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“ W hat was that?” a distant rumble had Zeke heading for the window.
“Probably one of the gold miners trying to open up one of his claims in the mountains.” Patrick said without much alarm.
“You’re kidding? How often does that happen?” Zeke had no idea there were gold mines in the Wind River Mountains.
“Fairly regularly. Those old coots are determined that their mine is the one who will bring home the motherlode.”
Zeke turned from the window. “Anyone ever gotten trapped up there?”
Patrick nodded. “Occasionally. Mostly these old guys know what they’re doing. They’ve been mining the mountain for years.”
“Anyone ever struck it rich?”
“Not really. I think most of the gold has been mined already.”
“But they keep trying.”
Patrick laughed. “They do. I think it’s a fever that gets in your blood. You can’t stop. The gold might be just around the next corner. So they keep blasting.”
“What do you know about Inez’s husband?” Zeke told him what Inez said about Terrance. “He’s a former climber, and he always seems to be gone.”
Patrick shot him a look. “Not much really. Kind of quiet, bordering on weird. Keeps to himself a lot. Never really attended church with Inez. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen his rig around town in a while. I’m wondering if he and Inez had a fight.”
“Or, he’s our kidnapper.”
Patrick seemed less convinced. “I’ll see if I can check in with his employer.”
Zeke’s phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket.
“Where are you?” Cooper asked as soon as Zeke answered the call. “I’ve been standing outside your cabin for a while.”
“Oops, sorry, brother. I couldn’t sleep. I walked back to the station.” Zeke told his partner about what he’d found out from Inez.
“Well, that’s interesting. You hear that noise?”
“I did.” Zeke explained what the sheriff said.
“Interesting. Hannah’s grabbing us some coffee from Inez. We’ll be there soon.”
“See you then.” Zeke ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket.
Patrick had set up a couple of cots in his office. Jack and Megan were catching some shuteye. Patrick sent Deb home to get some sleep.
“Are you doing okay there, brother?” Zeke asked the sheriff, who’d been consuming an enormous amount of coffee.
“Yeah, I’m good. I got used to the long hours without sleep in the military.”
Zeke looked at him curiously. “What branch?”
“Army. I was a Ranger for many years. You get used to long stretches with no shuteye.”
“I can imagine. How’d you end up in Wyoming?”
Patrick chuckled. “I came here with Deb on our honeymoon. She loved the mountains. Always wanted to live in them. We fell in love with the area. Came here as often as we could. When the opportunity arose, I came to work for the previous sheriff. He took me under his wing. When he got ready to retire, he recommended me for sheriff. He helped me get elected.”
“So dreams do come true,” Zeke teased.
“I guess they do.” Patrick pinned him with those steely eyes. “You gonna tell me about you and that missing agent?”
Zeke wondered how long he’d wanted to ask that question. “She and I are . . . dating.” Zeke frowned. “I think. I’m not sure where we stand right now. She told me she needed time to think about the future.”
Patrick leaned back in his chair. “Why’d she need time?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Love ain’t complicated. Deb and I make it work.”
Zeke blew out a breath. “I love her, okay. I do. But I don’t go into things the same way as Sierra. She’s full steam ahead. I’m slow as a snail.”
“And she got tired of waiting?”
That about sums it up. “Yeah, she did. She had a rough year. She lost her mother, then she had a case go personal on her. I guess she needed me to be someone different. I let her down.”
Patrick fiddled with his pen. “Well then, I guess we’ll just have to get her back so that you can fix things.”
He wanted that. So bad.
Hannah and Cooper came into the conference room.
“Donuts from Inez.” Hannah sat the sugary treats down. “She said to make sure you got a good one.” His sister winked at him.
“We had a nice chat last night. She told me about Dawn meeting Flannigan.” Zeke remembered Sierra’s necklace. “Terrance found it at the climb sight.” He held up the necklace.
“Sierra must have lost it somehow.” Hannah frowned. “Strange. She loves that necklace. I wonder why she didn’t report it missing. . . Unless she didn’t have time. She could have lost it in a struggle with the suspect at the climb site and not on the road.”
The suggestion was compelling. “It’s possible, I guess.” But there would be others around surely.
Hannah’s shoulders sagged. “You’re right. It’s a reach. Maybe she simply lost the necklace there and didn’t realize it.” She snagged one of the donuts and pulled out a chair.
Or maybe Terrance is involved somehow.
