Chapter 13
13
S melly Man was gone.
Eli rocked back and forth as the scary man drove the car. After he and Smelly Man had eaten their food, Scary Man had come to meet with them. Scary Man had picked Eli up and carried him to the back seat of the other car.
The car was black, like his stuffed horsey. Even though he was inside, he heard the two men shouting at each other outside. Scary Man did most of the yelling. Something about almost getting caught by the police.
Then he’d heard a loud bang!
Eli hadn’t heard that sound before, and he didn’t like it. He rocked faster, wishing for his building block. After a while, Scary Man had come back to the car and stared at him. “Behave or you’re next.”
Eli didn’t say anything. He had been behaving. He hadn’t caused any trouble. He squeezed his stuffy tight. Then he noticed there was a small metal thing next to him in the back seat. It wasn’t square like his building block. It was short and narrow with a blunt tip on the end. Best of all, it was hard. The opposite of soft.
He picked it up with his free hand and immediately felt better. Hard. He liked having two things to hold in his hands.
Hard and soft. As the man drove on a bumpy road, he slowed his rocking and squeezed his hands.
Hard and soft. He still wasn’t sure what was taking his mommy so long to get there. His eyes felt heavy, and he yawned. Then he stretched out on the back seat.
He was so tired.
Hard. Soft...
* * *
“Chase? What’s wrong?” Wyn had promised to stay back, but the horrified expression on Chase’s face filled her with dread. Was this it? Had he found Eli inside?
Was their son dead?
She rushed forward, but Chase quickly held up a hand. “It’s not Eli,” he said, keying into the source of her fear. “George Twofeathers is dead.”
What? Wyn stopped abruptly, staring in shock. “Are you sure?”
“Oh yeah.” He came toward her. “There’s no mistake.” When she started to move around him, he reached out a hand to stop her. “Don’t, Wyn. There’s no reason for you to look at him. Trust me, you don’t want that image in your head.”
“But why?” She grappled with knowing George had been murdered. “I don’t understand. And where is Eli?”
“I wish I knew the answer to both of those questions.” Chase’s expression was somber as he cupped her shoulders with his hands. “I assume George had been killed because he was viewed as a loose end. Or maybe whoever is ultimately in charge of this thing has decided his usefulness is over.” He hesitated, then added, “I have to wonder if the news about Mary identifying him via the drive-through restaurant has made its way through the town rumor mill. And that’s the reason George was killed.”
“We just found out ourselves. How could the kidnappers have known about Mary seeing Eli?” As soon as she said the words, she thought about the bits of conversation between the tribal police that they’d overheard by using the radio. “You think the kidnapper has a two-way radio?” Another thought hit. “Or do they have an insider working for the tribal police?”
“I don’t know about having an inside track with the police,” Chase hastened to assure her. “I was thinking more along the lines of the radio or just rumors spreading throughout town.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay, so maybe they had heard the news, but to go as far as killing someone?” The violent act made her sick to her stomach. And brought the panic back to the forefront of her mind. “I was starting to believe this is about the audit I’m doing for the tribal council. That maybe one of the members wanted to hide something illegal. But this?” She waved a hand at the white truck. “Cold-blooded murder?”
“I know.” Chase drew her into his arms. She rested her forehead against his chest, trying to stay strong. Yet she couldn’t shake the fear that the same person who’d brutally murdered George Twofeathers had their son.
Chase pressed a kiss to her temple. “Let’s try not think the worst. We know God is watching over Eli.”
She nodded, even though it was getting harder to believe that. Every time they got close to finding Eli, it turned out that he was even farther away than they’d thought.
And with George Twofeathers dead and the white truck abandoned, they had literally nothing to go on.
Nothing!
Panic clawed up her throat, threatening to choke her. She struggled to breathe.
“Let’s pray.” Chase bowed his head. “Dear Lord Jesus, we beg You to keep Elijah safe in Your care! Give us the strength, courage, and knowledge to find our son. Amen.”
