Page 31

THIRTY

OPOSSUM TRAIL FARM

Ellie’s phone dinged. The sheriff. “Modelle left his house a while ago. I followed him to Emerald Falls and have been watching him.”

“Stay with him,” Ellie said. “He usually checks on the animals around six when they shut down the petting zoo. I’m going to head to his house and take a peek in those outbuildings.”

“You have warrants?” Bryce asked.

Ellie bit her lower lip. “No, but we have indigent circumstances. If there’s a problem, I’ll make it work.”

“Just be careful, Ellie.”

“Give me a heads-up when he starts home.”

“Copy that.”

She hung up and Derrick spoke. “You’re not going there alone. I’ll follow you and you can park nearby then we go in together.”

Ellie didn’t bother to argue. They could cover more ground together than she could by herself. They sped onto the highway, headlights illuminating the country road as she drove.

Fifteen minutes later, she wove up the hill and parked beneath an overhang of trees a half mile from the house. Derrick picked her up and he drove them the rest of the way, parking his car out of sight.

They hiked up the hill to the farm, scanning the property as they approached the house.

Pulling flashlights, they walked along the edge of the woods until they reached the drive to Modelle’s. The front door was locked so they crept around back and found an open window. She crawled through it and Derrick followed.

They quickly surveyed the kitchen. Just like the exterior, everything looked old from the dingy walls to the faded orange linoleum. Dirty coffee cups and beer bottles littered the counter and some kind of stew that smelled like deer or opossum sat on the stove, the pot still warm.

Derrick checked the pantry, but it was clear, so they separated to search the house. Five minutes later, they’d cleared it and determined no one was being held in the house.

They exited the same way they’d entered and hurried to the barn. Ellie searched it while Derrick went to the next building which appeared to be a storage shed.

The stench of farm animals and hay filled the barn. A small storage room held food for the animals along with rakes and shovels for working the stalls. She moved down the center of the building, checking each stall. No animals here at the moment although she spotted bloodstains on the floor of one of them.

Bile rose to her throat, and she examined it more closely. The blood had formed a puddle but it was dry. Pulling a tool from her pocket, she stooped down and scraped a sample. Without a warrant, it might not be admissible in court but at least it would indicate if the twins had been here.

A text dinged on her phone.

Bryce: Modelle’s on his way back.

Ellie rushed to tell Derrick. They had to leave before Modelle returned.