Missing: The Body of Evidence Page 13

  A cold blast of air hit the back of Nancy’s neck at the sound of rustling leaves. The stag flicked its head back in their direction, but gazed over and behind them along the trail. The stag reared and bolted, disappearing into the woods. Kyle stood and moved out of sight over the ridge. Nancy turned to see what could have alarmed the creature. Whatever it was that had disturbed the stag, had an effect that silenced the critters and birds. Her eyes strained to focus through the trees over her shoulder. For a brief moment, a shimmering patch distorted the background of her vision, as it flashed between two tree trunks ten yards away. Nancy blinked and rubbed her eyes. What the hell was that?

  ‘Kyle, wait for me.’

  Chapter 32

  The descent down the hillside to the cabin was a welcome relief from the drudgery of the climb up to the ridge from the lake. The handyman was nowhere in sight, but his SUV was still parked outside the cabin. Nancy changed her jeans for a pair of shorts, went to the kitchen for a glass of water, and settled down on the sofa to inspect the tablets the doctor had prescribed.

  A sense of guilt embarrassed Nancy, at having deprived Kyle of a morning of fishing at the lakeside. If it was eating at him, he did a great job of not letting any disappointment show. Nancy opened the tablet box and took out the instructions. From what she read, they were strong psychotic drugs and she decided against taking them. She slipped the paper back in the box and put the tablets back in her purse. Rummaging around in her purse she located her over the counter headache pills. She took two from the container, popped them in her mouth and swilled them down with the water.

  ‘That’s a good girl, what do you want for breakfast?’

  ‘Waffles and syrup will do.’

  ‘Waffles it is.’

  Kyle walked to the kitchen with a spring in his step and whistling.

  Nancy wandered out onto the veranda carrying a sofa cushion and a book she had taken at random from the shelf. She set the cushion down on the rocking chair and sat down. The overhang from the veranda afforded some cover from the blazing sun. As she pushed with her feet, the gentle rocking of the chair created a welcome coolness, augmented by fanning herself with the book. The view down to the creek and the pine-covered mountains was stunning and the air, free of pollution, tasted sweet as she took a deep breath. Any thoughts about the stress at work and deliberation about the professor’s death took second place to a feeling of being at peace with her life.

  For all the beauty of the view, her thoughts were firmly on planning what lay ahead. Ironically, the title of the book she was using as a fan, she noticed, was Patter of Tiny Feet, a love story. She wondered if maybe subliminal forces were at work, as her usual reads were police-procedure crime thrillers.

  Moving in together, she surprisingly accepted, was not as big of a commitment as she imagined it to be, other than the upheaval of working in a different department. At the same time, Logan was not an easy boss to work for, so it could work out for the better for her, she thought. It was what lay beyond that worried her if things worked out, but it also excited her. The thoughts of buying a home together with a back yard and, she dared to hope, a pool, was all the motivation she needed to make her want it to work; that, and a need to end her self-isolated meaningless existence.

  She stopped fanning with the book and looked at the cover. The depiction on the cover brought her to reality. Two men in the background of the cover where looking angrily at each other, while the woman in the foreground was holding her pregnant stomach. Alarm bells started to hit home. She was not sure that she would be ready for a family, or that she was in that stage of her career where she could walk away from it, as some Hollywood film stars did, and then set up an animal sanctuary or suchlike.

  ‘Waffles, syrup and a strong coffee.’ He set it down on the table at the side of her chair. ‘I was thinking maybe the headache is a lack of caffeine in your system.’

  ‘Could be.’

  He took hold of the corner of the book she was holding. His face flamed.

  ‘What do you think about starting a family?’ He shuffled his feet and looked down. ‘In the future I mean.’

  Nancy laughed. ‘I wouldn’t rule it out, but it’s the last thing on my mind at the moment,’ she lied. ‘Plenty of time to consider that, I’m only thirty-six. I’m more concerned about if you should move in with me, or the other way around.’

