by Patricia Fry
She nodded. “I sure do, but they proved it wasn’t wolves. There was no pack of wolves.”
“Maybe they were wrong,” Craig said.
“Even so,” Savannah said, “where is the person this belongs to? Who is he, and what’s his stuff doing out here?”
“That’s what I hope the cat will tell us today.” Craig pointed. “See that old tractor over there? That’s going to be my focus.”
“Oh!” Savannah yelped. “Rochelle mentioned a piece of farm equipment. Did you know that, Craig? She had a vision and told us to watch for an old tractor or some kind of farm machinery. She said we’d find someone underneath it.”
“Yeah, I heard that,” Craig said without emotion. “So when we found all this debris, we looked around for the farm equipment and there it is, but what does it have to do with anything? That’s what I can’t figure out.”
When Rags began to pull against the leash, Savannah followed him. “Where are you taking me, Rags?” She glanced back at the others and saw that they were simply watching, so she continued to follow Rags.
“What’s he doing?” Craig called.
“Sniffing and pawing. He seems to think he found something.” Savannah said to the cat, “What is that, boy? What did you find?” She watched him for a moment, then called out, “Craig, there’s stuff buried here.”
“What?” he asked, walking toward her.
“It’s some of that chopped-up paper and fabric and stuff,” she said.
“Bring that shovel, Damon!” Craig shouted. After several minutes he said, “Well, it appears someone tried to hide all these documents and things here, but maybe animals dug some of it up and it got all caught up in the wind we’ve had lately.”
“Yeah,” Damon said, “and the stuff’s all chopped up, like they took the shovel and maybe a machete or something else and destroyed it before burying it.”
Harrison scratched his head. “Isn’t that odd? What else is in there?”
Craig and Damon began moving the debris around with their feet, then Craig reached down and picked up something.
“What is it?” Savannah asked.
“A possible third victim.”
“Victim?” Savannah repeated.
Craig shrugged. “Well, yeah. It’s a CPR certification card in the name of Cody Byrd.” He asked Harrison, “Have you seen anything with this name on it?”
Harrison shook his head. “But I haven’t paid all that much attention to the stuff Leah’s been finding.”
Craig studied the card, then put it in his pocket and stared down at the refuse, muttering, “It appears that someone was trying to hide something.” When he became aware that the others were listening, he said, “Did someone kill these guys and is trying to cover his tracks or are these three hiding out from the law with new identities?” He gazed into the distance. “The big question is, where the heck are they?” He petted Rags. “Good boy. Now shall we go check out that tractor? I want to see if he has any interest in that.”
“How did you find this place?” Savannah asked, following the others toward the tractor with Rags.
Craig slowed his pace to match hers. “It was on that camera the cat had. Everything was all lopsi-doodle, but we were able to follow the cat’s path for a ways and we came across this.”
“Did the cat bring anything overnight?” Savannah asked.
“Yeah, yeah. Didn’t I tell you?” Craig said.
“What?” she asked.
“You didn’t tell her?” Damon asked.
Craig pulled something from his pocket and handed it to her. “This.”
She gasped and looked up at Craig and the others, who were grinning at her. “The feral cat had this? Wow! I wonder how…where…this is just crazy!”
“Yeah, isn’t it from the cover of your book?” Damon asked.
“Yes, it’s part of the photo of Rags and me from the back cover of Rags’s memoirs. Gads. I wonder how…”
“Maybe we’ll figure that out today,” Craig said. He stopped close to the tractor and looked it over. “Stuck,” he mumbled.
“What’s that?” Harrison asked.
“The thing’s stuck in the ground there, and it looks like it has been for a long while.”
“Yeah,” Damon said from the other side of the machine, “several decades, maybe.”
Savannah motioned toward Rags. “Look at him. He’s sure showing an interest in something over here. See him digging?”
“Hey, Harrison,” Craig called, “bring that shovel over here. Let’s see what the cat’s trying to show us.”
