30. Garrett
CHAPTER 30
Garrett
Nodding along, I listened to Mr. Bakerfield’s story. He was a longtime Tilikum resident, in his seventies, and had cornered me in line at the Steaming Mug. Although it was my day off, I decided to give him my ear. He’d claimed to have information about the Joyner murder.
So did half the town. But so far, none of them actually did. Ever since word had gotten out that I was investigating the cold case, we’d been getting calls. Mostly they were people who wanted to recount their memories of the case or who had an insatiable urge to insert themselves into the drama by claiming to have information.
Part of my job was following up on every one of them.
“So that’s how it happened,” Mr. Bakerfield said. “They found her near that trail. Looked like she’d been strangled.”
“Right.” He’d just given me a loose overview of the case as most people had understood it, based on the reports in the local newspaper. “Is that all?”
He took a deep breath and gazed into the distance. “I think so. If memory serves.”
“Got it. Okay, thanks for your time. ”
“Thank you , deputy. We appreciate you working on this case. It’s high time the killer came to justice.”
“Agreed.”
With a solemn nod, he got up. I took a sip of my now lukewarm coffee, wishing I could get that last half hour back.
Since I’d already spent the morning recounting the public details of the case, I decided to go through with my plans for some off-duty investigating. I wanted to check out the area where I’d found the bracelet. I didn’t think I’d necessarily uncover new evidence. But I wanted to walk the woods, see if I could make sense of why Jasmine might have been out there.
The door opened and my brother Luke wandered in. I hadn’t seen him since the night at the Timberbeast. He tipped his chin and came over to take the now empty chair across from me.
“What are you up to?” I asked.
“Just grabbing some coffee. Day off or are you working undercover or something?” He gestured to my plain clothes.
“Day off.”
A couple walked toward the door, arm in arm. I’d seen them around, but didn’t remember their names off the top of my head.
“Good luck with your case, deputy,” the man said.
I nodded to him. “Thanks.”
“I guess you couldn’t work undercover in this town,” Luke observed. “Everybody knows you.”
“Yeah. By the way, thanks again for staying with Owen the other night.”
“No problem. Where is he today? Still in school?”
“Yeah, he has a few more days left before summer break.”
“How’d you end up with such a good kid, anyway? If I ever have kids, I’m making you put me through your masterclass. ”
“Sometimes I think he’s a good kid despite having me as a parent.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You must have done something right. Let’s be honest, we both know it wasn’t his mother.”
“No shit.”
“Did you talk to Mom and Dad yet?”
“Yeah. They took it well.”
“Sounds about right. I think Mom was starting to worry she wasn’t going to get any more grandchildren.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
“Probably not.”
The door opened and my aunt Louise came in, dressed in a pastel blue tracksuit with a string of pearls around her neck.
Luke twisted around to look and his head whipped back toward me. “That’s my cue to go.”
He stood, holding up his hand in an attempt to cover his face. But luck was not on his side. I smirked as Aunt Louise caught sight of him, her eyes lighting up and a broad smile crossing her face.
“Luke!” She held out her arms and moved toward him. “Honey, it’s good to see you.”
He gave her a quick hug. “Hi, Aunt Louise. I was just leaving.”
“Don’t be silly.” Her eyes moved to me. “Well, look at this. Perfect. Come on, honey, sit down.”
Aunt Louise helped herself to a chair from another table and pulled it over to mine. Luke looked defeated as he slumped into the seat across from me.
I watched with amusement. I knew the fear of being subjected to Aunt Louise’s matchmaking scrutiny. But I was safe from all that now.
Luke, not so much.
“Hear me out,” Louise said. “I know someone who’s perfect for you. Absolutely perfect.”
“Thanks, Aunt Louise, but you don’t have to do that. ”
“Of course I do. It’s my job. She’s a teacher, very sweet. Just got out of a long-term relationship, so the timing is ideal.”
