loop as I started to head back toward the office.

  “Sorry, the trail’s closed,” I said with a half-smile.

  He took his earbuds out. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

  “Everything is fine,” I lied. “I’m sure the trail will be open again tomorrow.”

  He wiped his palms on his pants as he tried to see around me. “Was it one of the kids?”

  “The kids are okay,” I said, my tone more agitated than I wanted it to be. I took a breath.

  He returned his gaze to me and smiled. “That’s good.” Though he wasn’t especially good-looking, his smile could be featured on a toothpaste commercial. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”