“Any news on Flannigan?” Cooper asked. “Where’s the boss?” Cooper loved to joke about Jack and Megan being their co-bosses.
“Trying to get some rest. Drake is sitting on Flannigan’s house. The doctor hasn’t moved since he got home. Drake’s going to bring him in soon. Since we still don’t have enough for an arrest, he’s going to wait until daylight to haul the good doctor in for a second interview.”
“This is unbelievable. You think he did it?” Hannah asked.
“Let’s hope we find out soon.” Patrick noticed his wife come into the station and excused himself.
Zeke tried not to think about what Sierra and Dawn might be going through. He’d worked on lots of serial killer cases. Some were more twisted than others. One thing the killers all had in common, they got off on inflicting pain.
“Good morning.” Megan appeared in the doorway. “Are those donuts?”
Zeke smiled. “Courtesy of Inez from the Wind River Cabins. Hannah and Cooper brought them over. Help yourself. Where’s your hubby?”
Megan bit into one of the chocolate donuts. “Brushing his teeth.”
“Correction, done with brushing my teeth.” Jack had changed and shaved. “Just in time for donuts apparently.”
Everyone laughed.
“I spoke to Patrick. Drake’s on his way in with Flannigan.” Jack told them. “Let’s hope this new piece of news will get him talking.”
“Did I imagine an explosion?” Megan asked. “I had some weird dreams.”
“You didn’t.” Zeke told her about what Patrick said. “Sounds like it occurs quite often.”
“That might be my second career.” Megan looked up at her husband. “Want to mine gold with me?”
“Anytime.” Jack leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
Zeke shared his misgivings about Inez’s husband. “Patrick is going to check in with his employer.”
“You think he might be the kidnapper?” Jack obviously had doubts.
Zeke shook his head. “At this point, I have no idea. I guess we can’t afford to dismiss anyone, though.”
“Drake’s pulling up with Flannigan.” Patrick stepped into the room and announced. “I’d like to try something different. Jack, how about you and one of your people take the lead? I’ll watch from the viewing room. He and I have known each other a long time. We’re friends. He might feel as if he can manipulate me in some way.”
“You got it.” Jack finished off the last of his donut. “Megan, why don’t you and Zeke come with me?”
Zeke was happy to be able to sit in on the interview but surprised Jack had picked him, considering his relationship with Sierra.
As they prepared to enter the interrogation room, Jack warned him to keep his head about him, which meant keep your mouth shut.
Jack stepped into the room along with Megan and Zeke.
Flannigan was clearly surprised. “Where’s Patrick?”
Jack pulled out a chair across from Flannigan. Megan and Zeke remained standing near the door.
“I’m Jack Montgomery. I’m with the FBI. I’ll be handling the interrogation.”
“FBI.” Flannigan latched onto the identification. “What’s this about? Deputy Drake wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“We have some questions about your earlier interview with Sheriff Taylor.”
“Alright.” This time, instead of being at ease, Flannigan was nervous. “But I don’t know what else I can tell you about those missing women. As I said earlier, I’ve never met them.”
“You’re sure about that?” Jack showed photos of both women.
Flannigan barely looked at the photos. “I’m positive.”
“Would it interest you to know we have an eyewitness that says you spoke to Dawn Collins the day before she went missing?”
“What?” Flannigan’s surprise seemed real. “Who?”
“That’s not important,” Jack told him. “Maybe you’d care to take another look.” He pushed the photo of Dawn closer.
Flannigan made an annoyed sound and picked up the photo. He stared at Dawn for a long moment before snapping his fingers. “I did run into her outside of the diner. But we didn’t really talk. I said excuse me. She said no problem. I asked how she was doing, and she said good. That was the extent of the conversation. I never saw her again.”
Jack sat back in his seat. “This is why we’re looking at you, Dr. Flannigan. You lied about meeting Dawn Collins, and the vehicle we believe was used to kidnap both Dawn and Sierra Parker was found on your property.”
“I–I didn’t lie. I just forgot, and I have no idea why that tow truck is on my property.”
This bit of news grabbed Zeke’s attention. “Then where have you been staying?”
Jack tossed him a look meant to silence.
Flannigan looked his way. “I told you before. At my office. There’s an apartment upstairs. I sometimes use it.”
“If you’re innocent, then you won’t mind us taking a look around your apartment.” Jack waited for Flannigan to give them permission.
