"Anne and Kendra are witnesses."
"Exactly. We've put Anne in protective custody. Younger is getting sloppy. He lost Ivy, so she's a witness to his crime, and the two men who rescued her after she jumped from Younger's vehicle are witnesses. And Kendra is a witness to the teen grabbing Anne. Of course, Younger attacked you at the park also," Rowland said.
"Right. You know I've been thinking about what you said concerning Younger being able to live off the land. If the judge gives the teen a bond and his mother bails him out, his stepdad might camp out in the park rather than try to find some other accommodations and then come for him," Grayson said.
"He won’t chance going to the house. We have his mother under surveillance in case Younger drops by there. Billy is wearing an ankle monitor and will be under house arrest when he goes home. We've also got surveillance on the kid's aunt and uncle, as well as his maternal and paternal grandparents’ homes. He doesn't have any siblings, and his two cousins are already in jail for armed robbery. They're awaiting trial right now."
"Sounds like a history of criminal activity with that extended family," Grayson said, adding that Billy shouldn’t be bonded out, considering the seriousness of the crimes.
"Yeah, he’s bad news. Did Younger come in a different vehicle?" Rowland asked.
“No. I believe he was hiding in the back seat of the green car. Then he went into the woods after we rescued Anne and captured Billy. He must have realized you were protecting Anne, and Billy was nowhere in sight. All I can figure is that Younger returned to his car after I went there to open it up and learn what I could.”
“Do you think he knew you had taken Billy into custody?" Rowland asked.
“Possibly, and came to get me, believing I knew where the kid was, or planned to kill me and go after the boy until the hikers intervened. Also, I had the notion that Younger might hike into the forest later and hunker down until he can grab his stepson once he learns where he is and get out of here. I’m sure he'll hear from his wife, and she'll let him know when Billy returns home. I suspect they'll use some ruse and lead the officers on a wild goose chase while Billy slips away."
"Then once he gets the boy, they'll leave the state. Possibly the country,” Rowland said, then thought for a minute, rubbing his chin. “You know…the guy is wily. What if Younger returns to the park, figuring we’ve all been out in this area and won’t be looking for him here again? He could hold up in the forest until he can get hold of Billy, maybe even have Billy meet up with him here. I can’t afford to send a bunch of men out here if we’re wrong, but…”
“Kendra and I will go to the park to see if we can locate Younger’s scent then."
"I think it’s a good idea. Let me know if you find anything important. We’ll continue to check surveillance videos throughout town to see if we can learn which way he went, if he didn't backtrack and go to the park."
"Sounds good. Out here." Grayson glanced at Kendra. "Have you got any camping gear?"
7
Kendra figured they would be running through the forest as bears, trying to locate Younger's scent, but she'd never expected to camp out with a grizzly bear bounty hunter while looking for a fugitive.
They picked up her camping gear from her house, then went to the grocery store to buy a week's worth of food. Beyond that, they could fish as grizzlies, though Kendra had some fishing gear to use to fish with also.
"Did Younger have camping equipment in the vehicle?" she asked Grayson.
"Yeah. The works. So he'll be all set for hiding out for a good long while if we weren't such great trackers."
"Do you think he might have gone into another area of the park?"
"He might. But as Rowland said, he might figure no one would return here, looking for him. And since they went to Sun Point in the first place, that makes me think that he knows this area better than most. People are creatures of habit."
"Do you think he'll have a bear rifle this time?"
"It's illegal to kill a grizzly."
"Yeah, but he might be carrying a weapon he could use on anyone who tries to take him in."
"Yeah. He might. Or another kind of handgun, as Billy had. Not that Younger can legally carry one because of his criminal record, if he has one handy. But he could have bear spray and bear noisemakers also in case he encounters bears."
"The bear noisemakers won't scare us off."
When they finally reached the park, they decided to explore first and see if they could smell if Younger had returned to the area. The green car he had been in wasn’t there, but he could have been dropped off.
"He might have gone into Glacier National Park at another entrance."
"Yes, absolutely. We'll check here first. If we smell Younger’s scent past where Billy grabbed Anne, we'll keep looking for Younger in this area. If we can't find any sign of it, we'll go to the west entrance."
"Sounds good. So we're not going to take our camping gear with us," she said.
"No, we'll leave it behind for now. If we locate his scent, we'll come back with the gear."
