Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
They’d found my little surprise. The fear on her face pleased me. There would be more moments like this to come. I’d make sure of it.
The former sheriff knew too much. I’d thought I’d kept a careful eye on his progress, but I’d been wrong. While I lived my life believing the past was dead and buried, the old guy had found a crack in my careful planning. I knew he had to die.
Until I had the journals he’d been creating for years, I hadn’t realized the extent of his investigation. He’d put everything together and had finally come to the truth about Abby.
The investigation at the café was wrapping up, the tech was dusting for prints they wouldn’t find. My little gift would be taken in for further analysis while the cops tried to profile me. I smile at the thought. As if.
Maybe the next present would be more personal. Something from one of her uncle’s journals. I wanted her and everyone else to know I had the answers they so desperately craved. I controlled the chess board. And it was my turn to make the next move.
The day turned cloudy and dark as if the weather planned to play its part in the sinister events taking place.
“Looks like we’re in for another storm.” Ryan pointed to the skies when Charlie looked his way.
“Oh. Yes. That time of the year.” She sighed. “I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas.”
In two days’ time they’d celebrate the birth of Jesus.
As a kid, it had been all about gifts and festivities.
After Charlie left him, he started attending church again.
Then he realized what the holiday was really about.
It was during one of the church’s Christmas Eve celebrations that he’d given his life to God.
“How much farther?”
Charlie’s question pulled him from old memories. “Maybe ten minutes.”
She nodded and settled back into silence again.
Being seated beside her was about as surreal as it got. When she’d walked away from him, he tried to understand. He told himself he needed to give her time. She’d come back once she got through the pain of losing her parents. He could be patient.
Only she hadn’t come back.
Not until she showed up seven years later at Pete’s ransacked cabin and his heart shattered again.
Now she was in danger.
Ryan kept a close watch on the rearview for anyone following as he drove. Nothing suspicious so far.
Up ahead on the left, he spotted the opening to Boone’s property. A gate was strung across the drive. He parked and opened the door, fishing out the key to the lock.
“I’ll be right back.” Ryan held Charlie’s troubled gaze for a long moment before leaving the truck. The look of apprehension on her face reminded him of when she’d come home following the house fire.
Once he removed the lock, Ryan swung the gate open and turned back to the truck.
Leaning forward in her seat, Charlie watched his every move.
He’d give anything to know what she was thinking about their reunion. Did seeing him again stir up her memories and feelings as it did him?
Or had she left all that behind years ago? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
He climbed in beside her and drove past the open gate and then relocked it.
The previous day’s snowfall lay untouched on the drive. He loved the tranquility of this place. Ryan had been to Boone’s cabin a handful of times.
Since his family had moved away from Pine Haven, Ryan had spent holidays with Boone and his wife. They treated him like he was their son. Having a home-cooked meal was nice, and Alice was one of the best cooks around.
The drive wound along a wooded area where frosted trees made the perfect holiday setting.
After he covered the last bend in the road, the cabin appeared. It had been in Boone’s family for decades. Boone had done some renovations through the years but left it as close to the original place as possible.
“It reminds me of Pete’s,” Charlie murmured.
Ryan hadn’t ever thought about it as such, but she was right. Boone told him he’d worked with his father learning how to build cabins. His dad had wanted him to follow in his footsteps, but Boone wanted to be in law enforcement.
During the conversations Ryan and Pete had through the years, Pete’s story was similar. He loved being a lawman, but working with his hands to build the house for his wife had been a labor of love.
He shifted in his seat. “Why don’t you stay here where it's warm and I’ll check the place out first?”
She nodded, the reminder of why they were here showing in her eyes.
He hated that.
He got out and checked around outside first for any sign someone had been there, then fished out the key to the cabin Boone had given him.
Once inside, he searched the cabin’s downstairs level then upstairs. Each time he passed a window he kept an eye on Charlie and his truck.
From the second floor, she was barely visible.
