Page 77 of Her Final Hours
“You were on a different shift at the time.”
He left the room, and Callie told Rishi to hold that thought. She stepped out and could see him storming off down the hallway. “McKenzie, is this how it’s going to be every time? Watching you charge off like a little kid.”
He turned back. “I’m the lead investigator in this case.”
“No, Noah is.”
“Oh, and what does that make you?”
“I’ve been assigned to help. If you have a problem with that, which you do, take it up with Sheriff Rivera. She was the one who green-lit it.”
“Yes, for you to be taken under my wing.”
“That doesn’t mean I take a backseat or have to put up with your childish mood swings.” She was tired of his theatrics and hissy fits. Callie approached him, closing the gap. She saw him swallow hard. It was as if he’d never had a woman stand up to him. “I might not hold the detective title, McKenzie, but I am involved, and because of that, there may be times you will be brought up to speed later.”
“Is that so?” He glared. “You know, lass, I can have you removed from this case,” he snapped his fingers, “like that.”
“I don’t doubt it. But if that were so, you would have already done it. So, let’s call a spade a spade here. You don’t enjoy dumpster diving through endless reports, evidence, hours of video footage, and witness statements by yourself. Because you have me doing that, which makes me valuable… and you damn well know it. So, if I forget to bring you up to speed instantly on every little detail of a case we’re looking into, you’ll have to trust that I will eventually do so.”
“I do.”
“Then maybe drop the ‘I’m a veteran with more experience than you’ act,” she said. “Because it’s getting old. And McKenzie, whether you like it or not, I was here before you and probably will be here long after you’ve retired. Now I know you’re a tired old fart, but—”
“What?”
“Someone else’s words, not mine. But I agree with them. If we are to work together for the next umpteen years or until you burst a blood vessel, I would really appreciate a little kindness and respect.”
With that said, she returned to the room.
McKenzie appeared behind her a moment later, listening in as Rishi continued. “Anyway, it took a lot of wading through reports from campgrounds not far from Heart Lake, but I discovered that there were five reports from the same day of a driver ofa blue truck making contact with individuals in areas leading up to the abduction of Payton Scott, and once after.” He showed it on the screen. “The first was two fourteen-year-old young girls outside a candy store. They said a guy was working under the hood of his truck and asked if one of them would get in and start the engine for him so he could check something. They declined and crossed the road. They said he got into his truck, started it, and drove out of the campground. The second was from a sixteen-year-old over in this location who was asked if she wanted a ride back to the lodge.” He reeled off two more instances until he arrived at Heart Lake Campground. When viewed, it painted a picture of someone out hunting for a victim.
“And the fifth?” McKenzie said.
The two of them looked back at him.
“Well, you mentioned only four. You said there was a fifth.”
“Yes, it was after Payton went missing later that evening. An older woman was pulling out of her driveway. She was struck over near Elizabethtown, not far from the Bouquet River. A hit and run. She said the truck was speeding. The driver clipped the back end of her car, smashed a taillight, stopped for a moment, then continued. She never got the license number as it was too dark, but she said it was a blue truck with the same light bar on top.”
McKenzie shrugged. “And? How does that help us?”
Callie could tell he was pissed off and doing his utmost to say without saying that they were wasting their time.
“It gives us a way to determine that this is the same truck that was most likely involved in the abduction. It was the only one not owned by a parent or guest at the campground, it was seen multiple times leading up to that night, and it all fits with the timeline of Payton’s abduction. It also wasn’t given as much weight back when they were investigating this compared to the composites. Nowhere in any of those reports does it state thatlaw enforcement was trying to find that truck or driver. I believe it’s key to unraveling this.”
McKenzie clapped. “Well, bravo. It sounds like you have cracked the case. Let’s go and get that driver, shall we.” He turned to leave and then theatrically stopped, raised a finger in the air, and twirled it before pointing it back at them. “Oh, that’s right. You don’t know the driver; you can’t even identify that blue truck, just like they couldn’t twenty-five years ago. Thorne, there are thousands of blue trucks in New York state, let alone in others. Now if you two are done playing detectives, maybe you’d like to join me so I can show you how it’s done.”
With that said, he walked out. Callie gritted her teeth.
“It’s not worth it, Callie,” Rishi said. “It only gives him fuel.”
She took a deep breath and placed a hand on Rishi’s shoulder. “Keep at it. Those hits from the NCIC search could still pay off. Reach out to the witnesses from that night. Let me know if you find anything further.”
28
Thursday, March 22, 8:40 a.m.
The relentless winter storm raged on, engulfing the landscape in a veil of blinding white. Noah gripped the steering wheel on his trusty Bronco, his knuckles white in contrast to the dark leather. The girl, Jane Doe, sat silently beside him on the passenger seat, her wide eyes fixed on the whirling snowflakes beyond the pane of glass.
