AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay, I need to take a look at the scene. If you don’t want to—”
“I’ve seen dead bodies before,” Cameron said. “At least this time it won’t be a friend.”
They walked to the front of the trailer. The door was hanging open. Ghost paused at the entrance and looked up at Cameron and whined.
Cameron sighed. “He knows the smell of death. He thinks we’re going in to look for IEDs.”
Startled, Rusty glanced up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think what this would resurrect for either of you.”
Cameron laid the back of his hand against her cheek. “We’re good, ma’am. Should the need for flight occur, just consider us your wings.”
“Thank you for the backup,” she said, then noticed something up in a tree just outside the tent. “Is that a trail cam?”
Cameron turned to look. “Yes, it is. Could we possibly get this lucky?”
“There may be more. We’ll have to let the crime scene team know. Just give me a minute,” she said, and aimed her flashlight inside.
It didn’t appear as if anything had been tossed, but it was hard to tell from out here. Vanzant’s car was still here, so it didn’t appear theft was the issue. She aimed her flashlight on the body. From where she was standing, it looked like a clean shot to the chest. She swept the light around the interior and saw a set of keys on the table, presumably his car keys, and a wallet lying beside them.
“What’s your gut telling you?” Cameron asked.
“It wasn’t a robbery. They left his car. His wallet and car keys are in plain sight on the table. What I don’t see is a laptop or a cell phone.”
Cameron’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Maybe someone is tying up loose ends?”
Rusty turned. “Are you talking about the photos?”
Cameron nodded. “Leslie saw the photos, but got away. If Vanzant’s error was about to reveal him as part of the gang, then the quickest way to make it all go away is to retrieve his laptop and phone and kill him, leaving nothing for anyone to trace.”
“Well, I know something about Vanzant’s story that isn’t true. He isn’t researching anything for college because he’s not enrolled in one. Anywhere. He has a rap sheet for B&E and boosting cars, and he did not graduate from high school. But we can hope something pops after the crime scene techs get here. There could be evidence in his car the killer knew nothing about.”
She moved away from the trailer and went back to where Cameron was standing.
Without thinking, he put his arms around her. “We’re going to have a long wait. Let’s get you off that sore knee. You pick. The bench at the picnic table, or sit in the Jeep?”
“The bench for now. You do what you need to for Ghost. If you want to walk him or whatever. I’m fine.”
“Rusty, darlin’, you’re sitting in the middle of a murder scene with no weapon and a killer on the loose. Ghost and I aren’t going anywhere.”
When he sat down beside her, Ghost plopped down on Cameron’s boot and laid his head on Rusty’s foot.
“I have never had backup like this before,” she said.
Cameron looked at her then. At the wind teasing the curls in her hair. At eyes bluer than the sky. At a mouth waiting to be kissed. “This day is chilly, but clear and peaceful. Here I am sitting with a beautiful woman, and there’s a dead man in the trailer behind us. What’s wrong with this picture?”
“I should have taken up floral design?”
Cameron slid his hand over hers. “And the world would have been far less safe. I think you’re doing what you’re good at, which is what matters.”
Rusty curled her fingers around his hand and stared off into the woods.
Cameron knew she was bothered about having to reveal her identity in such a dramatic fashion, but nobody could have expected something like this to happen. Finally, she started talking.
“Something about this doesn’t add up. If Vanzant was working for the traffickers, then why kill him? What could have triggered such a drastic decision? Just because Leslie Morgan saw the photos and told her parents, who revealed it to you, doesn’t mean Vanzant would tell his boss. In fact, it would be the opposite. He would have to know a mistake like that would get him killed.”
“Unless he let something slip,” Cameron said. “There’s something else about this situation that we don’t know. Remember Leslie said Jack Barton arrived in the middle of their argument, so maybe you need to talk to him. He could know something and not even be aware that it mattered.”
“I want to talk to him. Can you get a number to the office and ask him to come down here?” Rusty asked.