Luke raised his eyebrows. “Ideal timing? Just out of a long-term relationship does not sound like ideal timing. It sounds like a rebound.”
“Rebounds are a myth, dear. Many a couple has found love on the edge of heartbreak.”
“That’s very poetic, but I don’t think so.”
“C’mon, Luke,” I said. “Fresh out of a breakup, maybe pining for her ex? Sounds like she’s right up your alley.”
He shot me a glare.
But I wasn’t wrong. Luke had a tendency to only want women who were so obviously wrong for him, anyone could see it. Not that I had a lot of room to talk. But I’d only made that mistake once. Granted, I’d married her, and Luke had never gone that far.
Still, what guy would pass up the chance to give his brother shit, especially about women?
“Aunt Louise set me up with Harper,” I said. “I think you should trust her.”
His forehead tightened and he leaned forward. “Garrett, we’re going to be late.”
“Late for what?”
“You know, the thing I was going to help you with.”
Aunt Louise smiled at us both.
I decided to have pity on Luke. Repay him for staying with Owen the other night when I was too drunk to go home.
“Oh yeah. I do need your help with that, and time is ticking. Good to see you, Aunt Louise. I’m sure Luke will think about it.”
He shook his head as we both stood. “I’m not going to think about it.”
Louise gathered up her handbag and wiggled her fingers at us. “See you later, boys. Luke, I’ll be talking to you soon. ”
“Great, Aunt Louise, thanks,” Luke said with a very fake smile.
I followed him out and he glanced back at the door, as if worried Aunt Louise wouldn’t let him go.
“She’s our aunt, and I love her, but no. Just, no.”
I chuckled. “You didn’t even get your coffee.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Luke’s get-out-of-there excuse got me thinking. Maybe I could use another set of eyes. Unofficially, of course.
“Are you busy?” I asked.
“I need to get back to the garage at some point. Why, what do you need?”
“I’m going to take a look at something. It’s related to the cold case. Another set of eyes might not be a bad idea.”
“Cop stuff? Hell yeah, let’s do it.”
We loaded into my SUV and I gave him the rundown on the way to the trailhead.
“I found a bracelet when I was investigating another crime. Turns out it matches the bracelet Jasmine Joyner was wearing when she disappeared. It’s not much of a lead in and of itself, but it’s how I got on the case in the first place.”
“Got it.”
“What’s bugging me is the location. The original investigators assumed Jasmine had been abducted off the trail, pulled into the woods, killed, and left there. If that’s the case, why was her bracelet somewhere else?”
“So what are we looking for? It’s been ten years.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think we’re going to stumble on new evidence, I just want to get the lay of the land. See it for myself. It might spark something. And like I said, another set of eyes can’t hurt.”
“So I know I can’t carry your gun, but what about a taser? You got an extra one of those?”
I gave him the side eye. “No.”
“Why not? We’re tracking a killer here. ”
“No tasers.”
“You’re no fun. You ever been hit by a taser?”
I nodded. “In training.”
“Did it hurt?”
I glanced at him again. “Yes. It really fucking hurts.”
“I almost made a bet with Evan Bailey that I could take a taser and not scream. He didn’t believe me.”
“Don’t take that bet. Some of the toughest guys I know screamed.”
“I said almost.”
“Why would you even be talking about that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t remember. There were a few beers involved.”
“Sounds about right.”
I pulled into the parking lot at the trailhead. There were quite a few cars, but I found a spot. We got out and started walking.
The air was still, the woods quiet except for the occasional bird call and the sound of our shoes. Squirrels darted out of the way, scurrying up tree trunks as we hiked off trail and made our way up a low rise.
I purposefully didn’t tell Luke about the package Harper had received, or its possible connection to the Joyner case. Deputy Spangler had taken over investigating the break-in at her house, but so far, it looked like a dead end. She didn’t have a doorbell camera and none of her neighbors had one that showed her driveway or front door. No one in the neighborhood remembered seeing someone drop off a package and there was no physical evidence of a break-in.