“He’s showing you something, huh?” Harrison asked, grinning. “What—that he knows how to dig a hole?”
Craig smirked sarcastically. “Yeah, humor me, will you? Want me to do the digging?”
“No, I got it. Where?” Harrison asked. “Right here where the cat is?”
“Yeah,” Craig confirmed. “Savannah, get the cat out of the way.”
Savannah picked up Rags and held him while Harrison started digging. When Rags began to struggle to get down, she walked a short distance away and placed him on the ground. He immediately began pawing at the dirt. She looked down and saw a swatch of fabric partially buried in the soft dirt. “What is that, Rags?” she said. She stepped back. “Do I really want you to dig it up?”
“What’s he doing?” Damon asked, chuckling. “Why are you over here having a conversation with him?”
“He’s digging at something there. I’m always a little freaked out when he starts doing that, for fear of what he might uncover.”
Damon laughed. “Well, let’s see what it is, shall we? Excuse me, Rags.”
Savannah lifted Rags and moved away.
Meanwhile, Damon jabbed his shovel into the ground a couple of times, then began scooping dirt from the area. “Well, it appears to be a piece of clothing—maybe a t-shirt.” He pulled it out from under the dirt. “It’s a t-shirt—a men’s size small.” He glanced around. “Gosh, that is odd, isn’t it? Now I’m concerned it could be a runaway child who found more trouble than he expected. Maybe he did meet up with a pack of wolves or coyotes.”
“Think about it, Damon,” Savannah suggested, “would a cat come out here if there was a pack of wolves or coyotes around?”
“I guess not, unless the pack has moved on—you know, they did their damage and moved on.”
“And another thing,” Savannah said, “there seem to be three people missing.” She gasped. “Could one of them be a child?”
“Good question,” Damon said, walking briskly toward Craig. “Hey, Detective, we found this just now. Looks like a kid’s shirt.”
“Dang,” Craig said. “I’ve been concerned about what we might find. Some of that stuff the cat’s been dragging home looks like it might belong to a child.” He removed his hat and ran his hand over his head. “Good God, guys, what are we dealing with out here?” Craig looked around, then focused on Rags. “Say, what’s your cat doing?”
“I don’t know,” Savannah said, walking closer to Rags. She crouched next to him. “Hey,” she called, “he found a hole. There’s a den or something over here.”
“Where?” Craig asked, frowning.
She continued to point. “Next to that tractor tire there. Oh my gosh, look at him dig. Does he think someone’s under there?”
Craig moved closer to the tractor. “Someone or something. That’s probably an old badger den,” he complained.
“Who’s that?” Damon asked, shading his eyes and looking into the distance. “They’re riding bikes.”
Everyone turned and looked at where Damon was pointing. Craig was first to speak. “Yeah, I wonder what they’re doing out here. I think I’ll wander up there and check them out.”
“Wait,” Harrison said. “I think those are our ranch hands.”
Craig scoffed. “Ranch hands?”
“Well, you know,” Harrison explained, “they do work around our place.” He scratched his head. “I wonder what they’re d
oing out here. I mean, there’s nothing but brush.”
“Maybe they’re hunting rabbits,” Damon suggested.
Savannah shuddered. “Sure hope they see us over here before they start firing a gun.”
“I wouldn’t trust either of those guys with a gun,” Harrison said. “Anyway, there’s nothing out here to hunt except for maybe lizards or horned toads.”
When Damon gave him a questioning look, he said, “Yeah, I can attest to that, having grown up here. The only other reason to come out to this area is to hide whatever trouble you’re making.” He began walking toward the cyclists. “I’ll go see what they’re doing. Be right back.”
It wasn’t long before Harrison returned. Craig asked, “So, what did they say?”
Harrison shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to talk to them. They took off like a shot when they saw me.”
Craig frowned. “Well, that’s odd, isn’t it? Would they normally run from you?”
“Not at all,” Harrison said.
