by Kathi Daley
“I have to hand it to this guy,” Landon said as we walked my dogs. “Not only has he managed to kill two men and injure a handful of others, but given his history of targeting members of the community who’ve pledged to protect and serve, he’s crippling the town as a whole.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as Honey trotted a few feet ahead in search of a stick.
“What do you think is going to happen the next time someone gets lost, or a stray spark starts a fire? Everyone will be terrified. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if folks didn’t refuse to respond to any emergency until this guy is caught.”
Landon had a point. The deaths of two members of our community was going to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind if and when another call came in. “The only way we’re going to be able to alleviate the fear is to find him and put him behind bars. I know it seems as if we don’t have any real clues yet, but I think the one we do have is an important one.”
“The memory of Val’s death?”
I nodded. “Val’s body was found in a cave high up on the mountain. For the killer to have a memory of her death, he had to have been there. Given the terrain and the storm, I’d say there were only a limited number of people who could have been there. Anyone younger than, say, fifteen at the time most likely wouldn’t have been out in the storm, and anyone over the age of around sixty-five most likely wouldn’t have had the stamina to make the trip under those circumstances.”
“That’s still a lot of people.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But if you factor in that the killer was in the area thirteen years ago and now, it narrows things down a bit. Rescue isn’t the sort of place where a lot of people stick. Most folks who come here experience their first endless winter and leave before the next.”
“True.”
“I also have the feeling this guy knew Val, although the grief he felt when she died might have been tied to some other memory her death brought forth. But if he did know her, I don’t know how, or how well. Still, I won’t be surprised if we find out that he’d at least met her before that night on the mountain.”
“The fact that he’s targeting first responders does make it seem as if he might have had a bad experience with them. He might have lost someone because the S&R team didn’t find them in time, or maybe he lost someone in a fire.” Landon reached down and scratched Lucky on the head when we paused so I could toss a stick for Honey. “I’ll log on to my laptop when we get back to your place. Houston planned to talk to the last four people on the list this morning, but maybe we can come up with a new one before the meeting in case none of them pan out.”
“Okay. I’ll help. We were both around when Val died. It could be beneficial to compare memories.” I tossed the stick, then started walking again, cradling my rifle to my chest all the while. “I spent some time in the middle of the night thinking about the fact that this guy seems to be focusing on me. As far as I know, he hasn’t sent photos to Jake, and he and I were both there for the first explosion.” I paused and mulled the idea. “That feels intentional, but I don’t see how it could be. Even if he called in the fake rescue, as we suspect, he couldn’t have known who would respond. And while he called me last night, he couldn’t have known I’d call Jake.”
“You could be the target or the trigger or something. I want you to be extra careful.”
“I will. Let’s see what we can dig up before we need to leave for Neverland.”
******
Back at the cabin, Landon logged on to the computer and I went into the barn to check on Homer and the rabbits. Kodi and Juno were tired after their walk, so I gave them fresh food and water, which they’d enjoy before settling in for their midmorning nap. Homer couldn’t see me, but he heard me and always seemed to enjoy listening to my voice, so I chatted while I cleaned out his stall and refreshed his food and water. Until a few weeks ago, Homer had had a roommate, a baby moose named Rocky, who’d been accepted by a moose rescue and transferred to a more permanent situation.
Before leaving the barn, I fed and watered the rabbits as well. Taking care of my menagerie was expensive and time consuming, but it provided me with a feeling of contentment and satisfaction. Living alone in the middle of nowhere, they were also good company.
“Have you found anything?” I asked Landon after pouring myself a cup of coffee.
“Not exactly, but I did have an idea.” He stopped what he was doing and looked over at me. “After every rescue since I’ve been part of the team, Jake has done a debriefing. He keeps a log of who the rescue subject was, who responded, the date, time of day, weather conditions, and any special circumstances.”
“I know. I’m part of the team too.”
“My point is that, given our theory that the killer might have been on the receiving end of a botched rescue, I thought it might be a valuable exercise to go back through the logs to look at the rescues recorded during the year before Val’s death. Maybe he knew her because she was a member of the team when the instigating event occurred.”
I sat back, considering. It sounded as if it would take a lot of time, but something might pop out that seemed relevant. “I guess that seems like a good idea. Have all the old logs been computerized?”
“Yes. Jake keeps a hard copy, but I transcribe everything into an online database after each debriefing. If you want to get your laptop, we can divide the entries. If either of us sees anything we think might mean something, we’ll stop to discuss it.”
I went into my bedroom and grabbed my laptop. I’d just returned to the living area when my phone rang.
It was Houston. “Hey. What’s up?” I asked.
“I’m just checking in on you,” Houston said. “The fire was pretty horrific, and you went through something equally terrible the night before, so I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine,” I informed Houston. “Don’t get me wrong, I wish none of this was happening, but I’ve got a thick hide so there’s no reason to worry about me.”
