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The chopper rose into the darkening sky, whisking snow into the air in a mini blizzard. It would transport Nicholls and the Doc’s body to Anchorage Hospital. Marcus’s body would have to remain here, in case Barbara needed to examine it again.
“You’re damn lucky we made it at all,” the paramedic had told her. “Another hour, with the dark and the storm coming in, we couldn’t have flown.”
Yeah, lucky old her, she thought as she watched the chopper disappear into the distance. With Nicholls out of action, she was on her own. And while that had never really bothered her before, here, she was really alone. No other town for miles, no back-up, no support, and if she got cut off by the weather, no escape.
She trudged to the truck, where Jacob was sitting, handcuffed, in the back. She had managed to find the keys to lock up the Doc’s house, which should preserve the scene. But what she wouldn’t have given for a CSI or even another officer right now.
She settled herself into the driver’s seat, grateful at least for the respite from the cold. Her eyes met Jacob’s in the rearview mirror.
“I didn’t kill the Doc,” he said. “He was…like that when I got there.”
“Good to know,” Barbara said. “But we need to go back to the police department to take a statement. And I need to call your dad.”
“He’s not home.”
“You know where he is?”
A shrug.
“Well, let’s try him.”
Grudgingly, Jacob gave her a cellphone number. “He won’t answer,” he muttered.
Barbara called it anyway. The phone went to voicemail.
“Mr. Bell. This is Detective Barbara Atkins. I currently have your son, Jacob, in custody. Could you call me when you get this message?” She ended the call. “You got anyone else I can call for you?” she asked Jacob.
Another shrug.
“Okay.” She turned on the engine. “Well, you’d better think on the way to the police department. I can interview you without a parent or a lawyer present, but you might want someone in your corner.”
They drove in silence back down the main trunk road into town. It wasn’t until the twinkling lights of Main Street drew into view that Jacob suddenly blurted out: “Steve’s mom. You could try her.”
Jess Garrett. Oh good, Barbara thought. Just what she needed.
She parked the car and picked up her phone again. Jacob recited the number.
Jess answered on the second ring, sounding out of breath and impatient.
“Yes?”
“Mrs. Garrett, it’s Detective Atkins,”
“What do you want now? Stephen’s told you all he knows—”
“Mrs. Garrett, I have Jacob Bell in custody.”
“Jacob? What for?”
“Chief Nicholls and I apprehended him at Dr. Dalton’s house up by the lake.”
“You’re saying he broke in?”
“I’m not saying anything.”
“Well, what about the Doc?”
“Dr. Dalton is dead.”
