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"Yes. Looking back, I think I did. I did hear something, but by the time I'd woken up, I was really confused by what it had been. Like a screeching sound. I couldn't hear it anymore and eventually thought it must have been an animal or a bird or even a dream. But it bothered me. It was why I went to check the footage as soon as it was light enough," he confessed. "Now I wish I'd called you at the time."
"Well, you're doing the right thing now," Jack said, his voice firm and reassuring."The next step is to see where this camera was set up. I've called a few more officers in to form a searchparty, and they'll be arriving soon.” Turning to May, he said, “Owen is on his way and will head up the search. We can join it, but in the meantime, let's see what physical clues we can pick up from the scene."
May felt glad that her dark-haired deputy and romantic interest, Owen Lovell, was on his way. She felt as if she needed that support. She was still totally thrown after having watched that chase scene play out. Perhaps her recent efforts in tracing what had happened to her sister made her feel even more triggered by watching it.
May walked into the woods alongside her boss, still chilled by the terror on the woman's face.
If Chloe was still alive, then she was in serious danger. May knew they'd need to move as fast as possible to rescue her from this faceless attacker.
Whatever small clues might be hidden, deep in the woods, it was imperative to find them.
CHAPTER THREE
May paced into the woods behind Sheriff Jack and their witness, whose name was Rowan Bailey. They were heading straight to the location of the camera to look for more clues.
Early fall was always a somber time, she thought. The leaves were still thick, but the colors were not yet glorious, and the skies were gray. She felt a strong sense of threat as she headed deeper in.
Was there a killer at large in these woods, one of the biggest forested areas in Tamarack County?
Had Chloe been killed? Would they find a body as they set about the search?
May knew she had to be prepared for that outcome, hard as it was to accept. It could be that someone had abducted Chloe, held her, and then killed her after she'd tried to escape. She hoped against hope that it was not so, and that they would not find this worst-case scenario.
The death of such a high-profile young woman, so beautiful and widely recognized, would create waves of shock that they would not easily be able to contain. She couldn't bear to think of her mother's grief, and although May didn't know Chloe, from what her mother had said, she sounded like a genuinely nice person who volunteered at animal charities, had a strong passion for health and wellness, and wanted to change the world for the better.
Murder was tragic in any instance, but society would be shocked to the core if such a bright, beautiful, and caring young woman was brutally killed.
As her feet trudged over the damp, muddy trail, May imagined the furor that would result, the blame, the fingerspointed at the police. She hoped that the worst had not yet happened, and that by some miracle, Chloe was still alive.
"Here's the camera," Rowan said, pointing to it. "I put it back, exactly where it was, when I saw the footage in case . . . in case I could pick up anything more. But there's been nothing, I think."
The camera had been set up on the edge of a clearing, traversed by the trail and by another narrow path. Immediately, May saw her first clue. Footprints in part of the muddy section.
"Bare feet!" she said, pointing, feeling a sense of shock that the victim had run without shoes. It reinforced to her that she'd been kept somewhere with her possessions removed, and that she'd attempted to flee as she was.
She felt stressed to the nines as she wondered where Chloe was now. Those footprints were clear, and would form part of the evidence, she knew. They'd be able to measure them and, May was sure they would be Chloe's size.
Because of the angle of pursuit, the footsteps that had followed her were not as clear. They were nothing more than deep indentations on the edge of the low-lying, muddy area. May hoped that forensics could pick up something, but she couldn't see that there would be anything obvious to find.
Now, where had she run from and to?
From was surely the most important, May thought, looking at the angle of the footprints and then staring back into the woods. She must have been running blindly, May guessed, since it would have been very dark. She clearly had not followed a path, and that would make it more difficult to see. She must have woven her way between trees at random. Looking back, to her disappointment, May could see no sign at all of where she'd come from.
"It's like she came from nowhere. Did she escape someone? Do you think we could get a professional tracker involved? Or a tracking dog?" she asked.
But Sheriff Jack was looking uneasily at the lowering clouds.
"We can, but I don't know how much time they will have," he admitted. "It looks like some serious rain is coming."
May nodded, making a face at the bad timing, remembering that she'd glanced at the weather last night, and that the report had confirmed what was now approaching—a morning of steady rain. That would make it more difficult for dogs or trackers to work. If they were going to find anything, it had to be now—in the next hour.
At that moment, a voice called out, "May!" and she turned around to see her deputy, Owen, approaching. She knew he must have jumped straight out of bed to come here, even though with his clean-cut looks, well-brushed hair, and neat appearance, he looked as professional as always.
And it hadn't been out of her bed, either. They were keeping their romance to weekends for the moment because work was so busy in the week and also because May was pursuing her own investigation surrounding Lauren's disappearance. That often meant early mornings for her, and she thought it was unfair to drag Owen out of bed on what was becoming, for May, a huge personal mission.
She smiled at the sight of Owen, who was thirty-one and had been partnered up with her for over a year. He was sharp and intelligent. Having made a career change to policing after working for an accounting firm, he often had different and important insights in their cases. And she was reassured to see the light of concern in his eyes and the quick smile on his face as he greeted her.
The last few days, he'd been quite serious and distant, although she didn't know why and hadn't had the time toproperly discuss it. She had a feeling it was because she, too, had been serious and distant with him.