Whoever had done it was good. They hadn’t left a shred of evidence.
Was it the same person who’d sent Jasmine a similar package? Had he then killed her?
I didn’t know. But I was going to find him before this escalated .
Nothing was going to happen to Harper.
I stopped roughly where I found the bracelet. The stolen car was long gone. The bracelet itself was still in evidence, added to everything that had been collected in the case.
“This is it?” Luke asked.
“Yeah, the bracelet was over there.” I pointed to the ground. “I don’t know why she would have been here.”
“Hiking off trail?”
“Maybe. But her body was found out that way.” I pointed again. “Near a completely different trail.”
“What if the bracelet wasn’t hers?”
“That’s possible. But my gut tells me it was. That she was here.”
I pulled out my phone and opened a map. I’d already dropped a pin where Jasmine’s body had been found and I marked the spot where Luke and I were standing for reference.
“Was she a hiker?” Luke asked.
“The case file says she liked to go for walks. But she wasn’t described as a hiker. She was found wearing regular tennis shoes, not hiking boots. But the trail where she was found is pretty flat. Her shoes didn’t raise any red flags at the time.”
“But what do you think?”
“I think she was abducted somewhere else. The killer wasn’t lurking in the woods, waiting to grab the first woman who was hiking alone. He chose her. There’s evidence that he might have engaged in stalking behavior before he killed her. I think he grabbed her, subdued her, and brought her somewhere. Then he left her body near that trail. Made it look like it was a random attack.”
“Which could be why her bracelet was here.”
“Trent Jones got a stolen car out here. Allegedly,” I added with a roll of my eyes. “But you wouldn’t be able to see a vehicle from the parking area. The killer could have abducted her, driven her out here, then taken her somewhere. And her bracelet fell off in the process.”
“Was this area searched at the time?”
“Not well. She was last seen at home, and like I said, no reason to think she’d have been in the woods. A hiker found her body.” I checked my map and glanced around again. “Let’s go that way. It’s not a direct line to the location of her body, but we can always double back.”
“Lead the way.”
We started walking and it wasn’t far before the pine trees got thicker. I scanned the area, not sure what I was looking for. Anything, really. Something the original investigators hadn’t thought about or had missed.
“Her time of death is a question as well,” I said as we walked. It wasn’t that Luke needed all the details, but talking it out might help me put pieces together. “Determining time of death is as much an art as it is a science, so it’s not always as accurate as we want.”
“So you don’t think it was accurate?”
“It just didn’t have a lot of detail. Makes me wonder if something was missed. We don’t even know for sure when she was abducted. She lived alone. Her sister reported her missing, but we don’t actually know how long she’d been gone before that report.”
“Which means the killer could have had her longer than they assumed.”
“Exactly. The whole random act of violence on a hiking trail theory seems to work until you dig a little deeper.”
A squirrel scampered down a tree trunk and stopped in front of us, as if hoping we were going to pause to give it a snack.
“Sorry, little guy.” I patted my pockets as we walked by. “I don’t have anything for you.”
“He looks crushed,” Luke said .
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. I don’t think any of the Tilikum squirrels are underfed.”
We hiked up another rise and the trees opened up into a clearing, revealing the crumbling remains of an old barn. The wood panels were grayed with age and exposure to the weather and there was a tree growing in the middle of it, the branches reaching up through gaping holes in the roof. One wall was caved in, leaving the whole thing looking lopsided.
“I feel like I’ve been out here before.” He pointed to a makeshift fire pit near the barn. It was mostly old coals with a few charred beer cans in the rubble. “Yep. We used to party out here sometimes.”
“I thought you guys used to party down by the river.”
“We did that too.”
I kicked an old beer can as we walked around the barn. There were a few party spots local teenagers liked to use. They tended to rotate so guys like me wouldn’t find them.
On the far side of the barn, the ground sloped up again and a faded wooden door was built right into the hillside.
“What’s that?” Luke asked.
