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“How desperate are you?”
Elle stood in the cabin's doorway and looked around. Tessa came up behind her and flipped a switch on the wall.
Nothing happened. Her jaw tightening, Elle turned on the flashlight she’d grabbed from her own cabin. It didn’t help. She hadn’t lied exactly. August had repaired the roof—the light moving along the ceiling backed that up.
It had also created a mess of broken bits and pieces of shingles and nails and a collection of leaves and debris from before it had been repaired. In the middle of the living room, a couple of feet past the fireplace, was a ring on the floor where the weather had leaked in. Against the wall, someone had thoughtfully leaned the bare mattress up along with the twin frame, and it appeared miraculously intact. A small table and two chairs were in the kitchen, and a pair of rocking chairs sat around a coffee table that leaned sideways in the middle, one leg having given way at some point.
Over the kitchen counter and on every available surface was the small evidence of rodents. They’d moved in as promised with intentions of staying.
“I’m not sure what’s up with the electricity. Best-case scenario, we need new light bulbs. Worst? We check out the other cabins and pray.”
“I can check out the wiring and see about switching those out,” rumbled a deep voice behind them.
Tessa gave a scream of terror and whirled, backpedaling farther into the room, her eyes enormous. Elle rounded on the two hulking shadows that filled the doorway. Jacob and August stared on guiltily. “How rude, skulking around and sneaking up on people. You should both be ashamed.”
“Sorry,” August muttered, looking amazingly contrite for such a big man.
Jacob shrugged and smiled at her. “And as a former FBI agent, you should pay better attention to skulkers.”
Before she could further chastise him, Tessa gave another squeak of fear, her breath coming hard as she tried to breathe. “FBI? You’re a cop?” She looked beyond them all outside as if trying to gage her chances of escape.
Elle scowled. “Former. He has a short memory. And relax, if I wanted to call in the authorities, I already would have.” She frowned then, another thought occurring. “Wait, you aren’t in trouble with the law, too, are you?”
Tessa shook her head. “No, of course not,” she said hastily.
Elle wasn’t entirely sure she believed her.
August volunteered. “I’d be happy to check the fireplace out, too, and bring in some wood.”
Elle rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “Well, since we apparently are going to have a party, I’ll check out the pipes and see what the water situation is—see if the tank will hold water in the bathroom, too.” She glared at Jacob. “I may need help with some of that. I’m definitely handier with a gun than a pipe wrench.”
Tessa gasped again; her fear nearly palpable in the small space. “I hate guns,” she murmured.
Jacob looked her over assessingly, his eyes full of questions before he addressed her directly. “Ma’am, I don’t know you or your circumstances. I’m thinking you’d be safer if you shared some of those, but you look like you’re up to your neck in trouble. I’d hate to think you brought any of that with you, but if you did, we’d all appreciate it if you let us know now. Nobody likes those kinds of surprises.”
She gulped, her eyes jittery, hopping about the room. But she pulled herself up. “I’m good. Nobody knows I’m here. I just need a place to stay, so I can get back on my feet and make a life for me and my baby. Please, give me the winter, I’ll be gone by spring.”
Elle didn’t bother to remind her that by then she’d be a mother with a newborn. She wasn’t sure how she figured she was going to make that work with no help. But that was a conversation for another day. “Tessa, why don’t I get you that broom and a dustpan? You aren’t afraid of mice, right?”
Her mouth firmed, and she stepped forward, still giving both men the side-eye. “I can handle mice. Spiders, now?” She inadvertently glanced at August.
He threw up his hands and shook his head. “Don’t look at me. Little beggars scare me to death. That will have to be Jacob’s job.”
#
ELLE GAVE THE VENISON stew a firm stir and opened the oven to check on the garlic rolls. It was nearly done. They’d been working on the cabin into the late afternoon and, in her opinion, had performed what amounted to a minor miracle. The fireplace was in better shape than they’d expected and required minor repairs. A round of light bulbs and a tripped breaker had been all that kept the cabin in the dark. The water required a bit more finesse. Tessa had tucked in, wielding a broom and cleaning supplies with a vengeance. They’d all taken turns, forcing her to sit down and take breaks from time to time. Elle had left them to finish up and went up to her own cabin to put together something filling to feed them all. Elle reached up to retrieve bowls, wondering if she had enough, when her phone rang.
