Page 86 of The Fragile Ones

Looking at her watch, Katie thought it was strange that McGaven hadn’t shown up yet. “You’re probably right. I’m going to see what’s taking my partner so long. He better not be sleeping in,” she said with a wink.

“Okay. Good luck today.”

Katie hurried out of the office area with Cisco in tow, back to where their cabins were located. The rain had stopped and a snippet of sunshine peeked through. She stepped up to McGaven’s door and knocked.

“Hey, Gav, get a move on.” She knocked again. “You around?” She saw his red truck parked on the side, so he had to be there—unless he’d gone for a walk. She tried the door and it was open so she went inside and looked around.

“Gav?”

Cisco bolted past her and ran around, jumping on his unmade bed.

“Cisco, let’s go,” she laughed. The dog loved McGaven and was clearly looking for him and had picked up his scent.

Katie walked back to the front door and Cisco squeezed by and ran outside.

“Cisco!”

She followed the dog as he appeared to know where he was going, nose low, tail down—he was on a scent. There was a long row of nicely manicured hedges on the side of McGaven’s room. Two large trees were in the back, and lying on the ground between them was McGaven.

Cisco circled him, barking.

“Gav,” said Katie as she ran to him and dropped to the ground. “Gav,” she said again, pressing her fingers to his neck. His pulse was strong. She saw a cut across the side of his forehead that had bled but appeared to have stopped.

McGaven groaned and began to move.

Cisco nudged him and began licking his face.

“Gav, you okay?”

“Oh, my head. What the…?”

“Take it easy. I’m going to have Betty call an ambulance.”

“No. Don’t. I’m fine.” He sat up awkwardly.

Katie pressed the palm of her hand against his forehead. “I don’t think you’ll need stitches, but you should have it looked at. You feeling dizzy or nauseous or anything?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“What happened?”

“I was about to meet you…I heard a knock at my door and when I went to answer it no one was there.”

“How’d you get back here?”

“I thought I heard something, so I followed the noise and walked around the side. I started to turn but before I saw anything, wham. I got hit, and then I stumbled and fell. That’s the last thing I remember.”

“Okay, sit here for a minute,” she said. Katie looked on the ground around them and saw McGaven’s footprints and another set of men’s boots, average size—and then hers and Cisco’s. She tried to track the unknown footprints, but puddles made it nearly impossible.

“Anything?” he said.

Cisco barked.

“Thanks, buddy,” McGaven said to the dog.

“No,” she said and took one last look around.

Katie remembered from a forensic teacher that most people never look up or any higher than their vision level. Instantly, she looked up and walked around the long hedge looking for anything out of place. Wedged in the rough trunk of a pine was a sliver of blue at about shoulder level. It looked like threads, but upon closer inspection it was actually a piece of heavy-duty material. She carefully pulled the threads from where they had hooked themselves.