Page 66 of The Whispering Girls

Then she couldn’t see him anymore and her heart skipped a beat.

“Where did he go?” said McGaven, breathless, running a few feet behind his partner.

Katie didn’t answer, she was thinking of the worst-case scenario—and couldn’t help it. Her thoughts were interrupted by Cisco’s barking. It wasn’t a rapid bark like danger was near, but rather he was alerting her to something important.

Katie followed the dog’s barking and accidentally turned left before realizing the barking came from another area. Echo Forest was living up to its name, so she stopped and waited to regain her bearings. Turning around expecting to see McGaven, he was not there.

She turned to retrace her steps. The forest was quiet—jarringly silent. If there ever was a situation where you could actually hear a pin drop, this was it.

Katie stepped lightly as if her footsteps would make too much noise.

“Katie?” came a whisper.

She turned and no one was there. As far as she could tell, she was alone.

Why couldn’t she hear Cisco barking anymore?

Where was McGaven?

Suddenly she had a strong headache, causing her to put her hands to her forehead and squeeze her eyes shut. When she finally opened them, she heard McGaven calling her name. Katie quickly ran toward his voice. She could hear Cisco continuing to bark.

Katie caught up with her partner.

“Where did you go?” said McGaven.

“I just went the wrong way,” she said, still a bit shook up about what had happened. She didn’t want to explain to her partner because she felt like she might be going crazy. “Sorry.”

McGaven gave her a curious look. “This way,” he said and led her to where Cisco was.

The barking had stopped and Cisco was sitting down facing them when they approached. He was in alert mode with his ears straight up, leaning slightly forward. His yellowish wolf eyes kept watch as he waited for his handler. He resembled a beautiful statue with his shiny black coat reflecting the light. He began to lightly pant.

“Cisco,” said Katie, slowly moving toward the dog. As shegot nearer she saw something sticking out of a pile of dried leaves about a foot away from Cisco.

Her heart stopped.

“What is it?” said McGaven. His voice sounded strange, as if he was in another room.

“I don’t know…” Her voice faded as she moved closer. “Good boy,” she said to the dog while he remained in his position, waiting for Katie to give the command to release.

Katie turned her attention completely on what Cisco had alerted to and knelt down… Sticking out of the pile of leaves was a fur-trimmed boot. She kept her breathing calm, but she wanted to cry out. She remembered instantly that Tami Clark had worn the exact same pair at the coffee shop.

Katie turned and saw McGaven standing over her with a look of shock on his face.

“Tami Clark?” she barely whispered.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Friday 1645 hours

The longer Katie stared at the fur-lined boot sticking out from underneath a pile of leaves, the more she felt her heart skip a beat and an extreme heaviness overcome her body. How was she going to be able to tell Officer Clark they had found his sister’s body?

“Tami…” she whispered. Katie began to slowly brush away the leaves. She expected to see a leg and the rest of the body, including the other boot, but she didn’t. With meticulous care, she kept digging the leaves until she found there wasn’t a body, or any body parts. It was just a boot.

“What the…?” said McGaven.

“There must be human scent on the boot, otherwise Cisco wouldn’t have alerted to it. And it must’ve been strong.”

“Is that really Tami’s boot?” he said.