Allen’s name came across the screen and she answered. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I followed up on Jacob’s advice, checked the databases, hospital records, etc. To see if I could get any hits, any overdose victims or family members that had that blood type.”
“What did you find out?”
“I looked into the backgrounds of Scottie Lind and Bobby Michaels, and the others in John Reilly’s case file. Dug around to see what came up.”
“Any hits?”
“No. Not initially that I could find. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything, though—not if the victims or their relatives don’t have their blood type on file. And there are several more I’m sure that we haven’t discovered. Remember, our killer didn’t stop after they closed the case on John Reilly.”
“You said initially? Did you find something, then?”
“Yeah. Paul Niedermeyer.”
“What? A relative of his? Sister, brother?”
“Paul himself has O negative.”
Elle stopped stirring. “Are you sure?”
“That he’s the only one? No.”
“Does Suzy know? She’s the one that works with him—interviewed him a week ago or so.”
“I haven’t. And I’m buried here. I don’t suppose...”
Elle rolled her eyes. “I can call her and let her know. It doesn’t mean he’s our guy.”
“Since when did you believe in coincidences?”
“He lost a son, right?” Elle wondered aloud, pulling out silverware.
“An only son. He certainly had motive.”
“How long ago did his son die?”
“I’m not sure—five, six years?”
Elle frowned. “Maybe we were putting together the wrong timeline. Maybe it should have included the other victims. Do we know who sold his son the drugs that killed him?”
“Yeah. Felix Grundy. Maybe it’s time we dig a little deeper and find out what we don’t know about the professor.”
#
“HI. DO YOU HAVE A MINUTE?” Suzy smiled, hesitating in the doorway of Paul Niedermeyer’s office.
He looked up, his fingers hovering over the keyboard of his computer. “Oh, Suzy Jin. I have class in a few, but sure. What can I help you with?”
“Maybe nothing. I had a question I was hoping you might clear up for me.”
Paul stared at her, his expression inscrutable. “This isn’t to do with classes or the student body, is it?”
Suzy winced. “Sorry Paul, it’s not. I promise not to take too much of your time.”
“But you’ll dig up old skeletons just the same, won’t you?” he said.
Suzy’s heart gave a jump. It was just a figure of speech. “But maybe not yours this time. I was wondering, hoping really, that you might remember something.”
“I remember a lot of things, Miss Jin. So, tell me, what is it you’d like to know?”
“The night of the party, the one Noah was at? There was another kid there that went to the hospital and later died.”
He nodded, his expression darkening. “Three went to the hospital that night. Only one of them lived. It wasn’t my Noah,” he added bitterly.
“Did your son know the other boys personally?”
Paul hesitated, “He wasn’t close to any of them.. Noah was a freshman. The others were older.”
Suzy sighed. Another dead end. “You probably don’t recall who his parents were either.”
“Not his parents, no.”
Suzy opened her mouth to apologize, to get out of there and leave this man to his memories.
Paul added, “But his brother was there the next day when we were both down at the precinct raising hell and demanding answers that never came.”
Suzy jerked in surprise. “Oh, can you tell me anything about that? Do you remember his name?”
Paul shook his head. “No. It was a long time ago, and I was otherwise preoccupied.”
“Understandable. Thanks, Paul. That helps, I—” Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and gave a grunt of recognition. “Hey, let me grab this really quick.”
I have to pack up for class anyway. Take your time.”
“Hey, Elle. What’s up?”
“Do you recall that we got the results back on that blood sample from the night we found the last victim? Well, were able to eliminate about everyone that John Reilly had on his list, and a couple of others as well.”
Suzy adjusted the phone beneath her ear and smiled at Paul as he shuffled papers and shoved them into a folder.
“So, we’re right back where we started. The blood typing was a bust?”
“We had one hit...” Suzy listened, her heart taking off in her chest. She blinked and her eyes flew to Paul where he stood waiting. He’d finished packing and stood watching her expectantly, his keys to the office in his hand.
