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He steps into my line of view. “You can’t know for sure you’ll see anything.”

“No, not for sure, not until I’m back in there and look at the other stuff. But I think I will.”

“How can you know?”

“Do you know when you feel someone is watching you?”

He nods.

“It’s kind of like that. They are all watching me and waiting for me to make a move. I need to go back. Today.”

“They?”

I shrug.

He tilts his head back and looks up at the sky as if it could give him a way to prevent me from going to the police station. “I’m not going to be able to stop you, am I?”

“Nope, not a chance.”

“Okay. I’ll clear my schedule this morning and get the stuff ready.”

“I’ll be there at ten. But don’t take anything out until I get there. I want to try something different.”

* * *

I’m at his door at nine-forty-nine. The chief of police tracks my every step, hands on his belt. I nod at him and knock on Jake’s door.

Jake opens the door, sees his boss watching me, steps aside to let me in, then closes and locks the door behind me.

“Will you get in trouble with your boss?”

“Probably not.” He doesn’t sound very sure.

I walk past him and to the cabinets where he keeps the evidence. Run my finger over each drawer, slow and deliberate. There’s pressure on my back like multiple invisible hands pushing me forward. I heed their call and stop by the third row. That pressure is now a buzz in my ears and all around me. I face the metal cabinets, my hands hovering a breath away from the gray metal. I feel a tug from below and lower myself to kneel on the floor. The bottom drawer sizzles under my fingertips. “This one. Open it.”

Jake pulls a set of keys from the drawer in his desk, unlocks the cabinet, and pulls it open for me. I stop him before he can reach inside, then look at the contents and point to a bag. “This one.”

Jake removes the bag and sets it on the floor in front of me. I sit cross-legged and reach for the clear plastic bag. Inside it is a single blood-stained shoe. As soon as I touch it, the images start. Images I’ve seen before. “A woman is dragged through a forest, dirt and leaves, a dense canopy.” The old images fade and new ones start. “A clearing and a path. An old hunting cabin. A well or waterhole. Deer grazing in the distance. A rock wall or slope.” The images are confusing and disjointed. “A body being tossed into a dark hole. Water splashing.” I open my eyes. “This shoe. This was not on the table the last time I was here.”

He looks at me, eyes wide. “No. A hiker found it two days ago. He heard about Victoria and thought it might be a clue. He reported it to the park rangers. They collected it, then dropped it off yesterday. We thought it may have belonged to Victoria, but it’s the wrong size. Too small for her. We’re waiting on a DNA match for the blood now.”

“This shoe belongs to Alice.”

His eyes widen. “You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I think it got lost when he moved her body.”

“I’m confused. How is that possible? You said objects hold the energy of their owners, what they see and feel. If he moved her body after she died, how can the shoe show you where he took her?”

I shake my head as understanding filters through all the disjointed images. “It’s not the shoe. It’s her. She’s showing me what happened after. I think the shoe is just a way to connect. A tool. Like a CB radio or cell phone. Something to create a link to her.”

He squeezes the back of his neck. “Anything else?”

The door to his office opens, and the chief of police strides in. Closes the door behind him, leans on it, and crosses his arms. His size rivals that of a pro basketball player, head shaved, and hands like bear paws. “Anyone care to tell me what’s going on here?”

Chapter39

Jake