“Noon. For an hour.”
Gabriel smiled. “I’ll make sure it’s cleared on my schedule.”
“Let’s hope it’s worth the time.”
“It will be, one way or another.”
Evie got to her feet when Gabriel did. He was right-it was time to call it a day. She needed some downtime.
He locked up the building behind her, nodded to the security officer on his way over, and escorted her to the yellow convertible. “Drive careful, Evie.”
“Always do.” Evie settled in the driver’s seat. “I really like the car.”
Gabriel grinned. “I’m glad. It’s cold enough you should raise the roof tonight.”
“The heater is like a blast furnace. I’d put up the top, but what’s the fun in that?” She started the engine, lifted a hand in farewell, and headed back toward the house.
A good, productive day, she decided. She could feel this new lead had substance. It would tell them something, and hopefully that would point them in the right direction.
A few more days like this one and she’d be looking at solving the case. She smiled at the thought. She’d take it.
SEVEN
Joshua Thane
Josh found himself on full alert, anticipating Grace’s appearance. He figured she would come by the bait shop, as Ann had, rather than call, so he found reasons to stay around the dock rather than go out on the lake as he normally did. At dawn Tuesday, he went into Carin for groceries, his dogs with him, and then came back to his shop, which wouldn’t open for another hour. Those who needed bait before hours helped themselves from the outdoor cooler, leaving cash in the honor box.
He pulled around to the pier side of the parking lot. A slender woman with shoulder-length light-brown hair was perched on one of the picnic tables, feet dangling, hands tucked in the pockets of a down jacket against the cool morning. He took a breath, stepped out of the truck, and let his dogs out. The two Labradors rolled on the grass and then ran to the docks to explore. He turned toward his visitor.
She looked at him. “I’m-”
“Grace Arnett,” he finished with a smile as he approached. “I remember you, Grace. I made you a valentine in the sixth grade.” He thought the small, blond, blue-eyed girl she’d been back then the most beautiful person in the world. Two years behind him, she’d been in the fourth grade, and he had ridden his bike in circles, waiting for her class to dismiss so he could give her the valentine before she got on the bus. He could still remember her surprise and pretty blush, the dropped gaze, when he handed it to her. Her thank-you was soft and sweet and had lingered in his mind for a long time.
“I still have it,” Grace told him with that still-familiar smile, “tucked away in a box of childhood keepsakes.”
“Nice, Grace. I don’t have a box, but I do keep the memories.”
Her eyes held a sadness. The years had knocked the naïveté out of him, and he recognized what it was. He now knew a victim when he saw one. He didn’t let his smile fade, for he was glad to see her, no matter the circumstances. He got them cold drinks from the cooler. “Ann mentioned you might stop by. Are you passing through town or staying awhile?”
She pushed away a strand of hair blowing across her face. “That depends a bit on you,” she said, her voice low. “No one in town knows I’m here, and I’d like to leave it that way for now.”
“Sure thing. But now you’ve got me curious.”
“You know my history.”
Puzzled, he nodded, but answered what she seemed to be asking. “Your parents went missing when you were two, your uncle became your legal guardian and raised you here. He was killed in a hunting accident when you were fourteen. I know child services moved you away, but I don’t know details from there. I do know I missed you. A lot.”
She smiled. “Thanks for that. I went to Trevor House in Chicago, lived there while I finished high school. Ann has friends with history there.”
“Since then?”
“Odd jobs mostly. Bookkeeping, inventory, office temp work. That kind of thing.”
“Still draw those cartoons?”
She seemed surprised he remembered. “I’ve published a few, have a monthly gig for a magazine now, mostly providing the better ones I’ve already done. But occasionally I have a new idea worth the time to sketch out.”
“Good for you-congratulations.”
She dipped her head in thanks, nodded toward the shop and the boats. “I can see you’re thriving on your lake.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve always been a bit possessive about Carin Lake.” He took a seat on the other end of the picnic table. “Business is winding down for the year now that November is rolling by.”
He drank more of his soda and without staring tried to get a good picture in his mind of her at twenty-seven. The last mental images he had of her, she was fourteen going on fifteen. She’d turned into a graceful woman, if a nervous one, he noticed, as she turned the bottle between her hands.
“I need a favor,” she said, averting her eyes.
“Ann said you might ask. You’ll find a receptive ear.”
“I’m told your two dogs are used by the cops in searches, that they’re trained as… what is it, cadaver dogs?”
“They are. Ann pass on that nugget to you?”
“Paul did.”
So she knew both Ann and Paul well enough to be comfortable on a first-name basis. That was good to know. “What’s the favor?”
“I want you to help me search my uncle’s property.” She looked over at him. “For human remains.”
He opened his mouth, then quickly shut it, gave himself a moment for her words to sink in. “You think your uncle killed your parents?” he finally asked, shocked by the thought of it but determined to hold his tone even.
Grace looked away again. “He had money troubles, then suddenly he had none. The property is two hundred acres, forty of it lake-inlet water and mature forest. I know it’s hard to make a car and two people disappear. He could have, though.”
He thought about her conclusion, the painful implications that would have arisen for Grace even to be thinking such a question. No wonder Ann was stressed about this.
Grace looked over at him. “Will you help me search?”
Josh felt slightly sick. “Yes, I’ll help you, Grace. But when we search, and likely find nothing, what then?”
“I’ll sell the land knowing I at least looked. The farmland already has a buyer, the woods and access road will attract somebody who likes to hunt.”
“You’ve let the property sit for years, the land leased out to be farmed. Why sell now? Has something changed recently?”
“It’s simply time. I don’t like facing old ghosts, but it needs to be done.” She stood, placed the bottle in the recycle bin. “I’ve rented a motor home and will be staying at the campground down the road-slot twenty-nine. I was thinking we could go over to the property, look around, decide how best to do the search, then plan a schedule that works for you. I’ll help however you direct. Hopefully I won’t be in your way.”
“Well, it takes two people to do a search and record the terrain covered so there’s no doubling back over grids.” He stayed at the table, studying her. She looked tired, tense, but otherwise in good health, so she could probably handle a tough four-hour walk, turn around and repeat it again after a break. Adding volunteers wouldn’t help really; more than two people would just impede the dogs’ work. And he doubted Grace wanted word to get around about what they were doing.
But he much preferred that she stay at the campground while he did the search with one of his brothers instead. She didn’t need the cruel reality of what might be found. “I’d rather someone else help me, Grace,” he said. “Searching for remains this old can be done, but it requires near perfect conditions for the dogs to pick up a scent. The ground around the gravesite had to be firm enough that an air cavity formed, trapping the decay, but loose enough now the odors can rise.” He kept his voice neutral as he deliberately gave her some of the gruesome details, watching to see if she got shaky. She’d turned to face him, had paled, but then simply sat and waited.