Chapter 6
Chapter Six
By the time Ryan reached the location where the car had been parked there was nothing left but tire tracks in the snow.
The isolation of the location settled in, and he hustled back to the house worried about Charlie.
“Charlie!” He called out as he headed up the stairs to the attic not wanting to frighten her.
The door opened as he approached. She threw herself into his arms.
The shock of having her close kept him immobile for a second before he wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay. He’s gone.”
She stepped back almost as if regretting her reaction. “What’s going on, Ryan?”
He tried to steady his thoughts. “I don’t know, but we were clearly followed here.
In the distance, sirens blared. “That’s Boone and Will.” He hesitated. “Charlie, maybe it’s not a good idea for you to stay in Pine Haven given what’s happened.”
The words were barely out before she stopped him. “I’m not leaving. Abby was trying to tell me something. I believe whatever was in the container will help us figure out what happened to her.”
“Charlie. . .” He crossed his arms. Fear for her, making his voice rough.
“My uncle spent years looking into Abby’s disappearance. I believe he was closing in on identifying the person who took her. . .”
“What?” he asked but he knew. She’d come to the same conclusion as him about Pete’s death.
“Maybe my uncle didn’t die from a heart attack. He could have been murdered.” She stepped closer and searched his face. “We need to do an autopsy before he’s cremated.”
The implication was terrifying to consider. Did someone Pete know take his life? After what happened he couldn’t get it out of his head.
Down below, car doors opened and shut. “I’ll run it by Boone. Come on, let’s get out of here.” He nodded toward the blue container and told her he’d have Doug dust for prints. “I doubt that it will yield any after so long but it’s worth a try.”
He and Charlie stepped out into the late morning and made their way to Boone.
The sheriff extended his hand to Charlie. “Good to see you again. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.” He introduced her to Will before returning his attention to Ryan. “Did you get a look at the vehicle?”
Ryan shook his head. “It was gone by the time I reached the hiding spot. The shooter fired one shot from those trees.” He pointed to the place where the footprints started. “No shell casing. I’m guessing he took it with him.”
Boone scanned the countryside. “Whoever did this is familiar enough with the area to know where to park and not be spotted.”
Abby’s place bordered the national forest on three sides. There were only a few houses down this road.
“With national forest all around and thick snowdrifts, he’d have to have some type of four-wheel-drive vehicle to get out of here,” Will told them. “We didn’t see anyone on the road as we were coming in and it dead-ends into the forest a little past this place.”
“Makes sense. The vehicle was parked in the woods. He wouldn’t have wanted to risk running into a firefight with me by coming back this way.”
Boone grunted. “There’s a forest service road that crosses through the woods halfway past this place.” He turned to his deputy. “Will, go check it out. I’m guessing that’s how he got away.”
“Will do, Sheriff.” He headed to his cruiser and sped down the road toward the woods.
“Any sign of things being out of place inside?” Boone asked as he glanced up at the shell of the house.
“None. There are no footprints in the dust. The blue container was lying on the floor. I have no idea when the contents were taken.”
Behind them, Doug, the crime tech pulled in behind Boone.
“Good, we’ll have him dust the container for prints and see what he can come up with at the house.” Boone stepped away to speak with Doug.
“I’m going to reach out to Abby’s parents. I hate to bring all this back up but we need to know if they remember taking the contents of the container.”
He grabbed his phone and scrolled through the numbers until he found the one for Deborah Tucker. It had been years since he’d spoken to the family personally. They’d eventually stopped calling to check on Abby’s case. He believed it was just too painful for them to think about.
Ryan selected the number and hit call. He and Charlie stepped to the far end of the porch while he waited for Deborah to answer.
“Hello?” The voice on the other end didn’t sound like the cheerful woman he’d grown up knowing.
“Deborah, it’s Ryan McCabe.” The silence that followed had him wondering if he’d made a mistake by involving them.
“Ryan, it’s nice to hear from you. It’s been a while. Has something. . .?”
