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Chapter 18
Now that the news had been shared, Cameron began making plans as how to proceed. Just storming the woods in a giant all-out search party was a waste of time. Meg Pope was dead somewhere. If they found anything, it would only be bones, and that was a long shot, depending on where the soldiers hid the gold, because he fully believed they’d hidden her with it. They would not have wanted her to be found and have an angry mob come after them. If she was just missing, there would be uncertainty as to who to blame. None of them would have any idea that they would all be killed in battle hours later, or realize what a mystery they’d left behind them.
But as Cameron and Rusty were discussing the search, it was Rusty who came up with the plan.
“I think your best bet is to use drone-mounted Lidar, and ground-penetrating radar as well. That technology is amazing. Basically, it’s laser light, a scanner, and a GPS receiver. Even in an area as heavily forested as the Cumberlands, and with the endless cave systems in this state, you can still pinpoint almost anything from the air with the drone mounts, or beneath the ground with GPR.”
“That’s a great idea,” Cameron said. “What made you think of that?”
“When I was still with the Feds, we used Lidar to pinpoint places in the jungles and deserts, helping us find structures beneath the green growth or sand. The known caves in Kentucky are already mapped, but if we can find anything in or around Big Falls that looks like an old structure, and if it’s not on a map, that might be a good first place to look.”
“So, my darling expert, who would you recommend?” he asked.
“I’ll make a list,” Rusty said. “And…you might want to contact a forensic pathologist to be on standby, too, just in case we get lucky. Because no matter where you find a body or how old you think it is, the authorities will treat it like a crime scene. They’ll remove bones, then carbon date to verify it as historical before the remains can be claimed.”
“Shit. Never thought of that,” Cameron said.
“That’s why you have me,” Rusty said.
“I love that you’re smart and capable and gorgeous, but it’s not why I married you,” Cameron said, and pulled her down into his lap.
Rusty wrapped her arms around his neck. “Then why did you marry me?” she asked.
He kissed her chin, then the tip of her nose, then the soft curve of her lips.
“Because I couldn’t live without you,” he said.
It was another whole week before Cameron had the techs in place with their Lidar and GPR, and a forensic pathologist on standby.
Since it was the closest way to getting to Big Falls, the tech crews met at Ray and Betty Raines’s house. They arrived loaded for bear, with all of their tech equipment in a Range Rover and a Jeep.
Cameron was sitting in the shade waiting and went to meet them as they approached.
“Thanks for coming. I’m Cameron Pope.”
A short, blond-haired man in his early forties smiled as he held out his hand. “Brian Chandler. I’m with the Lidar crew.”
A bald, heavyset man of middle age nodded at Cameron. “Eddie Young. My crew mans the GPR. Nice to meet you.”
“This is Ray Raines, and it’s his property we’ll be mapping,” Cameron said.
“Thanks for coming,” Ray said. “Is everybody ready to go?”
“Just lead the way,” Brian said. “We’ll be right behind you.”
Ray got in his truck with Cameron riding shotgun and led the way through his property, taking them as far as they could drive. At that point, they exited their vehicles, loaded up the gear, and continued to the falls on foot with Ray and Cameron leading the way.
The day was hot. And as the crew approached the area where Charlie had been shot, there were still signsin the area from the shooting and subsequent investigation. A piece of yellow crime scene tape caught in the brush. Limbs broken off bushes where Nyles had poked about, and obvious sites of where he’d been digging.
Ray looked down at one of the shallow holes Nyles had left behind and rolled his eyes. “What the hell did he think he was going to find in that little hole? A whole cache of gold lying inches below the surface? Stupid bastard,” he muttered, and shoved his hands in his pockets.
The misty spray from the falls soon had their clothes damp and sticking to their bodies, but it was also cooling from the heat, since the woods blocked whatever breeze was in the air. But everybody had something to do as they set to work assembling their technology and programming in a grid.
Finally, Brian’s crew sent up their Lidar-mounted drone, programmed to cover a certain area above the falls. Cameron and Ray watched as it rose up into the sky, then began flying around the area.
Down below, Eddie and his crew began mapping the ground all along the creek bank with the GPR.
Cameron and Ray stayed back, watching from the shade of the forest behind them.
