Tara and Byron emerged from the woods. Embarrassment was written across Tara’s face. I’m sure she felt she was wasting our time.
“Anything look familiar?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Maybe if we just walk the woods instead of driving around. I think I’ll recognize the boulders if I see them.”
I shrugged. “Works for me. Deputy Smythe is going to walk the woods toward us from the markers.” I looked back the way we’d come. “And you don’t think we’ve passed the spot?”
Tara and Byron turned and stared down the road. “No, but we can’t be positive. It isn’t like anyone said there would be a quiz later. We weren’t actually looking at anything in particular. We were just enjoying the beauty of everything.”
Renz patted Byron’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll find the spot. No pressure.”
Byron sighed. “Yet somehow I feel pressured anyway.”
“Nah, we’ve been down this road before. It’s all part of the journey.”
I was thankful that Renz was usually a patient guy except when he was hungry. Then all bets were off.
“How about we lock up the cars and head into the woods?” Renz said.
Sheriff Burke’s radio squawked, and he lifted his finger. “One minute, folks. What have you got, Dan?”
“I’m a half mile ahead of you. It’s not really that far, so I’m going to walk in your direction about fifty feet in.”
“Copy that, and we’re heading your way.”
There were too many of us in our group, and Dan was alone, and it was easy for one person to miss something important. I’d mentioned it to Renz, and he volunteered to drive ahead, meet up with Deputy Smythe, and search alongside him. The five of us walked toward those two but never came across a large group of boulders. When we finally met in the middle, they said they hadn’t seen the boulders either.
I was let down, yet I knew Byron and Tara were doing the best they could. They were sure the area wasn’t closer to Highway 12, so we moved farther north and continued the search. We exited the woods and stood along the road while coming up with a new plan.
“I think we’re close.” Byron pointed. “That shaded area up along the shoulder looks like where the man’s truck was parked.”
Deputy Knight took over. “And didn’t you say that truck was about a half mile ahead of where you stopped your car?”
“Yep, we had just passed him, and then Tara said she needed to use the bathroom. I pulled along the shoulder, and she got out. I remember looking in the rearview mirror and noticing how the trees shaded the truck.”
“Okay,” Sheriff Burke said, “let’s search a little farther north. Just tell us where you think you stopped in comparison to that shaded area of the shoulder.”
We walked another hundred feet or so, and Byron stopped. “I’m pretty sure this is the area. What do you think, honey? Does it look familiar?”
“I’m not sure. I have to walk into the woods to see if those boulders are back there.”
We crossed the ditch and followed Tara. She picked up her pace, then she pointed.
“There! Those are the boulders. This is where I was.” She rushed to the area, spun around, and looked like she was recalling yesterday’s incident.
“Walk us through whatever it is you’re thinking, Tara,” I said. “Take your time and think hard.”
“I was looking for a private place to pee—somewhere not so open and exposed. That’s when I saw these boulders.” She placed her hand on the large granite stone. “And then I heard his voice.” Her eyes welled up. “I was so shocked to hear a human voice out here. It just stunned me. They were having a heated conversation, but there wasn’t a way for me to leave without being seen. I backed up, hoping to hide behind one of the rocks until they passed, but I tripped and fell on my backside. He saw me, grabbed the girl by the arm, and yanked her over to where I was. He yelled out ‘Hell no,’ cracked her in the head, and ran off. She didn’t stand a chance against him.” Tara wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and Byron comforted her.
Renz took over. “You said they were having a heated conversation?”
“Yes.”
“Can you recall anything that was said? Think hard, Tara. It could be really important.”
“I don’t know. I was so scared for the girl and for myself. Um…”
We searched the ground and bushes as we waited on Tara to recall the incident. With all the blood they’d described, there had to be evidence of it there.
“Yes! I remember a name. The man said something about shooting the girl and leaving her for the cougars to eat if she didn’t move along. She responded that it was a real shame about Marcus. No, not Marcus, but it was an odd name that started with an M. Milton, Maynard, maybe?” She rubbed her forehead as she whispered names. “He said she was getting in that truck whether she liked it or not.”
“Okay, you’re doing fine, Tara. The truck is a big help,” I said. “It confirms what you said about the parked truck you passed.”
She nodded. I could see from her expression that she was consumed with remembering the name. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I remember she said that just before he saw me. That’s it! She said it was a real shame about Malcolm and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!”
“You’re sure?” Renz asked.
“I’m positive!”
Renz nodded at the sheriff. “You said the dead man who was discovered by the hikers had a clawed-up neck and face and that a dead cougar was near his body?”
“Yep. The cougar also appeared to have bullet holes in it, but both bodies were pretty mangled from the fall and from woodland animals.”
“Where’s the cougar’s corpse?”
Deputy Knight spoke up. “The forest service hauled it away.”
“Shit. It could have had rifle slugs in it. Can one of you find out what they did with it?”
Burke pointed his chin at Smythe. “Doubt if there’s service in the woods, but we will as soon as we get to the cars.”
“Guys”—I pointed at a fern covered in dried blood—“this is probably the spot where the man cracked the girl with the rifle.”
Sheriff Burke told Knight to head to his squad car. They needed to place markers in the area to indicate where the attack took place and to see how far it was from where the dead man, possibly named Malcolm, was found.
“How well was the area around the dead man searched?” I asked.
Burke shrugged. “Probably not well enough. I’d say a few hundred feet around him and the cat.”
“And if they both toppled over the edge of a mountain and the guy did have a wallet or a phone, those items could have bounced out of his pocket and landed anywhere.”
“Yes, they could have, although we didn’t find anything. Whoever shot the cat might have taken those items from the man before the attack happened. He could have been a victim, too, just like the girl.”
I shook my head. “Not according to Tara’s recollection. From the comments the girl made, she seemed happy that Malcolm was dead. We need to see the spot where he was found.”
“Sure thing, Agent Monroe,” Knight said. “It’s only about a hundred yards to your left.” He led the way through the undergrowth. “Here we are.”
We came upon a trampled-down spot about twenty feet from the narrow dirt trail the hikers had been walking the previous day. The trail looked a lot like what we would consider a deer trail in Wisconsin—dirt and about twenty inches wide. The area was marked by orange flags poked into the ground. I looked up, and several hundred feet above me was the edge where both the man and the cougar likely fell from.
“Has anyone gone up there to have a look around?” Renz asked.
“No easy way to get up there, Agent DeLeon. We’d have to go to the west side of the mountain, walk a good long way, and hope we end up right there.” The sheriff pointed above our heads.
“How about a drone, then?” I suggested. “It would only take a few minutes to see if anything of value is on the ground up there.”
“Yep, I can arrange that. The department doesn’t have one, but I know a few people who do. I’ll make some calls as soon as I get back to the car and see if we can get one out here.”
Renz and I walked the area. Pieces of shredded clothing were scattered about, and ten feet from me were blood and fur from where the cat must have ended up. It was a grisly sight, and I wondered if animals were watching us from the sidelines.