She still had the nonemergency number in her recent call list and decided to use that to reach Rueger directly. It took several rings before her call was answered.
“This is Evie Tobin.” Her voice sounded strange to her own ears. “I need to speak to Detective Rueger.”
“I’ll pass along a message to him,” the officer said, clearly unwilling to put her through to his direct line.
“No, I need to speak to him immediately.” She used the same no-nonsense tone she used when dealing with the surgeons in the OR. “Tell him it’s Evie Tobin and that it’s important that I speak with him right away.”
The officer hesitated, then said, “Please hold.”
Her gaze drifted back to the exposed arm. The mottled skin. The flower tattoo bracelet. Who was she? Evie knew without a doubt the victim was another young woman. A teenager or young adult, although that was only a guess. Heaven help her, she didn’t want to see the dead woman’s face.
Would she recognize the victim? The thought brought another wave of nausea. She had seen dead bodies before, but not like this.
Not buried in the dirt.
“Rueger.” The detective’s clipped voice in her ear derailed her thoughts.
“Detective, Bruno found another dead body in the nature preserve.” Saying those words felt surreal. She swatted at a mosquito. “We only exposed the arm, which appears to belong to a young woman.”
“We?” His tone rose incredulously. “Are you telling me you’re with Cameron Walker?”
“Yes. We were hiking through the woods when Bruno took off through the brush.” She hurried to explain. “We followed him, and he sat and barked near an area of recently overturned earth. Cam—er, we dug a little to see what caught Bruno’s attention and uncovered the arm. I’m no expert, but I’m guessing she’s only been buried here a day or two at the most.” How fast did flesh decompose in the soil? She had no idea.
“Where are you exactly?” Rueger demanded.
“This burial site isn’t that far from where I found Skye’s remains.” She glanced over at Cam who was working on his phone. Then he showed her the screen that held GPS coordinates. Impressed, she quickly repeated them for Rueger. “We’ll wait here until you arrive.”
“You’d better be there,” he shot back. “Walker has some explaining to do.”
“This isn’t his fault.” Now it was her turn to be annoyed. “Bruno found this grave, not Cam. He isn’t a killer.”
“I’m sure he’s capable of that and more. Stay put. I’m on my way.” Before she could say anything more, Rueger disconnected from the call.
“So he thinks I’m a serial killer.” Cam’s mouth thinned. “Just because I killed Afghan insurgents in the line of duty, he thinks I did this.”
“He’s wrong.” She reached out to touch his arm. “I know you didn’t do this.” Then his words sank deep. “Serial killer?”
“Yeah.” He looked away, scanning their surroundings. “I’m not sure two dead bodies buried within two hundred yards of each other are enough to designate a serial killer, but based on the fourteen-year time frame between them? I have no doubt in my mind that there are more bodies buried out here.” He threw his arm wide to encompass the area. “This is likely his burial ground.”
“That’s sick.” She frowned. “And it doesn’t make any sense. I can’t believe several women went missing over the past fourteen years without someone noticing.”
“Depends on the circumstances.” He shrugged. “Everyone assumed Skye took off. Maybe there are others who supposedly left town without looking back. Or tourists who were thought to have returned home but hadn’t.”
She shook her head, unable to assimilate what he was saying. “One or two women, sure. But more than that? No way. Someone somewhere would have raised the alarm. Grand Haven isn’t that big.”
“It’s not. But it will be interesting to see if this woman is a local resident or a tourist.”
She shivered again. “It’s awful. Do you think the gunman is responsible?”
“Yeah, maybe.” Cam’s voice had dropped to a low rumble. “If this guy thinks you’re onto him, you’re in grave danger.”
Swallowing against the hard lump lodged in her throat, she tried not to imagine how Skye and this young woman had died. With Skye, the cause of death remained unknown, unless the bones they’d recovered were enough to determine a cause of death. Glancing at the blue-tinged arm, she realized that finding this victim would likely help them understand exactly what had happened.
It was easier for her to accept that someone like Dan Johnson had gotten angry enough to have killed Skye in a fit of rage, then buried her to avoid being caught. Her only experience with serial killers was what she’d read in books or seen on television. But she knew one thing for sure, the average serial killer didn’t necessarily kill out of a fit of anger.
They killed because they enjoyed it. Or because it was a compulsion they couldn’t stop.
Her knees went weak at the image of someone hurting Skye like that, and she stumbled back a step, nearly falling to the ground. Cam quickly reached for her. “Hey, are you okay?”
