Chapter One #2
She leaned weakly against the trunk of a nearby tree, unable to tear her gaze away from the scene.
Bruno had found Skye Gray’s grave.
Cam Walker was just finishing a five-mile late-afternoon run when his phone rang. Seeing Evie Tobin’s name on the screen stopped him cold, despite the blistering heat.
Talk about a blast from the past. Why was Evie calling him now, after all these years?
Hesitantly, he answered. “Hello?”
“Cam? It’s Evie. I—um, I know it’s been a long time.”
“Yeah, it has been.” Using the hem of his T-shirt, he mopped the sweat from his face. “What’s going on? Is there some sort of high school reunion coming up?” He kept his tone casual but knew that even if there was a reunion in the works, he wouldn’t attend.
“No, nothing like that, but I—well, I’m in Grand Haven. My dog, Bruno, found an arm bone in the nature preserve. When I went to investigate further, I found more bones. Including a human skull.”
He froze, his thoughts going back to his childhood home. And to the summer his girlfriend, Skye Gray, had disappeared. With trepidation, he forced himself to ask the obvious question. “A human skull belonging to whom?”
“I can’t say for sure, the police have been at the scene all day, trying to preserve what’s left of the evidence, but I saw some fabric. It looked to me like the striped top Skye loved to wear.”
Cam’s knees felt weak, but he refused to buckle under the news. “Maybe it’s not her. Maybe it’s someone else.”
“Maybe.” Evie didn’t sound convinced. “You remember that top she always wore, the one with the pink, purple, and blue stripes?”
He remembered it well. Mostly because it had barely covered Skye’s midriff. Forcing the response through his tight throat, he said, “Yeah. I remember.”
“Me too.” There was a moment of silence, then Evie spoke again. “Like you said, though, it could belong to someone else. I just thought you should know. Especially since you’ll be . . .” She didn’t finish, but he knew what she was about to say.
He’d be hearing from the police. Now that the Grand Haven cops knew Skye hadn’t left town, he’d shoot right back up to the top of the suspect list. Despite having a solid alibi for the day Skye had supposedly gotten in her car and headed to Grand Rapids.
He still had trouble believing it. That Skye Gray had been lying dead and buried in the nature preserve all this time.
Fourteen years.
The only explanation for that was if someone had killed her. Which led the trail of breadcrumbs right back to him. The boyfriend. But he knew he hadn’t hurt Skye, and that meant someone else had.
Who? Unfortunately, he had no idea.
“I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Cam strode toward the apartment building where he lived, doing the math in his head.
He lived fifteen minutes south of Chicago, which meant he should be able to drive to Grand Haven in roughly three and a half hours, depending on traffic. “I’ll call you when I arrive.”
“Okay. I’m staying at my mother’s house. I, uh, she passed away four months ago.” The conversation was awkward between them. Did Evie now think he had something to do with Skye’s disappearance?
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He felt bad for Evie but felt even worse about the situation he was going home to.
Did Skye’s best friend really think he was capable of murder?
If so, she might not be very happy to see him.
But he wasn’t about to let that stop him either.
After all, she’d called him. Thankfully, he was between assignments for Grayson’s Guardians.
He’d have to tell Rex he was leaving, but that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Thank you.” Evie’s voice was low.
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay. Drive safe.” With that, Evie ended the call.
After a quick shower, Cam tossed his toiletry kit and a change of clothes along with his laptop and phone charger into his duffel. He called Rex Grayson on his way out.
“What’s up?” Rex asked.
“Hey, Cap. I’m going to be unavailable for a few days.
” Cam tossed his duffel in the back of his Jeep.
He’d left the ragtop off, and after a quick glance at the cloudless sky overhead, he decided to keep it that way for the trip around the southern tip of Lake Michigan.
“Something has come up back in my hometown, and I’m heading out now. ”
“Something serious?” Rex asked. “You don’t sound happy about the trip.”
His boss was perceptive, he’d give him that. “It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in later.” Maybe the skull didn’t belong to Skye Gray. Maybe he wouldn’t be treated like a suspect.
And maybe purple pigs would fly.
“I’m here if you need anything,” Rex said. “I can free up some of the other members of the team if you’d like some backup.”
“I’ll let you know.” Rex Grayson had been their army captain during his two tours in Afghanistan. During the abrupt exfiltration, their team had come under attack from the local insurgents. They’d lost over half their team that day, leaving just twelve of them who’d managed to escape.
Aside from Cameron, the team consisted of Rex, Grady, Micah, Stone, Regan, Nolan, Houston, Dina, Theo, Teagan, and Zander.
When Rex had created Grayson’s Guardians, he and the eleven remaining teammates had all joined the company.
Over the five years they’d been stateside, Rex’s business had grown as they had a reputation for getting things done and protecting those under their care.
And in a way, their team had grown too. First, Grady had married Lauren, then Micah had married Bryn, and finally, Dina had married Jarek. The third pair had come as a complete surprise. Anyone who’d served with Di knew she was so not the settling-down type.
People changed. As Cam climbed in behind the wheel and headed to the highway, he wondered what Skye would have been like if she were still alive today. He’d cared for Skye but couldn’t say he’d loved her. At least, not enough to have changed his plans.
Fourteen years ago, he’d wondered if their argument about his decision to join the army had contributed to Skye’s taking off that day.
He’d been honest with the detective on the case, explaining that he and Skye had disagreed about their post–high school plans.
Skye had wanted him to move with her to Grand Rapids, to find full-time jobs, and to live together.
The tourist season in Grand Haven was busy, but things were relatively quiet the rest of the year.
Skye had wanted nothing to do with staying in the small town.
