CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

 

May 15, 2015

6:30 A.M.

High Mountain Valley

Near the Central Idaho Primitive Area

 

Julia was very relieved that the FBI surveillance had found no sign of anything being broadcast from around the house or the valley in general. So in theory, for the moment, Williams didn’t know they were on to him.

If they actually were. All this might be a wild goose chase, but no one seemed to be treating it that way.

And the information had saved his latest target, which just made Julia smile.

The morning sun still hadn’t hit the tops of the peaks around the valley, so it felt more like the middle of the night than the morning. The air had a hard, crisp bite to it and the rain from the night before had made everything slick, especially the log stairs leading up to the house.

Julia and Lott had both held onto each other while climbing those, and Julia had no idea at all how Fleet made it up them in his slick leather shoes.

Both Julia and Lott only had on sweaters with shirts under them, so they were both starting to get cold as they stood with Fleet talking about the events.

Fleet didn’t seem to notice the cold air at all, even though he was only dressed in a dark silk suit and a dress shirt.

After about ten minutes, the three of them had made it up to the front porch of the large log home. Julia unlocked the front door of the lodge again and let in the surveillance team to do a sweep as they waited on the porch.

After ten minutes, the team came back out and said, “All clear. No bugs at all.”

Lott and Julia and Fleet headed inside and Lott went right to the fireplace to start back up a fire while Julia put on water for tea and turned on lights.

“I have breakfast coming in shortly,” Fleet said. “I figured you two would be hungry.”

“Very,” Lott said as Julia realized she was hungry after all.

Julia moved over and stood at the kitchen window near the dining room table for a moment, watching as the two men worked on Trish’s body just outside the shed, clearly doing preliminary tests.

As a detective, she had watched that process many times. She knew what they were doing.

Along the end of the lake another group of agents were setting up their gear for the dive into the cold water. She did not envy those divers at all in that dark, cold water.

Julia could see four other agents walking slowly up the road toward where the road came into the valley, looking for where a car or cars might have gone over the edge.

They had extremely strong flashlights that they mostly trained along the edge of the road and sometimes down into the water.

As the fire got going and Lott came into the kitchen area, two men and a woman came in, all carrying equipment.

The woman looked at Fleet. “We’re going to need to set up here in the living room area.”

“Anything you need, agent,” Fleet said.

The woman put down the case she was carrying, nodded to the two men, and came over toward them. She was tall at maybe six feet, had on dark jeans, a dark stocking cap over short brown hair, and a heavy jacket with FBI on the front and back.

She had the jacket open exposing a brown sweater with a tan blouse under it. Her eyes were dark and very intense.

The FBI agent extended her hand to Julia, pulling off a thin glove as she did so.

“Detective Rogers I presume. I am FBI Special Agent Carol Munn.”

Julia shook her hand, smiling. “Thank you for coming in so fast and on such short notice.”

Agent Munn just smiled and nodded at Fleet. “Tough to say no to this man, even in the middle of the night. Especially with the information you two found.”

Agent Munn turned to Lott. “Detective Lott, a pleasure.”

“I assure you, Agent Munn, the pleasure is all mine.”

“Long night, huh?” Munn asked, laughing lightly.

“Very,” Lott said, smiling.

Then Agent Munn turned back to Julia with a serious look on her face. “I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.”

“Thank you,” Julia said, nodding.

There was nothing else she could say.

“Fleet mentioned you might have a plan for us,” Lott said after a moment.

“We do,” Agent Munn said, nodding. “Fleet and I and your daughter came up with the basics of it earlier this morning. But first I would rather see what we find here.”

Julia nodded. “Makes sense.”

“You know Annie?” Lott asked.

Julia glanced up at him. She could tell that Lott was surprised.

“I worked with her and Doc on a couple of cases over the last year,” Agent Munn said. “They are an amazing couple.”

“That they are,” Julia said, smiling up at Lott who just looked surprised.

“Agent Munn,” one of the agents setting up equipment in the living room said. “We may have found something.”

She turned and went back into the living room, pulling off her jacket as she went and tossing it to one side in a chair.

On one laptop screen an image was flickering and then settling as someone on the other end stopped moving the camera.

Julia and Lott and Fleet followed Agent Munn, standing back behind the couch, but still able to see the computer screen in front of the one agent who was sitting on the couch, the laptop on the wooden coffee table.

It took Julia a moment to understand what she was seeing. When she did, she looked out the window toward the road.

There, the four agents looked like dark shadows in the slowly increasing light. They were up about a hundred feet above the water. A bright light was being shown down at the ground where they were.

“There are dozens of different tire tracks going over the edge here,” someone said who was up on the road. “Some old and weathered, some newer.”

There was intense silence in the living room broken only by the popping of the fire.

“Secure that location completely,” Agent Munn said to the agents on the hill. “Then continue your search.”

“Understood,” the agent who had been talking said.

“Tell the dive team what they may be in for,” Agent Munn said to the other agent not behind the computer.

He nodded and went out the door.

Julia glanced up at Lott, who looked puzzled as well. Julia knew why.

“Agent Munn,” Julia said, “none of the women who disappeared, besides my friend, had a car in this area.”

Munn turned and looked at Julia, then Julia saw the understanding hit Munn’s face.

“I’ll get my people on that,” Fleet said. “That kind of research in a small area like McCall as to who is buying cars is safer coming from my people.”

Agent Munn nodded. “Thank you, Fleet.”

Then Agent Munn smiled at Julia. “Very good thinking, Detective.”

All Julia could do was nod.

They may have found a serial killer’s body dump. And if that were the case, down in those smooth, black waters out there were many, many innocent women who had died horrible deaths.

If they were out there, at least their families would now get closure.