Rachel frowned. “Not from the ME, but ERT. They located something unusual on the altar besides the candle.”
Caleb watched Ava’s face as her eyes widened at the news. “What is it?”
“An old music box that plays ‘I’ll Be Seeing You.’ ERT’s trying to date it thinking it might possibly give us an idea of how long our victim has been dead.”
“Any idea what the significance of the music box might be?” Caleb asked, focusing on Ava’s face.
Her brows knitted together. “That song. There’s something about it. In fact, every time I’ve heard it in the past it’s always made me sad.”
He wondered if there was something hidden in her memories that tied her to the killer who seemed determined to flaunt some unknown connection.
Caleb pulled his thoughts. She’d speak with her parents. Perhaps they could help. Right now, he wanted to focus on what lay ahead.
He glanced out the side window. “We’re almost there,” he told Ava. “There’s a pull out on the right where we can park the vehicles.”
Ava leaned forward as the snow kept falling, filtering through the headlights, cutting visibility down to a few feet in front of them.
“It should be daylight in half an hour,” he told her. “There’s the pull out on the right.” He gave her the warning and Ava hit her blinker to alert the rest of the team.
She slowed enough to turn safely and pulled into the gravel pull out.
The rest of their caravan followed. Caleb was grateful for the extra K-9 teams to assist. Caleb had called in some of his trusted search and rescue people. Splitting up into four teams with K-9 leads would help them cover the vast amount of terrain they’d be facing today.
Once the rest of the vehicles were parked, Shadow let out a sharp bark, knowing he’d be working soon.
“Shadow’s ready,” Ava said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “How about everyone else?”
Rachel confirmed yes, but some of her fire had gone out following the discovery of the woman in the lake. Caleb felt the same way. It had been jarring and seemed to prove Wax had been on the hunt much longer than any of them believed.
Depending on how old the lady in the lake proved to be, it could be decades.
“Let’s go. Everyone sticks together. And keep your eyes open. The clues are coming in fast, and it will take some time to process them all, but we don’t want to miss anything crucial.” Ava held his gaze long enough for him to see all the fears flashing through her eyes. He couldn’t imagine what she was going through knowing a serial killer had his eyes on her and seemed to be hinting at a connection that would no doubt prove to be terrifying.
“We’ve got this,” he said quietly. “And I’ve got your back.”
She smiled before she opened the door and grabbed Shadow’s lead.
That smile was enough to send his heart careening back to the past, to the love they’d once shared. The times before Wax took away their future.
He got out and turned his collar up against the biting wind coming down from the mountains and on it came the chilling whispers of the past coming back to haunt.
Ava stood beside Caleb adjusting her gloves, her breath forming faint plumes.
He could feel her anxiety radiating around her body like an aura.
Shadow sniffed the ground trying to pick up any scent. Ava had given the dog the plaid fabric from Emily’s crime scene to confirm Wax’s scent. As soon as the rest of the K-9s were ready, they’d be given the fabric for tracking as well.
ERT had released the cloth to her as long as it remained in the evidence bag. According to their lead specialist, the fabric could date back years. The same was believed true of the broken backpack strap.
“There’s my people.” Caleb excused himself and headed over to his team members. They’d worked together for a long time and knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses well.
“Thank you all for coming.” His gaze scanned past Grace Shaw and Brynn Adler, the newest members of the team. They’d been with Caleb for about two years now and had proven themselves time and time again. Rhett Lawson and Beck Holt worked search and rescue missions with Caleb for as long as Caleb had been part of the team.
“As I said over the phone, this will be challenging. We’re hunting a killer who has murdered before, and he knows this area extremely well.” He looked at where Ava stood with Rachel. Every time he saw her, Caleb’s heart reminded him that he’d been foolish to think he could turn his feelings off, even to find a killer.
“If everyone is ready, let me introduce you to the FBI lead, Ava Blake.”
Redeemed team members gathered around Ava as they approached. Despite the seriousness of their mission, Caleb smiled at the way Shadow abandoned his sniffing long enough to greet his K-9 friends.