The tightness in her throat eased, just enough for her to echo, “Amen.”
Rocky nudged them, as if wondering what was going on. Chase stared down at her for a long moment, then brushed a light kiss over her mouth. Then he pulled away and turned toward his dog. He threw out his arm wide. “Search! Search for Eli!”
Rocky whirled and went back to work. She frowned. “Why are asking him to do that? We already know Eli was in the white truck.”
“I want to be able to reward him.” Chase shrugged. “He likes to win the search game, and I want him to stay interested in finding Eli.”
She nodded in understanding and watched as Rocky picked up the scent trail. He sniffed all around the truck, and she wondered if George’s dead body was throwing the K9 off his game. But just a minute later, Rocky sat near the driver’s side door of the truck and let out a sharp bark.
“Good boy, Rocky!” Chase praised the dog and threw the red ball for him. Rocky wagged his curly tail, then leaped up to catch the ball.
“I need to call Griff.” Chase sighed heavily as watched Rocky celebrate his win. “He and his crime scene techs need to get out here ASAP.”
She nodded.
Chase pulled out his phone. Rocky still ran around for a bit, then stopped and lifted his nose into the air while still carrying the red ball in his mouth. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest at the possibility he’d alerted on Eli’s scent again, but then the dog turned and trotted back to Chase.
As usual, the K9 dropped the ball several feet from Chase rather than placing it in his handler’s outstretched hand.
“Griff? I’m calling with bad news. We found George Twofeathers dead from a gunshot wound to the head in the back of the white pickup truck.” Chase scanned the area. “I’m not sure exactly where we are, roughly six miles past the airport. More north than west by my estimation.”
She could easily imagine Griff’s response. Chase’s expression didn’t change, though, as he continued to provide directions.
“We stayed off the main highway,” he explained. “And yeah, it’s not good. I wish we would have gotten here earlier.” He listened some more. “Okay, we’ll stick around until you get here. But you’ll want your crime scene techs too.” He bent his head and seemed to take note of the footprints in the snow. Something she hadn’t paid attention to until now. “I think George was killed nearby or while he was inside his truck.”
A wave of nausea hit hard. Had Eli witnessed the murder? She shivered.
She didn’t want to stay close to the dead body. Yet this was the last place they knew for certain Eli had been.
Oh, Eli , she thought on a wave of desperation. Where are you?
If there was an answer, it was lost in the wind.
* * *
Chase didn’t see any blood stains in the snow, but there were plenty of footprints that told the story of what had gone down out here in the middle of nowhere.
The only good thing was that there weren’t any footprints small enough to be made by a child. He hated thinking that Eli had been in the truck during the murder, but somehow, he didn’t think that was the case.
It would have been too difficult to get Eli out of the back seat after shoving George’s body in there.
He felt antsy staying near the scene of George’s murder. The more he thought about it, the more he realized the shooting must have happened recently. Like maybe even within the past thirty to forty minutes. They didn’t know who had Eli or what kind of vehicle they were driving, but he had the sudden urge to hit the road.
“Let’s go.” He took a step forward to retrieve Rocky’s ball. He didn’t have time to assert his alpha status now.
“I thought we were waiting for Griff?”
“I changed my mind.” He could not ignore the sense of urgency. “We didn’t pass any vehicles on the way here, so that leads me to believe that whoever has Eli is still heading north on this road.”
Wyn’s eyes widened as that idea sank deep. “You think so?”
“Yeah, I do.” He turned and strode toward the SUV with Wyn hurrying to follow. He used his key fob to open the rear hatch for Rocky. “Get up!”
For once, Rocky obeyed his command. He closed the hatch, then quickly went up to slide in behind the wheel.
Seconds later, they were back out on the road. Again, he wrestled with the possibility of leaving the trailer behind. But what if they needed it? Judging by the lack of homes out here, he figured they may need to go cross-country sooner or later.
