Page 30 of Outlaw Ridge: Hayes

“I don’t know,” Jemma settled for saying. “Unless Cordelia or Brooks has a personal connection to the hikers, then it would seem a long shot that one of them would kill them and then cover up those crimes by killing more people.”

“Still, it’s possible,” Hayes admitted. “I’ll set a search program to see if the database can come up with a connection.” He tapped away on his phone again. “But one thing that stands out for me is all three missing hikers were about the same age as Brooks.”

Jemma considered that but continued to keep watch as she maneuvered the cruiser around the narrow country roads. “So, he might have known them.”

But even if he had, then…what? Brooks was a serial killer who’d been at it for years? And maybe he’d even killed Jemma’s mother?

That put a knot in her stomach.

“Brooks is often at the estate with my father,” she muttered. “Brooks could go after him.”

Hayes didn’t dismiss that possibility. In fact, he seemed to give it plenty of thought as she took the final turn to the school. “Call your dad’s landline again. Let him know that Brooks will be brought in for questioning and that he should watch his six.”

News like that would alarm her father. Not for himself. But for her. So, when he didn’t answer, and she had to leave a message, Jemma relayed what Hayes had said, but she added, “I’m being careful. Want you to do the same.”

Maybe that would be enough to keep her father safe. Then again, the Rattler had no doubt faced plenty of enemies who were far more formidable than Brooks.

Jemma had to push aside her concern for her dad when she reached the gates to the school. They were open, and there was a CSI in a white protective suit and a heavily muscled man carrying a rifle next to her.

“One of my team members,” Hayes let her know. “Griff Abrams. Owen deputized him, too, and put him on personal protection details.”

Good. Because this was the exact spot where Owen had been shot, and Jemma didn’t want to risk that being repeated.

Hayes tipped his head in greeting to both Griff and the CSI as they drove through the gates. Jemma didn’t have to go far on the private dirt and gravel road, only about two hundred feet before she spotted the school.

Such that it was.

There were obstacle courses and outdoor equipment, but the facility itself looked more like a series of metal hangars threaded together with canopied walkways. The building in the center had a sign over the door that read Office of the Phoenix Rising Military Institute.

A lofty name for a school that looked more like a set-up for a paintball course.

“Keep on the helmet and vest,” Hayes instructed. “Aiden, I want you to hang back,” he said through the earpiece once he had it inserted.

Jemma put in an earpiece, too, and was able to hear Aiden’s reply. “Will do. I’ll stay close but will have a look around. Are you going inside the office?”

“That’s the plan,” Hayes said, but then he stopped when the door opened, and Duane came out. Not alone. There were three male students with him, all wearing camo. And none of them looked over the age of twenty.

“Maybe not,” Hayes amended. “Let us see what Duane has to say.”

Jemma and he got out, and Duane smirked when he looked at them. Maybe because of the vests and helmets. Jemma smirked right back, and she motioned toward the gate.

“Some of my boss’ blood is still there,” she remarked, though she hadn’t actually seen any. Still, it was an in-the-face reminder to Duane that this Phoenix Rising Military Institute wasn’t a safe place for cops.

Maybe not safe for anyone else either.

Like Hayes and her, Aiden was firing cautious glances all around him, and he went closer to a group of students who were engaged in some kind of martial arts training under a canopy.

“There are drones flying over my property,” Duane complained, drawing Jemma’s attention back to him. “What are they looking for?”

“Bodies,” Jemma admitted since there was no reason to hold that back from him. Plus, she’d wanted to see his reaction.

And she got one.

The smirk vanished, and some instant alarm went through Duane’s eyes. “What bodies?”

Again, there was no reason to withhold the info. “Three hikers who went missing in the park just on the other side of your fence. Know anything about that?” she asked. Hayes pulled up the photo of the three on his phone and showed Duane.

“I’ve never seen any of them before,” Duane concluded after barely giving the pictures a glance.

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