Houston chuckled. “I guess I shouldn’t have worried. Is Landon still with you?”
“Like glue on a glitter board. We’re going back through the debriefing notes from the year before Val died. I still think it’s relevant that the thought in the guy’s head the moment he sent the mountain down on team members was Val’s death.”
“I agree. And going back through the logs is an excellent idea.”
“How did your interviews go?”
“I managed to speak to all but one of the men. It looks like Grange Littleman, Kent Paulson, and Vance Tisdale all have alibis for the time of the landslide. I haven’t managed to track down Paul Gentry, but I’ll keep trying.”
“The more I think about it, Paul seems like a real suspect. I’d forgotten what happened with his friend Trace until Landon mentioned it last night.”
“You said Paul works construction in the summer and sells firewood in the winter. What would he be doing at this time of year?”
“Probably cutting, splitting, and stacking firewood. Have you checked his house? He should be there.”
“I’ve called him and checked his house. He isn’t answering his phone or his door. I spoke to the neighbor who lives closest to him, and he said he hadn’t seen Paul for a few days at least. I asked if that was odd, and he said Paul likes to go hunting.”
“It is hunting season, and if Paul was off the grid, his phone wouldn’t work. Landon and I hope to have some names to add to your list by the time we see you this afternoon.”
“Okay.”
I hung up and returned my attention to Landon. “I guess you heard.”
Landon nodded.
“So we’re down to just Paul. It could be him, but it just as likely isn’t. Have you found anything yet?”
“I flagged two rescues I’d like to discuss. It might help to have Jake here for it, though.”
I took my phone back out. “I’ll call him.”
We wanted to wait for Jake before we began our discussion
, so I made some sandwiches while Landon continued his search. In a way, it felt like we were grasping at straws. We could only speculate at the reason the man who had set off two explosions and killed two men was doing it. For all we really knew, he just liked to blow stuff up.
And then I remembered the intense pain I’d felt the night of the landslide. No, the things he was doing were intentional, not random at all.
By the time Jake had arrived with Sitka, Landon had gone through half the rescues in the year before Val died and flagged three. I was still a teen then and not an official member of the team, but I hung around the bar a lot when I wasn’t in school, and I manned the radio from time to time. Jake would have clearer memories of the rescues, but I might have something to add.
“The first one I flagged was the fraternity rescue,” Landon began.
“That was the one when that group of college kids went backcountry skiing just before Thanksgiving,” Jake said. “They got lost, and three of the six ended up dead from exposure.”
“That’s right,” Landon verified. “I flagged this one for two reasons. First, there were both survivors and nonsurvivors involved, and if I remember correctly, the survivors had been through a lot by the time they were found and airlifted out. And second, the rescue occurred just a month before Val’s death.”
“I don’t remember any of those kids as being from around here,” I said.
“They weren’t. In fact, they were all from the lower forty-eight. But we don’t definitively know the killer has been in Rescue this whole time. If your vision is accurate, he was up on the mountain the day Val died and again when he caused the landslide. We can’t say where he’s been between the two events.”
Jake drummed his fingers on the table. “Okay. That’s a fair statement. And I do remember that rescue. The kids who survived were in bad shape. I think one of them lost a foot to frostbite, and another was so far gone he was completely delirious. He kept talking about someone named Zane being bitten by zombies. The thing is, there wasn’t anyone named Zane in the group.”
“You checked with the others to verify that?”
“I did. The others said there’d only been six of them, the three we rescued and the three whose bodies we found.”
“Another aspect of this rescue is that the father of one of the boys who died blamed the S&R team for not finding the kids in a timely manner,” Landon added. “In fact, at one point I think he was talking about filing a lawsuit against them.”
“That’s true,” Jake verified. “The case never went anywhere. The father was grieving deeply, but the kids were caught in a blizzard and weren’t at all equipped to wait it out. The team showed up and was ready to move out as soon as the storm let up a bit, but it took more than twenty-four hours from the time of the rescue request until it was safe to go in. Even then, it really wasn’t safe, but with the experienced people we had, it was doable.”
“Who was involved in the rescue?” I asked Landon.
Landon looked at the computer. “Jake, Val, Devon, and Dani.”
Devon had been Dani’s boyfriend at the time, a visitor to the area she’d met over the summer. He’d decided to stick around for a while and Dani had lived with him for a while, but he’d eventually left when she decided it was time for her to move out and move on. The breakup had been messy, and as far as I knew, Devon had never returned to Rescue.
“I think this rescue might be relevant. Let’s print out the details and we can talk about it at the meeting later,” I suggested.
“Okay. What else do you have flagged?” Jake asked.
“Nicky Nolan.” Landon looked up. “Nicky was a local kid. It says here he was twenty when he went hiking with his girlfriend, Charisse Cole. The couple ran into a grizzly while hiking the river trail in late fall, and Charisse was attacked and killed. Nicky hid in a small space provided by a rock outcropping. He was terrified to come out even after the bear left, so he hadn’t made it home. His dad sent the team out looking for him. They found what was left of Charisse’s body first, then later noticed Nicky cowering in his hiding place.”
