Mattie ignored Brody while Robo sniffed toward the ledge, circled around to the back of the vehicle, and then headed to the ledge again. She could picture Merton Heath exiting the Pathfinder, going to the overlook to scout out a way to go down, and then going to the back of his vehicle to get something.
Sophie?
Her heart quickened as Robo went to the drop-off and disappeared over the edge. She hurried over and shone her light down the steep slope. Aspen, spindly evergreen, and scrub oak clung to the downslope where Robo slid, heading to the bottom. Brody drew up beside her, his Colt AR-15 slung over his shoulder.
“He’s on it. And so am I.” Grabbing onto the branch of a pine, she took the first step, sinking ankle deep into the loamy soil before sliding a couple feet. She wavered, trying to maintain her balance while still holding the flashlight.
“I’ll be behind you,” Brody said. “Wait for me at the bottom.”
She glanced at the moon and decided to try to navigate by its light. Putting her flashlight back into the loop on her utility belt, she freed up both hands to hang onto the vegetation. Gradually her eyes adjusted and she could make out Robo’s shadow ahead of her, weaving downhill.
Following him, she half-slid while sharp rocks cracked her shins and ankles. Shifting her grip from pine to scrub to thorny current bushes, she made her way down slowly, a little bit at a time, until she’d descended about fifty feet. There, Robo stood waiting for her, waving his tail. He turned to leave when she reached him.
“Robo, wait.”
Stones cracked together in a rockslide as Brody came down, farther off to her left. “Are you all right?” she asked, shining her flashlight toward where she’d last heard him cursing.
He limped up to her. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Sweeping the area with her light, it appeared they were in a meadow, and Robo took the lead, nose down on a trail indicated by smashed grass. Within twenty minutes, they reached a beaver pond, surrounded by evergreens that sheltered a campsite. In the dim moonlight, she could barely see the two orange tents set up beside a fire pit that held smoldering embers.
She extended her hand to stop Brody. “Robo, wait,” she whispered. And to Brody: “They’re here.”
Brody unslung his rifle and gripped it in two hands while Mattie unsnapped the flap on her holster.
“How do you want to do this?” she asked.
Brody scanned the area and then pointed. “I’ll use those trees for cover and wake them. You stay off to the side behind that boulder and cover me if they come out shooting. Otherwise, we’ll go into camp and talk.”
“Got it. Robo, heel.”
Staying low, Mattie crept the last one hundred yards toward her position, keeping an eye on the tents as she went. Off to her right, Brody made it to the pine trees at the edge of the campsite and disappeared into their shadows. When she reached the boulder, she slipped behind it, making sure Robo was secure and well covered.
“Hello,” Brody shouted. “Merton Heath. Timber Creek County Sheriff’s Department. We want to talk to you.”
Murmuring came from inside one of the tents, which billowed with movement. Then came the sound of the flap being unzipped.
“Who are you?” someone called from the tent.
“Chief Deputy Ken Brody, Timber Creek County Sheriff’s. We need to talk. Come out nice and slow with your hands where I can see them.”
More murmuring. “I need to put on my shoes.”
After a pause, a man crawled out of the tent and stood, hands raised slightly, and another man followed. In the moonlight, it appeared both wore jeans and flannel shirts. Without blinking, Mattie watched the men’s hands.
“You men in the other tent. I need you to come out too,” Brody called.
Now would be the time for them to make a move. Mattie’s senses sharpened and time suspended while she waited. The second tent showed movement, and after several long seconds, the flap unzipped and two men came out. All four men that she’d seen in town were now accounted for.
Brody stepped from behind the trees, holding his rifle in front of him but down low. “Which one of you is Merton Heath?”
“That would be me,” the first man said, raising one of his hands a bit higher.
“Do you have any weapons with you?”
“No guns. A couple filet knives for the fish. What’s this about?”
Mattie stepped out from behind the boulder, bringing Robo with her. All eyes looked at her and then went back to Brody.
“This is Deputy Cobb. We’ve been looking for you so we can talk. We’re coming in. Don’t make any sudden moves.”
While Mattie edged closer, Brody crossed the distance to enter the camp, keeping about twenty feet between him and the men. Robo hovered at her heel, alert and on guard.
“Mr. Heath, would you build up that fire to give us some light?” Brody used the broadside of his rifle to gesture toward the woodpile.
Keeping his hands in sight, Heath threw a couple logs on the smoldering fire. They crackled and snapped as they caught fire and flared. Brody nodded toward the others. “You men, gather round where I can see you.”
Firelight revealed basic features. Two blond and clean shaven, and two dark and bearded. Mattie glanced at their faces, but her primary focus remained on their hands.
“I need your names,” Brody said.
“This is Jace Gardner,” Heath said, waving a hand toward the other dark-haired man who came from his same tent. “These two guys are Frank and Ted Robbins.” These were the two who had blond hair and lighter-colored eyes.
“Brothers?” Brody asked.
“Cousins,” the one named Frank said.
“What brings you guys out here?”
“Fishing,” Heath said, gesturing toward poles leaning against the trunk of a towering lodge pole pine.
“Kind of cold for a fishing trip.”
“We needed to get out of Denver for some fresh air,” Heath said. His eyes were dark, and Mattie thought they were probably brown. She moved a bit closer so she could see more clearly.
“What do you want from us?” Gardner asked.
“How long have you been here?”
“We got up here Wednesday afternoon late. Set up camp right before dusk.”
It had been around noon on Wednesday when Mattie spotted the group in town. It was possible they could’ve made it here before sundown.
“When did you drive here from Denver?”
“Wednesday morning. Had lunch in Timber Creek and then came up here,” Heath said.
“How about Tuesday? Where were you then?”
Heath glanced at Gardner before replying. “In Denver.”
“All of you?”
“Yes, we came down together.”
“Do you have someone who can vouch for where you were on Tuesday afternoon?” Brody asked.
Again Heath looked at Gardner. “Let me think,” he said as if buying time. “Why do you ask?”
Brody stared at Heath for a beat. “So where were you, Mr. Heath?”
Heath frowned. “I took off work to get ready for our trip.”
“Can anyone vouch for that?”
Heath looked at Gardner. “My friend here. We were together.”
Gardner nodded.
“How about you other two men?” Brody asked, looking at the Robbins cousins.
Frank shrugged. “I’m a student. Community college. I was at the library Tuesday afternoon.”
“Can someone confirm that?”
“Probably not.”
Brody looked at Ted. “You?”
“Just hanging out, getting ready for the trip.”
Her impatience growing, Mattie grew tired of the exchange. No one had a verifiable alibi, and they all were acting guilty as hell. One or all of these men could have killed Candace and kidnapped Sophie.