“What’s been done so far?” Kane asked, and Mayweather leaned back in his chair, clearly relieved to be free of the conflict between Kane and Alicia.
“We put out an Amber Alert as soon as Alicia called us,” he said. “So police, border guards, and the public are watching for Daniel and they have a description of Murphy and his vehicle. We’ve pulled all Murphy’s credit, debit, and phone records. We know he bought gas with his debit card right before he picked Daniel up, and the gas station CCTV records show he was alone then. He was driving a black 2007 Chevy Silverado, registered in his name.”
“What about-” Kane began, but Mayweather wasn’t finished.
“We’ve also questioned all his friends, family, and work associates,” he went on. “None of them noticed any change in his behaviour recently. We asked if they knew of any favourite camping spots Murphy might have had and they gave us a few suggestions, but we’ve searched those and found nothing. Murphy’s phone records show that he talked to his brother this morning, but the brother says it was just a social call and Daniel wasn’t mentioned. We searched Murphy’s apartment and canvassed the neighbours. His cell phone was found in the apartment, and his neighbours said they hadn’t seen him since early this morning and they’d never seen him with a child.”
“So he’s vanished,” Kane said tightly. “With this much of a head start, they could be anywhere in several thousand square miles. Or if Daniel was delivered immediately to a contact in a human trafficking ring, he could even be out of the country by now.”
I read the truth of Kane’s statement in the thinning of Mayweather’s lips, but he replied reassuringly, “We don’t have any evidence of human trafficking. Try to put that out of your mind. This could still be perfectly innocent. Murphy may have dropped Daniel off at a friend’s house and they don’t even realize anything is wrong…”
Kane began to speak, but Mayweather held up a restraining hand and met Kane’s gaze steadily. “John, you know as well as I do that torturing yourself over this won’t help anybody. I promise, we’re doing the best we can. It’s getting late. Why don’t you try to get some rest? Leave me your number and I’ll call you if there are any developments.”
Kane opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it and nodded. Scribbling his number on a torn-out page from the small notebook he always carried, he handed the paper to Mayweather.
“May I call you if I have more questions?” Kane asked.
“Of course. Any time of the day or night.” Mayweather tore the paper in half and wrote his own number on it before offering it to Kane.
“Thank you.” Kane shook Mayweather’s hand and we did the same before filing for the door.
When we reconvened under the streetlight next to Kane’s Expedition, Hellhound said, “Come on back to my place. I got beer an’ that bottle a’ scotch ya left last time ya were there.” I edged closer, shivering in the chilly evening air, and Hellhound wrapped his arm around me. “Come on, Cap,” he urged. “Ya need to wind down a bit.”
Kane shook his head. “I don’t want to drink. I need to keep my head clear. I have to figure this out…”
He was about to speak again when Mayweather called his name from the doorway. When Mayweather beckoned, we all hurried back to the house.
“News?” Kane demanded.
“Yes.” Mayweather didn’t look happy, and my guts clenched. “Please sit down while I go and get Alicia,” he added.
We all perched tensely in our original positions, and a moment later Mayweather emerged from the hallway with Alicia clinging to his arm, chalk-white.
“What is it?” Kane demanded, his face almost as pale as Alicia’s.
Mayweather guided Alicia to the sofa and seated her before saying, “Arbuckle Murphy was killed in a single-vehicle rollover accident southwest of Rocky Mountain House, probably a couple of hours ago. He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. He was ejected and the truck rolled over him. The wreck wasn’t discovered right away because his truck went over an embankment that made it invisible from the road. Fortunately some off-roaders saw headlights shining through the trees, or who knows when we might have found him.”
“Daniel…?” Alicia’s voice was a bare whisper.
“No sign of him,” Mayweather said.
Kane’s mouth flattened into a grim line. “You said it was a rollover. Any chance Daniel might… might have been ejected, too?”
“No.” Mayweather gave him a sympathetic look. “Responders searched all the way down the embankment as a matter of course, and once the truck was identified, the RCMP searched the entire area again just to be sure. They found a child’s hat and a toy soldier in the truck so they brought in tracking dogs, but they found no scent anywhere around the scene.” Mayweather let out a breath. “Daniel was never there.”