Suzy interrupted Elle. “Oh! Well, too bad it was a dead end. Are we still on for lunch tomorrow? I can’t wait. Hey, I gotta go here.”
She hung up and turned to Paul with a weak smile. “Sorry to hold you up. I’ll just get out of your hair so you can get to class. Thanks for all the help.”
Paul smiled pleasantly. “No worries. The kids will wait.” He came around the desk, and Suzy backed towards the door. When he leaned in, she gave a soft gasp. He glanced at her knowingly as he grabbed the door and held it open for her, teasing, “What’s wrong? A cat walk over your grave, Suzy?” She snapped her head up. His face was devoid of emotion. And still a shiver ran down her spine.
She gave a forced chuckle, preceding him through the door. “Nothing like that. The case is just getting to me, I guess.”
“Is it? I know what you mean.”
He left her standing in the hall, heading towards the classrooms with a confident stride. She waited until he turned the corner before heading for the exit and her own building. In her office, she grabbed up her purse and keys, thankful she was done with any classes for the day. Back in the hall, she headed for the elevator to the parking garage in the basement beneath the building. She stared in consternation at the out-of-order sign hanging over the door. It had been out for over a week, and they still hadn’t gotten it fixed. Scowling, she headed for the stairs and started down.
She was halfway to the ground floor when a sound above caught her attention. It sounded like a door opening. It could have been anyone in her building following her down to their own car. Still, she picked up the pace, a sense of urgency pushing her forward. She opened the door to the lower level and moved towards her car. She was halfway across the parking garage floor when she heard the scuffle and scrape of footsteps, felt the brush of descending air slide past her cheeks. Her heart thumping fast, she stopped and looked back. There was no one there.
She continued on, her car in sight, her keys already out and reaching for the unlock button. She reached for the handle, her breath coming in a rush as her fingers shook and she nearly dropped the keys.
A slither of awareness slid down her spine. She froze and started to turn. Something sharp pricked the side of her neck, and she slapped a hand up in reaction, but it was too late, the numbness spreading beneath her fingers and over her shoulders. A faint whistle of panic flew through her lips, making almost no sound. She felt her open purse tumble free from her hands and hit the concrete a split second before she did. Fading eyesight took in the tumble as her phone bounced and slid under the car, her lipstick and wallet scattering past a pair of big feet in shiny black shoes. It was the last thing she remembered.
#
ELLE STARED DOWN AT the phone in consternation before she remembered she was driving and tossed it onto the seat beside her. She tried in vain to recall any lunch plans she’d made with Suzy.
She turned down the two-track leading towards the lake and home. She’d left Tessa earlier with an extra set of sheets and a set of towels she could spare. Tessa had been busy in the kitchen, scouring the dishes and pots and pans that were salvageable and left behind by the previous owner. Most had been in good shape, just filthy with grime and mouse droppings.
She’d paid a visit to Allen’s office, and together they’d both delved deeper into Paul Niedermeyer’s history. What at first had seemed a complete dead end had turned disturbing when they went over the police reports and the mismanagement of the case before it was turned over to John to handle. Someone had dropped the ball big time and allowed a killer to go free. Elle remembered that had been temporary, because less than a month after the case was summarily dismissed, Felix Grundy went missing. Less than a month later, Paul moved his residence closer to the college.
“Did you call John and ask him about Paul’s alibi on the day he went missing?” Elle asked him.
“Well, see there, that’s the problem. Nobody reported him missing right away. It’s hard to get someone to account for two entire weeks. You can’t very well request an alibi for something like that.”
“So, we really don’t have anything else to tie him in to Grundy’s disappearance?”
“No, but he was an avid hunter—did you know that?”
“Firearm?”
“Yes. And bow season, too. Guess where his favorite place to hunt was?”
“Hat Creek Preserve?”
“Smart, you are. I think it’s time we had our own little talk with Mr. Niedermeyer.”
After she left his office, she swung by Kroner’s and pulled the grocery list Tessa had put together with the staples she’d decided she’d need. She’d tried to come along. Elle had insisted she let her pick things up while she finished up at the cabin. She’d agreed, after forcing close to a hundred dollars on her in small, crumpled bills. Elle didn’t plan to tell her she’d added an extra fifty of her own.