The doctor sighed deeply. “If it will help clear this up, then be my guest.” Flannigan dug into his pocket and pulled out a key. “Here you go.”
“Alright. Sit tight.”
Flannigan didn’t respond.
The three stepped out. Patrick, Hannah, and Cooper waited for them.
Zeke checked the time. Still early. It would probably be a while before Flannigan’s first patient arrived.
“Patrick, why don’t you and I, Zeke, and Cooper head over to the apartment to take a look around? Megan, you and Hannah keep going over the original disappearances. See if anything jumps out at you.”
“You got it.” Megan kissed her husband. “Be careful.”
He smiled at her familiar parting words. “Always.”
Patrick pulled the cruiser from its parking space. The drive back to the doctor’s office was a quick one.
“I’m guessing the apartment will have a separate entrance,” Patrick said. “Let’s try the back.”
There were two doors around the back. One Zeke noticed had a set of new steps. “It’s got to be the next one.”
Jack inserted the key Flannigan gave him and stepped inside.
The quiet of the space was broken by the hum of the A/C unit.
The apartment was neat and clean, consisting of a small living room and kitchen. One bedroom and bath.
Nothing stood out as unusual on first look.
Zeke thumbed through several magazines on the living room table. Most were medical in theme. One was a climbing magazine. He flipped through the pages until something caught his eye. An article about female climbers. One photo in particular grabbed his attention.
“Hey, take a look at this.”
Everyone gathered around him. The photo featured Dawn Collins, a schoolteacher from Oklahoma. “Looks like he knew her from more than a casual encounter.”
“Unbelievable.” Patrick took the magazine from him and read aloud. “Collins’s next big climb will be in the summer of 2025 when she will take on the challenging Wind River Mountain Range.”
“He knew she was coming here.” Zeke couldn’t believe it. The doctor had lied again.
“Appears so.” Patrick finished reading through the article. “Says here that her fiancé, Travis Lawson, is a strong supporter though he doesn’t climb himself. I’m going to give the fiancé a call again. See if he remembers anything that might help with the case. I spoke to him once before. He flew out for a few days but had to go back to work.”
“You checked him out, I’m assuming?” Zeke asked.
“Thoroughly. He was in Oklahoma when both Dawn and Sierra went missing. He’s not our guy.”
They checked the rest of the apartment, but there was nothing useful to be found.
“Let’s get out of here,” Patrick told them. “I’m going to speak to our district attorney to see if we have enough for an arrest.”
Was it possible Flannigan was their person? He’d certainly been in the area at the time of the original disappearances. He’d lied about meeting Dawn, and he obviously had an unhealthy interest in her. Had he been able to control the demon inside him for twenty-five years until something about Dawn ignited the desire again? Dennis Rader had stopped killing for eight years. It was possible. Though Flannigan was thin, he was fit and he climbed. He could have overpowered Dawn, but Sierra was a trained agent. She’d taken self-defense classes. Heck, she’d taught classes. She would have fought with everything she had.
Unless, Flannigan had used something to disable her. Zeke voiced his thoughts aloud.
“That makes sense,” Cooper chimed in. “That’s what’s been bothering me about this. Sierra is tough as nails. But if Flannigan used something to knock her out . . .”
“He is a physician,” Jack told them. “He’d have access to the type of medicine that would render someone unconscious.”
“Sheriff, come in.” Deb’s transmission interrupted the discussion.
“I’m here, Deb. What’s up?”
“You need to get over to the Wind River Cabins right away.”
Dread slithered into the pit of Zeke’s stomach.
“What’s going on?” Patrick slowed and turned around. He hit the lights and siren.
“Inez just called in. She believes another young woman has gone missing.”
The words drilled into his brain and taunted Zeke.
“We’re on our way there now.” Patrick ended the transmission.
“Wait, if another woman has gone missing, then doesn’t that exonerate Flannigan?” Cooper asked as they left the city limits.
Zeke told him, “Not necessarily. Depends on when the new victim went missing.”
If the young woman was actually missing then they’d need to narrow down the last time she was seen by anyone. Since all climbing had been canceled until the suspect was caught, then she didn’t disappear the same way as Dawn and Sierra. It meant the kidnapper wasn’t being deterred by the ban on climbing. Which meant he was changing his MO. Not usually what happened with serial killers. He was stepping up his attacks. Did the fact that he’d taken another victim mean he’d finished with Dawn and Sierra?
His heart clenched at the thought of losing Sierra to a monster.