Page 11
Story: JoyRide
“Deputy Bristol, ma’am. You mind telling me the name of your campground?”
She smiled. “It was on the sign at the road when you came in.”
“Didn’t come that way, ma’am.”
“Pine Hollow is what we call it.”
“Okay, Pine Hollow.” I stopped for a minute and texted that to Travis. “Would you mind telling me when Johnathan and Kathy Walker checked in, ma’am? When did they arrive here and what number is their campsite?”
“Let me look that up for you, officer. Are the Walkers in trouble?”
“Not anymore ma’am. They’re dead.”
She smiled. “That can’t be true. They checked in yesterday and they had their son with them. First time campers—all three of them.”
“Uh huh. Anybody come into the office asking which campsite they were at, ma’am?”
“No. Nobody asked for them. Not while I was here, but I’ll check with Norm. He was on the front desk for a while yesterday afternoon.”
“What time does your park close, ma’am?”
“No check-ins after eleven, officer.”
“Thanks. The campsite number for the Walkers?”
“Oh, yes. They are at twenty-seven. Right on the shore of Lake Frances. They wanted to be on the water. The husband was keen to take the little boy fishing in a boat for the first time.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Sheriff Frost may be back in a while to ask you a few more questions.”
“I’ll be here. I’m on duty until four o’clock. Are the Walkers really dead, Officer? I’m not quiet believing that story.”
“They are dead, ma’am. Any help you can give the sheriff’s office would be appreciated.”
“Nobody ever died on our campground before, Officer. This is a terrible blow for Pine Hollow.”
“Big blow for the Walkers too, ma’am.”
I jogged back to campsite twenty-seven and Doctor Olsen and his assistant were rolling the bodies into body bags.
Travis was busy inside the tent-trailer going through what little the Walkers had in there. He came out shaking his head. “Nothing in there.”
“The woman’s purse might be the best bet,” I said.
“Yeah, we’ll take everything back to the shop.”
“Call Ted and tell him to come tow the pickup back to the office. I’ll get my squad and I’ll tow the camper.”
“Copy, boss. I’ll unhitch it from the truck and put the top down.”
Travis smiled. “Be right back as soon as I climb a couple of fences and run a fuckin mile.”
I started on the tent-trailer. Never put one of these rigs up or down before, but it couldn’t be too hard to figure it out.
Travis was back with the Bronco by the time I had the fuckin top down and locked in place. I unhitched the trailer from the pickup, turned it and Travis backed into place.
“Ted on his way?”
“Yeah, he’s coming and brining Tammy back. Molly is giving the boy lunch from the diner.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11 (Reading here)
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91