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“The size tells me they belong to a man. You can tell the type by checking out the print in the mud next to the concrete.” I shifted the beam to the muddy section next to the house. “It’s only a partial print, the middle section and the heel, but there’s no tread. It’s smooth and look at the shape of the heel. No boot’s going to leave an imprint like that.” I pointed to the square shape of the heel.
Malcolm glanced over at me, and a predatory gleam filled his eyes. “LaRue.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” I said. “Do factory directors wear dress shoes? Or do they wear work boots?”
He frowned. “Then who?” His eyes darkened again. “Peterman.”
Chapter 25
“There’s a whole lot of speculating going on with little evidence to back it up,” I said. “Besides, why would Peterman kidnap Eddie?”
“Maybe the LaRues told him about his daughter and the janitor’s closet,” Malcolm said.
That was a possibility, but it was close to eleven, much too late for us to be calling the LaRues. Or the Petermans.
I ran my hand over my head. A throbbing pain was stabbing my temple.
“No drag marks in the back here like on the side of the house,” Malcolm said, taking the flashlight out of my hand and pointing to the grass. “They entered through the back and likely left through the door in the garage.”
He was right.
I pushed past him, going back into the house and through the garage door. I opened the side door and looked outside, confirming what Malcolm suggested.
How had I missed it before?
I swallowed bile that rose in my throat.
What else had I missed? I wasn’t at the top of my game, and the alcohol and lack of sleep weren’t helping.
“You were right. They dragged him out the side door,” I said.
“Why not just stuff him in the back of the Jeep in the garage?”
Why indeed? Then it hit me. “Maybe whoever it was came over on their own and dragged him out to their car before coming came back to get the Jeep.”
“The blood couldn’t be more than an hour old,” Malcolm said.
“Unless whoever took him lives close by, there had to be two of them. Otherwise, how would they manage dropping off their car and coming back to get Eddie’s Jeep?”
“Or they stashed his Jeep somewhere close by,” Malcolm said, his gaze scanning the yard.
“True, but with all these trees, they could have stashed it anywhere. Finding it in the dark could be impossible.”
I opened the door and pointed my phone’s flashlight on the doorway, squatting when I noticed something stuck to the threshold. “Looks like carpet fibers.”
“If they rolled him up, then he’s likely dead,” Malcolm said in a flat tone.
“Maybe,” I said. “Maybe not. Maybe they knocked him out and carried him out in the rug because it was easier.”
“For one person to carry him out alone?” He sounded skeptical.
Pushing out a long sigh, I said, “I have no idea. I’d love to get a forensics team in here, but we both know that’s not going to happen. Or at least I wouldn’t have access to the results.”
“You want to call this in to Jackson Creek PD?” he asked in surprise.
My brow shot up. “You don’t? They have better resources than we do to find him.”
He snorted. “Like they’re going to look.”
