Page 68 of Fatal Fame
Gideon began removing the bricks, each one placed carefully beside the well to avoid losing them. "I need you to see this before we decide what to do next."
When the last brick was removed, Gideon lifted the wooden cover and set it aside. The opening revealed a circular shaft that disappeared into blackness, its stone walls vanishing beyond thereach of their flashlight beams. Mia leaned forward and shone her light down into the depths, expecting to see water but finding only empty darkness.
"What am I supposed to see here?" she asked, moving the beam back and forth in search of whatever had brought Gideon to this remote location.
“It’s not what. It’s who. He's down there, Mia.”
"Who?"
"Travis Rudd."
Mia straightened and stared at Gideon in disbelief. "You're joking."
"No."
“How do you know? Have you been down there?" The thought of descending into that black hole made her stomach clench with anxiety.
Gideon nodded. “Yeah, it scared the shit out of me, but I had to see for myself. The bones are down there. His wallet too, with identification that confirms it's him."
“How did you…? Who told you about this?"
"An anonymous tip."
"Male or female?"
"A message left at my workplace. Just coordinates and a note saying Travis Rudd's body was here. I thought it was a joke. Clearly it wasn’t."
Mia shook her head, unable to believe Gideon's willingness to follow such a dubious lead. "That's not sketchy at all. And you followed it out here alone? You could have ended up like Pierce."
"I had to see. This case has been cold for ten years, Mia. If there's even a chance this leads to answers..."
"Okay, then we should call the cops," Mia said, already reaching for her phone despite its lack of signal. "Let them handle the recovery."
"No," Gideon said with unexpected vehemence. "We don't know who to trust in law enforcement. I say we take the bones ourselves."
"Why didn't you do it already if you've been down there?"
"Because it's not that easy. I didn't know there would be actual human remains when I first climbed down. I didn't bring proper equipment." He held up a canvas sack and climbing rope. "Someone needs to stay up here to manage the rope while the other person goes down and collects evidence."
Mia felt her blood chill as she realized what he was suggesting. "Hold on a second. You want me to go down there?"
Gideon nodded.
"Oh hell no."
"Mia, you wanted answers. I wanted answers. Rebecca's family deserves answers. Down there are the answers we've been looking for."
"I'm not going down there," Mia said firmly. "We don't need to bring the bones up. The police can handle recovery when we report the location."
"No, we need to take them ourselves. Things have a way of going missing when law enforcement gets involved. Ten years, Mia. People have been searching for answers for ten years, and evidence keeps disappearing or being ignored."
Mia studied Gideon's face in the flashlight beam, trying to determine whether his urgency came from legitimate concern or something more dangerous. "What if those bones aren't Travis Rudd? They could belong to anyone. This could be a trap."
"Look around you," Gideon said, gesturing toward the empty wilderness that surrounded them. "We're in the middle of nowhere. Do you see anyone? Any other vehicles? Let's get the evidence and get out of here."
"If it is Travis, we shouldn't disturb the remains. They could contain the killer's DNA."
Gideon produced latex gloves from his jacket pocket. "That's why I brought these. We need to secure this evidence ourselves. We can turn over most of it to authorities but keep some for independent testing. If we just call the police, they’ll take everything away and that's it—evidence gone. We've seen how this case has been handled for a decade."
