Chapter Twenty-Seven
The day hadn’t quite sunk into twilight yet, but the sun was starting to fade.
I almost missed the bend where Jessica had come off the road and barreled down the bank.
We were traveling from the opposite direction so I relied on following the driving instructions on Lily’s phone.
It was taking us a little further along the road when we rounded the bend and I spotted familiar shrubbery and trees.
Slamming on the brakes, we screeched to a halt. Lily planted her palms on the dashboard, and glared at me.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“Some warning, please!”
I pulled over to the side of the road, partially onto the grass and apologized again.
“Everything looks different from the opposite direction,” I explained.
“I was looking for a bend ahead of us, not thinking that we were already on the bend. She came off the road here,” I added, pointing behind me.
“Didn’t the police search the area already?”
“I’m sure they did, but they still could have missed a phone if they weren’t looking for it.
They’re so small, it could have gotten lodged in a groundhog hole or buried under fallen leaves.
” I glanced up at the sky. “We probably have less than an hour before we lose the light entirely. There’s no way we’ll find a phone in the dark. ”
“Maybe we can ring it?”
“I thought about that. Jessica listed two numbers on her paperwork but I think the batteries will already be dead.” Lily raised her eyebrows in a “try it anyway” expression so I nodded.
“I’ll call her number,” I said, reaching for my phone.
I hadn’t stored either of Jessica’s numbers but I’d copied it from her paperwork.
Garrett answered when I called the first number so this time, I entered the second set of digits and hit “call.” As I expected, it went directly to voicemail, a robotic voice inviting me to leave a message.
I ended the call and returned my phone to my pocket.
We grabbed flashlights from the trunk and stepped onto the edge of the bank, looking down.
Aside from the tire marks in the grass at the edge of the bank, there was no evidence of a recent accident.
The car was gone, and there were no signs or evidence of the emergency vehicles or tow truck.
It seemed incomprehensible to me that there was nothing to indicate a woman’s life had ended here. Not a single passing motorist would know.
“The car didn’t roll,” I said, “and the windows weren’t open, although the trunk was, but that doesn’t mean the door didn’t open on the way down, allowing a phone to fall out, then slamming shut with the impact.”
Our boots were more than suitable for trampling through the undergrowth.
“It’s strange the phone wasn’t in Jessica’s purse,” said Lily as we began our descent, gazes firmly fixed on the ground for the phone.
“She must have taken this route a million times into the city. She wouldn’t have needed to use her phone for navigation. ”
“I agree but she could have tossed it onto the seat or in the door pocket.” I slipped and righted myself, holding my arms out for stability. “This is probably going to be a fruitless task,” I added with a small sigh.
On level ground, I flicked on the flashlight’s beam, sweeping it across the terrain. The grass was thick and clumpy, punctuated by saplings and brush. Fallen leaves littered the area. “The car came to a stop against that tree,” I said, pointing to the thick oak. “Let’s start there.”
We agreed to split the task with Lily starting at the tree and searching to the west, while I took the east. Crouching close to the ground, we pointed our flashlights, using sticks we found to poke and prod every thicket.
“Lexi!”
I stilled. “Did you find it?” I asked, hope in my voice.
“No, I found a shoe print.”
“That’s not unusual. There were a lot of people involved in the investigation and recovery.”
“Yeah, I know, but this one seems fresher. There’s the occasional other shoe print, but they kind of run over each other and they aren’t sharp. This one is deeper and I can see all the treads.”
I planted my stick in the ground as a marker and hurried over.
Lily was right. The footprint did seem freshly made, like someone had been out here in the last day.
More large, shiny, dark green leaves sprinkled the ground.
I picked one up, puzzling as I looked at it.
None of the trees surrounding us had the same type of leaves.
“Why would someone else be down here?” I asked, looking around at the expanse of countryside.
There was nothing but trees and pasture for miles, and it wasn’t the kind of place a person stopped to picnic or walk their dog.
It was too remote, the terrain too rough, and it lacked seating, plus, there weren’t enough places to park alongside the edge of the bank.
That didn’t mean someone hadn’t decided to take a walk across here, it was just strange, and for that reason, I was on alert.