“Show me exactly where it happened.” Kane extracted his smartphone and rose. Mayweather stood, too, waiting while Kane brought up a map.
“Expand this area,” Mayweather prompted, pointing at the screen. Kane did, and Mayweather leaned in to hover a fingertip over it. “About there. He was southbound on the forestry trunk road.”
Kane turned the phone toward Hellhound and me, and I extracted my reading glasses for a better look.
“Do either of you know this area?” Kane asked.
I sighed. “Sorry, no.”
Hellhound shook his head, too. “Nah. Took a bike trip through there once, but I was headin’ up to Drayton Valley an’ I stayed on pavement. Never went west a’ Rocky Mountain House.”
Kane returned his attention to Mayweather. “What else can you tell me?”
“The RCMP said it looked as though Murphy really was planning to go camping…” He frowned. “Or poaching. He was wearing camouflage clothing and he had a compound hunting bow and broadhead arrows, but the bowhunting season doesn’t open for another couple of weeks.”
Kane frowned, too. “Aydan, do you know of any archery ranges up in that area?” When Mayweather gave him a quizzical look, he elaborated, “Aydan is an archer. She has medals from tournaments all over North America.”
“Maybe…” I said slowly. “There are no big public ranges out there, and only a couple of small private ones. But the ranges don’t usually allow broadheads. They slice up the butts too badly.”
Hellhound snickered, and I prodded his ribs with an affectionate knuckle. “Wiseass. ‘Butts’ are the backboards where we pin our targets.” I turned back to Kane and Mayweather. “You can buy special targets for broadhead practice so he might have been planning to set one up in the woods somewhere. Did he have anything that looked like a big foam cube in the vehicle? About eighteen inches square?”
Mayweather shook his head. “He had the bow, a hunting knife, and a cooler full of food and beer. There was an extra jacket in the truck, so he might have been planning to stay a while. The weather forecast is hot and dry for the next week so he wouldn’t have needed that heavy jacket for the short term. The only odd thing was that he wasn’t wearing any shoes, but…” Mayweather shrugged. “I’ve seen footwear end up long distances away in that kind of an accident.”
Kane folded his arms over his massive chest and regarded the smaller man without expression. “You didn’t mention a tent. Was there one in the vehicle?”
“No.”
“So Murphy had already set up camp, and left Daniel there. Are they searching the campgrounds?” Kane demanded.
“Yes. But it’s crown land out there, so lots of people pull off the road and camp anywhere they please. And we don’t know whether Murphy was leaving his campsite or returning to it, so we have to search in both directions. We’ll get a helicopter up at first light to try to spot any tents set up on the crown land, but in that kind of wooded terrain there’s no guarantee they’d be able to see a tent from the air.”
“So Daniel may be alone in a tent in the middle of the woods somewhere,” Kane said grimly. “Or maybe the camping was just a ruse and Murphy already delivered Daniel to a buyer.”
Mayweather sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Officers are canvassing the restaurants and gas stations between here and Rocky Mountain House, but so far nobody remembers seeing Murphy or Daniel.”
“So…” Alicia spoke for the first time, her voice a thin quaver. “Buck’s d…dead… and… and Daniel could be anywhere…”
“If he’s in that area, we’ll find him,” Mayweather said firmly. “We have the dogs, and we have a lot of volunteer searchers. At first light tomorrow we’ll get even more personnel on it.”
“And… if he’s not there…?” Her voice broke.
I could tell Mayweather wanted to say something reassuring, but instead he tucked a hand under Alicia’s elbow and raised her gently to her feet. “Lie down again,” he said. “As soon as I know more, I’ll let you know.”
When Mayweather returned from guiding Alicia back to bed, Kane was already standing at the door, vibrating with the need for action. “I’m going to drive up to Rocky Mountain House tonight,” he said.
Mayweather shook his head. “Stay here. We have our best people-”
“I have military Search and Rescue training,” Kane interrupted. “I’ll pick up my gear and leave within the hour. Notify your team that I’ll be joining them.”
Mayweather opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it again and nodded as if realizing it was futile. “They’ll be starting at first light tomorrow,” he said instead. “I’ll call you with the information in the morning.”
“Thank you,” Kane said, and strode out.
Hellhound and I muttered awkward goodbyes and followed him.