Frankly, Cameron hadn’t wanted that either. But he didn’t want to struggle to find a decent job in some factory. He’d wanted to do something meaningful. And for him, that meant serving his country.
Would Skye still be here if they hadn’t argued? Would she have spent the day at the lakeshore while he was working as a lifeguard, rather than heading to Grand Rapids? Maybe.
His thoughts continued to whirl as he drove. What had happened to Skye? Who had killed her? Skye wasn’t irresponsible enough to pick up a hitchhiker, and considering she’d been buried in the nature preserve, she probably hadn’t gone very far before she’d been killed.
Where was her car? Had the killer taken it?
Maybe the bones didn’t belong to Skye at all. He could be making the 170-mile trip for nothing.
Twice, he almost stopped to turn around. But the image of Skye wearing her favorite pink, purple, and blue striped top haunted him. He didn’t doubt Evie’s ability to recognize her best friend’s clothing.
The trip to Grand Haven took longer than it should have, thanks to a huge accident in Gary, Indiana. He’d also stopped to get a bite to eat along the way. As he drove, he’d expected to hear from the Grand Haven police.
And he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad one that his phone had remained stubbornly silent.
By the time he pulled into town, it was going on eight at night, and darkness had begun to fall.
As he headed up Main Street, he was surprised to find it looked pretty much the same as when he’d left.
Maybe a few of the businesses were different, but most of the restaurants and touristy shops hadn’t changed.
Oddly, the town felt smaller to him. Maybe it was just that he’d been living near Chicago, known for its towering skyscrapers. Easy to understand now how much Skye had wanted to move on to something bigger and better.
He still couldn’t believe she was dead. As he passed the local police station, he tried not to imagine sitting in the small jail, awaiting his trial.
There were a couple of hotels and motels in town, the cheapest being the Lighthouse Inn, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop for a room. Not yet. After going all the way through town, refreshing his memory of the place, he turned around and headed to Evie’s mother’s home.
Not that Evie would want him to stay there with her, but he wanted—needed—to talk to her. To find out what, if anything, she’d learned in the past four hours since she’d contacted him.
A bright-blue SUV sat in the driveway. He pulled in behind it and cut the engine. For a moment, he sat staring at the place. Like everything else in town, the house looked smaller than he remembered.
Hearing a dog barking frantically, he pushed out of the driver’s side and walked up to the front door. It opened before he reached it.
“Quiet, Bruno. Cam is a friend. Friend, okay?” Looking frazzled, Evie opened the front door. “Hi. Come in.”
“Hi.” He stepped across the threshold and held out his hand for the dog to sniff.
Bruno was huge, probably weighing close to a hundred pounds.
Evie, on the other hand, looked thin. She still had the long curly red hair he remembered, although she currently wore it pulled back in a ponytail.
“I’m sorry to hear about your mom. That must have been tough. ”
“Thank you.” Her smile didn’t reach her blue eyes. “It was hard, but she died peacefully in hospice. I find solace in knowing she’s in a better place now.”
He nodded. Once he’d have agreed with her, but he’d fallen away from his faith over the years. Losing more than half their team in Afghanistan had made him question God’s so-called plan.
Yet he knew several of his teammates were believers. Even Di, who’d carried a chip on her shoulder throughout their two tours overseas, had recently gotten married in a simple church ceremony, seemingly having accepted Jesus as her Savior.
“Would you like a soft drink?” Evie asked. “I don’t have anything stronger, I’m afraid.”
“Water is fine. I don’t drink.” He tucked his hands in the front pockets of his jeans as he watched Bruno follow Evie to the fridge. “I really appreciate you calling to let me know about the human remains you found.”
“I’m not sure you should be thanking me.” Her tone was dry as she handed him a bottle of water. “I wanted you to know, but I hate dredging up memories of the past.”
He drank the water, searching her gaze. “I didn’t hurt Skye.”
Evie flushed. “I know you didn’t. But I admit, I’m feeling guilty over the way we just let it go. Maybe if we’d kept pushing . . .”
“We were eighteen and not working in law enforcement.” He sighed and dropped into the closest kitchen chair. “But I know what you mean. It never sat right with me to simply chalk Skye’s disappearance up as her leaving town without telling anyone.”
“Exactly.” Evie took the seat across from him. Bruno nudged her, then stretched out on the floor beside her. “The police won’t say for sure if they think the remains are Skye’s. Despite the way I recognized the scrap of fabric among the bones.”
He grimaced and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Did they say anything about the investigation? I’m surprised nobody from the Grand Haven Police Department has called me yet.”
“They haven’t said anything to me.” She blew out a heavy sigh. “You probably made this trip for nothing.”
He lifted a shoulder and drained the rest of the water. “It doesn’t matter. I happen to be between jobs at the moment.”
“Oh? What do you do?” The question was polite enough, but he sensed a reservation in her expression. He belatedly realized she was assuming he was jobless.
“After getting out of the army, I joined a private security firm, Grayson’s Guardians. I just got back from a job in Denver, Colorado, earlier this week. I let my boss know that I’m not able to take another assignment for a while.”
“Oh, that sounds interesting.” Evie smiled more warmly now. “I’m on a leave of absence from my nursing job at the hospital in Grand Rapids.” She waved at the house. “I’m trying to get the place ready to be sold.”
“I always knew you’d be a great nurse.” He smiled back, recalling their lifeguard days with fondness. At least, until the day Skye had gone missing.
Evie stood and reached for his empty water bottle. She turned and tripped over Bruno a split second before a shot rang out, shattering the window over the kitchen sink.
Without hesitation, Cam threw himself on top of Evie and Bruno, his heart pounding as he grimly realized how close Evie had been to being shot and killed.
And somehow, he was convinced the reason she was in danger was because of how she’d found Skye’s remains.