  ‘What do want to do?’

  ‘I’d rather you move in with me and just bring your clothes for now. Unless you want to take all your things to your mom’s and I can re-decorate your apartment?’

  ‘On second thoughts, yeah, okay, we’ll do that. I’ll move in with you.’

  Kyle walked into the cabin and Nancy ate breakfast. Kyle returned with his coffee and sat next to her on the veranda.

  ‘How’s the headache?’

  ‘Fine, it’s gone. Must be a combination of the pills and the coffee.’

  Nancy opened her book and started to read. Halfway down the first chapter, Kyle drumming his fingers on the chair arm distracted her.

  ‘Why don’t you go fishing? I’ll be fine resting here. Come back at lunchtime. I’ll have a packed meal ready and we can go walking.’

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Sure, I’m sure. Off you go. Just don’t bring anything back for eating. Put anything you catch back in the lake.’

  The beam that spread across his face made him look as though a teacher had just given him a free pass on a detention. It didn’t take long for him to scramble inside and return with his backpack and fishing rod.

  ‘Are you...?’

  ‘Just go and relax, the book’s getting good, I’ll be fine. It’s not like we’re joined at the hip.’

  Kyle took her hand, gave it a gentle squeeze, and brushed her cheek with a kiss, before disappearing around the back of the cabin. Nancy shook her head and smiled. ‘Men, so easy to please.’

  Three chapters into the book and she was sure she knew how it would end. She set the book down, walked over to the parking area and stood at the edge of the hillside. The heat from the sun on the hillside caused the brush to shimmer. Nancy thought it was more like something she would experience in the Nevada Desert than in a lush landscape.

  Movement caught her eye. Something seemed to be traversing in a semi-circle from left to right below her. Her eyes squinted as she tried to concentrate, using her hand as a shade. The air was still, so she discounted a breeze causing the brush to move. She thought it could be maybe a black bear or a mountain lion. She knew black bears were normally shy critters, but if the campers fed them, they could lose their fear of humans and cause problems. Cat, or bear, or whatever it was, Nancy decided the safest place was back in the cabin. She turned to walk across the parking area, noticed the door open on the handyman’s SUV and called out.

  ‘Dave, you there?’

  There was no response as she scanned the area, and closed the car door. She ambled toward the cabin and was about to climb the steps to veranda, when paralysis momentarily struck her body at the sound crunching gravel, as if something was bounding from behind toward her.

  Chapter 33

  The door to the cabin loomed large. Nancy sprinted up the steps to the veranda and reached out for the door handle. A sensation that she was moving in slow motion struck as her brain went into survival mode. With heightened senses, the pounding on the gravel behind her propelled her forward. Her clammy palm grasped the door handle. Her thoughts leapt ahead to the poker by the stove, when a thud and a sharp pain in the small of her back propelled her into the door. Nancy screamed out.

  The cabin door crashed open. Nancy hit the floorboards in the doorway, her fall broken by her outstretched hand. She lay still, cursing that she had run instead of facing her aggressor. She lay face down, motionless, feigning death, and fearing the worst. The weight on top of her pinned her shoulders to the floor. Liquid hit the nape of her neck in a dribble, followed by the rasp of a tongue. Warm foul breaths and the sound of huffing nostrils, p
repared her for the worst as the pain from what felt like claws dug into her shoulder blades. Her eyes squeezed closed, waiting for the bite that would severe her spine.

  ‘Skip, get off her.’

  A yelp, followed by the weight lifting from her shoulder, and she turned over. Nancy scrambled on all fours, like a crab until her back hit the sofa, her eyes still bulging from the sockets. The handyman held a Great Dane by the scruff of the neck and slipped a choker chain over its head.

  ‘Sorry about that, ma’am.’

  ‘Jesus Christ, I thought it was a black bear and I was dead meat.’

  Nancy pushed herself off the floorboards, still shaking from head to toe.

