Chapter 14 #2
In the distance, she glimpsed a flash of headlights. Had Doc finally arrived? She strode toward the driveway where the rental car stood. The fact that there was no garage had bothered her at first, but now she was glad there was nothing to obstruct her view of the long winding driveway.
When she didn’t see any headlights growing brighter in the darkness, her shoulders slumped. Maybe Doc hadn’t arrived after all. The car on the road could have just been heading past the property toward town.
Still, she continued walking toward the rental car.
It was parked so the nose of the vehicle was pointed toward the road so that they could drive away in a hurry if need be.
Straight down the driveway and out to the road.
Cam must have turned the vehicle around at some point, maybe even before he headed into the woods to find whatever it was he was looking for.
And why wasn’t he back yet? Because the killer had grabbed him? Or because he’d found something? Or someone? For a moment, she considered taking Bruno into the woods, but now that they were outside, the dog had stopped growling.
She wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one?
Annoyed again that Cam had left her alone, she tried the door handle. The door swung open. Cam had left it unlocked. The dome light came on, so she quickly closed the door again, plunging the yard into darkness.
She frowned and reached for her phone. If Cam didn’t show up in the next two minutes, she was calling 911.
The low rumble of a car engine reached her ears. Cocking her head, she listened and searched for the corresponding headlights.
There weren’t any. No lights, but the definite sound of a car engine growing louder.
Would Doc drive up to the rental house without lights? Driving so close to the woods without using lights was asking for trouble. Deer often roamed at night.
Torn with indecision, she stared at the driveway as a dark shape emerged from the trees. It was a mid-size SUV.
The clouds moved just enough that she could make out the light bar across the top. A police car. Had Rueger gotten her message and decided to either come to the rental house or send an officer to respond? Maybe even telling the cop not to use his lights and sirens.
She took a step back until she was an arm’s length behind the SUV car door. Bruno stayed close to her side. It was only when the approaching vehicle stopped and the car door opened that Bruno began to growl and bark.
Even though her weapon was useless against anyone with a gun, she found herself gripping the fireplace poker with both hands.
Bruno had identified the killer. And all she could do now was pray for God to protect her and Bruno, helping them escape certain death.
Cam moved as silently as the army had taught him through the dense woods.
His gaze probed for any sign of movement.
There was no way he’d imagined the bobbing light that had garnered his attention when he’d gone out to move the SUV around in case they needed a quick escape route. The light had been unmistakable.
And he’d been determined to discover the source. Cam’s last text from Doc was that he was only thirty minutes out, so when he’d spotted the light, one he’d believed was likely a flashlight, he’d decided to investigate.
He’d left Bruno with Evie, knowing the dog would protect her.
The problem was that once he’d gotten several yards into the woods, the light had disappeared. He’d kept going, hoping the moving flashlight would return. But only darkness remained.
Had the killer heard him coming after him and doused it? Or had Cam glimpsed something else?
He wasn’t familiar enough with the woods to know if there was a road that cut through at some point. He hated to admit the light he’d seen could have belonged to a vehicle. A car that was long gone.
Had he gone out there for nothing?
No, his gut was telling him the light was significant.
And he’d trusted his gut instincts throughout his deployment, especially during the exfil from Afghanistan, so he wasn’t about to ignore them now.
He continued pushing forward, thinking it was entirely possible the killer had returned to Duncan Woods to relive another of his horrific crimes.
It wouldn’t surprise Cam to learn the killer had buried some of his victims’ bodies out here, the same way he had buried Skye and Jasmine in the nature preserve.
Grand Haven had an abundance of woods.
Although having some proof of his suspicions would be nice.
Something to convince Rueger of his innocence.
Cam held his weapon with two hands as he carefully slipped through the dense foliage.
He reasoned the killer might have gone to the Lighthouse Motel, realized his Jeep was a ruse, and headed out to find them.
Remembering how Bruno had alerted near the fallen log, he worried the killer might also know about the rental house.
One factor he hadn’t considered was that the locals might know which properties were used for summer tourists.
The town of Grand Haven was small enough that rental houses would not go unnoticed.
Especially by locals who happened to live near one of the handfuls of rental properties.
He imagined how incredibly annoying it would be to have a weekly turnover of people staying nearby.
Especially if those tourists made a lot of noise.
For all he knew, Dan Johnson or Rick Thomas had made a point in knowing which homes were rentals. Maybe even to offer the various places to those visiting loved ones in the hospital for prolonged illnesses.
And if that was the case, there was no place he and Evie could stay that they wouldn’t be found.
A chilling thought.
After what seemed like eons, he stopped to listen.
Still seeing no lights, he turned to retrace his steps back to the house.
He wished he’d spent more time familiarizing himself with the woods while he’d had the chance.
He hadn’t spent much time here as a kid; he’d spent most of his free time in the summers down at the lakefront.
Kicking himself for being an idiot, he quickened his pace. He was anxious to get back to Evie. There was no reason to move stealthily now. He almost wished the killer would hear him in the woods and show himself.
He desperately needed for this to be over. To find and arrest the killer. To get his life back.
Maybe even to have a future with Evie. If she’d consider seeing him again once the real killer was identified and brought to justice.
There was no sound other than his own footsteps snapping the occasional dry leaves and twigs as he navigated the dark woods. Although his eyes had adjusted to the dim light, every so often the clouds would move away from the nearly full moon adding a bit more illumination for him to see.
The sound of Bruno’s sharp and frenzied barking hit him with the force of a knife stabbing him in his chest.
Why was Bruno outside? Swallowing a lump of dread, Cam broke into a run, swatting low-hanging branches out of his way and jumping over small bushes in his haste to return to the rental property.