He didn’t like that. Anxious to get back to her, Ryan hurried downstairs and out before opening the driver’s door. “It’s clear.”
He waited for her to answer, only she didn’t. The strain on her face as she stared at her phone filled him with dread.
Ryan slipped inside the truck and locked the doors. “He’s been in touch, hasn’t he?”
She handed him the phone without answering.
The same unknown number appeared with three words and a picture included.
Time to die.
He sucked in a breath as he couldn’t take his eyes off the picture. It was a grave, or at least what he believed was a grave. The up-close image of a pile of dirt made it hard to identify the location.
“It’s hers,” Charlie whispered.
He looked her way and then back at the picture. Ryan had to blow it up to see what she meant. Lying against the mound was a simple headband. He remembered it after all these years because it was Abby’s favorite. Pink and furry. She wore it all the time.
“He’s taunting you. We don’t know that it's Abby's gravesite.”
She whipped his way, raw pain flashing in her eyes. “Don’t we? It’s been fifteen years, Ryan. There’s been no sign of her in all that time. He killed her. For whatever reason, he killed her.”
As much as he wanted to argue that their friend might still be alive, he couldn’t because what she said was true. It was as if Abby had simply vanished that night long ago. Walked into the pages of history never to be seen again.
As he studied the photo with a numbness spreading through his limbs, he noticed something out of place that he prayed Charlie hadn’t seen.
A silver and turquoise horse bridle he was certain belonged to Charlie’s dad had been tossed close to the pile of dirt. Was the killer tying Abby’s possible death to Charlie’s father like Ryan believed was the case?
He still recalled the former sheriff telling him to ignore that footprint in the snow outside the barn. He was a rookie officer and needed to listen to what he was told. Would things have turned out differently if he hadn’t?
“He has your phone number. Is it possible this could be someone you know?”
Charlie rejected the suggestion. “There’s no way. I trust the people who have my number.”
Ryan understood her loyalty, but still everything was off the table when it came to keeping Charlie alive.
“Humor me,” he told her and waited for her response.
“Other than you, there’s you,” she stressed as if indicating how insane the suggestion was. “My uncle. Eddie. Lila. And Silas.”
He frowned. “Silas? That’s the man who helps around Pete’s place.”
She nodded. “He’s worked for Pete for years.” Charlie frowned as she continued to watch him. “No, Silas is as good as they get.”
The isolation of the countryside made him realize they were sitting targets. “Let’s go inside and we can talk about it further.”
He opened the door and slipped out then rounded the back while scanning the surrounding trees for danger. Charlie got out. Ryan immediately rushed her inside the house. Once they were settled he’d go back for their bags.
While Charlie stood in the middle of the living room taking in the cabin, Ryan made a fire in the fireplace to take the chill away.
“Why don’t we sit and talk?” he said when she still hadn’t moved.
Without speaking, she claimed a spot on the sofa closest to the fire.
Ryan claimed the nearby rocker. “I know you don’t want to believe anyone close to you or your uncle would do this, but someone is sending you a message and I think we both can agree this is related to Abby and your uncle’s continued investigation of Abby’s disappearance. ” He waited for her to speak.
Charlie watched the fire for a long moment before sighing.
“You’re right. We can’t rule anyone out, but the people who knew about Pete’s investigation are few.
Eddie because Pete told me they discussed the case numerous times.
He and Lila weren’t that close. I don’t think she had any idea until now Pete was investigating. And of course, you and Boone.”
“And Silas?” he prompted when she seemed to avoid the name. “Did Pete ever mention talking to Silas about it?”
Charlie seemed surprised. “Not that I know of. Pete was tight-lipped when it came to what he was doing. He only trusted a few people. I don’t think Silas was one of them.”
Ryan concurred. Pete knew the importance of keeping his investigation secret. But someone had figured it out and had gone to great lengths to determine what was in those journals, and there was a good chance those lengths had included murder.