  ‘He wouldn’t hurt ya, ma’am... Honestly. I really am sorry. As for the black bears, we’re quite a while away from the cub season; even then if ya keeps yer distance, they ain’t a problem.’

  She accepted his apology with sheer relief. The handyman led the dog to his SUV, opened the car door and the dog jumped onto the seat. Nancy sat on the arm of the sofa, and the handyman walked up to the door. He took off his hat when he reached the cabin door.

  ‘Can I come in?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Listen, I am sorry. I took him for a walk to relieve him, and to mark out the trees in the area. Thought it would keep the deer away with his scent, but something spooked him. He slipped his lead and ran off through the undergrowth.’

  Nancy felt each of her shoulder blades in turn with the tips of her fingers, but there was no sign the dog’s claws had broken her skin.

  ‘Forget it, no harm done.’

  ‘I’m all finished here now, I’ll get going. You alone?’ He stepped toward her. ‘Do you want me to take a look at your back?’

  Nancy signalled with an outstretched palm for him to stop. She didn’t like the gleam in his eye, or that his palm was resting on the handle of the hunting knife in the sheath on his belt. She glanced at the poker and back at him.

  ‘No, my boyfriend will be back any minute.’

  He hesitated and sucked on his bottom lip.

  ‘Okay, enjoy the rest of your stay.’ He replaced his hat and made his way to his vehicle.

  Nancy moved swiftly to the door. She closed the door and turned the key. Fits of giggles escaped her lips and then her eyes moistened at thoughts that the good place she was in could have ended without ceremony.

  She headed for the kitchen to prepare the packed lunch in readiness for their walk in the woods. The tyres crunching the gravel outside signalled the handyman was leaving, and his SUV, as it passed the kitchen window, confirmed she was right. Nancy bagged the sandwiches, placed them in the refrigerator and went to the bedroom for her backpack and hiking boots. Passing the mirror in the bedroom, Nancy did a double take. Her hair looked dishevelled. She picked up a hairbrush, leaned forward and brushed her hair from the back and covering her eyes. A flick of her head, a final few strokes with the brush and she sighed.

  ‘Damn.’

  Her hair looked frizzy with static. All attempts to flatten it were in vain as the static made her hair stand on end every time the brush came into close contact with her hair. She gave up trying and shaped her hair into a ponytail, fastening it at the back of her head with a band.

  Nancy turned her attention to her backpack, picked it up and emptied the contents onto the bed. She knew she had not taken anything out of it since she had last used it, but continued with her ritual of checking all the contents. Everything was accounted for, from the first aid kit to the plastic hooded rain cover. Nancy opened a side pocket and pulled out a compass. It was not up to much, but her dad had given it to her as a child on one of the few generous occasions she could recall, and she treasured the compass as a keepsake. She set it down on the bed and the needle settled. Her hand hovered over the compass ready to pick it up, when the needle began to spin. Nancy drew her hand back and the needle settled. This caused her a few moments of light relief as she kept touching it, causing the needle to spin and then pulling her hand away for it to settle again.

  ‘Well, I’ll be? I’m full of static.’

  She tired of the game and put the compass away with the rest of the items, satisfied that she had every eventuality covered with the contents of the backpack. Nancy picked up the backpack, her boots and socks and headed back to the living room. She set the items she carried on the floor next to the sofa and reached out to switch on the television. The images on the television were visible, but with snowy flecks running across the screen. Nancy pressed the numbers on the remote control for the news channel and nestled into the cushions on the sofa. The weather report was promising, with no break in the hot weather predicted, but it came with a warning of a high alert for wildfires. The news commentator appeared on screen.

  ‘Following on from our report on the bizarre accident in which the tenant of a condo’ is said to have been incinerated in what the coroner’s office confirms is the first case of spontaneous combustion in the Los Angeles area. The body of the janitor to the same apartment where the spontaneous combustion took place was found yesterday, in circumstances that appeared at first to be a suicide. Reports just in, are saying that his death is now being treated as suspicious and a possible homicide.

