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They walked the fire road, following the projected path of the truck. It could only be a large truck similar to the Beast to be fitted with that size snow tires. That alone narrowed the search down. He kept scanning the perimeter of the forest for any signs of the missing woman. “The disturbance in the dirt was between the tire prints. I figure we won’t find anything she might have tossed into the vehicle because the evidence shows she was pushed onto the tray in the back, so we’re looking for a vehicle like mine, with a hatch or a covered pickup. Maybe a GMC Yukon or similar.” He thought for a beat. “He’d have tinted windows if he’s carrying bodies or incapacitated people.”
“His feet are big, almost as big as yours.” Jenna squeezed his hand. “That narrows the search down too. I don’t know many small men with size-fourteen boots.” She suddenly giggled. “Unless he’s a giant garden gnome.” She looked at him and her eyes rounded. “A garden gnome with an ax… Now that would be nasty.”
Finding it strange for Jenna to make jokes when they were searching for a potentially murdered woman, he stopped walking and stared into her eyes, checking her pupils. “You feeling, okay? No headaches or blurred vision?”
“Now you’re sounding like Wolfe.” Jenna walked backward and dragged him along the road. “Just because I make a joke to break the tension of a terrible few days there’s something wrong with me? I’m fine.”
Kane slipped his arm across her shoulders, enjoying the warmth of her against him. It was bitterly cold and ice crystals crunched under his boots on the dirt road. “I wonder if Bobby Kalo would be able to infiltrate a local sex slaver site on the dark web? He’s one of the best hackers I’ve ever known. Wolfe is good, but Kalo has the ability to slide in backdoors and move around without anyone noticing. If slavers are involved, we should be looking into that angle.”
“I just can’t see the value to a slaver of taking the family. The son maybe, but my jury is out on the others, Dave. From what cases I know about during my time in the FBI, the focus was on young kids under ten and twelve- to fourteen-year-olds for the sex trade. That is the biggest market. Women and men in their late twenties, unless they were stunning, wouldn’t be considered. The money wouldn’t be worth the risk.” She shook her head. “We’ve been along this road so many times. You know as well as I do that these missing persons are all dead. This is an organized serial killer. You’ve described this type so many times to me, Dave, and it’s what I’m seeing here. He planned to take these people and by now he’s had his fun. He could have buried the bodies in any one of a million places between here and home. Our chances of finding them is close to zero.”
TWENTY-TWO
Jenna sat in the back of the rental as they drove to the Bridgers’ residence. She waited for a pause in the conversation. “Did the local cops preserve the crime scene?”
“Yeah, there was no call for assistance. It was a normal patrol doing a welfare check when the family went missing.” Carter stopped outside a ranch house surrounded by trees. “Seems like it was normal for the family to park their vehicle out here. The Bridgers’ SUV hasn’t been moved. The garage door was open. When nobody responded to the knocking, the local deputies broke the side window and opened the front door. They did a check of the house and left. They mentioned the upturned chair in the kitchen and backed out. They didn’t touch anything, wore gloves but not booties.”
“That’s understandable.” Kane blew out a breath. “They didn’t believe they were entering a crime scene until they got inside.” He glanced over at Jenna. “Why? Is there something specific you figure we should look for?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah. To move a family the man who abducted them used his vehicle, right?” Jenna pointed to the garage door. “The garage is open and maybe he backed his vehicle inside. We need to look for tire marks and footprints. Also, is there a way from the garage to the house?”
“If there is an entrance into the house from the garage, why didn’t Mr. Bridger park his vehicle in there, out of the weather?” Jo climbed out of the rental and peered at the house.
Making her way carefully around the perimeter of the driveway, Jenna stared into the garage. Inside, a clothesline had herbs tied in bunches and set out to dry. Many were scattered on the floor of the garage and squashed into piles of dust. “There’s the reason. They dried their own herbs. I’d say they were gathered before the first frost. It takes weeks to dry them.”
“Look here.” Kane had moved inside the garage and was pulling out his phone. “It’s a small impression but it will do.” He took photographs. “The tire squashed something green, basil by the smell of it, and left a nice clear imprint. It’s the same guy.” He walked out of the garage and waved to Carter. “Check the tires on Bridger’s truck. Is it fitted with snow tires?”
“Nope, just regular tires.” Carter straightened. “Nothing over this side, no tire tracks, nothing at all.”
Excited they’d found evidence, Jenna smiled at Kane. “Okay, now we have a tie-in, we need to correlate everything these people did over the days before they went missing. We need to see if they match up with the missing persons in Black Rock Falls.”
“This is what I like about you, Jenna.” Carter smiled around his toothpick. “I’m one heck of a detective but you see things at different angles and Kane here is technical. He finds things others overlook—the minute details.”
“Yes, there has to be a link.” Jo stared into space. “A contractor is what I’m thinking. Someone they expected to come to the house.” She shrugged. “Although backing into the garage, the family would hear him and complain, wouldn’t they?”
“Maybe not.” Carter folded his arms across his chest. “The deputies first on scene mentioned the TV was turned on in the kitchen. The family had been watching TV during dinner. Maybe they didn’t hear him drive in?”
“Look at the slope into the garage.” Kane pointed with his chin. “Unless he revved the engine, he could have rolled the truck inside almost silently. I figure he drove in, climbed out and went straight through the door to the mudroom by the kitchen and took them by surprise. He’d have been armed for sure.” He puffed out a cloud of steam. “The crime scene photographs show an upturned chair, which means he surprised someone. He probably, ordered them to leave. They went without their coats. It happened very fast.”
“So he gets them to the vehicle and makes them climb inside.” Carter stared at Kane. “You figure they just sat there waiting to die?”
Jenna shook her head. “Say he holds a gun to the kid’s head. He orders the wife to secure the husband with zip ties, maybe the kid as well. He marches them out to the vehicle. She puts on the seatbelts and then the abductor secures her. It’s been done before and a woman would do anything to save her child.”
“I recall a similar case where the killer placed plastic bags over their heads and they all suffocated.” Jo’s face had drained of color. “Can you imagine how terrified they’d have been?”
Unwanted images flashed through Jenna’s mind. “Unfortunately, I can. Seen enough out here?”
“Yeah. I think Carter has covered everything.” Kane headed for the front door. “Then I figure we head back home and get started on a suspects list.” His phone chimed. He looked at the screen and held up one finger. “Okay, thanks for your help.” He looked at Jenna. “I called Miller’s Garage and the tire store in town. I was the only person in Black Rock Falls to order RunFlat snow tires. The store in Blackwater was the same. Our abductor purchased them somewhere else. Or they came with his vehicle.”
Rubbing her temples, Jenna shrugged. “This case is a collection of dead ends.” She looked at Carter. “You good to go once we’ve done a walkthrough of the crime scene?”
“Yeah, but we’ll need a personal vehicle to use if we’re stayin’.” Carter smiled. “Can we use your ride, Jenna?”
Jenna nodded. “Sure, but it’s back at the office.”
“Drop me in town and I’ll drive it back to the ranch.” Kane raised both eyebrows to Jenna. “I’ll swing by Aunt Betty’s and grab us some takeout.” He laughed at her eyeroll. “It’s lunchtime.”
Jenna nodded. “Okay, but I’ll come and keep you company. Only because I need coffee and whatever it is that comes out of the airport machine doesn’t come close.”
