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“Okay, but...” Jared’s usual cool demeanor kept slipping. He stammered and seemed to lose his words. “Is the video real?”
His cluelessness or unwillingness to “get” it, whichever this was, proved too painful for Lila to let slide. Before she could try again, Tobias spoke up. “Jared, come on. There’s a suggestion this is an ongoing thing for Aaron.”
Suggestion? Thing?No. Too neutral. Lila couldn’t tolerate downplaying his behavior, not now that it was finally out inthe open. “You mean that he’s screwing all of his female students.”
Pete nodded. “Some, yes.”
A flurry of activity started down the hall. Uniformed officers scurried around, and Ginny’s voice rose over the din, talking about cars and a long drive. She turned the corner and came to a stop in the doorway in front of them.
Her gaze bounced around the room before landing on Pete. “We need to move out.” She turned to Lila next. “Go home and we’ll contact you.”
Pete looked as confused as Lila felt. “Something is more important than this?”
“Yes,” Ginny confirmed with a curt nod.
“Are you kidding me?” Jared stood up. “You drop this bombshell and then you—”
“We have Aaron’s phone, which means we have his GPS.”
Ginny’s words cut through the noise in the office and the emotional floundering inside of Lila. “You found something.”
“An address.”
“Where?” Tobias asked.
“Go home and wait.” Ginny motioned for Pete to follow her. A few steps and they were out the door and gone.
Chapter Forty-Three
GINNY REFUSED TO THINK OF THE NERVOUSNESS BOUNCINGaround inside of her as excitement. It amounted to energy. The fuel she needed to tolerate the long drive and see whatever there was to see once she got to the end.
She rode with Pete and a sergeant Charles insisted on sending along. They spent the almost three-hour drive shifting between silence, mindless talk, and theories about their destination.
They’d turned from the highway, onto a two-lane road, to a dirt path full of potholes and divots, to what amounted to a gravel driveway in a densely wooded area, thick with untrimmed trees and overgrown shrubs. Finally landing at the large parcel, marked off with a high fence but with no visible structures from the road, did not ease the wariness pounding through her.
She got out of the car and greeted the local police with obligatory handshakes and words of assurance about working together. Police cars littered the thin path from the road, more than a quarter mile into the clearing. She looked up, hergaze following the long line of the trees that soared into the sky and covered any peek of blue or clouds above the crowns.
People talked around her. Officers spread out, taking careful steps as they moved around the exterior of what looked like a one-room cabin. Off to the left was a small shed, on the verge of toppling over. A barn with cracked and scarred wood looked like it may have been painted red at one time but now blended into the scenery in a dull brown.
There were closer places to home to bring his students. Motels and rental cabins around Cayuga Lake. This location, out of view, away from everything, struck her as a place someone would go if they couldn’t afford to get caught.
She ignored the shiver that raced through her as she took a few steps closer to the three stairs leading to the cabin’s porch.
Pete broke away from the officer he’d been talking to and met her at the front of the car. “This is in the middle of nowhere. Owen over there says he grew up in the area and went camping in and around Moose River Plains, which isn’t too far, and even he didn’t know there was anything back here. Said a spot near here was earmarked as a campground years ago but then a private party bought it.”
“Interesting.” Aaron liked camping and fishing, but Ginny doubted he used the property for either. The woods thrummed with an ominous vibe. Tree limbs twisted and entwined above and around her in shapes eerily reminiscent of outstretched arms. She tried to imagine campers running around, laughing, but the only sensation she picked up was fear.
“Owen said they did a quick check outside after you called and advised we were on the way. Didn’t go into the buildings, but these three structures are the only ones they found. No other outbuildings that they could see.”
“There’s nothing around here for miles.” The kind of place where a person could scream and not be heard. Run and not get away.
A chilling thought that refused to leave her mind. Truth was nothing about the area said fun and camping. This looked like miles of untamed trees and wilderness.
“It’s creepy as hell.” Pete shook his head. “Like a setting out of a horror movie. Without evidence, all we can guess is he used it for hunting.”
“I don’t think so.” In her gut, she knew this location was a much bigger piece of the puzzle than that. “Who owns the property?”
“We’re checking. Apparently, the records are a bit tangled. There’s a corporation that leads to another one. It will take some time to trace the paperwork and tax records.”
