“Okay, where do we start?” Evie’s question interrupted his thoughts.
“Did Rueger hint as to how Skye died?” Cam asked. “He wouldn’t tell me anything, just kept saying he was the one asking questions, and my job was to answer them truthfully. As if I’ve been lying all this time.” The detective’s attitude had grated on him, the way he was sure the older cop had intended. Rueger had poked at him on purpose to try igniting his anger.
The detective had even brought up the way he’d flattened Dan Johnson for being a jerk to his girlfriend, Tammy. As if that was the same as killing a girlfriend.
“No, I didn’t ask him about that.” Evie frowned. “Honestly, I’m not sure they’ll be able to tell how she died since all that’s left are her skeletal remains.”
“You didn’t see anything obvious? Like maybe a portion of her skull being smashed in or a bullet hole?”
“Nothing like that.” Evie didn’t hesitate. “From what I saw, the skull was intact. At the time, I was more focused on the scrap of her clothing.” She paused, then added, “The moment Bruno brought me that bone, I had a bad feeling it belonged to Skye. Even back when she’d disappeared, I’d always wondered if something horrible had happened to her.”
He nodded, because he’d had the same thought. They’d discussed it several times during their frequent visits to the Grand Haven police station. But their comments had fallen on Rueger’s deaf ears.
Neither one of them made any move to get out of the car. In a way, it was like old times, when they’d discussed Skye in the front seat of his old Chevy pickup truck. “I guess they’ll perform some sort of autopsy on whatever was left of her.”
“Yeah.” Evie stared down at their clasped hands. “For what that’s worth. If she was strangled or beaten badly... that evidence is long gone.”
“I can’t even imagine someone doing that to her. Why Skye?” He stared at Evie. “Do you think she was on her way out of town when someone stopped her? Maybe asked for a ride and then ended up killing her?”
“That’s possible, but then why not dump her body someplace else?” Evie released his hand to tuck a stray curl that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear. “Why bury her in the nature preserve?”
“I have no idea.” He wished he’d paid more attention to what their classmates were doing back then. Summers were busy tourist seasons, and most kids worked hard during the daytime hours. Like he and Evie, working twelve-hour shifts at the lakefront.
And many had played hard at night too. Skye had been known to sneak a beer or two. Since Cam’s mother had drunk herself to an early grave, he’d always avoided alcohol. “Skye wasn’t at the bonfire that night before she was planning to leave town.”
“No, she wasn’t.” Evie tipped her head to the side. “Normally, she would have been. At the time, I assumed she stayed home to get an early start the following morning.”
“I think we should make a list of the kids who were not at the bonfire.” He was itching to do something constructive. Better to make lists and investigate on their own than to sit back and wait for Rueger to slap cuffs around his wrists. “It’s possible someone else skipped the party to spend time with Skye alone.”
“You really think one of our fellow classmates did this?” Evie looked surprised.
“Why not?” He held her gaze. “Keep in mind, I did argue with Skye. I told her I wasn’t moving to Grand Rapids with her to look for work. That I was going to join the army and there was nothing she could say or do to stop me.”
“I see.” Evie’s brow furrowed. “You’re thinking Skye decided to spend time with someone else that night as a way to get back at you.”
“Yeah.” It was a better theory than the one that involved his being angry enough to have hurt her. “You remember how stubborn Skye could be. She liked getting her way.”
“That’s true. It was one of the reasons she played one divorced parent off the other.” Evie shrugged. “With summer being so busy with tourists, I assumed a newcomer to the area was likely involved. Not one of us.”
“I guess that depends on whether a tourist would think to bury her in the nature preserve.” Cam thought about how close the preserve was to Evie’s mother’s house. “Granted, you probably knew more about how many people hiked back there than I did.”
“There were lots of hikers back there, but most stayed on one of the numerous paths. The woods are thick, even the area behind my mom’s house.” Evie grimaced. “Skye’s body was far away from the regular hiking routes.”
“I’d like to look over the area where you found her.” The thought popped out of his mouth before he could think it through. “If you don’t mind,” he hastily added. “I know it was a gruesome discovery for you. I got a glimpse tonight but couldn’t see much in the dark.”
“It was, but I agree with you. We should check it out tomorrow morning.” She glanced in the rearview mirror to where Bruno was snoozing in the crate area. “We’ll take Bruno with us. He’ll alert us if he scents the gunman.”
“I like that plan.” He managed a smile for the first time since receiving the phone call from Detective Rueger. “Can you think of anywhere else the killer may have left Skye’s car?”
“The paths in the nature preserve aren’t wide enough to drive on.” Evie’s expression turned thoughtful. “But I’ve been wondering about the river. There are some portions of the Grand River that are wide and deep enough to dump a car.”
“That’s true.” He thought about that for a moment. “How much do you want to bet that Rueger has never even considered looking in the river for Skye’s car?”
“He didn’t believe she was still in town, remember?” Evie’s tone was dry. “The way he kept telling us there were no signs of foul play tells me he never bothered looking for her vehicle.”
He frowned. “I believe he issued a BOLO for her car, but that was it. And he probably only did that to cover his bases.” Cam’s pulse jumped at the thought of finding Skye’s car submerged in the Grand River. The Grand River started from natural springs in Hillsdale County and stretched roughly 260 miles across the state until it reached Grand Haven, emptying into Lake Michigan.
For all they knew, the car could have been driven and left to sink into the depths of Lake Michigan. Anything was possible now that they knew Skye had never left town that day as planned.
