Page 98 of Shadow Sabotage
“Okay.” He grabbed the whiskey and the glasses. “Let’s get back to the house so you can go.”
“Vance.” My heart thudded, knowing the potential ramifications of what I was about to tell him.
“What?” He turned and gave me his attention.
“Her car is parked at Lost Creek Trailhead.”
“Okay…”
I took a deep breath. “That’s the trail I told you about when we were talking about ways someone could have gotten into the park last March. It’s the one I would have taken if I were going to dump Katelyn’s body.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Vance
What werethe odds of a woman going missing from a trailhead that we suspected had been used to dump our victim’s body? I’d been convinced Serena McGrath was our killer, but a second victim would change everything.
We’d been looking for people who had a connection to Katelyn. But maybe we’d been wrong from the beginning.
Even though my legs were longer than hers, I had to quicken my pace to keep up with Claire as she marched toward the barn. Her feet seemed to know the path by heart, because her head stayed buried in her phone as she fired off messages in rapid succession.
Rhett and Cheyenne were already waiting in the barn when we got there.
“What’s the scoop?” Cheyenne asked, arms crossed. The look on her face said she was ready for battle.
“Missing hiker last seen at trailhead around seven this morning,” Claire answered. “Was expected back early thisafternoon and didn’t take supplies for an overnight. Female, age twenty.”
Only one year older than Katelyn.
“Hiking alone?” The disapproval was clear on Rhett’s face.
“Not sure yet. I’ve got the number of the guy who made the report. I’ll give him a call and get more info on the way. I’ve alerted Hank. He’s heading there to set up base camp.”
“Rendezvous point?”
Claire flinched. “Lost Creek Trailhead.”
The realization hit Rhett and Cheyenne at the same moment. They knew the area as well as Claire did—even without knowing our theory, they knew how close that trail ran to our crime scene.
“Shit,” Rhett muttered as Cheyenne looked up at him with dismay on her face. But she quickly wiped it away, and turned back to Claire.
“Horses?”
Claire nodded. “We’ll need horse teams to cover ground quickly, especially since she wasn’t prepared to spend the night out there.”
“Got it.” Cheyenne nodded. “We’ll load up Shadow for you, then head to our place to grab Wildfire and Diablo and meet you there.”
Rhett was already moving toward the tack.
“What about me?” I asked.
Claire turned, like she’d forgotten I was there. “What about you?”
“I’m going with you.”
Her head jerked back. “Like hell you are.”
I shook my head. “We’ve got a missing woman who disappeared near the same place our victim’s body was found. This isn’t your call. I’m coming.”
