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Ellie nodded. “There was so much bloodshed that the mountain turned crimson with blood. That’s how the name originated—or so the legend goes.”
The possibility that Grueler had brought Ava to a wilderness with its own set of dangers, sent a shudder through Ellie. The temperatures could drop well into the teens at night at the higher elevation and the dark foliage made it impossible to see.
Wild animals posed a threat, but a child left alone with no protection could more easily die of hypothermia. If she escaped Grueler, she’d easily get lost in the dense, never-ending miles of trees or slip and fall over a rocky overhang.
As she parked, Ellie spotted Cord’s truck. If they didn’t find Grueler, they’d need him to lead a search team to the more remote cabins. When he saw her, he got out and crossed to her Jeep. He acknowledged Derrick with a grunt. The two stubborn men had butted heads when they’d first met but had come to a kind of silent agreement to work together.
“Let me go in and see if the manager has seen Grueler.” Ellie jumped out, leaving the men behind. She hurried into the office and found a silver-haired man with wire-rimmed glasses hunched behind the desk.
Ellie identified herself. “We’re looking for this man.” She flashed a picture of Grueler. “We have reason to believe he may have kidnapped a little girl and brought her here. Do you recognize him?”
The man squinted at the photograph. “Don’t think so, but my eyes ain’t so good anymore.”
“Can you check your registry?”
He scratched his wiry hair. “Sure thing.” He pulled a registration book from the desk and thumbed through it. “Got five cabins here. Couple named Anderson in one, family of four in the second, father and son in three, hunter in four and no one in five.”
“You haven’t seen a little girl?” Ellie asked.
He shook his head. “But there’s another cabin further up on the trail that’s been abandoned, near Dead Man’s Bluff. You might want to check there.”
“Thank you. Can I have a key to the vacant unit?”
He agreed and handed her one, then Ellie hurried back outside. “Let’s check out that vacant one,” she said as she started the engine. “Maybe you can knock on the others just to verify what he said, Cord.”
“Copy that,” he agreed.
He slid into the back seat, his jaw set firmly, and Ellie followed the GPS coordinates, turning onto a dirt road that crossed over an old railroad line. The pines and oaks seemed to close around them, the moon fading in the thick overhang of spiny branches and bare limbs that joined to form a natural tunnel.
A deer darted across the road and Ellie had to brake. Gravel and dirt spewed from her tires as they ground over the bumpy road. Rounding another curve, she spotted a light seeping through a cluster of trees, coming from an area on the hill.
Cord noticed it at the same time. “There are the cottages on the creek.”
Ellie slowed, maneuvered the winding road and pulled between an overhang of pines, parking on the shoulder. The three of them climbed out, gravel skittering beneath their boots, damp leaves clinging to their feet as they walked. “Start with one and two,” Ellie told Cord.
“I’ll check three and four,” Derrick said.
“And I’ll search the vacant one.”
They divided up and Ellie checked her weapon as she approached cabin five. The lights were off, no car in sight. At first glance it appeared deserted, but she pulled her flashlight anyway.
When she reached the front porch, she shined her light through the dark windows. She fished the key from her pocket and unlocked the door, then eased it open. The silence was thick as she entered, and she called out.
Sweeping the flashlight across the rustic room, everything seemed to be in its place. No sign of anyone here.
Satisfied it was empty, she stepped back onto the porch, locked the door then met Derrick and Cord as they walked back to the Jeep. “No one in five,” she said.
“One and two all checked out,” Cord said.
Derrick heaved a sigh. “Same with three and four. Maybe we were wrong, and he didn’t come here.”
“We’re not done yet,” Ellie said. “The manager said there’s an abandoned one further up the trail at Dead Man’s Bluff.” She turned to Cord. “Will you lead us?”
“Of course,” Cord said as a thunder cloud rumbled above. “Let’s go. If he has Ava, we need to hurry.”
Twenty-Eight
Dead Man’s Bluff
