CHAPTER 11 #2
She was relieved Logan hadn’t come himself. It seemed he had taken her words seriously. “I’m supposed to meet Sergeant Chavez in the rest stop at the lake. If you’re going to keep an eye on me, stay out of my way and let me do my job.”
He touched his forehead in a casual salute. “You won’t even know I’m around.”
“You don’t have to take it that far.” She turned and moved back toward her car. “Just don’t get in my way.”
“Ms. Patrick? I’m Richard Chavez.” The man in the brown Maricopa Sheriff’s Department uniform got out of the 4x4 Tahoe patrol vehicle as she walked toward him.
“It’s good of you to come.” He handed her his badge and photo ID as he glanced at Monty.
“Hi, boy, I’ve heard a lot about you. Helen says you’re a wonder dog. Can I pet him?”
“Sure.” She checked the ID, glanced at the corresponding ID in the patrol vehicle, then returned the badge. “But let him stretch his legs first. It’s been a long trip. Go, Monty.”
He bounded out of the jeep and tore around the parking lot.
“He’s a beauty.” Chavez’s admiring gaze followed the dog. “I’ve got a mutt I adopted from the pound. Lots of character, but no one could say she’s any beauty queen. Not that I’d want any other dog.”
“Hey, everyone says mutts are the brightest. And I wish more people adopted from the pounds.” She looked at the forest beyond the rest area. “When were the kids seen last?”
“Three days ago. They came up here camping. Josh Nolden called his father on his cell phone and said they’d be back before midnight.
They never showed. We found their campsite about ten miles from here but no sign of them.
” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Late yesterday we found tire marks just beyond those pines near the lake.”
“You think the car may have gone into the lake?”
“We don’t know. We hope to God not. But the incline is steep along there and the water’s deep. If they went off the bank, they could have skidded right down into the water.”
“Wouldn’t there be tire marks on the incline?”
He shook his head. “Shale.”
“Have you sent out divers?”
“Not yet. Not until we have more to go on.” He made a face. “A water search can take days, weeks.”
“I know.” And it became a nightmare for the friends and relatives of the victims. “Where are the tire marks?”
“I’ll take you. It’s about a mile through the forest to the lake. I have a speedboat tied a short distance from the last place we saw the tracks.”
She put on her utility belt. “Monty.”
Monty bounded over to her and she put his leash on him. “Time to get to work, boy.”
“Do you need the leash? He seems very obedient.”
“He is.” She followed him down the trail and into the forest. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t jump out of the boat and try to rescue them if he finds them.”
“Even if they’re dead?”
“Monty doesn’t give up. He’s an optimist. He doesn’t want to believe it.”
Chavez sighed. “Neither do I. Those kids are only sixteen and seventeen. The Nolden boy’s an honor student, going to MIT this fall. Jenny Denkins goes to the same high school as my daughter. They know each other.”
“Don’t tell me about them.”
“Why not?”
Because it broke her heart. “It’s hard enough to try to find a stranger. It’s worse to have a picture in your mind.”
He looked at her in understanding. “Maybe you and your dog are a lot alike. I think you might jump in the water too if we find the bodies.”
“Not anymore. The first couple of times I did a water search I was tempted. There’s something terrible about someone’s life ending underwater. You want to bring them up out of that darkness.”
“But you’re tougher now?”
“No, but I have to control myself for Monty. My job is to find them. Someone else can bring them to the surface.”
“Like me.”
“Like you. But I won’t be here when you do. I’m taking Monty home if we locate— What’s wrong?”
Chavez had stopped and was looking over his shoulder. He shrugged. “Nothing. A goose went over my grave.”
“What?”
“I had a funny feeling in the back of my neck.” His gaze raked the trees around them. “Like something’s watching us.”
She scanned the trees. She couldn’t see anything and, unlike Chavez, she didn’t sense anything threatening.
“Sorry. It’s probably nothing.” He shook his head. “There are bears up here, you know. And they like to roam near the rest stops and pick up food from the trash barrels.”
More likely Henry Smith was keeping his promise to keep out of sight. “Or it could be my friend who followed me here. I told him not to interfere.”
“Someone followed you? Why?”
“He’s a little overprotective. It’s a long story, and you wouldn’t be interested.”
“The heck I wouldn’t.” His expression was sober. “You’ve got to be careful of people following you around. A lot of women discover that overprotectiveness is a sign of a stalker.”
“I’m not worried.” Time to change the subject. She could see Chavez was getting protective himself. They had reached the top of the hill, and the lake was spread out before them. “Beautiful. I’d almost forgotten . . .”
“Have you ever been here before?”
“Years ago. My grandfather brought me. He loved it here.” She looked down at the blue lake. It seemed impossible such still, serene beauty could hide the bodies of those children. The thought was incredibly sad. Just do your job and get out of here. “Where’s the boat?”
Chavez pointed down the incline about fifty yards from where they were standing.
“The last tracks we were able to trace were right here. But the shale is harder packed from here on, and they could have traveled for another mile or two.” He started down the incline and reached back to take her hand.
“Let me help you. This stuff’s slippery. ”
His hand was warm and firm and it felt good.
She was still feeling a little chill from that first sight of the lake, and it was nice to have someone to hold on to.
She looked back over her shoulder but could see no sign of their footprints on the rocks.
She could understand what Chavez was up against in determining where the car went into the water.
“Did you hear something?” Chavez’s gaze was following her own.
“No, just looking at the shale.” She added teasingly, “No bear in sight.”
“I thought I heard— It must have been our footsteps. This shale is damn noisy.” Chavez helped her into the boat and Monty jumped in after her. “Where do you want to start?”
“You tell me.” Her gaze went to a point at the far end of the lake. She could barely discern a few highway patrol cars and sheriff’s vehicles and officers moving around. “Is that your command post?”
“Yep.” He waved his hand at one of the officers and the man waved back.
“The parents are there too. I’m glad we’re a good distance away.
I told the guys to keep them away from the lake so they wouldn’t see you.
Not that they’d know what you were doing with the dog anyway.
Not many people have heard about dogs that can find cadavers underwater. ”
“Bodies, not cadavers. I hate that word. It dehumanizes.” She shaded her eyes. “How far out could a car hit the water?”
“It depends on how fast the car was going.” He pointed to a hill a few miles away. “If it bounced and went off that incline at a high speed, it could be thirty, forty feet out. If it went into the water here, it could be right underneath us.”
“It’s not right underneath us. Monty would tell me.” She settled back in the boat. “But we’ll start close to the shore.”