And he’d rather be prepared for the inevitable. Even though pulling the trailer meant going slower. Not to mention sucking all his gas. Thankfully, he’d filled up back in Riverton. At least they could go for a while before he’d have to worry about getting more.
“Where do you think they’re headed?” Wyn asked, reading his mind.
“I was hoping you’d have an idea about that.” He waved his hand toward the open landscape. “Where does this road go?”
“I don’t know.” She sounded exasperated. “It’s not as if I drive out this way on a routine basis.”
“Check your map app on your phone.” He tried not to sound accusatory, but this was her home, not his. And this area outside the casino had not been the focus of his search for Alecia six months ago. “If you wanted to hide a kid, where would you take him?”
She frowned and pulled off her gloves so she could work the phone. “If we turn left at the next intersection, there’s a road that will take us to the casino.”
He frowned, not sure the kidnapper’s intent was to take that route. Wouldn’t there be more people in the city housing the casino? “What if we turn right instead?”
“That takes us toward the small town of Pavillion.” She nodded slowly. “Yes, I think they’d go that way rather than toward the casino.”
“Okay. Then we’ll head there.” There was a fifty-fifty chance of guessing wrong, but he tried not to think about that. “Stay alert for vehicles. Maybe we’ll catch up to them.”
She set her phone in her lap and stared out her passenger window. “I wish I understood what they want with Eli. Why hasn’t anyone called me to make a ransom demand? What’s the point if this isn’t about money?”
“I wish I knew the reasons behind this too.” Chase was plagued by those thoughts as well. More so now that George Twofeathers had been callously murdered and stuffed in the back of his truck. Whoever had arranged this kidnapping was not joking around. “When did you plan to finish your audit?”
“I told the tribal council the audit would take three weeks to complete, and I only started two days ago.” The color leeched from her cheeks. “You don’t think they plan to keep Eli for three weeks?”
“I don’t know what to think.” He had no idea what the driving force was behind the kidnapping. “The audit is the only thing that makes sense. Nothing else has changed, right?” He glanced at her. “I can’t imagine you’ve done something else that might cause someone to take such a drastic action.”
“No. Just the audit. I’ll call my father now and resign my position.” Her face turned stoic. “They can find someone else to do the audit.”
He wasn’t sure what to say about that. Normally, he wouldn’t recommend making snap decisions during a time of crisis, but he was hoping to convince her to move closer to the ranch once they had Eli home safe. “Your decision, Wyn.”
“I can’t deal with talking to my father right now. He’ll ask questions that I don’t really want to answer.” She stared down at her phone. “Maybe it’s the coward’s way out, but I’ll send a resignation email.”
“Are you sure?” He felt the need to give her an out. “We could be off base.”
“I’m sure. We’re not off base. And even if we are, I don’t care what the reason is behind Eli’s kidnapping.” She glanced up at him. “I was planning to move again anyway. For sure I’m not staying on the rez after this.”
He couldn’t blame her for wanting to get away, although hearing that she had planned to move eventually was a surprise. As he approached the intersection, he hesitated before turning right to head straight north.
He needed to believe they were on the right track. That Eli and his kidnapper weren’t that far ahead of them. But as he chugged up a hill, he was losing hope that they would find him.
“Chase! I think that’s a car up ahead!” Wyn’s hand gripped his arm. “Heading toward Pavillion!”
“I see it.” He hit the gas. The engine growled in response as it pulled the trailer forward. “What kind of car is it?”
“I can’t tell.” She strained against the seatbelt, leaning forward as if that might help the SUV close the gap. “I don’t know that much about cars.”
“I meant the color mostly.” Clouds were moving across the sky, obscuring the sun. He hoped they weren’t an indication of an impending storm.
“All I can tell is that it’s dark in color.” She frowned. “Wait, I think he’s slowing down to turn. He’s not using his blinker, though.”