Before Lily could answer, I carefully placed my foot perpendicular to the shoe print and snapped a picture.
“It’s suspicious,” said Lily with a little too much joy.
“It could be but I’m not going to check the boots of every person between the farm and the city. It’s an impossible task.”
“Private investigations really are a grind.”
“Sometimes I think about going back to temping.”
“And?”
“And then I laugh and think no way. Investigating is way more fun, except for the kidnappers, thieves, and homicidal maniacs,” I said with full conviction.
“That’s not so different from your temping days,” Lily reminded me.
“True, but the pay is better as an investigator. Okay, back to searching,” I said as I scooped up the flashlight.
We split up again, detouring around the shoeprint like it was lava, and resumed searching, hunched over, exploring every clump of grass and patch of thorny bush.
Every so often, a car whizzed past, the occupants oblivious to us in the valley.
The light was fading and the wind picked up a little when my phone buzzed. I stopped, straightened up, and rolled my shoulders, easing the kink out of my back as I answered.
“Hey,” I said.
“I’m on my way,” said Solomon. “Where shall I meet you?”
“We’re searching the crash site. Can you meet us there?”
“I can. What are you searching for?”
I explained quickly and Solomon said, “It’s sensible to look for it there although it could be MPD misplaced it.”
“Garrett was certain a second phone was never logged. I know it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack but people live on their phones.
Jessica had been finding out all kinds of stuff.
It’s likely she documented it all somewhere and it’s more likely she did it on her personal phone than the farm’s. ”
“Send me your location and I’ll bring a metal detector. It’ll be quicker than eyeballing the area.”
“Great!” I hung up and dropped a pin for our location, receiving a thumbs-up emoji within seconds. I had to pause for a moment to remember exactly where I’d searched before I continued, then I hunched over again, focusing the flashlight’s beam.
The light was starting to drop and it would be completely dark by the time Solomon rolled up, so I didn’t want to waste any time. I was trying to part the thick stems of a bush when Lily called again.
“Did you find something?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.
“I found it!” She stood, holding a phone aloft in one hand, a pink case in the other. “This must be hers!”
“It has to be,” I said, making my way over to inspect it.
Lily handed me the case, smudged with dirt and grass where she’d swiped her thumb across. “It has ‘JC’ on the back,” she said.
“That’s definitely Jessica’s,” I said, “I remember it. I thought it was cute. Well done!”
Lily beamed. “Thank you! It was here, kind of tucked under the grass and the pink case was under that bush. I think the screen is cracked.”
I turned it over in my hands. A crack had formed over the top left corner and the screen was dead. “It must have been thrown from the car. Maybe from the impact? This is to the left of the driver’s side so that makes sense.”
“Do you think it will turn on?”
“It’s not a bad crack but the phone is damp and it’s been out here for a few nights so it’s hard to say.
Solomon can take it to Lucas. If anyone can make it work again, he can.
” The agency’s resident tech genius was our version of a horse whisperer.
He could make any piece of tech behave in any way he wanted it, making his skills not only incredibly useful but also potentially devastating.
I was glad he was on our team. Not only that, but he was very good natured.
“Hey, what’s that?” asked Lily, nudging something with her foot. She stooped to poke around in the grass and when she rose, she had a small, plastic square in her hand.
“That looks like a tracker,” I said, squinting at it.
“To put on a vehicle?”
A strange shivery sensation prickled my spine and I turned. With twilight settling and shadows thrown by the higher bank, it was hard to make out the figure standing on the edge of the road.
The figure stepped back quickly, disappearing from view.
“Someone was watching us,” I said to Lily, grabbing her hand and pulling her after me. We scrambled up the hill but only reached the top in time to see a dark vehicle disappearing around the bend.
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know. A man, I think.” I walked around my car, double-checking the doors — still locked — and the tires remained fully pumped.
“Perhaps they came to check why someone was parked here.” Even as I said it, the idea didn’t fly with me, but there was a tiny possibility.
Someone could have heard of a recent crash and came to investigate when they saw our parked car.
“No one does that,” said Lily.