Craig looked in the direction the young men had ridden. “Maybe they didn’t recognize you.”
“Oh, I got close enough. They definitely knew it was me,” Harrison said.
“Could you tell what they were doing out there?” Craig asked.
Harrison shook his head.
“Well, why don’t we go see what we can find out, shall we, folks?” Craig looked down at Rags. “And cat.” Minutes later the group stood among thick brush. Craig said, “Let’s see, those two were just about here, right?”
Harrison looked around and corrected, “No, a little left of that, actually. I saw them leaning over just behind that berry tree.”
“Berry tree?” Savannah questioned.
Harrison chuckled. “A botanist I am not. See that small tree over there with the red berries on it? I think they’re berries.”
“Yes,” Craig said, walking around the tree. “All there is here is more shrubs and some oddball pieces of lumber.” He frowned and stared down at the wood. “Now that’s peculiar, isn’t it, guys? I mean, who would bring building material out to this desolate area?”
Meanwhile, Damon kicked at wood chunks and tried to move some of the brush aside. He asked Harrison, “You say this is where those kids were?”
“Well, they aren’t exactly kids,” Harrison said. “They’re probably barely in their twenties, but yeah, right about where you’re standing there. They were sure interested in something before they saw me and took off.”
“They were probably just smoking dope,” Craig cranked. He saw something from the corner of his eye. When he looked more closely, he realized that Rags was snooping around inside the shrub near where Harrison stood. “Look at the cat!” Craig exclaimed. “What’s he doing in there?”
“How do I know?” Savannah said.
“Give him some slack,” Craig instructed.
“Okay,” Savannah agreed, “but you know he’s still a cat who likes to hunt squirrels, lizards, and things. He has probably caught the scent of a rodent.”
“Maybe and maybe not,” Craig insisted. “Watch him.”
“I’m watching him,” she said. “He’s dragging me through all these dusty bushes.” Suddenly, she called out, “Oh! Craig, look at this!”
“What is it?” he bellowed. “How do you expect me to get in there?”
“Just crash through the brush. There’s a nice clearing over here, where I am.”
“Oh!” he exclaimed after he made his way to her. “This is an anomaly.”
“How so?” Savannah asked.
“It’s as if someone has spent time and effort clearing away the brush just in this spot. Maybe vagrants have been bedding down out here.” He gazed around. “It just seems odd to have a clearing in the middle of such dense brush.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Harrison agreed, having caught up to them. “Wait!” he shouted. “This is where…” he frowned, then said, “I haven’t thought about this for years. You know, Craig, there’s an old drainage pipe out here. Us kids used to play in it until…”
“What happened?” Craig asked. “Did the authorities close it up?”
Harrison thought for a moment. “I guess they did, or else I just outgrew it. I’m not sure.”
“Where’s the opening?” Craig asked. “Could you go down inside it?”
“Oh yes,” Harrison said. “A grown man could walk right into it.”
“So where was it?” Craig asked again. “How did you get in there?”
Harrison stared out across the terrain. “Let me think about it.”
“We may not have time for that,” Craig said impatiently. “Come on, Harrison—think. Think. Those fellows could have somehow fallen or climbed in there, and…” He took a deep breath and gazed toward where the cyclists had gone. “Unless those two…”
“Craig!” Damon called from a short distance away. “I found something.”
“What?” Craig asked.
“A really nice bike.” He lifted it over his head and made his way to the clearing where the others were. “Look at this,” he said. “I’ll bet you money this is that distance-rider’s bike. See how it’s outfitted?”
“Where’d you find it?” Craig asked, studying the bicycle, “Just out in the open over there?”
Damon shook his head. “No. I saw what I thought was a flash of light across the way, so I walked over there and realized the sun was reflecting off a piece of shiny chrome. I investigated and found this almost completely hidden under a bunch of brush and an old paint-stained tarp.”
“A tarp?” Harrison repeated. “Was it brown?”
Damon nodded. “Light brown with blue and white paint spatters.” He tilted his head. “Is it yours?”
