“What the hell is a detective from Crooked Creek doing in my neck of the woods?” the man barked.
Ellie bit back an agitated response. She knew it was the middle of the night and they were all tired, but wasn’t he at all concerned that another death had happened on his mountain?
SIX
Somewhere on the AT
He gathered more crow feathers on the trail and stayed in the thick of the woods, his boat parked safely in the thicket of overgrown trees and brush downriver from Midnight Ridge.
A murder of crows flitted through the trees and he gripped his rifle, antsy and wanting to see how many he could take out. Pow. Pow. Pow.
Yet he knew that ranger had found Minnie’s body and the police were already present, combing the woods in search of him.
All because of the old homeless man. A problem that had to be rectified. That old buzzard might be able to identify him. He tucked the rifle in his hunting backpack, where he also carried his ammunition and scabbards along with his bag to store feathers in.
As he hiked through the forests, he collected them, his childhood memories taunting him. The woods had been his for the taking.
Now, the thrill of the kill lingered, running hot through his blood. The moment he’d let Minnie live the first time had been a mistake. Stupid girl couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
At least she hadn’t gone to the police.
He’d been relieved when she’d run away from home and figured the problem was solved. That she’d never survive on the streets.
But she had somehow.
When he’d seen her a couple of weeks ago in the distance, he’d realized it was just a matter of time before she turned on him.
He’d known then she had to die.
SEVEN
Midnight Ridge
Cord’s initial search for Roman proved futile. Knowing he needed to search the site where the young girl went over the ridge, he called his SAR partner, Milo, who was on call, and asked him to organize a team to search the woods for Roman.
Then he headed back to his truck. Dr. Whitefeather and the ERT were just arriving, and he directed them to Ellie and the body. Lieutenant Williams assigned an investigator named Luke to go with him up to the ridge. “If you find something, let me know and we’ll join you,” Williams said.
Cord introduced himself to Luke. “We’ll drive up to the summit in my truck, then hike over to the jump site.”
Luke grabbed his kit, portable lights and flashlight from the ERT van along with a backpack containing other necessities and climbed in the passenger side. The air felt chilly and dank as if another storm was brewing, so they needed to hurry. He pressed the gas, then chugged from the parking lot onto the graveled road.
Darkness still bathed the mountains and without streetlights, he kept his speed in check. Wet switchbacks were dangerous.
“Man, this is high,” Luke muttered, his face paling as he glanced down the side of the curvy road at the drop-off.
“Don’t look down,” Cord said with a wry smile. He was accustomed to the roads but still careful.
When they reached the top, Cord parked and the two of them grabbed their gear, then Cord led the way to the ridge that overhung the stream. He wished to hell it wasn’t so damn dark, but they’d see what they found tonight and could come back in daylight if needed.
They both fell silent, the sound of thunder in the distance mingling with the coarse sound of their boots stepping over the rocky path. They fell into an easy pattern, Cord shining his flashlight uphill then to the right while Luke searched left.
“There are footprints here,” Luke pointed out. “Large, maybe a man’s.”
That might be helpful, although they had no idea how many people had hiked here in the last twenty-four hours.
Cord noted brush that had been crushed. Another black tennis shoe lay in the weeds, and he spotted drag marks. “Look at this,” Cord said as he snapped photographs. “I’m pretty sure this shoe was the girl’s. Found another one in the brush near the body.”
After surveying and photographing the area including the large footprints, Luke pulled an evidence bag from his pack and placed the shoe inside, then they continued. A few feet farther and something shiny glinted in the dark against a patch of moss. He stooped and realized it was a silver hoop earring. Did it belong to the dead girl?
