Page 11

“ I had a message to call you.” The female voice snatched Zeke away from the file he’d been reading. The Pinedale Diner’s number appeared on his phone screen. This had to be Florence.

“Yes, Florence. Thank you for calling me back.”

She made a grumbling noise that passed for an answer. “What can I help you with?”

Florence was clearly unhappy about having to speak to the FBI.

“Did Vernon tell you we’d stopped by earlier?” Silence met his question. “I asked him about Dawn Collins’s disappearance. What can you tell me about her?”

“Tell you? Why would I know anything about her? She stopped by the diner from time to time for a meal. She tipped nicely. That’s all I know.”

Florence’s sharp answer sent up all sorts of warning signs. “I’m just wondering when you last saw her. I’m not accusing you of anything.”

“Oh.” She huffed out a breath. “It’s just that this whole thing has everyone on edge. It’s like what happened . . .”

“You mean the other women who disappeared before? Were you living here back then?” There was something about Florence he couldn’t pin down, but she sure sounded defensive.

“Irv and I moved here a little before those disappearances started.”

“Irv’s your husband?”

“That’s correct. It was a terrible thing. We thought it was over—whatever it was—it’s been years. Now this.”

Zeke made himself a mental note to check out Florence and Irv’s story. “What can you tell me about Sierra Parker?”

“Who?”

He believed she didn’t recognize Sierra’s name. “She came to the diner recently. She hasn’t been in the area long.”

“She’s gone missing too?” Florence’s surprise sounded real.

Zeke swallowed back the lump in his throat. “Yes, the last time she was seen was yesterday morning by Inez.”

“She must have been the girl who came into the diner the evening before. She asked a lot of questions about the older case where the girls went missing.”

“She’s an FBI agent. She’s one of our own.” And I love her.

“I had no idea. I thought she was being curious. Lots of people have come here through the years to try and figure out what happened to those women. There have been several podcasters in recent times.”

“Did everything seem okay with her?”

“Okay? What do you mean? How would I know?”

Zeke swallowed his frustration with this very strange conversation. “Did she seem nervous or anything like that?”

“Now that you mention it, she did seem sad. I noticed it from the first time she came into the diner.”

Sierra had been sad. When she left him, she’d been crying. He thought she’d take a few days and then they’d be fine. Only she’d run off to Wyoming, and now she was missing, and it scared him to death thinking he might never see her again.

“Thanks for your help, Florence,” he forced out. “If you think of anything—no matter how small it might seem—give me a call.”

“Yeah, sure.” The call ended. Zeke ran his hand through his hair and tried to gather his composure. Emotions needed to take the backseat right now. Sierra’s life was in danger.

He stared out at the street in front of the station as the morning traffic passed by. People going to work. Living their lives. Some would be heading out for a day of climbing unaware of the danger nearby.

The laptop had proven a bust like Sierra’s watch and phone. All had probably been turned off or destroyed.

Zeke stepped back into the conference room. “Patrick, what can you tell me about Florence and her husband, Irv?”

The sheriff looked up from his laptop. “The waitress? Not much really. She’s worked at the diner as long as I can remember. Irv does odd jobs around town.”

“Any record?” Zeke wasn’t sure why he couldn’t let go of the feeling there was something Florence had been hiding.

“Not since I’ve been here. You have some reason to think they’re involved?”

Zeke had no idea. “Just a feeling.” Not exactly good police tactics, but sometimes gut instinct was the best tool a cop had in his arsenal.

“I can check them out. I’ve never had a reason to look into them before, but with what’s going on now, we can’t afford to overlook anything.” Patrick went to work on his laptop while Zeke paced the conference room, too keyed up to sit.

“Well, this is interesting,” Patrick said, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed.

“You found something.” Zeke and the team gathered around.

“I did. Irv was arrested thirty years earlier for assault.”

“Where was this?” Zeke scanned the report.

“Billings, Montana. He assaulted another man at a bar. Hurt him pretty badly. The man went to the hospital with broken bones and a swollen face. Charges were filed. Irv went to jail for two years.” Patrick kept reading. “It looks like after he was released, Irv and Florence left Billings. They ended up here the year before the kidnappings.”

“That’s curious,” Hannah said. “You think he had something to do with them?”

“Don’t know. But I’m going to have a talk with Irv.”

“What about Florence?” Zeke told him how nervous she seemed to be talking to an FBI agent.

“I checked. Nothing’s showing up under her name. Maybe after what happened to Irv, she doesn’t like cops.”