“Sounds like it is,” Harrison said. “I wondered where it got off to.”
“You think someone took it?” Savannah asked.
Harrison nodded. “I guess so, but who?”
“Evidently whoever stole that bicycle,” Craig said. He ran his hand through his hair. “But where in the dickens are those three missing men?”
“It’s looking more and more like something has happened to them,” Damon said.
Craig took a deep breath. “Yeah, but I’m confident my feline partner is about to find them.” He asked Savannah. “So what do you think he was showing you a minute ago?” He looked around. “Hey, where is he?”
“Rags?” Savannah asked. She looked down at the leash. “Oh no. Oh my gosh, Craig, Rags has disappeared.”
Chapter Five
“What do you mean, ‘he disappeared’?” Craig said, sounding exasperated.
Harrison looked around. “Where’d he go? Did you see where he went?”
“I know exactly where he went,” Savannah said.
Before she could continue, Damon called out, “Craig. I think you’ll want to see this!”
“What now?” he complained. “Is it going to add to the case or just confuse us even more?”
Damon chortled. “Well, I don’t know, but I think you’ll want to take a look at it. I found it inside the handlebars of this bike. It’s a map, and it’s all marked up.”
“Let me see that,” Craig insisted, walking swiftly toward Damon.
“Yeah, I noticed the grip was askew, so I removed it and found this rolled up inside there.” Damon pointed. “See, it shows a route from near San Diego to the northern tip of Washington. It looks as though the rider planned to come right through here. See, he has rest stops and parks marked all along the way. There’s our Plaza Park. Looks like he expected to stop over there. Someone must have sent him this direction for some reason, or he happened to stumble across it, but why? There’s nothing out here to attract a cyclist.”
“It depends on when he arrived in Hammond,” Savannah said. The others looked at her, and she continued, “They had a big shindig at the park Friday and Saturday. Maybe he wanted to rest in a more quiet environment.”
“Or he’s one of those who’s into the more
rugged camping experience,” Harrison said.
Damon nodded. “Extreme camping.”
Craig studied the map. After grunting a couple of times, he looked around and asked, “So where the hell is he? If his bike’s here, he’s gotta be around here someplace, but where?” He was suddenly shaken from his thoughts by Savannah’s shrill call.
“Now what?” he asked, turning to face her.
“Craig,” she said breathlessly, “Rags just came out from behind that big rock with this.”
Craig took it from her and turned it over in his hands. “Bruce Lang’s ID bracelet,” he said. “What grown man wears an ID bracelet?”
“One who has a medical condition, maybe,” Savannah offered.
“Or whose mother or girlfriend gave it to him in case he ran into a problem on this trip,” Damon suggested.
Craig carped, “You’d think you two were fiction writers.” He studied the bracelet and said, “His family lost contact with him three days ago. Folks, it’s more than likely this is who we’re looking for.” He frowned. “But where does Jim Alexander and…what’s the other fellow’s name?”
“Cody Byrd,” Damon said.
“Yeah, how do they fit in?” Craig moved closer to Savannah. “Where exactly did the cat come from just now?”
She pointed. “From behind that big rock.”
Craig kneeled and examined the area around the boulder, finally calling, “Hey, guys, need a hand over here.” As Damon and Harrison approached, he said, “Let’s move this rock. I want to see what’s behind it.”
After the three men tried to use brute strength to move the boulder, Damon pulled back. He looked around, then picked up a sturdy piece of wood. “Let’s use this as leverage, shall we?”
Savannah lifted up Rags and stepped back, away from the men.
“Got it!” Craig said, standing with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
Meanwhile, Rags was squirming to get down. Savannah lowered him to the ground and held tightly to his leash, but he kept pulling. “No, Rags,” she said. “They don’t need you in the way. Just settle down.”
At the same time, the three men stared down at what appeared to be an opening beneath the boulder. Craig scratched his head. “What do you think this is?”
