Tracing a Killer, page 16
The man’s baseball hat had fallen to the ground as he headed toward a cluster of buildings and sheds. In the moonlight, she saw blond hair...the RMK. As she drew closer to the buildings, she lost sight of him. She slowed down, scanning the areas around the buildings, listening for any sound that might be out of place. Her eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness when she reached an open-sided shed. She aimed her gun at the interior of the structure as her eyes scanned for movement. Stillness answered back.
Her heartbeat thrummed in her ears. She swallowed to produce some moisture in her mouth. She gripped the gun with both hands, ready to take a shot.
Backup would be nice, but her radio was back in her room.
Captain brushed against her leg, reminding her that she was not alone in this fight.
Satisfied the perp was not hiding in the shed, she worked her way toward the next building.
Footsteps behind her caused her to whirl around. “Trevor, I almost shot you,” she shout whispered.
He stepped closer to her and spoke in a low voice. “No way was I going to leave you out here alone.”
His words brought her consolation. She’d felt so much confusion after their kiss. He seemed to not want to make a big deal of it, so she’d said something to let him off the hook. “It’s too dangerous for you. It’s the RMK for sure and he has a gun.”
“This is the first clear attack on me. We have to get him.”
She admired his courage, and his desire to protect her touched her deeply, but this was too risky for him. She leaned close to him. “Go back.”
Had the other officers been close enough to hear the shots? Maybe she would get some backup.
Her desire to take in the RMK gave her the courage to keep going.
She took off running, only to find Trevor beside her. There was no time to argue. She had a chance to take in the RMK.
Staying close together, they weaved through the buildings. Without a flashlight, it was hard to see anything in the shadows. The moonlight provided only a small amount of illumination.
They pressed against the stone wall of a round structure and circled it. She stared at the sky in frustration, letting out a heavy breath. He wasn’t here. Somehow the RMK had managed to get away without making discernable noise.
“We should head back,” said Trevor. “We’re not going to flush him out. Maybe he slipped away.”
She gripped her gun tighter. If she had had her radio, she could have called more of the team in and cornered him. “I should have handled this differently. I just want to catch him so bad.” Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper. “It’s best to assume he’s still close, waiting to take a shot at us even if we can’t hear him. Move with caution.”
Using the buildings as cover whenever possible, they worked their way back to the community room, breaking into a full-out run once they were in an open area. When they arrived, the front door was unlocked. They entered to find Isla sitting beside Chase, who was holding an ice pack on his head. Dash was at his feet.
“You’re okay.” Chase grimaced and adjusted the ice pack. “I’ve got the others out looking for you.”
“We were in pursuit of the RMK,” Hannah said. “It was him for sure. I saw his blond hair when his hat fell off.”
Chase’s voice became solemn. “That means he’s here on the grounds.” He rose to his feet. “Trevor, you never should have left the building.”
Hannah lowered her voice. “This is partially my fault. I thought I was only going to be in my room for a minute. I shouldn’t have left my post.”
Trevor spoke up. “He was firing shots at the back door. I moved to escape out the front door, and I saw Hannah running. I knew I couldn’t leave her out there alone.”
“Everything happened so fast, I heard shots, I didn’t have time to grab my radio,” said Hannah. “I know that I could have handled things better.” She stepped toward Chase. “But we almost had him.”
Chase touched her arm. “We both played this one poorly. I can’t believe I got knocked in the head. I turned away for a second.”
“What happened to Dash?”
“We found him tied to a tree. The RMK is very good with dogs. He must have grabbed Dash right after he hit me,” Chase said.
“He has to have been watching this place closely. He knew where Trevor was sleeping. He kicked that door open first.”
Trevor collapsed in a chair. “When he didn’t find me there, he must have looked in the community room window and saw that I was alone.”
“We never should have let this happen. Isla, get on the radio, we need to call everyone in for the night. I want two people on shift outside guarding the bunkhouse, one sitting and one patrolling.”
“Since this place is so vulnerable, what if Hannah and I returned to my RV with one other person to stand guard.”
Chase shook his head. “Like Hannah said, we’re being surveilled closely. There is too much danger that the RMK or Weller would see us leave and follow. You wouldn’t be any safer at the RV and you’d have less protection.”
“But David doesn’t have a car,” said Trevor. “Hannah would be safer.”
Isla spoke up. “Actually, I’ve been watching the park-police reports and a car was reported stolen about an hour ago not too far from here.”
The news was like a jab to Hannah’s stomach. That meant David was more mobile.
Chase spoke up. “The smart thing is for all of us to get as much sleep as possible with the guard shifts I set up. I don’t want another attack to happen tonight. We’ll play offense as well. Whoever is not on guard duty or sleeping will go out to track the RMK. If he’s still lurking on the grounds, we’ll find him.”
Isla moved toward her worktable.
“If we could catch David Weller,” said Hannah, “I could be more of a help instead of a liability.”
“No one thinks of you that way,” Isla responded.