She hit a rut in the road that threw the vehicle sideways and heard one bag hit the floor and swore. The two-track to the campground was a nightmare.
In front of Tessa’s cabin, she parked and got out. She opened the back door and thrust several cans rolling about back in the bag before she grabbed what she could carry and headed for the steps. Her hands full, she used her foot to knock. An exhausted Tessa pulled it open seconds later, using the edge of the door for support. Elle frowned and pushed past her and dropped the bags on the table, now shining like a new penny. “You were supposed to take a break while I was gone,” Elle admonished her.
Tessa gave a raspy chuckle. “It’s so nice that you care.”
Elle gave an indelicate snort. “Don’t get all excited on me. I just don’t want to figure out how to deliver a baby in the middle of nowhere. I’d have to get August to assist, you know.”
Her eyes widened, and she gave a gasp. “That’s not going to happen. Here, let me help you get the rest—”
“If you step one foot through that door, I’m going to tie you to a chair,” Elle threatened, disappearing back onto the porch without waiting for a reply.
She brought the rest of the groceries in and set them by the others. Tessa was already busy removing items and putting them away. She grabbed a head of romaine and a bag of carrots and opened the refrigerator. It reminded Elle of her supposed lunch date with Suzy. A niggle of worry hit her, and before she thought better of it, she had her phone in her hand. Maybe she should just call her back and ask her, instead of standing there worrying that something was wrong. She looked up at Tessa in question.
“Don’t you worry about me. You’ve spent your entire day here helping me out. Go on now, go home, and let me settle into mine. And...thank you.”
Elle rolled her eyes and laughed, turning towards the door. “Don’t thank me yet—you haven’t spent the night here yet. The wolves howl, the wind tears through the trees, and on bitter nights you’re forced to get up twice to throw logs on the fire if you don’t want to freeze to death. It’s isolation at its finest.”
Tessa gave her a grave smile. “Sounds perfect, if you ask me.”
Elle gave her a doubtful look and closed the door behind her. She dialed Suzy’s number and got into the Outback, backing up and moving the three hundred feet across the drive to park in front of her own cabin. The phone went to voicemail as she got out. She didn’t leave a message. She hit redial twice more with the same results.
She opened the door to the cabin and went inside, Mia on her before she closed the door, dancing around in excitement at her feet. But worry was developing into a full-grown panic as she went over the conversation in her mind one more time, trying to read between the lines.
Her next phone call was to Jacob.
“What are you thinking, Elle?” he asked after she relayed the brief conversation back to him.
Elle hesitated. “What if...she works with him at the college, after all. What if she was with him in his office or something when I called her? Was she trying to conceal the gist of that conversation from him? Was she trying to give me a clue that she was with him?”
“Seems out there to me.”
“She’s not answering her phone, Jacob. That’s not like her. She always has it with her.”
A long pause came down the line. “Maybe we should check it out.”
“I know she said she was going in today, had an early morning class to teach, and then was coming back later this afternoon.”
“Could you call the college? Have them check and see if she’s still there?”
“I’m on it. I’ll call you back and let you know what I find out.”
It took her the better part of ten minutes on the phone to track down a live person and convey her concerns. Several minutes later, the college operator came back on and told her she’d gotten hold of a Rudy Simms, the custodian, and asked him to check out her office in person when her office phone likewise went to voicemail. Twenty minutes later, she was thinking of hanging up when Rudy himself came back on the phone. “Nope. She’s not there, though the sign on the door says she’s normally in.”
Elle thought quickly. “Can you transfer me back to the main desk, please?”
Sylvia Bridges, the operator, came back on the line. “Hello, Northern Michigan help desk. How may I direct your call?”
“Hi, Ms. Bridges. This is Special Agent Elle Adams of the FBI.” She rattled off her old title in a deeper voice, feeling only slightly guilty using it.
“Oh, you didn’t tell me that before when you called.”