“Probably an old root cellar. They were common back in the day. Not many of them left.”
“Who do you think owns it?”
“I don’t know.” I approached the door. It had an old padlock on it. “I thought this was all county land out here, but maybe it’s private. I’ll have to do some digging.”
“Abandoned root cellar would be a good place to hide a victim.”
“Yeah.” I wiggled the lock, but it was on tight.
“We can’t just open it, can we?”
“Nope. I need a warrant.”
“That sucks. I mean, it doesn’t. Property rights and all that. But I’d love to see what’s inside.”
“You and me both. Although for all we know, it’s either empty or just full of cigarettes and booze the high school kids stashed out here.”
“Reminds me of that old hunter’s cabin we used to use. Not for cigarettes and booze, but, you know…” He grinned.
I did know. The roof had leaked and one window had been broken, but we’d cleaned it up enough to make it a great spot to be alone with a girl. At least by our teenage standards. We’d put a lock on the door, too. Not because we kept anything there, but to keep our rivals, the Bailey brothers, out.
“If I get a judge to grant me a warrant and all I find in there is an expired box of condoms, I’m gonna be pissed.”
Luke laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
We left the locked root cellar and continued our search, but didn’t find anything. Just pine needles and a squirrel who yelled at us from its spot on a tree branch. Luke had to get back to his garage, so we called it a day and hiked back to my SUV.
The next day, I was back on patrol. And I was irritated. My morning had consisted of talking a guy out of setting his neighbor’s hay bales on fire over the outcome of a poker game, responding to a noise complaint that turned out to be the guy’s own TV on upstairs, and investigating a report of a stolen phone that I found under the passenger’s seat of his car.
Yes, it was all my job. But I wanted to be working on the cold case.
On my way down the highway, I did stop and help a woman with a flat tire. That at least had felt worthwhile.
Brenna came on over the radio. “Squad seven.”
“Go ahead, Bren.”
“Can you take a trespassing call at 255 Wildrose Lane?”
I wasn’t far from there. “10-4. ”
“Homeowner is out of town but someone drove by, I guess to check on it. Thinks they saw someone lurking around the outbuildings.”
“That’s the old Pine place, isn’t it?”
“I believe so. Rich Pine?”
“Sounds right. It’s probably just Harvey Johnston getting lost again, but I’ll go check it out.”
Rich Pine had been friends with my dad for years. He was a nice enough guy, but he had a thing for collecting old junk. His house was on the outskirts of town, on a plot of acreage that he’d managed to fill with stuff.
I drove down the long dirt road that led to his property. He didn’t have any neighbors within sight, which was probably how he got away with his land looking like a junkyard. His house wasn’t in bad shape and the front yard wasn’t exactly clear of clutter, but it was mostly rusty odds and ends that he’d crafted into yard art.
Behind the house, however, were several outbuildings and a winding maze of junk. Rusted out cars that probably hadn’t moved in decades, old farm equipment, tires, stacks of pallets and scrap wood, and an ancient fire truck that, cleaned up, probably belonged in a museum.
“Squad seven,” I said into my radio.
“Go ahead, squad seven,” Brenna answered.
“Put me at 255 Wildrose Lane. Going in to have a look around.”
“10-4.”
There wasn’t a fence or anything to block my access, so I headed back into the mess. There was a vintage gas pump and a stack of old road signs. A pile of railroad ties and a collection of rusty bicycles. Some of it probably had value, especially for someone who would take the time to restore it, but most of the stuff looked like garbage.
Near the largest outbuilding was what looked like a late sixties Chevrolet truck. Luke was the car expert, not me, but I wondered if he knew Rich had it. Looked like the sort of thing my brother would have loved to get his hands on.
I walked carefully around the stacks and piles, the ground littered with random debris—screws, an old pencil, bits of string and other odds and ends. If someone had been there, they were probably long gone. I didn’t hear anything. And it would be impossible to tell if someone had been there stealing things. I doubted Rich had an inventory of all the crap he owned.
