were shot at Saturday, do you thinkwe surprised somebody and they pulled a gun to keep us from stumbling on to something?”
“I wish that was it.” Tracie’s face pinched up in a worried expression. “But how could it be? The gunman used an AK-47 assault rifle. There wasn’t a gun like that in the house. There weren’t any guns in the house. John and Mack confiscated them all as evidence. To think a man would just happen to be carrying a weapon like that on him, that he’d be out there with it at the exact time we stopped by? It’s absurd. He would have had to be watching out the window for us to even see us coming. The woods are thick between the road and the house. He wouldn’t have had two minutes’ warning even if he was watching for us.”
“So you think he was expecting us?”
“How could I pretend to think otherwise?”
Heath met Tracie’s eyes again and held her gaze for as long as he dared before looking back at the lake. She looked worried. No, more than that, she looked sickened by fear. “Do you have any idea who it might have been?”
“Somebody who knew when we were coming? Who knew how to get inside Trevor’s house, who had a reason to take a shot at us in the first place? I wouldn’t have thought such a person existed.”
Her analysis made Heath’s skin crawl. He wished he could drop the subject and talk about something innocent like the weather, but as Jonas had said, this was a matter of life and death. Heath had to know how close Tracie was to the inside.
“There was one guy who could have done it,” he began slowly.
Tracie’s eyes widened, but she didn’t speak.
Heath continued. “You thought you smelled Trevor’s cologne on the stoop when we arrived. Had you ever smelled it there before?”
“You mean outside?”
“Yes.”
Tracie looked frightened and confused. “No, but what do you think that means? Trevor’s dead.”
Heath took one hand from the helm and reached for Tracie’s hand. In spite of the warmth of the boat’s cabin, her fingers felt cold. “Do you think there’s someone else out there, wearing Trevor’s cologne and Trevor’s size-fourteen boots, knowing things only Trevor could have known, trying to kill us?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Which is more likely? That somebody else is doing what only Trevor could do, or that Trevor himself took a shot at us?”
“No!” Tracie shouted, dropping his hand and backing away before he’d even finished his sentence. “Trevor is dead. I saw his body myself. I’m telling you, he’s dead!”
Heath stared patiently at Tracie while he slowed the boat in preparation for reaching Devil’s Island. “I know. I read the report. I know what you think you saw. But what if you’re wrong? You weren’t able to recover his body. It disappeared. What’s more likely: that someone disposed of it that quickly, or that Trevor simply walked away?”
“Dead men don’t walk away, Heath.”
“True. But what if Trevor is still alive?”
Tracie stared at her new partner for a moment in fear. Was he crazy? There was no way Trevor could be alive. She had to make him understand that. They’d come around the northwest side of Devil’s Island to the area of the sea caves, and she pointed up the steep brownstone cliffs to where the tops of a few wind-whipped hemlocks were just visible from below.
“Look,” she pointed. “I was in the woods up there whenI heard shots fired. Abby Caldwell and Scott Frasier were the first people on the scene. They saw Trevor’s body in the water. I arrived seconds later, stood on that spot and looked right into this area of the lake. I saw Trevor’s body floating in the water facedown.”
“How can you be sure it was Trevor if he was floating facedown?”
“It was Trevor,” Tracie insisted. “He’s an unusually built guy. He was six-foot-five, really big with a distinctive body shape. Trust me, it was Trevor’s body I saw. Besides that, I took blood samples
“I wish that was it.” Tracie’s face pinched up in a worried expression. “But how could it be? The gunman used an AK-47 assault rifle. There wasn’t a gun like that in the house. There weren’t any guns in the house. John and Mack confiscated them all as evidence. To think a man would just happen to be carrying a weapon like that on him, that he’d be out there with it at the exact time we stopped by? It’s absurd. He would have had to be watching out the window for us to even see us coming. The woods are thick between the road and the house. He wouldn’t have had two minutes’ warning even if he was watching for us.”
“So you think he was expecting us?”
“How could I pretend to think otherwise?”
Heath met Tracie’s eyes again and held her gaze for as long as he dared before looking back at the lake. She looked worried. No, more than that, she looked sickened by fear. “Do you have any idea who it might have been?”
“Somebody who knew when we were coming? Who knew how to get inside Trevor’s house, who had a reason to take a shot at us in the first place? I wouldn’t have thought such a person existed.”
Her analysis made Heath’s skin crawl. He wished he could drop the subject and talk about something innocent like the weather, but as Jonas had said, this was a matter of life and death. Heath had to know how close Tracie was to the inside.
“There was one guy who could have done it,” he began slowly.
Tracie’s eyes widened, but she didn’t speak.
Heath continued. “You thought you smelled Trevor’s cologne on the stoop when we arrived. Had you ever smelled it there before?”
“You mean outside?”
“Yes.”
Tracie looked frightened and confused. “No, but what do you think that means? Trevor’s dead.”
Heath took one hand from the helm and reached for Tracie’s hand. In spite of the warmth of the boat’s cabin, her fingers felt cold. “Do you think there’s someone else out there, wearing Trevor’s cologne and Trevor’s size-fourteen boots, knowing things only Trevor could have known, trying to kill us?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Which is more likely? That somebody else is doing what only Trevor could do, or that Trevor himself took a shot at us?”
“No!” Tracie shouted, dropping his hand and backing away before he’d even finished his sentence. “Trevor is dead. I saw his body myself. I’m telling you, he’s dead!”
Heath stared patiently at Tracie while he slowed the boat in preparation for reaching Devil’s Island. “I know. I read the report. I know what you think you saw. But what if you’re wrong? You weren’t able to recover his body. It disappeared. What’s more likely: that someone disposed of it that quickly, or that Trevor simply walked away?”
“Dead men don’t walk away, Heath.”
“True. But what if Trevor is still alive?”
Tracie stared at her new partner for a moment in fear. Was he crazy? There was no way Trevor could be alive. She had to make him understand that. They’d come around the northwest side of Devil’s Island to the area of the sea caves, and she pointed up the steep brownstone cliffs to where the tops of a few wind-whipped hemlocks were just visible from below.
“Look,” she pointed. “I was in the woods up there whenI heard shots fired. Abby Caldwell and Scott Frasier were the first people on the scene. They saw Trevor’s body in the water. I arrived seconds later, stood on that spot and looked right into this area of the lake. I saw Trevor’s body floating in the water facedown.”
“How can you be sure it was Trevor if he was floating facedown?”
“It was Trevor,” Tracie insisted. “He’s an unusually built guy. He was six-foot-five, really big with a distinctive body shape. Trust me, it was Trevor’s body I saw. Besides that, I took blood samples
Similar Books