“That’s okay, we’ll catch up to him.” At least, he hoped they would. He pushed the SUV as fast as he dared. To the right, he could see a scattering of buildings, not bunched together but enough that he assumed the town of Pavillion was over there.
Interesting that the guy seemed to be heading left, away from town. Maybe there were other homes in that direction too.
His phone rang. Griff’s name showed up on the screen, so he declined to answer. A few seconds later, the phone rang again.
Grinding his teeth, he answered, “I’m busy!”
“You were supposed to stay with the body!” Griff shot back. “Where are you?”
“A few miles outside of Pavillion.” He glanced at Wyn. “If you don’t hear from us in thirty minutes, you may want to head out to investigate.”
Griff muttered something that may have been a curse. “I told you to stay out of this. To let us handle it.”
“You wouldn’t stay out if it was your son.” He belatedly realized he’d never mentioned that fact to Griff. Although the tribal police officers seemed to already be aware of the biological connection.
“Your son?” Griff’s voice rose in agitation. “You never mentioned that, Sullivan. Neither did Doug Bridges.”
“It’s a long story, and my family doesn’t know.” Wasn’t that the understatement of the year? He needed to call Doug soon. “Besides, we haven’t found anything significant. A dark car is several miles ahead of us, but the driver could be anyone.”
There was a long silence. “I don’t like this,” Griff finally said. “If your dog alerts on anything out there, I want you to call me. Understand? Don’t go chasing after your son without backup.”
Picturing the dead George Twofeathers in the back of his truck made him swallow hard. He understood what Griff was saying. He could easily be outgunned. It was one thing to put himself in danger, but dragging Wyn and Rocky into harm’s way wasn’t good.
“Okay, I’ll let you know if Rocky alerts on Eli’s scent.” Wyn’s frown indicated she didn’t like that response. “But when you’re finished at the scene of the murder, you may want to head here. I don’t think they’d take Eli to the Casino or Fort Washakie.”
“And that’s based on what? The sighting of one car?” Griff sounded weary and annoyed. “Stay in touch, Sullivan. I mean it.”
“I will.” He couldn’t afford to alienate the FBI agent. Not just because of the kidnapping, but he and his siblings often worked with law enforcement across the state. He didn’t want to prevent anyone from calling on their search and rescue services because he was at odds with the federal government. “Thanks, Griff. I’m sorry we didn’t stick around.”
“No, you’re not,” Griff shot back. “But now that I know Eli is your son, your actions make more sense. You should have told us that from the start.”
To Chase’s mind, it didn’t matter who Eli’s father was. “We all want the same thing. To find Eli alive and bring him home.”
“Yes, we do. Later.” Griff ended the call.
Chase quickly called Doug. His soon-to-be brother-in-law didn’t answer, so he left a terse message. “We’re tracking a car that may belong to Eli’s kidnapper near the town of Pavillion. If you don’t hear from me soon, you should contact the FBI.”
There was a long pause as they drove in silence. Then Wyn spoke up. “Can’t you go any faster? I think the dark car up ahead turned off this road. I don’t see him anymore.”
“I’m doing my best. We don’t even know he’s the kidnapper.” Chase used his chin to gesture to the road before them and the intersection up ahead. “Is that where he turned?”
“Yes.”
He swung the SUV into a wide turn. The roads out here were narrow, so he took up both lanes. After making the turn, he frowned. “Where did he go?”
“I don’t know.” Anxiety radiated off Wyn. “There are more hills out that way, so it’s harder to see where the vehicle went. And it looks like there may be a few houses in the distance. Maybe the car has pulled off the road into one of those driveways?”
“It’s possible.” Chase tried to think of a way to narrow their search. He crested the top of a hill and saw the few homes she’d mentioned. He abruptly pulled off the road, as far as he could without getting stuck in the snow. “I think we need to use Rocky from this point forward.”
“That’s a good idea.” Wyn looked relieved. “Your K9 has not steered us wrong yet.”