“Yeah,” I agreed, while trying to conceal my concern. “Yeah, I know.”
“Solomon’s here.” Lily raised a hand to wave and we both walked to the side of my car, waiting for Solomon to park, almost bumper to bumper, and get out. He walked over, a metal detector in one hand and a smaller device in the other.
“Lily found the phone,” I said.
“Shame. I was looking forward to using this.” Solomon propped the metal detector against the car. “Well done, eagle eyes,” he said to Lily.
“I love all this praise,” said Lily, preening. “Hire me.”
“No.”
Lily huffed.
“I can only take one liability on the team at a time.”
“I am not a liability!” I snorted indignantly.
“Interesting you thought I meant you.”
“You did though, didn’t you?”
Solomon smiled.
“Teasing isn’t nice. Can you give this to Lucas and ask him to perform his magic?” I offered him the phone. Solomon pulled a plastic baggy from his jacket pocket and opened it for me to drop the phone and its case inside. “It’s cracked and damp so I’m not hopeful.”
“Is he looking for anything in particular?”
“No. Calendar, photos, emails, call log, secret diary, maybe a secret vault disguised as an app. There could be something somewhere, or nothing at all.”
“Understood.” The bagged phone went into his pocket.
“And Lily found a tracker,” I said, holding it up.
Out came another baggie and in the tracker went.
“Still don’t want to hire me?” asked Lily.
“Nope,” said Solomon.
“What does a girl have to find around here to get hired?” she mused.
Solomon shook his head, amused. “Did you give Garrett a heads-up?” he asked.
“No, but if you could turn the phone over to him once Lucas has copied its contents, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. I’m not sure what to do about the tracker. It could have been on Jessica’s car, or not.”
“We’ll figure it out. Consider it done.” He handed me a small, hand-held beige device. “This is a microchip wand. Pass it over the animal and it’ll read the chip if there is one and return a unique code. Send that to Lucas and he’ll run it through the animal databases.”
“It won’t just give the horse’s or owner’s names?”
“Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Lucas is primed to receive the information whenever you send it.
I’m told that horses commonly have the ID chips in their neck.
Due to where the chip is embedded, it would need invasive surgery and a general anesthetic to remove so it’s likely any horse that received one still has it implanted. ”
“That’s a positive for us.”
“So long as no one tampered with the identification details, it should be very quick to identify a horse.”
“I’ll get Lucas the information ASAP. We should get back to the stables. We’ve been gone a long time.”
Solomon opened his arms and I stepped into them, allowing him to wrap me in a hug. A moment later, I felt a warm pressure against my back and Solomon’s arms widened.
“I need hugs too,” said Lily, spooning me.
“Aww.”
“You had to make it weird,” said Solomon.
“Says the man patting my back. I’ll give you two a moment alone.” Lily released me and Solomon wrapped me tighter.
“How’s the undercover work going with your nutty assistant?” he said softly against my ear.
“I heard that!” yelled Lily. The car door opened and shut.
“You know she has bat ears,” I reminded him.
“And I couldn’t do it without Lily. She’s been hugely helpful.
” I waited a beat, and there was nothing but quiet.
The air was still, a bird called and another replied, then there was nothing but the rhythmic thump of Solomon’s heart.
“She didn’t hear the good stuff,” I complained.
“That’s what you get for eavesdropping and—” Solomon pressed his lips to my ear “—why I tease her.”
“I’ll never tell her that. She’ll spend days thinking up how to get you back.”
“I’m glad she’s being helpful.”
“I meant it when I said I couldn’t do this without Lily. I know nothing about horses and so far, I’ve been lucky to fudge everything without being discovered. We’re close to answers. I can feel it.”
Solomon released me, looking down into my eyes, then he pressed a kiss on my lips. “Don’t go looking for trouble,” he said.
“I never do!” I paused. “Okay, I do, but not this time. As soon as I have those horses’ chips, I’ll call. I promise.”
“I have no doubt. I’m looking forward to you coming home.”
“Me too,” I said, resting my head against his chest again as I looked down into the dark valley where Jessica’s drive home had fatally ended. “Me too.”