Page 59 of Snowbound Threat

Ryan didn’t miss the dread in the sheriff’s tone.

“Leave the past buried.”

Boone exhaled. “An odd thing to write. It could be some local delinquents trying to cover up their crime. Most would know Pete passed away and the cabin’s remote location would prove an easy score.”

“Yeah, except the only thing taken was the journals. Nothing else was touched, and Pete had some valuables around.”

Ryan remembered how much Pete loved collecting bronze sculptures of western scenes. He had a few valuable paintings as well as rare books.

“You’re right. This isn’t our local delinquents.” A long pause followed. “You think this is about Abby’s disappearance?”

“I’d say it’s a good chance.” Ryan knew some of the things in the journals were related to Abby’s case. Pete hadn’t been able to let it go. He went over every possible scenario in his head. Wrote them all down. Investigated on his own for years.

Boone’s sigh spoke volumes. “After all these years and all of Pete’s research, maybe he got a little too close to the truth.”

Tension coiled tight in Ryan’s stomach. “He talked with me about most of his theories. I know he did you as well. None of them panned out.”

Through the years, Pete had gone through numerous possibilities about what happened to Abby. Mostly, he’d blamed himself for not finding her for the family.

Eventually Abby’s parents had left Pine Haven, but Pete kept in touch and kept them updated on what was happening with their daughter’s disappearance even though it had officially become a cold case.

Soon after Abby went missing, the Bureau had been called in to assist. They believed Abby had been kidnapped by a serial killer who worked the interstate back during that time. The man had since been captured. He’d been all too happy to claim Abby as his victim, but in Pete’s opinion, her disappearance didn’tmatch the other victims. Ryan knew Pete had gone to visit the killer in the Colorado State Prison numerous times.

During one of the last visits, Pete believed he’d gotten the truth out of Simpson when the killer claimed he’d never been near Pine Haven and never saw Abby.

For days following that interview Pete had been down. Ryan wondered if his mentor might give up on finding the truth, then soon after, Pete was back to his old self. Pouring over the details of the case. The FBI profiler’s assessment of the suspect. Years of work spread out on his desk. Ryan believed if anyone could figure out what happened to Abby it was Pete.

The last time Ryan had stopped by for a visit, there was something different about the man. He’d appeared on edge. Constantly watching out the window. Ryan had asked him what was wrong.

Pete had brushed off Ryan’s concern. Claimed he’d spotted evidence of a bear around the place. The explanation seemed highly unlikely considering the time of year. But something had Pete spooked.

“Someone knew about the journals and what they might hold, and it had them worried,” Ryan said, his gaze darting around the dark woods near the house from his place on the porch. In his mind, this was the work of Abby’s killer.

“Obviously. But what were they looking for exactly? Pete shared the information with me and you. There was nothing new that might incriminate anyone.”

“As far as we knew.” Yet Ryan couldn’t get that last visit out of his head, and he told Boone about it.

“You think he’d stumbled onto something recently?”

“Possibly. He didn’t share it with me, though. Makes me wonder why.” A lightning bolt of apprehension sped through his frame. Did Pete know the name of the person who took Abby atlast? “He always believed Abby’s disappearance had something to do with Charlie’s parents’ death and the fire.”

While Patricia and Frank Wells slept, a fire swept through the family home on a bitter winter night. Charlie was away at college. She’d told Ryan she’d spoken to her parents that day. Her father reminded her to be watchful of her surroundings while her mother worried she wasn’t eating properly. Within hours, she’d been forced to return home under the worst possible circumstances. Another tragedy laid at her door.

The official ruling was accidental. A faulty chimney flue. Dry timber and high winds.

But around town, there were whispers it might have been more.

Patricia told a friend her husband had been arguing with a man she didn’t recognize. She’d reported seeing a strange truck parked down their road facing the house. The sheriff that had taken over for Pete before Boone came along had spearheaded the investigation along with the fire chief.

The case was Ryan’s first call as a new deputy. He still remembered that night. The scent of the scorched pine trees around the place. The frantic search for survivors, knowing from the damage to the house they wouldn’t find any.

Having Charlie collapse in his arms when she arrived still haunted him.

And the one thing he couldn’t let go of was a boot print in the snow. The wrong size for Frank or Patricia. The print was found in the woods near the house.

He was told it probably belonged to one of the firemen. To let it go by the interim sheriff.

Ryan always wondered what would happen if he hadn’t let the clue go so easily.