Chase looked at Hannah for a long moment as though he were thinking about something. “I’ll escort the two of you back to the rooms.”
Chase’s tone indicated a level of frustration that Hannah shared. To be this close, to know that he was out there watching them and not to be able to bring the RMK in, was upsetting.
Trevor, Hannah and Captain followed Chase and Dash outside. Hannah said good-night and retreated to her room. After setting her gun on the nightstand, she called Captain over to her.
She rubbed his furry head. “You did good out there tonight, big guy.”
Captain licked her hand.
“Now lie down and get some sleep.” She put her face close to his. “That’s a good boy.”
Captain settled on the floor beside her bed. She reached over to turn off the nightstand lamp.
Hannah got into bed fully clothed and pulled the covers up around her. She wondered why Chase had looked at her for a long moment and then not said anything. Did he think she was a liability, or was she projecting her insecurity on him, just like she’d done with Trevor?
She longed for the comfort of his arms around her.
She could feel tears warming the corners of her eyes. From the moment she’d turned onto the causeway to the island, nothing had gone as she’d hoped. She certainly didn’t think she would find herself falling for Trevor Gage.
She stared at the ceiling. Captain had risen to his feet. He licked her arm where it was exposed.
She turned to face her partner and rub his ears. “Thanks for always being on my side.”
She drifted off to sleep, barely waking when both Isla and Selena came in some time later. Meadow must be on guard duty.
She turned on her side and pulled the blanket around her shoulder, praying that tomorrow would be a more fruitful day and that they all would have a safe night’s sleep.
* * *
The next morning, when Rocco had invited Trevor to help cook breakfast, he’d jumped at the chance to keep busy. The smell of sausages filled the air. Trevor got out the orange juice then broke eggs to be scrambled.
Rocco watched the sausages while also pouring pancakes on the griddle. He seemed quite skilled at cooking. Trevor recognized Rocco’s last name. There had been a detective named Manelli on the original case, most likely Rocco’s father. Catching the RMK was probably as personal to Rocco as it was to Trevor.
The rest of the team slowly shuffled in, grabbing cups of coffee and retreating to the seating area.
Just as breakfast was ready to serve, Hannah appeared at the door and looked into the kitchen. “Rocco, you’re going to want to see this since you were the one who transported the pups. Trevor, you might like this. Come see what Isla has set up.”
The rest of the team had already gathered around the monitors.
On the screen was a woman Trevor didn’t recognize. The woman’s dark hair, pulled back in a single braid, offset her caramel-colored skin. She was holding Cowgirl’s cinnamon-colored puppy. The other three pups played at her feet in some sort of outdoor pen.
Isla pressed a button on her keyboard. “Liana has a message for all of you.”
Liana waved and drew the puppy closer to her face. The puppy licked her cheek as its little legs ran a marathon. “Hey, everyone. I thought you could use some good news. All the puppies are in good health and very active, as you can see.” She bent over and picked up the multicolored puppy. Both puppies wiggled in her hands.
Isla leaned forward. “What are the plans for those little guys?”
“We’ll start working with them to see if they can be trained as compassion K-9s like their mom.” She bent her head toward one of the pups and then looked at the screen as her voice filled with longing. “Any sign of Cowgirl?”
Chase piped up. “She’s been spotted several times. It looks like she’s being well taken care of.”
“I just hope she’s recovered soon. I miss her.” Liana bent to put the pups down.
Trevor had noticed that the woman’s eyes had glazed right before her face went off screen. The atmosphere in the room had grown heavy.
Hannah leaned close to Trevor. “Liana was supposed to adopt Cowgirl. She’d bring her to the Elk Valley PD, where the task force has its HQ, every morning for her work as a therapy dog and then home every night.”
Rocco edged toward the screen. “Hopefully soon, Liana, those of us who live in Elk Valley will be back there to see those little guys grow and learn.”
“Yes, for sure,” said Liana. “I hope you all have a productive day.”
“We’ll do our best,” said Chase.
Liana waved goodbye and managed a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes before the screen went black.
“She’s pretty broken up about Cowgirl,” said Hannah.
The others nodded in agreement.
“Let’s eat breakfast,” said Chase. “Whatever it is, it smells good.”
After the food was brought out, each of the team members took a seat, as did Trevor.
“I can say grace if you like.” Trevor addressed his comment to Chase.
“That would be great,” said Chase as he bowed his head and pressed his hands together.
“Lord, we thank You for this day. For the way this team works together and for seeing how healthy and active the puppies are.”
Several people laughed.
Trevor continued, “We ask that you protect each and everyone around this table as we work today to bring in these two men who have caused so much havoc. Thank You for this food—please bless and nourish it to our bodies.”
Several people said, “Amen.”
Trevor raised his head and opened his eyes, allowing his gaze to rest on each of the officers for just a moment. He’d come to a place of respect for the dedication and tenacity he saw in each of these men and women. Their desire to see justice done had restored his faith in law enforcement.
