Page 20 of Special Agent Raven
“Exactly what I thought.” Cane glanced around and then shrugged. “Hell, maybe we’ll get lucky. There had to be others in the car with Jefferey Martin. No way of knowing if he’s one of the good guys or the opposite. We need to figure out whether they escaped or were picked up by the river.”
“I know. Might as well get to it.” She waited for Cane to take the lead.
He moved carefully away from the car and began to climb up the embankment. Using his cell’s flashlight, he shone it everywhere before he stepped forward on the saturated path.
Knowing he could miss something, he appreciated that Raven stayed behind him. He stopped when she spoke, “Cane, I think they went this way.”
He turned back to where she pointed. “See. The broken tree limb here… as if someone fell against it.” She pointed out the area she meant, and he saw what her sharp eyes had caught.
Indicating for her to go first, he turned to come up behind her. They kept moving until seconds later, she reached down to find a cheap, stretchy bracelet made from colored beads, the kind many of the younger generation wore. “Don’t know why this is here in this isolated place. We don’t even know if it has anything to do with our crime scene.”
“That’s true.”
“But I’ve seen folks in town wearing these a lot. And since this is a remote, deserted stretch of forest, it’s a possibility there’s a connection.”
“Let’s hang onto it.”
“Yes.” Raven took out one of the Ziploc bags she’d stuffed into her pocket and slipped it inside. She glanced around to get her bearings. “Don’t know of any settlements nearby, other than maybe some fishing huts.”
“Any in close proximity?”
“Sure, there’s an old one a few miles up the dirt road which is now flooded.”
“Right. Figured there had to be some way the car got this far.”
“If I remember correctly, this whole area is like a lowland, marshy valley where the river runs through on the right. It’s not the kind of ground that’s any good for farming or even a home since it’s often underwater when the banks overflow. Can’t remember anyone actually building any kind of structures other than the fishing camps for those on vacation. There’s good hiking higher up, and the mountains aren’t that far if you’re into climbing.”
“So, you’re saying it’s isolated other than tourists or locals who like to be out in the wilderness. Kind of the perfect place to hide if you want to stay under the radar or away from the law.”
“Yep, guess you could say that.”
Cane swiveled around and saw that they’d pretty much come as far as they could. Their small island of swamp land wouldgive out soon, and only water surrounded them after that. The only direction they could go was back. Disappointed, he said as much, and she agreed. “Yeah, we’ll have to carry on with the boat. Whoever was out here last night before it flooded must have made it further, hopefully to one of the cabins on higher ground.”
“You’re thinking they crashed before the water rose.”
“More than likely. As you said, Jeffrey has been dead say twenty-four to thirty-six hours. That puts us smack dab in the hours before this flood zone was hit.”
Cane accepted her knowledge because it made sense. “You’re right. Okay. Let’s go secure the crime scene and head out in the boat. See what we can find.”
“In the meantime, I’ll try messaging Steve and see if he knows of any place likely to be used for squatters around here.”
“Good, I’ll send a message to an old pal in the Houston Sheriff’s department and see if he can give us any information about Jeffrey Martin… his criminal history, or if he was married or had any family.”
Both got busy sending texts on their phones before heading back the way they came. Once there, Raven returned to the boat to fetch a heavy cord. “Here. How do you want to do this?”
“Since only the wheels seem to be submerged, lets feed the rope through the back windows and over the roof, tie it to the tree, and make it as tight as possible.”
A while later, both drenched in sweat, they were satisfied with their work. “Okay. This sucker ain’t going anywhere unless the roots let loose, and I doubt that’ll happen. If those winds last night and the force of the flood didn’t move it, I figure it’s pretty safe.”
Raven smiled at his way of wording what she herself thought. She pulled out her phone and said, “Steve hasn’t gotten back tome. That’s strange considering how often he had his face in his screen earlier.”
“Maybe just call him.”
“My thoughts exactly.” She dialed Steve’s number and let it ring a number of times. Shrugging… her worry obvious, she said, “He’s not answering. Hope he made it home okay. It wasn’t that far by land, but it’s a ways out on the water.”
“Okay, but didn’t you say the storm knocked the power out?”
“Sure, but Steve and Aggie bought a huge generator last year. Besides, he charged his cellphone back at the schoolhouse, remember?”