It made sense. Zeke had run into that way of thinking a lot. Some people were naturally suspicious of law enforcement officers.

“Jack, I’d like to take a drive over to the climbing sites and ask around. Maybe someone remembers seeing a person who appeared out of place.”

“Go. You and Cooper, be careful, though.”

“Roger that.” Cooper followed him out into the sunlit morning.

“You know, if it weren’t for what’s happening here now, I would love to spend some time in a place like this.” Cooper tossed him the keys when Zeke indicated he wanted to drive.

“It’s nice. But, as we both know, looks can be deceiving. People certainly can.”

Zeke wondered if Cooper was thinking about his serial killer father. Cooper had been forced to shoot him as a kid when his father came after his mother.

Zeke thought about his own father. Until Dad up and left the family when they needed him most, Zeke believed Dad loved Zeke and Hannah and that he would never let them down. People hide things. Some were just better at it.

“Looks like we’re getting closer to the place where the climbers park.” Zeke pointed to a sign up ahead that indicated the staging location for rock climbers was two miles up.

Cooper nodded. “Let’s hope we catch them before they head out.” He checked his phone. “No service.”

“That’s not unusual in the mountains.” Zeke looked his way. Still, an uneasy prickle sparked between Zeke’s shoulder blades as he checked his smart watch. Same. Two miles was a long stretch of countryside without any cell service to call for help. Outside his window, the woods crept in on the road. He braked suddenly.

Cooper grabbed for the dash. “What’s going on?” He whipped his head Zeke’s way.

“No service. Isolated county road. The perfect place for someone to be taken.”

Cooper’s eyes widened. “Are you thinking backpackers or hitchhikers? Only all of the victims reportedly had their own vehicles.”

Zeke found a wide spot off the road and pulled onto it. “Maybe he followed them. Forced them off the road.” He got out and scanned the countryside, not really sure what he was looking for. Maybe something connected to Sierra.

Cooper followed. “Okay, but there’s no trace of their vehicles. And if he forced them off the road, there would be some sign of it, right? Patrick said he searched along the road looking for evidence.”

Zeke wasn’t going to let Cooper’s rationality destroy the tiniest bit of hope. “He probably wouldn’t take them on the way to the climb. It would be early. The road might be busy with other climbers. Maybe people going to work outside of town. Coming into town to their jobs.” He crossed the road.

“You’re thinking he got them on the way back from the mountains,” Cooper confirmed. “They’d be tired from the climb. The climbers would leave at different times of the day.”

“Exactly.” Zeke continued his search.

“He’d have to act quickly to keep from being spotted by someone else traveling the road . . . unless he had an accomplice.”

Zeke hadn’t thought about that before. Now, it made sense. How else would he get the victim’s car out of sight?

“What are we looking for?” Cooper asked.

“Any sign of disturbed foliage that would indicate the vehicle was forced from the road. I’ll head toward town. You search in the opposite direction.”

Cooper didn’t voice his doubts, but Zeke understood them. They were looking for a needle in a haystack.

As he walked, he mulled over Cooper’s suggestion. It made the most sense. There had to be two of them working together. He believed the perps were locals. Had probably lived in the area most, if not all, of their lives. They’d blend easily into the community. Probably would be the last person anyone would think would do such a thing.

“Hey, I’ve got something.” Cooper waved him over.

Zeke trotted down to where Cooper knelt.

“What’s that?” Zeke leaned over.

“Looks like some type of strap. The type that’s used to secure cargo to a trailer . . .”

“That’s it. That’s how he gets their cars out of sight. He has a trailer. He puts their cars on the trailer and leaves.” He’d been doing this for years. Had probably gotten good at getting the vehicle strapped down in record time. They’d tried finding Sierra’s location through her Jeep’s onboard tracking system but had run into another dead end. If the suspect knew what he was doing, it was possible to wipe the system clean entirely.

But the presence of a strap might mean the suspect didn’t have an accomplice. Or maybe it did. They could be working together to get the vehicle loaded and out of sight. Zeke rubbed his hand across his eyes. He was second-guessing himself.

“There are tire tracks over here.” Cooper pointed a little way down. Both walked over.

“There are two sets of tracks. The victim’s and the suspect’s, presumably. There’s no sign of a trailer.” Zeke’s spirits fell. Had they been wrong? “Maybe he didn’t use a trailer but his partner drove the victim’s vehicle away?”

“The strap could have been used to restrain the victim?” Cooper was grasping for answers.