  A spokesperson for the police department said this morning, ‘There is no apparent link between the two incidents. Our investigations into the death of Mr. Kelly are ongoing.’ Other than that statement, they offered ‘No comment.’ And moving on...’

  Nancy cursed inwardly at having switched on the television. Both cases had been almost at the furthest point of her mind until she had heard the news report. Now, the cases were at the forefront of her mind once again.

  The sound coming from the speakers distorted. Nancy climbed off the sofa, walked over to the television and banged on the casing, hoping it would somehow fix the problem. Her action only made things worse as the picture gained a purple patch in one corner and the sound disappeared.

  Purple patch? What was it the tech guy said... positor? She ran her fingers over the purple patch on the screen. An energy shock ran up her arm. She jumped back and let out a scream. Damn static. Nancy reached behind the television and pulled the plug out of the socket. Loud thumping on the door to the cabin caused her to snap a look in the direction of the ruckus and she caught glimpse of a face at the side window.

  Chapter 34

  The clock on the cabin wall displayed the time at eleven-thirty-five. Nancy was not expecting Kyle to arrive back from his fishing expedition for at least another hour. She stared at the shadow though the curtains.

  ‘Kyle, is that you?’

  She edged to the small window at the side of the door, but could not see who was outside. The handle moved and someone shouldered the door.

  ‘Yeah, it’s me. Damn door’s stuck.’

  Tension washed from her body and she sighed. Nancy turned the key in the lock and stood back in time for the door to burst open. Kyle stumbled, trying his best to keep his balance. She reached out and steadied him, as he tripped on the threshold, and he was about to land head first on the floor.

  ‘Sorry, I locked the door. You’re back early?’

  ‘The fish weren’t biting, and besides, I was missing you. Why lock the door?’

  ‘If you were a woman you wouldn’t ask, you’d know.’

  Nancy relayed all the details of her encounter with the dog and the handyman.

  ‘That’s funny, because all the while I was at the lakeside; it was like someone was watching me. Maybe it was the dog and the handyman. I kept hearing a rustling sound, but no one called out the name of a dog. I thought I was going mad at one time. I was sure I heard a camera whirring sound.’

  ‘What a wuss. That’s why you’re back early isn’t it?’ She poked a finger repeatedly in his chest. Nancy only meant to tease him, but his expression, together with a flush of his cheeks, gave away a moment of truth.

  ‘What, with a 9 mil in my backpack? Don’t be silly.’

  ‘Whate
ver.’

  Kyle took off his backpack and sat on the sofa. Nancy walked over and stood in front of him.

  ‘You’re not going to like this. A television newscaster has reported that Kelly may not have committed suicide.’

  ‘Damn, why do they do that? If it is a homicide, it gives whoever tried to make it look like a suicide a chance to be long gone. Did they mention the shorthand note?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Well, that’s a blessing.’

  ‘It still could be a suicide. I’ve been thinking.’ Nancy kneeled on the rug in front of him and placed her hands on his knees. ‘What if having his son placed in the mental hospital messed him up? Say he stole the car, or borrowed it from whoever was following me. Alternatively, maybe it was Kelly who followed me, who knows? Then he went to get some cans to drown his sorrows. He got out of the car to have a drink. Then, Kelly could’ve realized his drinking prevented him from looking after his son. After that, he poured out two of the cans, while working his mind into a frenzy of remorse and got in the car before he could pour the rest away and then blew his brains out.’

  Kyle clapped his hands.

  ‘Very good, Detective Roberts. I’d really like to think it’s what happened and it was Kelly following you. It would be one less thing to worry about. But as it is, I’ll err on the side of caution and not let you out of my sight until we know for sure.’

  ‘You mean, like leaving me here and going fishing?’ Nancy laughed and levered her hands on his knees to stand. A thought struck her and she could not stop the thought translating to the words escaping her lips.

  ‘Is that why you want us living together?’

  Kyle looked flustered.