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Half an hour later, May and Owen pulled up outside the farm "Robbie's Adventures," where Robbie Grant, Jacob’s stepfather, lived. It was in an idyllic part of the world, May saw. The terrain beyond the farmhouse was a blend of forested tracts, rolling hills, and secluded streams winding through the landscape.
The rain had eased off, and was now no more than a light drizzle, falling from a sky that was still unrelentingly heavy and gray.
May walked up and knocked on the door of the solid wooden farmhouse. The garage nearby was closed, so she couldn't tell if Robbie was in or not. She hoped he was, or that someone else was home.
The sound of the knocker resounded through the house, and May wondered, with a sudden pang of doubt, whether anyone was in fact in. She knocked once more, but the door remained unanswered, and to May, that unbroken silence meant the house felt empty.
She might need to do some more research, she decided. The stepfather had seemed to run his business—eco-tourism vacation bookings—from home. But then again, perhaps he was out in his idyllic lands, doing some fishing, or on a hike, or perhaps even some gardening.
Wondering if she might spot him, May strolled along the garden path that led to the side of the house and peered out into the grounds beyond.
She didn't see the stepfather. He was nowhere in sight. But she saw something even more helpful, if rather surprising.
At the back of the well-tended backyard, bordering the forest beyond, May saw a yurt.
Her eyes widened. This looked identical to the one she'd seen in the videos. Even the trees beyond looked the same, the way they seemed to form a natural archway over the top of the tent.
In the backyard?
"Owen, look!" she said, and her deputy came running.
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "It's there?" He sounded just as incredulous as she felt.
"Well, seeing it's there without a doubt, let's go and speak to Jacob directly. Hopefully we can bypass his stepfather now," May decided. This was a lucky break in the case, and after the soaking, discouraging search of the morning, she felt that they deserved a break.
With their feet splashing over the still-wet grass, she and Owen headed down the lawn, toward the tent at its edge.
But it was clear that May and Owen hadn't been the only ones keeping a lookout.
As they neared the yurt, May heard a commotion from inside, a rustling and thudding and scraping.
And then, from the back entrance of the large, well-equipped yurt, a tall, leonine figure shot out.
"Hey! Jacob Hargreaves!" May yelled. Without a doubt this was the man from the video. That distinctive tawny mane was a giveaway.
But Jacob wasn't listening, and he wasn't stopping. He was running—as far and fast into the woods as he could go.
Swearing briefly under her breath, May set off in pursuit, racing as fast as she could to catch up with the fleeing suspect.
CHAPTER EIGHT
No way was she going to allow Jacob to vanish into the vastness of his stepfather's woods, May resolved, her shoes skidding on wet leaves as she hurtled along the track. Because she had no doubt that he could, and would, disappear if he got the chance.
After all, there was a strong likelihood he might have kept Chloe prisoner somewhere in these woods and have been watching out for the police to arrive since then. He clearly knew the area well and had any number of bolt holes and secret hideaways. If he got to one of them, they might not find him for weeks, if at all. There were too many places to get lost in these woods, and the thought of him disappearing into their misty depths made her feel sick with worry.
"Stop! Police!" May yelled, glad that Owen was hurtling along behind her, because at least it meant two pairs of eyes and ears in the dark, dripping woods with their twisting paths.
May, her pulse pounding and her breath coming in gulps, fought to keep him in sight. Her boots and pants were sodden from the soil and the rain, and the temperature was dropping now that the sun had been blotted out by the thick, dark clouds.
It was obvious that Jacob wasn't listening and wasn't going to stop until he got to his destination—wherever that might be.
He dodged around a thick tree trunk, and for a breathless moment, May realized that he was out of sight completely.
"Stop!" Owen yelled, with an edge of panic in his tone.
And then, they saw him, racing further on and up the hill. He'd headed down into a hidden gully, jumped a ditch, and was now powering up a steep slope.
