Chapter Five
Boat Ramp
The rental Briana and her husband had used was sent into the water at the boat launch near the corner of Henry Street and Sunset Drive.
Charly watched the strand of yellow crime-scene tape flap in the scarce breeze.
It dangled low across the entrance, not really blocking anything.
Just an impotent warning that something untoward had happened here.
Unlike Charly, Billie didn’t hesitate. He stepped over the tape and walked all the way to the water’s edge.
There was no litter lying about. No cigarette butts.
Nothing that would provide any evidence of what had transpired here.
There were no cameras nearby. A visit to the two homes that faced the area gave them nothing.
No one had seen or heard anything between Saturday night after eight and Tuesday morning.
No doorbell video cameras or other security-type cameras in either location.
He set his hands on his hips and turned to her. “Seems an odd place for a dump site.” He gestured to the homes nearby. “Actually a risky location when you consider all the possibilities for being seen around this section of the water. I said as much to Sheriff Malone.”
“They were either lazy,” Charly agreed, “or in a hurry.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, making her strangely happy. When was the last time a simple smile had given her such a lift?
More than three years ago.
She blinked away the thought.
“Or unafraid.”
“Also a possibility,” she agreed.
He took one last look around. “Unless you have another idea about this location, I’d like to get started checking in with the houses on the road that runs in front of your retreat?”
He’d said this before, maybe twice. He was really hoping to find something. She wasn’t going to suggest otherwise.
“This is your investigation,” she reminded him. “I’m happy to help with whatever you think we need to do but I would suggest we grab some lunch first so we don’t end up running out of steam before we’re finished.”
“Good point.” He headed for the SUV and Charly followed.
She considered the dump location of the SUV as she walked, keeping pace with this man with whom she’d formed an alliance to find the missing couple.
The woman was his sister, the man his new brother-in-law; he had a serious motive for wanting to make this happen as quickly as possible.
She did as well, only it wasn’t anywhere near as important as his.
Finding these people was first and foremost important from a purely human perspective.
The fact that the disappearance happened at her retreat was a distant second for helping to solve the mystery.
Of course she didn’t want this to become a reason people stopped choosing her retreat.
That said, she couldn’t imagine how she would feel if her sister were missing.
The idea was one she never wanted to have to face.
“I’m thinking,” she said as she settled into the passenger seat, “this feels too convenient to have been out-of-towners.” She fastened her seat belt.
“Think about it. Someone coming from some other location would scout out the best spots for doing their work. Someone local—maybe someone who knew this area well, lived around here or something—would feel more comfortable taking the risk of a plain sight dump location.”
He pulled out on Sunset and headed into the turn onto Henry. “Have I mentioned that you would make a hell of a good investigator?”
She laughed. “You may have said something along those lines. I guess some of the kid comes out in me when I start trying to solve a mystery.”
As much as she’d loved her mother and baking cookies with her on Sunday afternoons, she had adored spending time on a case with her father. Even now, her sister would insist that Charly had been the daddy’s girl and she the mother’s.
“Where would you like to get food?” He glanced at her. “Fast preferably.”
“JJ’s. It’s a great local place. Good burgers. There’s a drive-through and it’s close, right on Gunter Avenue.”
“Burgers work for me as long as they have good fries.” He shot her a grin. “If that works for you.”
She liked his smile. Liked him. He was easy to be around, even though they barely knew each other.
She rarely met people she felt so comfortable with so quickly.
Admittedly, she had plenty of friends, neighbors, acquaintances.
But no one who made her feel young again.
She rolled her eyes at herself. Young wasn’t the right word. He made her feel…alive.
Moving past the foolish thought, she concurred, “Fries are a requirement.” She studied him a moment. “You seem to have gotten past the fact that the sheriff left you out of the press conference.”
“Nothing to be done about it now.” He glanced at her. “Besides, I’m happy for him to take all the glory as long as we find my sister and her husband safe and sound.”
Charly faced forward. Billie was a nice guy. She wondered how far he would have to be pushed before the nice went away.
Maybe she didn’t want to know.
A QUICK DETOUR to JJ’s and they were headed for Bakers Chapel Road.
The road that bordered the width of Charly’s retreat ran from Conners Island Parkway to Highway 431.
At the spot where Bakers Chapel Lane split off was the turn, Deep Woods Trail, into Bradly Retreat.
Along the southwest end of Bakers Chapel Road were a few scattered houses and a church or two.
On the northeast end, just beyond the turn to her place, was an equipment rental shop.
The space between the structures was thickly wooded.
On her side of the road was forest all the way down to the water.
Her father had inherited the land that would eventually become incredibly valuable from his own father.
She’d had offers to buy her out numerous times.
But Charly wouldn’t budge no matter how good the offer.
This was home and she intended to stay right here until…
forever. She had no desire to live anywhere else.
Her sister had been happy to sell her half of their inheritance to Charly.
Equally important, she had patiently waited until Charly could manage the loan—a whole five years after their parents’ deaths.
In truth, that feat had only been possible with Alex’s help.
Since they had opted to start on the northeast end of Bakers Chapel Road, their first stop was at the equipment rental.
With its high wire fences, surely there were cameras as well.
Charly had been here before when she had needed a backhoe.
Generally, any work that required big equipment had been Alex’s domain.
But Charly knew the owner. He’d grown up in Guntersville as well.
Though he was closer to her sister’s age than Charly’s.
Really, it was a small town where everyone knew everyone else.
The influx of tourists and out-of-towners was more seasonal.
There were plenty of rich folks who lived in nearby Madison County who built big weekend houses wherever land could be bought anywhere near the water. But few lived here full-time.
As she and Billie approached the rental shop, her hopes about cameras were confirmed. There were three on each of the two sides she could see. Most likely the other two sides would have the same. This was good. Hopefully.
There was only one person behind the counter when they entered the building.
The cool air was a welcome reprieve from the July heat.
Charly knew Vince Cox, the owner of the company, but the man behind the counter wasn’t Vince.
Since she had no influence with this guy, she stood by and let Billie make an intro.
She smiled to herself at the idea she couldn’t seem to remember that he was the investigator, and she was just the person who’d rented a cabin to his sister and her husband.
She kind of liked this investigator gig.
Maybe she really had missed her calling.
Nah. The idea of being an investigator was intriguing, but she liked her current life just fine. She wouldn’t leave Bradly Retreat.
Billie flashed his credentials to the man behind the counter.
“We’re looking for a man and woman who were abducted from the Bradly Retreat area.
We have reason to believe they were taken in a vehicle that waited on this road and may have passed right by your shop.
It would be a great help if we could have a look at your video security footage. ”
The man, twenty-five or six, looked from Billie to Charly and back. “I’d have to ask the owner.”
“Tell him,” Charly spoke up, “that Charly Nix needs his help with this. It could make all the difference in whether we find this couple.”
The man, Winston, according to the name tag on his shirt, nodded. “Sure thing.” He walked into the office behind the counter and made the call.
While they waited Billie glanced around the showroom. There wasn’t so much inside, but outside was a huge array of equipment. Just about anything you could need for digging or reaching the top of a building or tree.
“There’s a church a little farther up the road then a house or two,” she said, drawing his attention. “I’m thinking this is our best bet.”
“If his cameras are working and assuming the video doesn’t overwrite itself every day,” he pointed out as he braced his forearms on the counter.
She hadn’t considered those possibilities. So much for armchair investigating.
“It would help a lot,” he went on, more to himself than to her, “just to know when they were taken.”
She imagined that his concern for his sister’s safety had escalated significantly after the find of the vehicle. He kept his feelings close to the vest, but his eyes told the story.