“Or maybe it’s not related at all.” Zeke shrugged. “We still need to get it to the lab. We can’t dismiss anything.” He went back to the Tahoe and retrieved an evidence bag from his backpack. He carefully placed the strap piece into it. “Let’s have Patrick get the forensics team over here from Jackson. Maybe they can take molds of the tire tracks and narrow down the type of vehicles that made them.”

Cooper tried to call it in. “I forgot. We don’t have service. As soon as we get it, I’ll give him a call.”

Both returned to the SUV. Zeke pulled back onto the road and headed toward the staging site. As they drove, he noticed a vehicle behind them. It looked like a faded green pickup. A climber? He indicated the vehicle to Cooper.

“I see him.”

The turn came for the staging site. Zeke turned off. The pickup truck kept going. From what he could see, the driver was an older male.

“Maybe a farmer,” Cooper said.

Zeke watched the mirror until the vehicle was out of sight. “Possibly.” He kept going until spotting a sign for the staging site. Several vehicles were already there. People were preparing for a day of climbing. Some were in groups. Others would climb alone.

Zeke parked, and the two got out.

They went over to the group of men and women.

“Good morning,” Cooper said as they neared. “A good day for climbing.”

Rounds of enthusiastic affirmations ripped through the group.

Cooper brought out his ID. “We’re wondering if you’d mind if we ask a few questions.”

“This about the missing woman?” one of the men asked.

“It is. Did any of you see her?”

Several in the group nodded. “Sure. She joined with us for a few climbs. It’s better to climb with someone close by.”

“Did she mention anything unusual happening? Was she being followed?” Zeke wondered if either Dawn or Sierra would have known they were being stalked by a serial killer.

The man looked to the others before shaking his head. “Honestly, no. She was always upbeat. She never mentioned having a problem.”

Several people voiced their agreement.

Zeke brought up a photo of Sierra. “What about this woman? Do any of you remember seeing her? Talking to her?”

The group gathered around the phone.

“Yeah, she was here too,” the same man said. “Day before yesterday?” He glanced around the group for confirmation.

“Yeah, that’s right,” a woman said. “She said she’d planned to climb Cirque of the Towers the next day. She was an excellent climber.”

“Anything seem off about her? Was someone showing her an unusual amount of attention?”

The woman’s eyes slowly widened. “Wait, has she gone missing too?”

Ripples of unease ran through the group.

“We believe so.” The group, especially the women, needed to know what was happening around the climbing community. “Hang on a second.” Zeke stepped out of earshot. “We need to shut this down now,” he told Cooper. He’d noticed at least two women who fit the age group for the suspect’s victims.

“You want to close the climbing range?”

Zeke didn’t hesitate. “I do. Now. We have the power to do that.”

Cooper rubbed the back of his neck. “We do, but this is going to create a lot of friction. People come here to climb. Tourism will take a nosedive if we shut it down. It will affect the community’s bottom line.”

“And if we don’t, more women may go missing.”

Cooper checked his phone for service. “I’m calling Jack and Patrick. We need to get their approval.”

“Fine. I’ll send the climbers home.”

Zeke went back to the group. “I need you all to return to town. They’ll be no climbing today.”

“What? Hey, that’s not fair. We came here specifically to climb.”

More displeasure ran through the group.

“It’s just until we catch this man. We believe he may be preying on female climbers.”

The women of the group showed real fear.

“We don’t want to have any more women go missing. Go back to town. I’m going to stop the rest of the climbers.”

Zeke went to the two single climbers who were preparing to start their adventure. “I need you to go back to town.”

Both were men and not happy about the decision.

Cooper came over. “You got the go-ahead. Patrick’s sending deputies over to enforce the closure.”

“At least for now we won’t have anyone else in danger. Looks like the one group of climbers came together.” He watched them load up.” I’d prefer we follow them back to town to be safe.”

Cooper agreed.

“Are any of you staying at the Wind River Cabins?”

All the climbers confirmed they were.

“That’s something they all have in common,” Cooper murmured under his breath.

Once it was confirmed the climb site was closed, everyone packed up and headed out.

He and Cooper followed the vehicles back to Pinedale. They passed a deputy’s vehicle with one lawman inside.

“Everyone should be safe for now. No one’s gonna be climbing today at least.” Zeke believed they might have saved someone else from being taken. It was something. But would their efforts to find the suspect be enough to save Sierra? Every fiber in his body prayed for it. Because he wasn’t sure he could handle anything different.