The detective didn’t answer. She left him a whispered message, letting him know the address to the rental house and the possibility Cam was out in the woods searching for the killer. When finished, she slid her phone back into her pocket beside the keys. She wasn’t sure if calling 911 was a good idea as they’d come red lights and sirens blaring, so she decided to wait.
“Come, Bruno.” Still carrying the fireplace poker, she made her way to the back door and opened it. The cool night air made her shiver.
Where was Cam? Even if he had gone out to investigate something he’d seen, shouldn’t he be back here already?
Bruno stood, his ears pricked forward, his nose up sniffing the air. Taking her cue from the dog, she stepped out onto the damp grass.
The tiny hairs on the back of her neck pricked as she swept her gaze over the silent yard. She didn’t see anything but knew Cam must have taken the path for some reason.
“Come on, Cam. Come back from the woods.” Her whispered plea sounded loud to her ears. She turned to look at the rental house behind her. It was dark because she hadn’t turned any lights on.
In the distance, she glimpsed a flash of headlights. Had Doc finally arrived? She strode toward the driveway where the rental car stood. The fact that there was no garage had bothered her at first, but now she was glad there was nothing to obstruct her view of the long winding driveway.
When she didn’t see any headlights growing brighter in the darkness, her shoulders slumped. Maybe Doc hadn’t arrived after all. The car on the road could have just been heading past the property toward town.
Still, she continued walking toward the rental car. It was parked so the nose of the vehicle was pointed toward the road so that they could drive away in a hurry if need be. Straight down the driveway and out to the road. Cam must have turned the vehicle around at some point, maybe even before he headed into the woods to find whatever it was he was looking for.
And why wasn’t he back yet? Because the killer had grabbed him? Or because he’d found something? Or someone? For a moment, she considered taking Bruno into the woods, but now that they were outside, the dog had stopped growling.
She wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one?
Annoyed again that Cam had left her alone, she tried the door handle. The door swung open. Cam had left it unlocked. The dome light came on, so she quickly closed the door again, plunging the yard into darkness.
She frowned and reached for her phone. If Cam didn’t show up in the next two minutes, she was calling 911.
The low rumble of a car engine reached her ears. Cocking her head, she listened and searched for the corresponding headlights.
There weren’t any. No lights, but the definite sound of a car engine growing louder.
Would Doc drive up to the rental house without lights? Driving so close to the woods without using lights was asking for trouble. Deer often roamed at night.
Torn with indecision, she stared at the driveway as a dark shape emerged from the trees. It was a mid-size SUV.
The clouds moved just enough that she could make out the light bar across the top. A police car. Had Rueger gotten her message and decided to either come to the rental house or send an officer to respond? Maybe even telling the cop not to use his lights and sirens.
She took a step back until she was an arm’s length behind the SUV car door. Bruno stayed close to her side. It was only when the approaching vehicle stopped and the car door opened that Bruno began to growl and bark.
Even though her weapon was useless against anyone with a gun, she found herself gripping the fireplace poker with both hands.
Bruno had identified the killer. And all she could do now was pray for God to protect her and Bruno, helping them escape certain death.
Cam moved as silentlyas the army had taught him through the dense woods. His gaze probed for any sign of movement. There was no way he’d imagined the bobbing light that had garnered his attention when he’d gone out to move the SUV around in case they needed a quick escape route. The light had been unmistakable.
And he’d been determined to discover the source. Cam’s last text from Doc was that he was only thirty minutes out, so when he’d spotted the light, one he’d believed was likely a flashlight, he’d decided to investigate.
He’d left Bruno with Evie, knowing the dog would protect her.
The problem was that once he’d gotten several yards into the woods, the light had disappeared. He’d kept going, hoping the moving flashlight would return. But only darkness remained.
Had the killer heard him coming after him and doused it? Or had Cam glimpsed something else?
He wasn’t familiar enough with the woods to know if there was a road that cut through at some point. He hated to admit the light he’d seen could have belonged to a vehicle. A car that was long gone.
Had he gone out there for nothing?
No, his gut was telling him the light was significant. And he’d trusted his gut instincts throughout his deployment, especially during the exfil from Afghanistan, so he wasn’t about to ignore them now. He continued pushing forward, thinking it was entirely possible the killer had returned to Duncan Woods to relive another of his horrific crimes. It wouldn’t surprise Cam to learn the killer had buried some of his victims’ bodies out here, the same way he had buried Skye and Jasmine in the nature preserve.
Grand Haven had an abundance of woods.
