Page 5 of Shadow Sabotage
“That’s what I was thinking,” I said, nodding. “But I’ve been working SAR for ten years, and every mission we’ve had in this area has been successful.”
He shrugged. “This could be someone who fell fifteen, twenty years ago—even longer. We’ll just have to wait and find out. It could also be someone who was never found because they were thought to be somewhere else. Regardless, good work here. Hopefully we’re about to bring closure to a family somewhere.”
“Yeah, hopefully,” I agreed. But even though he was voicing the same thing I’d thought earlier, I found myself unconvinced.
The remains weren’tthatfar from a campsite. It was a lesser-used, primitive campsite in a park that didn’t get a ton of traffic, sure. But still. A few dozen people camped here every year. Plenty of them brought dogs, like we had. I knew from SAR work that human remains could easily go overlooked, even with diligent search efforts. But it was hard to imagine that the bones would go undiscovered forthatlong in a place frequented by campers.
Sheriff McGrath checked his watch. “Wendy should be here any minute,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“I’m already here.” Her voice came from the hill as she gingerly stepped her way down. One hand carried her bag, while the other gripped a tree as she navigated the steep terrain.
Wendy James, our coroner, was a real gem for Sage County. She’d worked as a forensic investigator for over twenty years in Omaha before moving to Wyoming in search of peace. She was vastly overqualified for the job. But the real reason I loved her was because, like me, she was short and blonde. Her hair was spiky, she had a diamond stud nose ring, and most days you could spy her rose tattoo peeking out from the collar of her shirt. She looked like the kind of woman you wouldn’t expect to be taken seriously. Yet, unlike me, she was well-respected—even by Mayor Evans and Judge Barrington, the rest of the boys’ club that, along with Sheriff McGrath, made up our local government.
Probably didn’t help that they remembered me competing in “Little Miss Wildwood,” stomping around town in glitter-covered cowboy boots during my pageant phase. Even now, I still heard myself referred to by that name under their breaths. Sheriff McGrath was the only one who seemed to take me seriously as a deputy.
Wendy looked approvingly at the tape. “You were the first one here, Hawkins?”
“That’s right.”
“Nice work blocking this off,” she said. “Glad you recognized the need to do so.”
“Thanks.” I beamed.
Trey nearly choked.
She pulled gloves and booties from her bag and slipped them on before ducking underneath the tape. Her deputy coroner, Wes, set up a floodlight to illuminate the area, then followed behind her with a large camera, taking photographs of the area that would put my cell phone snaps to shame.
“Now you’re just doing our job for us,” McGrath joked, rocking back in his boots.
We all knew he was more than happy for Wendy to take point on this. Sheriff McGrath had been in law enforcement a long time, but Wendy still had more crime scene experience than the rest of us put together.
She grinned at him and winked. But her face sobered as she turned back to the skeletal remains. The mood shifted, tension growing as she began to methodically examine the area. Several times we saw her point to something and exchange glances with Wes. Little by little, she uncovered the rest of the bones, taking care to document exactly where they’d been before moving them. The rest of us stayed quiet, the gravity of the situation hitting as we watched her work.
She finally rose and came over to us with a small baggy in hand.
“Well?” McGrath asked.
“The remains are definitely human,” she confirmed. There was a weariness in her eyes that I’d never seen. She pushed her short hair away from her forehead and shifted her weight to her other leg.
McGrath frowned. “Male? Female? Age?”
“Based on the pelvis and other details at the scene, I believe the victim was female. Probably a young adult. But I’m not ready to say definitively.”
“Cause of death?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know I can’t give you that yet. Not until the autopsy is complete. But…I have a suspicion. I’ll let you know.”
“I have a suspicion too,” he said, grinning. “I have a suspicion that some poor soul tumbled off that ridge up there.”
She gave him a long look. “I don’t think that’s what happened.”
The hairs on my neck prickled at the intensity on her face. “You think this was murder, don’t you?”
But she didn’t answer my question.
“There’s something you should know.” She held the baggy up.
“What’s that?” Sheriff McGrath frowned.
