Page 45 of Chasing Creed

He listened for a while, his face intent. His eyes checked both mirrors then stayed on the road. They went everywhere except returning to hers.

Something was wrong.

She shifted again, and this time her seatbelt scraped one of the deepest punctures on her arm. Without warning, the pain shot through her, taking her breath away for a second or two. She was grateful Jason hadn’t noticed. His head swiveled to the road and back to the mirrors as if he was checking for a place to pull over.

“Are you sure?” he finally asked. “We’re probably only a couple of hours away.”

He listened some more then said, “Okay. Let me know how it goes.”

Brodie waited, studying his profile.

“Ryder and Grace are going back to the crime scene.”

She knew Ryder did searches on his own with Grace or Bolo all the time. If he thought they’d missed something, it wouldn’t be odd for him to return and check it out. But Jason’s face looked worried.

“Does the State Patrol want him to do another search?”

“Sounds like he wants to check out a hunch.”

“A hunch?”

“State Patrol confirmed it wasn’t Kyle we found.”

“But Ryder said there was a body in that debris pile.”

“It wasn’t Kyle. The body they recovered was a woman.”

“A woman?” Brodie could still recall the layers of rubbish and how the kudzu climbed in-between. It seemed impossible to stuff a person down into the middle of that mess.

Jason glanced at her. He seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Yeah, I’m not sure how they did that.”

“Should we go back?”

“Ryder said, no.”

“But said no because he’s worried about me.”

Jason’s pause lasted too long. “Sheriff Norwich is meeting him back out there.”

Jason would never say it, but Brodie got her answer. She was more of a liability than a help right now. Her brother still felt the need to protect her. And her clumsy stumble into a thicket of thorns had only reinforced that feeling.

29

Creed and Grace arrived at the abandoned property with the sun already heading below the tree line. It had taken too long for them to assure Kyle’s mother while trying to hide their suspicions. What started as a late breakfast dragged past lunch. And then they planned carefully to take separate routes. They couldn’t afford to have Lydia follow them back to the crime scene.

Now, Creed noticed storm clouds on the horizon threatening to shorten their time even more. He wouldn’t do a search with Grace if there was lightning.

He knew he’d beat Norwich to the site, but he was surprised to find himself alone. The only sign that the State Patrol had come and gone were the bright yellow streaks of crime scene tape flapping in the distance. There were plenty of tire tracks weaving through the dirt driveway. A half-dozen new ones plowed on past the old barn toward the pastures.

In-between the trees, he could see glimpses of Kyle’s vehicle. Otherwise, there was nothing to warn him that a crime had happened here. The rest of the property—the buildings, the old equipment, and abandoned cars in the woods—were left alone. He saw no footprints or stomped grass to the dilapidated porch. The front door of the house looked undisturbed.

Sheriff Norwich said the State Patrol’s forensic team had processed Kyle’s vehicle. That’s what they were sent to do. That, and recover a body from a debris pile.

All those fresh tracks. All that activity. And yet, standing alongside his Jeep, Creed couldn’t help thinking this place was quiet and calm. Too quiet. Even the birds seemed to have left the area.

At least this afternoon, with the skies still partly blue and no fog, this abandoned old place looked less threatening. Sunshine had a way of diluting the horrors of what must have happened just days ago.

He put on his daypack while staring at the house. Sheriff Daniels was convinced the dogs would eventually track to one of the buildings. So convinced he seemed surprised when they didn’t. Not just surprised, but maybe even a little pissed.