Page 63 of The Catcher
“Uh-huh, and what became of it?”
“The case went dormant. A lack of evidence, I assume. I’m trying to get in contact with O’Connell to find out what happened. He was reassigned to a different case, something more pressing. Anyway, the interesting part is it was back when my father was in office as sheriff. He was directly assisting.”
“No shit.”
“Yep.”
“To what extent?”
“I don’t know yet, but I think this might offer some clues and get me closer to what he’s hiding. But that’s a conversation for another day.” Noah collected his food and sat down. “Back to the case.”
McKenzie spoke through a mouthful of nachos. “Braithwaite has Mitchell in the county lockup until his hearing.”
“Was there another geocache found at Lake Colby?”
“No. That’s another thing. At least when we found the Matthews girl, there was one there. We found nothing at the campground or even around the lake. Terry’s runningtheory is that Mitchell only targeted those three. He thinks Hailey Matthews was clued into what was happening and threatened to tell Landry and Banning. But I don’t buy that because think about it, wouldn’t Banning have told someone after Pete and Hailey went missing? Out of fear for his own life?”
“Maybe.”
McKenzie wagged his finger. “Banning said nothing.”
“Him and Pete might not have known. Maybe our perp was covering his tracks.”
McKenzie groaned. “Anyway, there is no geocache, no further danger, Terry says.”
“Is Terry going to alert the school so they can inform parents to be more vigilant?”
“Why would he? He thinks he has his man.”
Noah nodded. “Let’s hope so.”
McKenzie took a swig of his beer. “Oh, by the way. Um. Felix wanted me to pass on that he couldn’t find any other instances in the past year of teens that have been found dead under unusual circumstances that match the MO of this.”
Noah leaned back on the sofa, blowing out his cheeks.
McKenzie put his drink down. “Hey, while I remember, everything good with you and Callie?”
Noah met his gaze. “Yes. Why?” he asked curiously.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. She seemed a little off today, and when I asked if things were okay, she said ask you.”
Noah cleared his throat. “Really? Odd. As far as I know, things are fine.” He had no intention of embarrassinghimself by recounting the awkward exchange he had with her. McKenzie wouldn’t let him hear the end of that if it came out.
Right then, Noah’s phone dinged. He scooped it up. The caller ID was his sister Maddie. “Hey, sis.”
“Noah. It’s Dad.”
20
The journey to Adirondack Medical Center was a blur. Noah arrived at Saranac Lake with his heart racing, his breaths shallow and quick. The hospital’s double doors swung open with a whoosh, and he hurried inside, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. He made a beeline for the main desk, his voice urgent as he inquired about his father.
“Hi, I’m here to see my father, Hugh Sutherland. How is he?” Noah asked, the words tumbling out in a rush.
Before the clerk could open her mouth, Maddie answered, appearing behind him. “Stable. The doctor is with him at the moment. They said we could go in shortly.”
Relief flooded Noah as he turned to see Ray, Maddie, and her boyfriend in the waiting room. Ray rose from his seat, patting Noah on the arm.
“Brother,” Ray said, his voice filled with concern. Hewas still in uniform. “It was a slow night. I managed to sneak away. Where are the kids?”