She didn’t finish but Ryan understood what she wanted to know. “There may have been a new development but I’m not sure it’s significant yet.” He paused for a much-needed breath before asking her about the container. “Did you or your husband empty its contents out before you moved?”
“A blue container? I don’t remember one. I’m sorry. I can speak to Jim when he gets off work. Why do you ask? What’s the significance of the container?”
Ryan stalled before mentioning the note Charlie found.
“And you think Abby may have left something in the container to identify who took her?” The hope in Deborah’s voice was hard to hear.
“We’re not sure.” He reminded Deborah of the mystery games Abby loved playing. “I’ll let you know if we find out anything more. If you could ask Jim about the container that’d be great.”
“I will, I promise.” She was silent for a long moment before adding, “Please, Ryan. Find out what happened to our daughter. We’d like to know the truth before. . .”
He swallowed hard. “I’ll do my best. We’ll talk soon.” He hadn’t told Deobrah about the shooting or the break-in at Pete’s place. The missing journals. Or the niggling feeling that Pete’s death might not have been from natural causes.
While Doug went to work inside searching for viable fingerprints, Ryan drove Charlie back to her room at Lila’s to get her car and then he planned to follow her back to Pete’s place.
A text message came in before they reached town. He scanned it. “Looks like they were able to get some prints on the container. Let’s hope one of them is useful. Oh, and Boone contacted the medical examiner. He’s going to run further tests on Pete.”
Charlie shifted in her seat. “That’s good.”
He hoped it would be. But even if they did find out Pete was murdered, they still had a long way from finding out who was responsible.
She continued to study him, picking up that something was troubling him. “What is it?”
“I don’t want you staying alone. After what happened today and the message left at Pete’s place, it’s not safe.”
She prepared to argue but he needed her to hear him out.
“Charlie, do you understand how dangerous this is? Someone wants to do more than scare you off. They want to silence you. And they won’t stop until that happens.”
She jerked back as if he’d struck her and he felt like a heel.
“I’m sorry. But I need you to listen to me.”
Her wide, round eyes held his. “What would you have me to do, Ryan? Give up? Run away like I did before.” She choked the words out. “I won’t do that. Not again.”
“I’m not asking you to. But it’s not safe to return to your uncle’s place. You can come stay with me.”
Her stony reaction showed she disliked the suggestion.
“We both lost Abby. Your uncle. You know I loved your parents.” He stopped and gathered a breath. “I can’t lose you, too.”
All the fight went out of her. “Okay, but won’t our suspect be expecting me to go to you? If it’s what we suspect and this person is from Pine Haven, then they’ll know about our past connection. They’ll expect me to be with you.”
Past connection. The words stuck in his head, hanging on “past.”
As if past tense. As in finished.
“You’re right. My place would be the obvious location to take you. Best to play it safe. I’ll reach out to Boone for a suggestion.”
“How do you think he keeps finding us?”
He’d wondered the same thing. “I’m guessing he followed us today. But it’s possible he’s listening in on our transmission. Everyone in town has a police scanner. It helps in the wintertime between tourist seasons. To be safe, I’ll let Boone know all future transmissions should be by phone.”
If the suspect was using the scanner to track them, it could be anyone in town.
Still, one thought troubled him. He hadn’t used the radio to coordinate the trip to Abby’s family home.
Somehow, he’d missed the suspect trailing them and that scared him.
Charlie’s life depended on him staying sharp.
He couldn’t let his feelings for her get in the way of him doing his job.
Charlie faced forward again as they drove past the shops in town toward The Avalanche Café while his mind tried to work out the missing pieces of the puzzle.
While growing up, Ryan couldn’t imagine Lila running her family’s café.
She’d been a bit of a wild child. A skilled downhill skier and a stellar athlete—not to mention an amazing artist. He’d expected her to try out for the Olympic ski team, but Lila never really took the sport seriously.
She told him once she skied for fun. Why ruin it with a competition?
