Page 98 of The Fragile Ones

“Well then, you not only have my permission, you have my blessing.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said and turned to leave.

“Chad!” yelled Sheriff Scott. “Be careful, and don’t let anything happen to her.”

Chad nodded and hurried to get to the sheriff’s department.

Pulling up in his large SUV, Chad made a quick call and stood at the entrance to the administration building where the forensic division was located, waiting impatiently for John. Within minutes, he opened the door.

“C’mon in,” he said.

Chad followed him inside and into the forensic area.

Once they reached John’s office, he turned to Chad and said, “So, you are asking me to help you clear Highway 9 going into Rock Creek?”

“I have all the equipment we would need. I just can’t do it myself—it would take twice as long, if not more.”

“I get the feeling that you’re not telling me something.”

“Katie and McGaven are working that double homicide case and…things are happening…the police chief is dead and the killer could be roaming loose. There’s no power, no way in or out. They could be sitting ducks…”

“Sounds like we need more people.”

“Yeah, another person would be great. Do you know someone?”

“I think I can get another person.”

“Great. Let’s do it,” said Chad.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Wednesday 1300 hours

The sky was the color of an angry bruise, and thunder rumbled in the distance as Katie drove into the shipyard.

“No gray truck,” she said, disappointed. She really didn’t expect it to be that easy, but hoping wasn’t a bad trait.

“You can’t see the entire area from the parking lot. Let’s go take a look,” he said.

Katie parked, zipped up her all-weather jacket tightly, and left a very anxious Cisco behind.

The larger shipyard had boats in dry dock and motorhomes parked in numbered places—it was more than storage for boats; there were cars, motorcycles, and RVs as well. There was a chain-link fence surrounding the entire area, which was the size of a mall parking lot.

They went to the entrance which was securely padlocked.

After looking around to see if there was a security guard, or someone like a caretaker, Katie started to climb.

“Wait,” he said. “Oh, never mind. Let’s go.”

They both climbed over the fence.

When Katie’s feet finally hit the ground on the inside of the compound she immediately turned stiffly, expecting to have set off an alarm or woken a security dog, but all she could hear was the howl of the wind around her and the rain as it battered her face and body. It wasn’t dark enough to need a flashlight, but still she wished that there was more light available to fill in the shadows that surrounded her.

“I’ll take this side,” McGaven said, pointing to the left.

Katie nodded and moved to the right.

There were several oversized RVs parked in a row and she checked inside the windows of each, looking for outlines of bodies, anything unusual, and making sure that no one was hiding in the dark. After the RVs she headed over to the boats, pausing at one in particular calledSassy Suzie. Katie looked at the tarp cover, blue with a tough weave similar to the fragment Tessa had clutched in her hand.