Elle ignored her, the worry in her gut morphing into panic. “Can you check one more thing for me? It’s important. You have a Professor Paul Niedermeyer there, in the history department? Can you check and see if he’s in for me?”
“Sure, I can do that.” Music came through the line once more and Elle waited impatiently. Less than a minute later, Sylvia was back. Authority had its perks.
“There’s no answer.”
Something in her voice brought Elle up short. “Was there something else, Ms. Bridges, that you’d like to share?”
“Well, I shouldn’t. It’s probably a breach of privacy or something and I could get in trouble.” Elle realized the voice on the other end of the line was young, likely a student campus job she held to help pay down her college tuition.
“Please, it’s important. Ms. Jin may be in trouble. She and Paul are good friends, and since I can’t find her, I’m trying to track him down. Maybe he knows where she’s at.”
Sylvia gave a youthful gasp. “I hope not. She’s so nice. I called Lorne Williams, the department head of that building, when Mr. Niedermeyer didn’t answer. He told me that the professor didn’t show up for his three o’clock class this afternoon, and he never called.”
Elle gasped and hung up, grabbing her keys off the counter on the way out the door.
She was dialing Jacob by the time she opened the door to her car. Mia slipped into the passenger seat and Elle slid in and started the engine. She was peeling down the drive when Jacob answered, and she shared what she had found out. “I’m heading into town to check out her room at the Veil Falls Inn where she’d been staying to see if she’d showed up there. She’s not at the college. And neither is Paul Niedermeyer.”
“Can you grab me on the way?”
“Five minutes.” She hung up, grabbing the wheel with both hands and hitting the gas, a sense of urgency hitting her.
Fifteen minutes later they left the inn and were back in the car. “Where now?” Jacob asked. “We should call it in to Jerry and Allen—let them know she may be missing.”
“It could be nothing,” Elle insisted.
Jacob looked over, already dialing. “You don’t believe that. Where could we check next?”
Elle pursed her lips, thinking. “Her car. We should check the college and see if she took it when she left. She told me there’s a garage in the bottom of the building where staff park.”
“It’s as good an idea as any. You drive. I’ll make the calls.”
It was a good half hour to Northern. Elle made it in less than twenty. “Jerry and Allen are waiting for our call. She drives a late model dark blue Yukon with a college sticker in the back window. They are calling the company and pinging the location. They’ll call back as soon as they have it.”
When the phone rang, the sound bounced around the inside of the Outback, making Elle jump. Jacob grabbed the phone before she could. “Yeah? Okay, we’re headed there now. We’ll let you know what we find.” He hung up.
“Near as the GPS can pinpoint, she never left the garage. I have the license plate number, just in case.”
It took them a couple of minutes to track down her SUV. At least two other staff members drove the same color Yukon. They pulled in next to hers, matching the plate, and got out.
Elle’s heart lurched. “On the ground, Jacob.”
They knelt by the door, Elle reaching underneath the driver’s side, which was ajar, and pulling out a purse. It looked as if it had fallen, items that had come free scattered about on the ground. Jacob plucked her phone from beneath the front driver’s door, a spiderling crack bisecting the screen but not affecting the function. He pulled up her messages and recent phone calls, grateful she hadn’t put in one of those fancy passcodes. “Looks like the last one was to you about an hour and a half ago.”
“Oh no,” Elle whispered, her fingers finding a set of keys that had rolled forward and lodged themselves beneath the front tire.
“I think you found the killer, Elle,” Jacob murmured, his mouth tight.
“But not before he found Suzy,” she murmured back, pulling her own phone free.
Allen answered on the first ring. “We found her car, purse, and keys. I think he has her...”
“Elle!” Jacob hissed.
She jerked her head around in irritation, her heart sinking when she realized what he held grasped between thumb and forefinger.
“I think he drugged her, Allen. We have a syringe.”
“We’ll send out a team to process the scene. You two hang tight. We’re heading to his home now, putting out an APB on him. We’ll call when it’s clear, and we know more.”
He hung up, and Elle stood up, staring hard at Jacob.
“Let me guess, they want us to wait here?”
She shook her head. “You can. I’m heading for Niedermeyer’s house.”
Jacob never answered. He was already heading for the vehicle.