The food was passed around and compliments flowed as people dug into their meals. No one seemed to want to talk about the case.
Isla cleared her throat after setting down her fork on her empty plate. “I have a bit of news that might affect what we do today. It seems that today is the first day of the Kite and Balloon Stampede that’s held on the island.”
“So that means more people on the island?” Meadow grabbed the last sausage off the serving plate.
“An extra twenty thousand,” said Isla. “Most of the activities are at White Rock Bay up north, but I’m sure some people will filter down here.”
Chase said, “More traffic too I bet.”
“Yes, they launch the balloons off the road sometimes,” said Isla. “I imagine things can get pretty backed up.”
“Gonna complicate things for us doing our job,” said Rocco. “It’s a lot easier to hide in a crowd.”
“I think we will concentrate our efforts on locating the RMK closer to the ranch for now.” Chase pushed back his chair and stood up. “Ian, you stay here with Trevor, Hannah and Isla. The rest of us will search the ranch out of uniform. I don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We’ll still have the dogs get a scent off the blankets that were left in the crate with puppies.”
“Even though Scout is trained for wilderness terrain, he can handle crowds just fine,” said Selena.
The four officers left. Trevor watched through the window of the community room. Already, it looked like there were more people than usual milling through the ranch.
Ian called Lola to his side. “I will be outside patrolling the area close to here.” He tapped his radio. “Stay in touch. It looks busy out there.”
“I’ll be inside with Trevor,” said Hannah.
Isla returned to her worktable.
Trevor grabbed his laptop from the bunkhouse and settled down to get some work done. Captain rested on a rug at his feet.
Hannah took a seat opposite Trevor and began reading something on her phone, then rose to look out each window. She sat back down with a heavy sigh.
It was clear she was restless.
Trevor said, “Why don’t I get us all something cold to drink?”
“That sounds nice,” said Hannah. “I’d take an iced tea if there are any left.”
“Isla, you want anything?”
“I’m good,” said Isla.
Trevor went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He grabbed the last iced tea and a soft drink.
He thought he heard Hannah say something like “What’s that?”
Captain let out a single bark.
When he returned to the sitting area, Isla had risen and pushed back her chair.
Hannah rushed across the room with her hand hovering over her gun.
SEVENTEEN
At the sound of someone rattling the front door, Hannah had risen to her feet. The door burst open.
Two young men tumbled into the community room. They were both dressed in baggy pants and oversize hoodies.
At the sight of Hannah, they put their arms up in the air.
“Whoa,” the taller of the two men said.
The second man took a step back. “We were just having a look around the ranch.”
“This building is not open to the public,” said Hannah. “There should be a sign outside.”
“We didn’t see any,” said the taller man.
“We’re sorry,” the other man added.
“No problem.” She put the hand that had been hovering over the gun at her side. “Sorry to have scared you.”
Trevor had risen to stand beside Hannah. “Enjoy your time at the ranch.”
The two men left by the door they’d come in by.
“That door should have been locked.” Hannah stepped toward it, then examined the door.
“Let me see,” said Trevor. He leaned in to have a closer look at the doorknob. “It appears to be broken.”
“No surprise there. It’s old.” She stared at the outside area by the door, not seeing the sign that indicated the bunkhouse wasn’t open to the public. She stepped farther out—the sign had been on flimsy wooden post. Someone could have pulled it up.
“Can you fix the lock?”
“Maybe if I had some tools,” said Trevor.
She circled the building, looking for the sign. The bunkhouse was close to a thick forest with trails and bird-viewing areas. She spotted at least a dozen people wandering through the trees.
Ian and Lola came around from the other side of the bunkhouse. “Everything okay?”
“The lock on the front door is broken and the sign saying the area isn’t open to the public is gone.”
“I’ll look around for it,” said Ian. “You should get back inside.”
All the extra people milling through made her nervous. When she returned, Trevor was taking the doorknob apart using a knife as a screwdriver.
“Not sure if this is a good idea,” said Trevor. “I’ll get it all torn apart and not be able to put it back together. Besides, it looks like the locking mechanism when you twist this—” he pointed to the elevated button in the middle of the doorknob “—won’t go down. The knob probably needs to be replaced.”
“Neither one of you should be standing here,” said Isla. “Let’s go inside.”
Hannah pushed the door into place behind her. The knob was wobbly. This wasn’t good. Not only did it mean the tourist could wander in here, but it was also one less point of protection against the two men. The other door had probably been damaged from the RMK shooting at it, as well. The place was hardly high-security and now it was even less so.
“Isla, can you print up a sign we can put on the door that says the building isn’t open to the public?”
“Sure, in just a minute.” She lifted her head above her screen. “Want to know what I have been working on?” There was a hopeful lilt in her voice.
Hannah walked over to Isla’s worktable. There was a grid on one of her screens with names in the squares. She looked a little closer. “It’s a work schedule.”