After she’d graduated from high school, she moved to New York and then to Paris to study art. But it wasn’t long before she returned to Pine Haven and began working at the café. She told him she missed the small-town life and the café.
As soon as he parked, Lila exited the café as if she’d been watching for them. She hugged Charlie then him. “Are you both okay? I heard the call come over the scanner.”
Ryan should have known. Lila told him listening to her police scanner helped pass the boring moments in Pine Haven. There were many people who came into the café to discuss what they heard over the scanner. It was cheap entertainment, he guessed.
“We’re both fine,” Charlie assured her.
Ryan glanced at the passing traffic with unease. He also kept his eyes on the customers coming in and out of the café. “We should get your things and leave. I don’t like you being out here in the open like this.”
“Wait, you’re leaving?” Lila’s disappointment was clear. “I’d hoped we’d have more time to catch up.”
Charlie gave her another hug. “I’m sorry. Hopefully soon. Once whatever is happening now is over.”
Lila slowly nodded. “I’m going to hold you to that. Don’t disappear again.”
Charlie didn’t answer. Ryan believed as soon as this was over and she’d settled her uncle’s estate, she’d do exactly that. Running from the ghosts that chased her.
“I’d better get back inside. I suppose you don’t have time for lunch?”
Ryan answered for them. “We should be on our way.”
Lila turned to go then stopped. “I almost forgot. Did Eddie reach you?”
Eddie Hawthorne had been Pete’s lifelong friend. They’d gone through school together both choosing to serve the town of Pine Haven in different ways. Eddie was the town’s mayor. Had been for years.
“He called me earlier. I haven’t called him back. Why?”
“He stopped by looking for you. I guess he’d heard you were staying here. He’s pretty torn up about Pete’s passing and wanted to talk to you.”
Ryan could see that Charlie felt guilty. “I’ll call him soon and hopefully we can get together.” She glanced Ryan’s way. He wished he could confirm that would happen soon.
“Good. He mentioned something your uncle was working on about the ‘case.’” Lila frowned as she looked between them. “Does that make sense?”
Charlie told her it did. “You know Pete never stopped working on Abby’s case.”
Lila’s eyes widened. “You think what’s happening now with you two being shot at and Pete’s break-in is related to Abby? After all these years?”
“It’s possible. We don’t know anything for certain yet.” Charlie pulled in an unsteady breath, and Ryan wondered if she was thinking about what happened earlier.
“Please be careful. I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.” Lila squeezed Charlie’s arm then disappeared inside the café.
“On second thought, maybe we should leave your car here,” Ryan told her because the thought of her driving anywhere alone scared him. He expected her to argue the point but she didn’t. Further proof of how shaken up the incident had left her.
He followed Charlie up to the apartment and did a quick search before allowing her to enter. “I’ll wait for you here.” Ryan stepped out into the hallway and closed the door.
Outside the town of Pine Haven spread out before him. In the distance the ski resort was packed with visitors coming in for the holiday. Christmas was always a busy time for the town.
The roads were congested with traffic. And the person who wanted Charlie dead could be any one of them.
“I’m ready.” Charlie stepped from the apartment with her overnight bag. “I need to get some things from my car and then I’ll leave the keys with Lila.”
Ryan took the bag from her and led the way down the stairs.
He stepped inside the café along with Charlie.
Lila was busy waiting on a table. She spotted them and excused herself. “Did you get everything?”
Charlie told her she did. She handed her the apartment key. “Is it okay if I leave the Pathfinder parked here for now?” Charlie hit the unlock on the key fob from where she stood then handed it to Lila. “I’m getting some things from inside. Can you relock it after I’m done?”
“Yeah sure. I can move the vehicle if I need to. Take care of yourself.” She looked at Ryan. “Take care of her for me.”
Ryan smiled. “I will. I promise.” As he and Charlie stepped out into the late morning filled with sunshine, he prayed he could keep Charlie safe from the unknown danger chasing her. Because right now, he wasn’t so sure.