The ride along narrow trails through Stanton Forest would have been a respite from the murder case in different circumstances. The forest was glorious in summer. The scent, now a familiar friend of pine and fresh alpine air, brushed Kane’s face. The trees and all around created an abundance of nature’s glory. He wished he could stop and enjoy it. Using GPS coordinates, he led the way in a direct route to the gravesite they discovered last Halloween. There was an easy way through by following the fire roads if they needed to travel by truck, but as time was of the essence, using the trail bikes and taking the game trails made more sense.
He glimpsed deer and elk as they roared along the deer paths. Clouds of birds flew into the air, angry at them for disturbing their paradise. They drove through crystal-clear mountain streams, with the sun glistening like diamonds across the water, and along trails crisscrossed with zebra stripes, and all the while high above them the mountain watched, its peaks still carrying a cloak of snow with the reminder that, even in summer, winter was only a short time away.
As Kane reached the fire road adjacent to the trail leading to the gravesite, Carter drove up beside him. “It’s just through there. I figured I’d stop here for a moment and see if I could find any tire tracks or evidence of anyone being here recently.”
“Ask Rio to do it and we’ll head on through the trees, just in case we catch him in the act.” Carter grinned around his toothpick. “Although I figured the trail bikes would have given us away some.”
Pressing his mic, Kane spoke to Rio. “Check along this fire road for any signs of recent tire tracks. The last time the killer brought the victims here he stopped on this road and carried them through the forest.”
“Copy that.”
Scanning the area for any sign of movement, Kane revved up his trail bike and headed for the gravesites. As the clearing came into view, he slowed abruptly and held up one hand. Ahead of him a neatly dug grave, with the soil still damp, sat in a patch of sunlight. He pressed his mic again. “I have a visual on a grave. I’ll contact Wolfe. Be vigilant. He could still be in the area.”
Pulling his phone out of his jacket, Kane removed his helmet and made the call. “The soil looks fresh, maybe a little bit dried around the edges, but most of it is still damp.”
“Is Raven with you?”
Kane looked down the trail, he could hear the other trail bikes. “Yeah, he’s here.”
“He’s not trained in forensics, but being a doctor I’m sure he will be able to uncover a small portion of the grave to see if there’s a body in there. I want you to take very detailed images and a video of the entire scene all around and every portion of the grave. Look for footprints. I want you to leave the camera rolling as he removes a small portion of the soil.” Wolfe blew out a long sigh. “We’ll finish up here, and if you find a body, we’ll head out right away. Send me the coordinates.”
Looking at Carter, Kane nodded. “Okay.” He sent the coordinates and disconnected. He tapped his mic and explained the situation to the others. “We need to do this now.”
Rio and Raven arrived in a roar of engines. Kane pulled his forensics kit out of his backpack, gave Raven gloves and a face mask. He pulled on gloves, covered his face with a mask and waved Raven toward the grave. “I’ll help. Rio, you do the filming; Carter, you’ve got our backs.”
“Not a problem.” Carter pulled his weapon and scanned the area.
They waited for Rio to take images and a video of the grave and then set about carefully removing the soil. Kane could think of nothing worse than finding a buried body of a young woman. He recalled standing and watching as Norrell carefully removed the topsoil to find the body wrapped in a sheet, a phone tucked in neatly beside them and wrapped in a plastic waterproof bag. It was as if the killer had intended to keep the phone in good condition for someone to find in the future. Beside him Raven worked methodically, his brow furrowed in a deep frown. When the edge of a white sheet appeared, Kane sat back on his heels. “This looks exactly the same as the last grave we uncovered here. The victim was wrapped in a bedsheet taken from the bedroom of the house. I saw that the bed had been disturbed but I didn’t really take any notice.”
“Okay, I’ll just remove a little of the soil, to make sure it’s actually a body. I’m sure killers have been known to bury other things as a decoy.” Raven moved more soil and tufts of hair appeared, sticking from the sheet. “Yeah, it’s a body. We’ll leave the exhumation to Wolfe. I might destroy valuable evidence.”
Kane made the call. “We’ll wait here until you arrive. We don’t want any wildlife disturbing the body.”
“I’m on my way.” Wolfe sounded tired. “That makes nine this animal has murdered. We need to take him down.”
Nodding, Kane cleared his throat. “Don’t worry. We will.”
He called Jenna and explained the situation. “Rio is uploading the video and photos to the server now. We’re waiting for Wolfe to arrive. He will be coming the long way around, so it might be a time.”
“Just stay alert. This man is dangerous.” Jenna cleared her throat. “I’ve been scanning old case files since you left. I’m trying to work out his next move. If this is his kill as he stated on the mirror, what is he planning on doing with Olivia? He’s proved his point.”
Kane turned slowly, scanning the forest. “Maybe it’s the end of that cycle of killing. He wanted recognition but since then he’s created another fantasy. Being locked away, all he’d be thinking about is his next kill. His mind would be creating millions of scenarios. Maybe he plans Olivia to be the first. He has her, no need to kidnap another victim. All he needs to do is to create the fear in her. I figure by now the poor kid is terrified, if she’s still alive.”
“We can only hope she is.” Jenna yawned. “Oh, heavens, that sounds like I’m bored. I’m just tired. When we’ve caught this guy, maybe I’ll get a good night’s sleep. It’s been playing on my mind constantly. I just can’t figure him out.” She sighed. “It’s because it all seems aimed at us. He’s shifting the blame onto us by saying we made a mistake and now he needs to kill all these poor girls to make it right.”
Giving Rio a wave, Kane walked back along the trail to the fire road to wait for Wolfe. “That’s a typical serial killer, isn’t it? They never take the blame themselves, do they? It’s always the victim made them do it, a dog barking, or a voice. This is just his way of validating another fantasy. He must have planned this in his head for years.” Kane leaned against a tree, his gaze never leaving the forest. “After getting out of prison, he just waited for a group of girls to go out together. He’d have seen the story in the newspaper or on social media about the limo in town and the group of kids using it to go to the prom. The new service for weddings and all that made the news. He just bided his time until he had a nice group of kids he could use.”
“That makes sense, but how did he get into the limo and take out the driver?” Jenna stirred a cup of coffee and tapped the spoon on the rim of her cup.
Shrugging, Kane pressed the phone to his ear. “I’ve given this a lot of thought. We don’t know when he climbed into the limo. It most likely was at the last house. It’s surrounded by trees. He’d likely followed it and waited for an opportunity. I figure he has two vehicles. One to transport the victims and another, likely a motorcycle. Something he could leave in the trees and come back later to collect it. The second vehicle is a van or a small bus.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Jenna sipped her coffee. “I feel guilty drinking coffee while you’re stuck out there in the forest.”
Kane chuckled. “Don’t be. I have a backpack filled with energy bars and plenty of water. I’ll do for a time.” He looked up as a white van came into sight. “Wolfe’s here. It shouldn’t be too long now. See you soon.” He disconnected.
It didn’t take long for Wolfe to examine the grave and uncover the blood-soaked sheet covering the slight form of Chloe Bennett. Four of them lifted her out and placed her on a body bag before Wolfe unwrapped her. Kane winced at the number of injuries the poor girl had sustained, but it was the neat bundle of phones that caught his attention. “There’s a phone or maybe more.”
“Four phones?” Wolfe changed his gloves and opened the bag. “They all have charge.” He opened the sound files and they all listened.