Avalanche Of Trouble

“A man like that probably has plenty of enemies,” Paige said. “And he hung around with some nasty people. Maybe that former bodyguard of his did him in.”

“Maybe so, though we haven’t found evidence of that.” Hake’s one-time bodyguard had died in a struggle with Travis when he had kidnapped the woman who was now Travis’s fiancée. Three years previously, the same man had murdered Andy Stenson, a young lawyer in town who had also worked for Hake.

Paige leaned toward Gage. “It looked to me like work has been done up there on Hake’s property,” she said. “There’s a lot of tire tracks, and maybe even a new building or two.”

“I’ll see if I can find out anything,” Gage said. “Maybe someone working up there saw or heard something related to the Hoods’ killing.” He stood. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll see you and Maya in the morning.”

“I’m hoping she’ll get a good night’s sleep,” Paige said. “And that tomorrow we find her niece safe.”

“We all hope that.” He returned to his SUV and headed toward the house he rented on the edge of town, but he had traveled less than a block when his cell phone rang. “Gage, this is Al Dawson, over at the high school.”

“Sure, Al.” Gage glanced at the clock on his dash. Ten minutes until midnight. “What’s up?”

“I came in to do the floors here in the gym, but found the lock on the door is broken. Somebody bashed it in.”

“Did you go inside?” Gage asked, looking for a place to turn around.

“No. When I saw the damage to the door, I figured I’d better call you. It looks like we’ve got another break-in.”

“I’ll be right there, Al. Don’t go in.”

“I won’t. What’s going on, Gage?” Al asked. “Travis was out here just this morning to take a report on some items that were stolen from the chemistry lab. This used to be such a peaceful town—now we’ve got crime all over the place.”

“I don’t know, Al,” Gage said. “But I’ll be right there.” Ordinarily, a random burglary wouldn’t seem that unusual, but two burglaries in one week was enough to rate a headline in the local paper. Add in a double murder and Gage had to ask what the heck was going on.

Chapter Four (#u0142938a-4ece-51c9-bc9b-d2cb412a5857)

On his way to the high school, Gage called Travis. “Didn’t you respond to the high school this morning about a break-in?” he asked when his brother answered the phone.

“Yesterday morning,” Travis said. “It’s already this morning.”

“Sorry to wake you,” Gage said. “But I just got a call from Al Dawson, the janitor over there. He says the gym door has been tampered with.”

“All the doors were fine when I was out there,” Travis said. “The thief got into the lab through a broken window.”

“Al thinks somebody broke into the gym. I’m on my way out there.”

“I’ll meet you.”

Al was waiting by his truck when Gage pulled into the lot at the high school. Security lights cast a jaundiced glow over the scene. Whoever had attacked the door to the gymnasium hadn’t bothered with subtlety. They had bashed in the area around the lock with a sledgehammer or iron bar. “Is this the only door that’s been damaged?” Gage asked.

“I think so,” Al, a thin man in his sixties, said. “I took a look around while I was waiting for you and I didn’t see anything else.”

“You don’t have any security cameras focused on this area, do you?” Gage asked.

Al frowned. “We’re a rural school district. Our budget doesn’t run to security cameras.”

“All right.” Gage took out a pair of gloves and pulled them on. “I’ll check things inside. You wait here.”

But before he could open the door, Travis pulled up. Gage waited for his brother to join them. Travis greeted them, then surveyed the door. “They obviously didn’t care about hiding the damage,” he said. “Same thing with the science lab yesterday—smash and grab.”

“What did they take from the lab?” Gage asked.

“Science equipment—some test tubes and flasks, reagents and a Bunsen burner,” Travis said.

“You think it was kids making drugs?” Al asked.

“Kids or adults,” Travis said. “We’re keeping our eyes open.”

“I was just about to take a look inside,” Gage said.

“I’ll come with you.” Travis pulled on a pair of gloves and followed Gage inside, both men careful to keep to one side, out of what they judged was the direct path of entry. Later, a crime scene team would investigate and gather what evidence they could. “I don’t hold out much hope of getting good prints,” Gage said as he flipped the light switch. Banks of floodlights lit up the wood-floored space. Basketball hoops hung from the ceiling at either end of the gym, and metal bleachers lined the far wall.

“Doesn’t look like they did any damage in here,” Gage said, surveying the empty room.

“Let’s get Al in here and see if he sees anything out of place.” Travis walked back the way he and Gage had come. A minute later, he returned with the janitor. “Do you see anything missing, Al?”

The janitor scratched his head. “I don’t see anything—then again, I wouldn’t necessarily know. You need to get one of the coaches over here for that.”

Gage checked the time. Almost one in the morning. “For now, we’ll seal off the area and get one of the reserve officers over here to babysit the scene until the crime scene guys can make it over. What time do the coaches show up?”

“Seven thirty or so, usually,” Al said. He frowned across the silent gym. “I guess this means I won’t be doing the floors in here tonight.”

“No one comes in here without an escort from the sheriff’s department,” Gage said.

They went outside again and while Travis pulled crime scene tape from his SUV, Gage called in a reserve officer to stand guard and made notes about Al’s statement. “I’ll swing back here early to talk to the coaches,” he said.

Thirty minutes later, he and Travis walked back to their cars, prepared to leave. “Did you get Ms. Renfro taken care of?” Travis asked.

“She’s over at the Bear’s Den,” Gage said. “I told her I would pick her up and take her back to the camp in the morning. She wants to help search for her niece, and I think it’s probably a good idea. The little girl will recognize her, plus Maya can communicate with her in sign language.” He glanced over his shoulder at the high school. “I guess I’ll swing by here first, see if I can get anything useful from the coach.”

Travis clapped him on the shoulder. “Let me know what you find. I’ll see you later at camp.”

Gage opened the driver’s-side door of his SUV. “And to think just yesterday I was complaining about being bored,” he said. “That’s what I get for opening my big mouth.”

* * *

MAYA LAY AWAKE much of the night, alternately weeping and praying, terrified of what might be happening to Casey, unable to accept she would never see her sister again.

When the clock showed 6:00 a.m., she got out of bed and took a shower, then did her makeup and ventured downstairs. When she walked into the dining room, which was painted a cheery apple green, Paige gestured toward a buffet, on which sat a large coffee urn and plates of muffins. “Help yourself,” she said. “The other guests haven’t come down yet, but I knew you’d want an early start.”

Maya filled a coffee cup and stirred in cream and sugar. “I don’t guess you’ve heard anything from Gage?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, no,” Paige said. “I’m sure he would have called you if they had found anything.”

Maya dropped into one of the chairs at the dining table. Paige sat opposite her. “I know it’s hard,” Paige said. “But don’t give up hope. Everyone available is looking for your niece—and we’ve done this before. Two summers ago, a little boy got lost when his family was hiking and they found him the next day, a little cold and scared, but safe.”

Maya wrapped both hands around the sky-blue mug decorated with little fleurs-de-lis. “I keep telling myself that we’ll find Casey today. I wish I was up there right now, helping to look for her.”