“He’s got a great nose.” He shifted into park and killed the engine. “Remember the rules. We stay back and let him take the lead. And you need to stay behind me as we follow him. The kidnapper has already killed George Twofeathers.” He shot her a grim look. “We know exactly what he’s capable of.”
“I will.” Her face was pale. “I don’t like knowing we’re putting Rocky in danger, yet I’m not sure what else to do.”
He nodded. Rocky’s K9 vest was made of bullet-resistant material, but he also knew that dogs didn’t do well with blunt-force trauma.
A bullet striking the K9 vest would cause internal bleeding. Considering they were in the middle of the Wind River Reservation without quick access to emergency veterinary services, the risk to Rocky was significant.
As was the risk to Eli. A killer had their son.
He had little choice but to send Rocky out to find Eli’s scent.
Pushing out of the car, he opened the back hatch. Rocky eagerly jumped down and lowered his head to stretch his back. He poured water into the collapsible bowl, and this time, Rocky lapped at it. Chase was under no illusions that Rocky was drinking on command. He knew the dog was likely thirsty.
“Are you ready?” He raised his voice to get Rocky revved up. “Are you ready to work?” Rocky’s tail wagged back and forth in response. The K9 eagerly sniffed the air. He offered Rocky the scent bag with Eli’s clothes. Rocky only gave it a passing sniff.
That was okay. Chase wasn’t worried. He knew his dog had Eli’s scent imprinted in his memory.
“Let’s go search! Search for Eli!” Chase closed the back hatch and spread his arm wide. He waited as Rocky stood sniffing the air for several long seconds. Then the dog began his zigzag pattern of trying to capture Eli’s scent.
Chase had his weapon in his coat pocket but decided against pulling it out at this point. The cold winter air would numb his fingers well before he’d have a chance to use the weapon.
He glanced back at Wyn. Their eyes met and held. He reached out, pulled her into his arms, and gave her a quick kiss. “Let’s go.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything. He set off after Rocky, following the dog across the snowy terrain. The snow was packed down, which made the surface a little slippery. He glanced back at Wyn, hoping she wouldn’t slip and fall.
Rocky was a dog on a mission. How his K9 could track elusive scents floating through the air was a mystery, but it soon became clear that Rocky had latched onto something.
“Good boy,” Chase called out encouragingly. Not that Rocky really needed it. The dog’s ears were pricked forward, and his nose was working a mile a minute.
The dog turned toward a ramshackle house off to his right. Chase’s pulse kicked into high gear. Maybe they had been following the kidnapper’s dark car. Quickening his pace to keep up with his dog, he scanned the property. Smoke rose from a chimney, indicating someone was home, but he didn’t see a car.
There was an outbuilding a hundred yards away. That gave him pause. He didn’t think there had been enough time for the kidnapper to park in the outbuilding, then walk to the house with Eli.
Yet it was clear Rocky was headed for the house.
When they were within fifty feet or so of the residence, Chase pulled off his glove and reached for his weapon. Even though they were close enough to be seen, nobody came out to confront them.
Rocky’s nose was low to the ground again, and he veered to the left. Then his K9 stopped to sniff the ground for a moment. Rocky sat and let out a sharp bark.
He’d alerted on Eli’s scent!
Chase ran forward, keeping a wary eye on the residence. When he got close to Rocky, he saw what had caught his K9’s attention.
A small, black stuffed horse was lying on the ground. He turned as Wyn caught up to him. “Is that Eli’s?”
“Yes. A gift from his grandfather.” She bent to pick it up, then glanced at the house with apprehension. “Do you think Eli is inside?”
It was a good question. He needed to reward his dog, but their situation was precarious. Without warning, the sound of an engine roaring to life had him swinging toward the outbuilding.
A snowmobile shot out from the back of the structure, racing across the snowy terrain.
And there was no mistaking the shape of a small child perched in front of the driver.