AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Does Kylie know why Sarah took her?”
“She doesn’t know, but she’s scared for Sarah.” Annie’s eyes narrowed. “Sarah doesn’t deserve any sympathy, not after taking Kylie.”
His gaze fell on file folders and a box. “What’s all this?”
“Mason found Michelle’s campsite. I think I might have figured out what’s going on! I examined the books for the women’sshelter. I think there’s fraud occurring. It appears to be Glenn Hussert who’s involved. It might be a huge lead.”
“That guy has always rubbed me the wrong way.”
“I know.” They exchanged a knowing look. “The first thing I want to do is check his properties and see if there’s a place he might have stashed Michelle. Remember when we saw Lissa talking to Glenn in his driveway? She was crying and upset, so I think they are connected in more ways than we know. And if Lissa is involved, she’d know his safe places. Maybe she took Sarah to one of his properties.”
“What are you doing here then? Go find her!”
She hesitated. “I didn’t want to leave you. Mike took over your case, by the way. He checked out your shoulder and ribs but said you didn’t need surgery.”
He glanced around. “I’m in Houghton?”
She nodded. “They brought you by chopper. You’ve been here since about midnight. You really think I should go search for Sarah?”
“You have to. She has no one else.”
Her blue eyes were still troubled, but she nodded again. “Your phone is in the drawer. Text or call if you need me, and I’ll come right back.”
His head was feeling fuzzy, and his eyes were heavy. “I think I’ll just sleep.”
Forty
The overcast day would make for a little cooler search. Annie’s phone had the coordinates Mason had texted over. He’d found three properties Glenn Hussert owned in the forest. One was the cottage where they’d tracked Kylie. The second was a lake cottage on Sleeping Bay, and the third was in the deep woods between Twin Lakes and Fourteen Mile Point.
The dogs hadn’t searched for Sarah at the first cottage, only Kylie, but Kylie had told them Lissa had taken Sarah somewhere else. Annie thought it smarter to focus on the second and third properties.
The lake cottage was closer, so she’d followed Bree and Naomi with their dogs to the turn out near Sleeping Bay. There was a road, but it was potholed and too rough for the trucks. The gasoline fumes jetting out of the ATVs they rode mingled with the scents of pine and wildflowers as they followed the dogs through the forest toward the glint of Lake Superior in the distance.
The dogs hadn’t caught a scent yet, so Annie wasn’t hopeful.
The dogs broke through the trees into the clearing, and Annie paused at the pretty picture in front of her. The blue-and-white cottage was a single story with dormers and a small porch. A well-tended flower bed meandered up the stone walk.
Bree and Naomi had their dogs go to the porch. Afterpresenting the scent article to them again, Bree told Samson to search. The dog did his Z-pattern search in the front yard with his nose high, but no happy bark or any other sign revealed that he’d gotten the right skin rafts.
With a gloved hand Bree returned the shirt to the paper bag. “I don’t think she’s been here. Where are the other coordinates?”
Annie rattled them off to her, and Bree put them into her GPS in case they got separated. “Fifteen miles away,” Bree said. “As the crow flies. As the ATV wanders along fire roads, it will be longer.” She checked the time on her phone. “Ten o’clock. Let’s get going.”
This time, Bree and Naomi had the dogs on the machines with them to save time. The clouds grew lower in the sky as they drove the ATVs back the way they’d come. The foliage was thick and black flies plentiful as they navigated the fire trails and pushed through on unspoiled terrain when it looked safe.
An hour later, Annie shut off her ATV and consulted her GPS. “There’s no road or driveway to this next property, and the forest is thick. Let’s get the dogs out and let them search as we walk in.”
Bree shut off her machine and dismounted. “I was thinking the same thing.”
Annie eyed the glowering sky and pulled out her rain gear. She shouldered a backpack with water and jerky. Luckily the rain wouldn’t affect the search. Moisture only enhanced the ability of the dogs to detect scent.
The other women gave their dogs the command to search, and they all took off quickly into the deep woods. A patter of raindrops on the leaves alerted Annie to the shower before she felt moisture on her face. She pulled on her rain poncho and tuggedup the hood. The path quickly became slippery, and mud began to form.
To her left she heard the eerie yodel of a loon. Theoo-AH-howarble made her shudder and took her right back to the night twenty-four years ago when Sarah was taken. Annie shoved away the prickle of sympathy rising in her chest. Sarah didn’t deserve it after what she’d done.
Annie stopped and consulted her GPS. Another mile that would be drudgery in this rain. At least it was warm.
Samson’s ears came up, and he gave a happy bark. Charley followed suit, and the two of them shot forward in an easterly direction. The property was more to the north, but that didn’t mean much if the dogs had a scent.
