Page 95 of The Search

“Not yet. Not until we have more to go on.” He made a face. “A water search can take days, weeks.”

“I know.” And it became a nightmare for the friends and relatives of the victims. “Where are the tire marks?”

“I’ll take you. It’s about a mile through the forest to the lake. I have a speedboat tied a short distance from the last place we saw the tracks.”

She put on her utility belt. “Monty.”

Monty bounded over to her and she put his leash on him. “Time to get to work, boy.”

“Do you need the leash? He seems very obedient.”

“He is.” She followed him down the trail and into the forest. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t jump out of the boat and try to rescue them if he finds them.”

“Even if they’re dead?”

“Monty doesn’t give up. He’s an optimist. He doesn’t want to believe it.”

Chavez sighed. “Neither do I. Those kids are only sixteen and seventeen. The Nolden boy’s an honor student, going to MIT this fall. Jenny Denkins goes to the same high school as my daughter. They know each other.”

“Don’t tell me about them.”

“Why not?”

Because it broke her heart. “It’s hard enough to try to find a stranger. It’s worse to have a picture in your mind.”

He looked at her in understanding. “Maybe you and your dog are a lot alike. I think you might jump in the water too if we find the bodies.”

“Not anymore. The first couple of times I did a water search I was tempted. There’s something terrible about someone’s life ending underwater. You want to bring them up out of that darkness.”

“But you’re tougher now?”

“No, but I have to control myself for Monty. My job is to find them. Someone else can bring them to the surface.”

“Like me.”

“Like you. But I won’t be here when you do. I’m taking Monty home if we locate— What’s wrong?”

Chavez had stopped and was looking over his shoulder. He shrugged. “Nothing. A goose went over my grave.”

“What?”

“I had a funny feeling in the back of my neck.” His gaze raked the trees around them. “Like something’s watching us.”

She scanned the trees. She couldn’t see anything and, unlike Chavez, she didn’t sense anything threatening.

“Sorry. It’s probably nothing.” He shook his head. “There are bears up here, you know. And they like to roam near the rest stops and pick up food from the trash barrels.”

More likely Henry Smith was keeping his promise to keep out of sight. “Or it could be my friend who followed me here. I told him not to interfere.”

“Someone followed you? Why?”

“He’s a little overprotective. It’s a long story, and you wouldn’t be interested.”

“The heck I wouldn’t.” His expression was sober. “You’ve got to be careful of people following you around. A lot of women discover that overprotectiveness is a sign of a stalker.”

“I’m not worried.” Time to change the subject. She could see Chavez was getting protective himself. They had reached the top of the hill, and the lake was spread out before them. “Beautiful. I’d almost forgotten . . .”

“Have you ever been here before?”