Cold Conspiracy

“I think it has to be two,” Gage said. “The timing of some of the killings—Christy O’Brien, Fiona Winslow and Anita Allbritton, in particular—required everything to be carried out very quickly. The woman had to be subdued, bound, killed and put into her vehicle. One man would have a hard time doing that.”

“Maybe he’s a really big guy,” Cody said. “Really powerful—powerful enough to overwhelm and subdue the women.”

“I agree with Gage that I think we’re probably looking at two men,” Travis said. “But that should make it easier to catch them. And if we find one, that will probably lead us to the second one.” He turned to write on the board again. “What do we know for certain about these murders?”

“The victims are all women,” Dwight said. “Young women—all of them under forty, most under thirty.”

“They’re all killed out of doors,” Nate said. “Away from other people.”

“Except for Fiona,” Jamie said. “There were a lot of people around when she was killed.”

“They were all left in vehicles, except Fiona,” Ryder said. “And they were alone in their vehicles.”

“The killer uses the weather to his advantage,” Gage said. “The snow makes travel difficult and covers up his tracks.”

“I think he likes to taunt law enforcement,” Ryder said. “He leaves those cards, knowing we’ll find them.”

“He wants us to know he’s committing the murders, but is that really taunting?” Dwight asked.

“He killed Fiona at the Walker Ranch,” Gage said. “When the place was crawling with cops.” He shifted to look at Jamie and Nate. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew the two of you were nearby when he killed Michaela this morning.”

Jamie gasped. “That deer!”

Nate touched her arm. “What deer?”

“When my sister and I were on the trail this morning, a buck burst out of the underbrush suddenly, as if something had startled it,” she said. “That’s what my dogs were chasing. I wondered at the time if a mountain lion was after it. And when I was trying to catch the dogs I felt…unsettled.” Her eyes met his, tinged with fear. “As if someone was watching me.”

“That could be a good thing, if he thinks he’s taunting us,” Travis said. “We might be able to draw him out into the open.”

“So far he’s been very good at evading us,” Gage said.

“He has, but from now on, we’re going to be better.” Travis pointed to Nate. “Did you see anyone else when you were in the area near the murder this morning?”

“I talked to an ice fisherman—checked his fishing license. A local guy.” He searched his memory. “Abel Crutchfield.”

“Gage, find him and interview him,” Travis said.

Gage nodded.

“Anyone else?” Travis asked.

Nate shook his head. “Nobody else—except Jamie—Deputy Douglas—and her sister.”

“Jamie, did you see anyone while you and your sister were out there?”

“No one,” she admitted. “We didn’t even pass any cars once we turned off the main highway.”

“You start with the women,” Travis told her. “See if you can find any commonalities—or any one woman who had a reason someone might want to kill her. Enough that he would kill others to cover up the crime.”

“Yes, sir.”

Travis gave the others their assignments—Nate was going to work with Gage on re-canvassing people who might have been in the vicinity of the two murders that occurred on forest service land.

The meeting ended and they filed out of the conference room, unsmiling and mostly silent. Nate stayed close to Jamie. “Is Donna upset about all this?” he asked.

“A little.” She shook her head. “Not too much. She does a good job of living in the moment, and I try to keep things low-key—not bring the job home or act upset around her.”

“These killings have everyone on edge,” he said.

“It’s frustrating, having him do this right under our noses. I realize it might be more than one person, but it’s awkward to keep saying ‘killer or killers.’”

“I get that,” Nate said. “We all say ‘he,’ even though we suspect more than one person is involved.”

“This is a small community,” Jamie said. “We ought to be able to spot someone like this.”

“He knows how to blend in,” Nate said. “Or to hide.”

She rolled her shoulders, as if shrugging off some burden. “I was surprised to see you here this afternoon,” she said.

“The sheriff asked me to sit in. I’ve been one of the first on the scene for three of the murders. I spend a lot of time in the backcountry, where several of the women were found. He’s trying to pull in every resource that might help. And I want to help. There’s not a law enforcement officer in the county who doesn’t want to catch this guy.”

“Of course. Well, I’d better get to work. I’m going to start reviewing all the information we have about the victims.” She started to turn away, but Nate touched her arm, stopping her.

“Now that I’m back in Eagle Mountain, I’d really like us to be friends again,” he said.

The look she leveled at him held a decided chill. “I don’t have a lot of time for hanging out and reminiscing about the old days,” she said.

She shrugged out of his grasp and started down the hall but was stopped by Adelaide Kinkaid. The seventy-something office manager alternately nagged and nurtured the sheriff and his deputies, and kept her finger on the pulse of the town. She peered over the tops of her purple bifocals at Jamie. “Where’s the sheriff?” she asked. “There’s someone here to see him.”

“I think he’s still in the conference room, talking to Gage,” Jamie said.

“I’ll get him.” Adelaide started to move past Jamie, then said, “You go on up front and stay with the couple who are waiting. I’m thinking this might benefit from a woman’s touch.”

Nate followed Jamie into the small front lobby of the sheriff’s department. A man and a woman in their early thirties huddled together near the door, arms around each other, the man’s head bent close to the woman’s. They both looked up when Jamie and Nate arrived, the woman’s face a mask of sorrow, her eyes puffy and red from crying.

“I’m Deputy Douglas.” Jamie introduced herself. “The sheriff will be here shortly. Can I help you in the meantime?”

“We’re Drew and Sarah Michener.” The man offered his hand. “We came to find out everything we could about…about Michaela Underwood’s death.” He looked down at his wife, who had bowed her head and was dabbing at her eyes with a crumpled tissue. “We just heard the news, from her parents.”

“Michaela is…was…my sister,” the woman—Sarah—said. “We heard she was killed in the woods near here this morning. I want to know if that man—Al—killed her.”

“Who is Al?” Jamie asked.

“The man she was supposed to meet this morning, to go snowshoeing,” Sarah said. “If you found her by herself, and he wasn’t there, he must have been the one to kill her.”

“I’m Sheriff Walker.” Travis joined them in the lobby. “I understand you wanted to talk to me.”

“This is Drew and Sarah Michener.” Jamie made the introductions. “Michaela Underwood’s sister and brother-in-law.”