Chapter 26
Savvy
I was already on my way to Watts Lake when Hugo called me.
Tessa had been able to pull a few strings and managed to get us an approximate radius where the kids’ phones pinged for the last time. Unfortunately, the radius is approximately a square mile, but what is interesting was the coverage included part of the lake.
I’d barely hung up with Hugo when Roy’s call came in and had me in an even greater hurry to get there.
So, when a call comes in over dispatch of a vehicle in the water, I already have eyes on Nate’s truck parked on the bridge ahead. But no sign of Nate or Roy.
I pull off as close as I can along the guardrail at the base of the bridge, grab my Mag light, and climb over onto the steep embankment. I try to keep my footing as I make my way down, shining my flashlight until I spot one man standing up to his hips in the water.
“Nate!” I yell, but when he turns and I shine my light on his face, I see it’s Roy.
Ten feet from him a head and shoulders surface, spraying water, and I take a deep breath when I hear Nate’s voice.
“I need that light!”
He comes wading to the side just as I get to the water’s edge.
“Emergency crews are right behind me,” I tell him when he reaches for the light.
“No time,” he pants, clearly out of breath as he reaches again. “They might still be in there.”
“Catch your breath before you kill yourself, buddy,” Roy cautions him as he joins us. “Let me have a look.”
I quickly hand the flashlight off to Roy, who wastes no time diving into the dark waters. I pull Nate to my side as he gulps in air and watch the eerie play of light of my Mag torch under the surface of the water.
“I’m going back in,” Nate mutters, trying to pull his arm free, but I’m holding on.
“Give him a chance,” I plead, digging my heels in before he drags me in the water with him.
Just as he rips free from my hold, the light surfaces and Roy’s head pops out of the water.
“It’s empty,” he gasps. “No one’s in there.”
“Are you sure? Did you see any of the windows open or broken? Any external damage to the car?”
I rattle off questions as fast as the thoughts hit my head.
“No broken windows, but I managed to open a door to get a better look inside,” Roy informs me.
In the background I can hear the whine of approaching sirens.
Hugo is the first to come barreling down the embankment, losing his footing several times, but that doesn’t seem to slow him down.
“Are they—”
“It’s the car but they’re not in there,” Nate quickly shares.
The big man bends over, bracing his hands on his knees as he takes in big gulps of air.
“Windows look to be intact,” I explain. “I don’t think they were in the car when it went in the water.”
But then where the hell are they? It looks more and more like we’re dealing with foul play here. If these two were runaways, they wouldn’t be ditching their only mode of transportation in the lake. The only reason to do that willfully would be to hide a crime.
Worry about the kids’ fate just ramped up to the highest gear.
If their car is here, you would think the kids were here at some point as well. Maybe we can find evidence of that, if we haven’t already trampled all over it.
“Guys, let’s get up to the road before we destroy whatever evidence there is. We need this road closed off and get some lights set up so we can see what we’re doing.”
Hugo leads the way and is already off talking to the fire chief, by the time I swing my leg over the guardrail. Tessa and Chris’s SUV is just pulling up behind the fire truck, and I head in their direction with Nate sticking close to my side. Roy joins a small group of men on the bridge.
I quickly fill Tessa in on what we discovered.
“Not a coincidence it was dumped in the same lake we found the first victim,” she observes.
A fair conclusion, although I do wince at the mention of the dead man in the lake, and quickly glance at Nate. A muscle ticks rhythmically in his jaw as I’m sure his mind is working its way to the same conclusion we’re fearing.
“I put a call into the rest of the crime scene unit, but it’ll be at least a couple of hours before they can mobilize and get here,” Tessa continues. “In the meantime, we’ll do what we can.”
Just then Auden’s State Patrol cruiser pulls up as well and he rushes over to us.
“I picked up the call on the radio. Tell me what I can do.”
I can feel the air go heavy around us and move a little closer to Nate.
I know he’s not a fan of Auden and the encounter last night didn’t really help.
I hope whatever is simmering between these two guys gets resolved at some point, because both are important parts of my life, but that will have to wait.
We have much, much bigger priorities now.
Nate
I try to stay out of the way, but still stick close enough I don’t miss anything being said.
It takes a lot of self-restraint not to go off in my truck and actively look for my girl, but I wouldn’t even know which way to turn. So instead, I’m waiting for anything that might give me some direction so I have a place to start.