Knowing Tilikum, it was just a squirrel colony, and whoever had called it in had just seen the movement of dozens of squirrels.
The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood on end. I hadn’t heard anything. Not a creak of metal or the shifting of wood. Not even the sound of squirrels or other critters.
So what was setting me off?
With my senses on high alert, my body tense, I made my way around another outbuilding. I still didn’t see or hear anything unusual, but my instincts were lit up like a patrol car in a high-speed chase.
Something was wrong.
Half expecting to come across an armed trespasser lying in wait—or maybe a wild predator stalking me—I turned the corner to the back side of the outbuilding.
Nothing.
I let out a breath. Maybe my instincts were off.
A creak was all the warning I had.
I turned in time to throw my arms up over my face as a pile of junk fell toward me. Trapped between a wall of stuff and the back of the outbuilding, I threw myself to one side, hoping I didn’t get buried—or stabbed by something rusty.
My forearms took the brunt of it, but the weight of the pile knocked me to the ground. Searing pain tore across my upper arm and it felt like I was being pummeled with bricks.
A few seconds later, it was over. I lay on the ground, covered in rubble, blood dripping from my arm. My eyes were gritty with dust and I could already feel the beginnings of about a dozen bruises.
Moving carefully so I didn’t dislodge whatever had fallen on me and make things worse, I tested my arms and legs. I was going to be banged up, but nothing seemed to be broken. Thankfully, nothing had hit my head.
Grimacing, I worked my way out of the fallen pile. What the hell had happened? There was a lot of junk, but none of it had looked precarious enough to fall on its own.
I got to my feet and checked my arm. Something sharp had slashed a long gash across my biceps. It wasn’t deep, but it was bleeding enough that I needed to at least get some gauze on it.
The sense that something was off didn’t go away. Warily, I picked my way back around to the front of the property and went to my car. I didn’t see anything. No sign of someone sneaking around the piles or taking off into the woods. No sound of a car, even in the distance.
But why had that pile fallen on me? No wind. No animals around, not even a squirrel. Was it just coincidence that I happened to walk by right at the moment gravity had its way with one of Rich’s stacks of junk?
Was it the trespasser Rich Pine’s friend had called about? Who would have been out there?
I got some gauze out of the first aid kit and mopped up the bleeding. Fortunately, I’d had my share of tetanus shots, so I wasn’t worried about that. I checked in with dispatch and let her know I hadn’t found anything unusual, but a pile of junk had fallen on me. Brenna made sure I was okay and said we might need to find some local help for Rich to make sure his property wasn’t hazardous.
But that was the thing. It wasn’t exactly organized, but it shouldn’t have been dangerous. None of it had looked as if it were on the brink of falling over .
Another patrol car pulled up and Kade got out.
“You okay, man?” He gestured to the gauze I was holding on my arm.
“Yeah. Nothing serious. What are you doing here?”
“I was nearby. Heard the chatter on the radio, figured I’d swing by and see if you’re okay.”
“I’m all right.” I glanced back at the property. “It was weird, though.”
“What?”
“Seemed like someone was out there.”
He shrugged. “Trespassing call.”
“I know, but something feels off. Like it was more than just a random trespasser. I can’t shake the feeling that it was intentional.”
His forehead creased with concern. “What do you mean, someone lured you out here?”
It sounded half-crazy when he said it out loud. But that was exactly what I was thinking.
“Yeah.”
“Maybe the trespasser was still there. Didn’t want to get caught.”
I glanced back at the property. Obviously that made sense. But that explanation didn’t satisfy the sense of unease in my gut.
Kade still looked concerned. He pointed to my arm. “Should you get that looked at?”
“Nah. Just a scratch.”
“Okay.” He didn’t sound convinced, but he went back to his car. “Careful out there.”
“You too.”
He got in and left, but I lingered for a moment, gazing at Rich Pine’s property. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on. I just couldn’t put my finger on what.