Kane was waiting impatiently for us beside his Expedition, and as soon as we were within earshot he said, “Hellhound, can you take Aydan back to Silverside? I’m leaving as soon as I get my gear from the condo.”
“Why don’t ya get some sleep first…” Hellhound began before trailing off with a glance at Kane’s jutting jaw. “Okay, Cap,” he said instead. “We’re comin’, too. I just gotta stop off at my place an’ pick up a change a’ clothes an’ my gear, an’ then I’ll be right behind ya. We’re gonna need a base camp. Get two rooms an’ call me with the name a’ the hotel.”
“Thank you,” Kane said simply, but his eyes showed the depth of his gratitude.
“Um… sorry to be a pain,” I interjected. “But I left with nothing but my waist pouch. I’ll need to pick up a few things.”
Kane eyed me quizzically. “Don’t you have anything at Hellhound’s place?”
“No.” I sent an affectionate look Arnie’s way. “That would be too much like commitment. If I left a toothbrush in his bathroom we’d both have to run for the hills.”
Kane shook his head, but the corners of his mouth softened in what was almost a smile. “You two are completely messed up; you realize that, don’t you?”
“Yep.” Hellhound gave me a grin in return. “An’ that’s just the way we like it.” He sobered. “Go on ahead, Cap. I’ll take Aydan shoppin’ an’ follow ya later.”
“Thanks. See you. Oh, wait…” Kane stepped into the shadow of the Expedition and unfastened his holster. “You’d better take this.” He handed me his Sig, swung into the driver’s seat of the Expedition, and drove away before I could protest.
“What the fuck?” Hellhound demanded.
I blew out a breath, the gun heavy in my hand. “He quit. Stemp told him to stay off this case and threatened disciplinary action if he didn’t, and he just flat-out quit. Told Stemp he’d turn over his weapon to me, and hung up.”
“Aw, shit.” Hellhound stared at the holster in my hand. “Fuckin’ goddam shit.”
There didn’t seem to be much more to say. We exchanged a helpless look, and after a moment of silence Hellhound gave a resigned shrug. “Well, leave it at my place for now, an’ ya can turn it in to Stemp when ya get back.” I handed it to him and he turned to tuck it into the Harley’s saddlebag, exchanging the weapon for his spare helmet. “Here ya go, darlin’,” he added.
I eyed the inadequate shell with trepidation. “Uh…”
“Come on, let’s get goin’…” Hellhound began, shrugging on his leather jacket only to pause, his brow furrowing. “Aw, shit. Sorry. I know ya always use a full-face helmet, but this brain bucket’s all I got. An’ I ain’t got any leathers for ya.” He eyed my bare arms worriedly before shedding his jacket again and holding it out. “Put this on. D’ya wanna drive? I can ride on the P-pad if it’ll make ya feel better.”
I summoned a joke, trying to gather my courage. “I thought the ‘P’ in P-pad stood for ‘pussy’. Didn’t you tell me your dick would fall off if you had to ride on the back?”
He laughed. “Tonight I’m gonna say ‘P’ stands for ‘passenger’, an’ my dick was only gonna fall off if I hadta ride the P-pad on that candy-ass little Honda Shadow ya had. The back a’ my hog’ll be okay.”
Passing his jacket back and clinging to every ounce of trust I had in him, I managed a grin. “Your dick is far too important to me, so I won’t take the chance. And there’s room for two of me in that jacket. You wear it and drive. I’ll be fine on the back.”
“Are ya sure?” Hellhound sobered and studied me with concern. “’Cause seriously, darlin’, I don’t mind. I know how much ya hate doublin’.”
“I’m sure.” I buckled the helmet on, feeling horridly vulnerable. “It wouldn’t be safe for me to drive. Your bike is a couple hundred pounds heavier than what I’m used to, and with you on the back I probably couldn’t even keep it upright at a stoplight.” I turned away to hide my fear. “Hurry up, let’s go. At this time of the night the only place open is Shopper’s Drug Mart, but at least I can get a toothbrush.”
“Okay.” He swung astride the bike.
As I mounted up behind him, the Harley woke with a roar that rattled the quiet street. I wrapped my arms around Hellhound, pressed my face into the snarling dog on the broad back of his leather jacket, and commended my spirit to whatever benevolent god might be willing to accept it.