I gather it’s still going to be a while before the forensics people get here, but in the meantime, Savvy had one of her deputies set up floodlights that bathe the embankment in bright light.
What we hadn’t been able to see in the dark were the tracks leading down the embankment.
The car had traveled the steep slope from the shoulder of the road right at the start of the guardrail, to the lake below.
One of the firefighters, who’d gone into the waters in scuba gear to check out the submerged vehicle, surfaces and removes his mask to report a paver had been used to weigh down the gas pedal, and he observed two cell phones in the footwell on the passenger side of the car.
I listen in while the crime tech gives the diver instructions on how to collect those cell phones to preserve any evidence.
“Will they be able to pull off fingerprints on the spot?” I ask Savvy, who doesn’t seem to veer too far from me.
Neither does Roy, as a matter of fact. His buddies left, but he’s hovering a few feet away. Maybe they’re afraid I’m going to lose it, which I feel on the verge of doing, to be honest.
So I try to focus on details and am guessing whoever took the kids would have had to handle the phones to turn them off. Hopefully they left fingerprints that will give us a lead.
I refuse to consider the possibility it might already be too late.
“Look, those phones have been in the water for a while; chances they’ll be able to pull usable prints of those are pretty slim,” Savvy explains. “And I’m not sure if Chris can do it right here or if he has to try back at the lab, but my guess is he won’t find any.”
“Why do you say that?”
She blows out a shaky breath before answering, “Because I’m pretty sure whoever is responsible is toying with us. I think this was all set up as a distraction.”
“A distraction from what?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not sure, but I think I should head back to the station.” She puts a hand on my forearm and looks me in the eye. “And I think you should come with me.”
“I wanna stay. What if they find something here?”
“If they do, we’ll know as soon as anyone else does, and in the meantime you can help me go over some of the tips Dad messaged me are starting to come in.”
Either twiddle my thumbs here or get busy at the sheriff’s office. It’s not a difficult choice.
“Fine, I’ll follow you.”
I catch a look shared between her and Roy, who is flanking me on the other side.
“Go with Savvy, and leave your keys with me,” he suggests. “I’ll get your truck back to town.”
I’m not sure I like being without wheels which, I sense, is their objective. However, Roy did drive up here with me and will need a way back to town.
“Sure,” I concede, tossing him my keys.
I’m struck speechless to find how busy it is when we walk into the sheriff’s station.
Brenda is manning the phones at the front desk and looks busy when we walk by.
Inside the large open office space, I’m surprised to see Bess and Ginny sitting at desks alongside a deputy, whose name escapes me, and Brant Colter. All appear to be on the phone.
“Well, holy fuck, honey. Come here.”
Brant’s wife Phil slams the coffeepot she was carrying on a desk and pulls me into such a tight hug, I’m finding it hard to breathe. Except when she lets go of me a moment later, I still can’t seem to get a full breath of air in my lungs.
“You need something to eat,” she announces, patting my cheek as she appears to wipe a tear from her own. “Keep up your strength.”
She swings around at Savvy, wagging an admonishing finger at her. “And you too, missy. I’m willing to bet my 1962 Fender Esquire you probably didn’t have anything since breakfast, if you even had that.”
“I need to talk to Dad,” Savvy protests.
“Nothing says you can’t eat and talk at the same time,” Phil stubbornly observes. “So go talk, I’ll bring you guys some coffee and a sandwich. Carlos at the Bread I just came to check on you.”
Of course it would be Brant Colter waiting by the sink. He turns on the faucet to run the water.
“You may wanna splash some cold water, son.”
“Not a good time to fucking be nice to me, old man,” I grumble, sticking my whole head under the cold spray when the waterworks threaten to start up again.
The bastard chuckles as he claps me on the back.
“I’ll leave you to it. Savvy’s doing up a war board in the large meeting room, and Phil is putting out some food in there. Join us when you’re done here.”
“I’m done.”
I take the wad of paper towels he holds out to me and wipe my dripping head. I’m about to follow him into the hallway when my phone rings in my pocket.
“It’s Roy,” I announce when I see who’s calling. I answer with, “Yeah?”
“I tried the sheriff’s office and dispatch but the fucking lines are busy. I drove by the church to lock my vehicle, which I hadn’t done when I jumped into your truck, and there is something wrong here.”
“What do you mean, something’s wrong?”
My question alerts Brant, who shoots me a look of concern. I immediately put the call on speakerphone so he can hear.
“I hear yelling, and I think it’s coming from the church basement.”