“The kid was a mess.” Jake shook his head. “I guess I’d be a mess too if I’d seen my girlfriend mauled to death. Nicky’s family lived in town for another decade, but as far as I know, Nicky never came back after he left for college a few weeks after the incident.”
“Why did you flag this one?” I asked Landon. “It doesn’t sound as if Nicky was even in Alaska when Val died.”
“It’s true there isn’t any evidence he came back once he left, but the violence of the whole thing spoke to me.” Landon crossed his arms over his chest. “I guess the guy wouldn’t have a reason to hold a grudge against the S&R team. I’ll go ahead and unflag this one. Which just leaves a note relating to the team who was trapped in the fire the summer before Val died.”
“I remember that,” I said. “It was awful.” I shuddered when I remembered the church group that had gone hiking in the canyon during a hot stretch. A fire broke out and trapped them. There were twelve kids and four adults all told, and only seven of the kids and one of the adults made it out alive.
Jake nodded. “It really was a tragedy.”
“While I don’t see how that incident could relate to Val’s death, the survivors could on some level blame the fact that the S&R team couldn’t get to them before the deaths of their friends. Given what happened last night, I suppose we should consider it an important side note that fire was involved. I think we should print this one off as well.”
Jake’s phone rang just as Landon hit the Print button. Jake hadn’t said as much, at least not yet, but based on his side of the conversation and the look on his face, the team had just been called in on a rescue. My heart started to pound; I had to wonder whether this one was real or if it was another trap.
Chapter 7
The frantic parents of a two-year-old boy paced in the background as Jake brought the team up to speed. “Georgie Baker was last seen watching cartoons in the living room of the home his parents rented for their autumn vacation,” Jake began as the entire team, including the dogs, stood in the driveway in front of a small house on the river. “His parents were in the kitchen sharing a pot of coffee and discussing their plans for the day when Mrs. Baker went to check on Georgie. In the living room she found the television on and the Bakers’ dog asleep in front of the fire, but the room was otherwise empty. The Bakers have searched the house from top to bottom and the area surrounding the home to no avail. It’s their opinion that Georgie wouldn’t cross the road. He’s been forbidden to do so and seems to understand the consequences. That means he most likely followed the river in one direction or the other, and then possibly veered off from there. We’ll divide into two teams. One will head upriver, the other down. Harmony, Landon, and Dani, take Yukon and head upstream. Jordan, Sitka, and I will go downstream. Any questions?”
“What was he wearing?” Dani asked.
“Good question. When last seen, Georgie had on a pair of blue jeans and a gray flannel shirt. He wore a pair of fuzzy Cookie Monster slippers on his feet.” Jake held up two plastic bags, each with a T-shirt inside. He handed one to me. The T-shirts would be used to provide Georgie’s scent to the dogs.
“Are the police involved in the search?” Landon asked.
“Officer Houston was responding to a home invasion by a hungry bear when the call came in. He’ll be here as soon as the bear’s been removed. His officers are coming out to help as well. We were the first to respond, so we’ll get started.”
“Be sure your radios are on channel two,” Sarge, who had arrived to man the radio, reminded us. “Things are tense given what’s been going on, but it’s our job to find this boy, so let’s head out and bring him home.”
“Have you tried to make a connection?” Jordan asked me before we separated.
“I tried when we first arrived but didn’t pick up anything. I’ll keep at it as we make our way upstream. If I get a vision, I’ll let you know.�
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As my team started out, I took the little T-shirt out of the bag and let Yukon take a good long sniff. “This is Georgie. Find Georgie.”
Yukon set off down the narrow trail that skirted the river. The portion that was closest to the house wound its way through a wide-open meadow, but I could see the forest was dense up ahead. As I considered heading into a closed-in, darker place, the trepidation I’d been experiencing since we’d received the call increased dramatically.
“Is anyone else totally freaked out right now?” Dani, who was usually never bothered by anything, asked.
“It is a little nerve-racking,” I answered. “But unlike the rescue on Friday, we were able to interview the people who called in the rescue.”
“And the parents did seem genuinely upset,” Landon added. “I doubt they’re faking the disappearance of their child just to get us out here.”
“I guess,” Dani said as she picked her way through a low spot that was sticky with black mud.
I paused to look for the tiny footprints that would have been made by a two-year-old’s slippers but didn’t find any, so I once again instructed Yukon to find Georgie and followed him.
“What if this guy kidnapped the kid to force the rescue?” Dani said.
“Seems like a lot of trouble to go to,” Landon countered.
“Maybe, but no one in this town is going to be very willing to respond to an emergency call of any kind now. Using a two-year-old would be smart. Who’s going to refuse to look for a kid that young?”
Dani was right. If the killer had planned this rescue, he’d done a good job anticipating what it would take to get us out here.
