Page 14 of Into the Veins
“But there are ranger stations all throughout these woods. If she wanted to stay off the grid, she’d head for one of those.” Shit. Instincts pushed Blair to her feet. She headed back to her patrol vehicle and popped the trunk. Adrenaline surged through her as she ripped off her coat and strapped into her Kevlar vest. “Garcia, Thompson, call the rangers and the K9 search team. If she’s injured, we’re low on time. Tell them Cardin Townsend is a person of interest in my case, and I’m following the blood trail in order to apprehend her.”
Colson rounded the back of her car and stripped out of his coat. He reached for the second vest she carried as a backup.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Going with you.” He didn’t miss a beat, securing the vest’s straps around his midsection. He hiked one foot onto the bumper of her vehicle and unholstered a pistol from the ankle holster strapped under his pant leg. A Sig Sauer P365. Colson released the flush-fit 10-round magazine, seemed to count the bullets inside, reloaded, and set the weapon in the back of her trunk to replace his coat. “These trails lead any different number of directions. You’re not going to be able to search all of them yourself.”
“You’re not law enforcement, and we are hunting a possible killer who won’t hesitate to keep you from bringing her in in the dark.” That was the most logical explanation, but the truth was if anything happened to him out there, she might not be close enough to handle the threat. This was what she’d been trained for, what she was good at. Colson was a private investigator who spent most of his time surveilling the spouses of clients suspected of cheating. “This isn’t your responsibility. Wait here for the rangers and the search team. I’ll take Thompson in with me.”
“This might not be my responsibility, but this is my case, and we are partners, Sheriff.” He straightened, and suddenly, he seemed so much…bigger than a minute before. Any evidence of his playful nature had vanished as he stared down at her with fire in his eyes. His spontaneous nature, his constant need to keep moving and satisfied, was going to get him killed. “I’m current on my conceal carry license, I train at the shooting range once a week, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to let you charge into those woods on your own.”
She didn’t have time for this. “There isn’t room in this investigation for your sense of adventure, Colson. I can’t let a civilian put his life in danger because he’s afraid of being bored for a few minutes.” Blair reached for the top of the trunk and hauled it closed, locking his weapon inside. “You’re not trained in search and rescue. Wait here with Garcia for the search team. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He didn’t answer, didn’t even seem to breathe as she turned her back on him and headed for the trailhead. “Thompson, you’re with me.” The thirty-something deputy followed close on her heels as she unholstered her weapon. She stepped into her other deputy, Garcia. The physical weight of Colson’s attention between her shoulder blades pressurized the air in her lungs. “Keep him safe. Understand? No one but the rangers and S&R are allowed on this trail. We’ll be in radio contact.”
“You got it, Sheriff,” Garcia said. “Both teams and CSU are in route. Stay safe.”
“Thanks.” Blair nodded to Thompson, and they headed for the trees. Pines stretched over head as the roots threatened to trip them up along the dirt-packed trail underneath. She clicked on her flashlight, setting it beneath her gun hand for support, as they moved along the trail. Drops of water pelted against her scalp as they stepped into shadows. Remnants of the storm that’d come through a couple hours ago. While the state forest was within King County borders and under her jurisdiction, she wasn’t familiar with the area. No telling what was out here.
She’d made the right decision leaving Colson with her deputy. She had to believe that despite the vise squeezing inside her chest. Her inhales sawed down her throat as temperatures fell under the canopy of thick woods. The smell of dirt and rain filled her lungs. She craned her chin over her shoulder, pegging Thompson in her peripheral vision as they came to a divide in the trail. The blood evidence had ended at the entrance. She swept the flashlight a few feet in front of her. The beam shifted over two deep gouges in the dirt, heading off to the left. Drag marks. Similar to those they’d found at the first scene. If Cardin Townsend had come out here alone, injured after a possible struggle with Rachel Faulkner, what was she dragging up the trail?
Blair crouched, holstering her weapon. She brushed her fingertips over one of the drag marks and forced some of the mud back into the center. Not just drag marks. She stepped around the disturbance and crouched higher up the trail. The drag marks didn’t only interrupt the smoothness of the trail. They were hiding the footprints of whoever had made them. She scanned the fork in the trail. One headed north, the other east. The footprints continued north. “Pull up a map of the area. I want to know where the nearest ranger station is from here.”
“Already done.” Thompson handed over his phone, the screen too bright in the inky blackness surrounding them, but Blair was grateful for the additional light all the same. It was too quiet out here, too dark. “Closest station is east, approximately a half mile along this branch of the trail.”
She confirmed Thompson’s statement. East. But that didn’t make sense. These footprints went north, but there wasn’t another station for two more miles. It was possible they were hunting a hiker who had nothing to do with the case, but Blair’s instincts protested against the idea. No. The footprints and drag marks were fresh. Made within the past hour at least considering how heavy the storm hit at the Maple Valley station. She handed Thompson’s phone back and straightened. “Cardin Townsend pulled something heavy up the main trail, something that caused these two deep gouges, parallel to each other.”
“Like a body,” Thompson said.
“I think you might be right, which means Rachel Faulkner might not be our only victim anymore.” Blair searched the trail headed east. No footprints. No drag marks. But logic dictated their suspect would’ve headed for the nearest ranger station to hide out until she was able to escape the department’s perimeter. Still, her gut said the footprints hadn’t been used as a diversion to divide and isolate her team. Damn it. They couldn’t wait for the rangers. Cardin Townsend could already be slipping away. “Get to the first ranger station. Report what you find when you’re there.” She tested the radio strapped to her Kevlar vest. “I’m on channel three.”
“10-4, Sheriff. Good luck.” Thompson jogged down the darkened path to her right, his flashlight beam bouncing. In a few seconds, another layer of darkness consumed his position.
The slow trill of crickets filled her ears then, and she suddenly felt as though invisible eyes had targeted her from the trees. Careful of where she placed her boots, she forced one foot in front of the other along the edge of the trail, heading north. Two miles until the ranger station on this path. According to Colson, Cardin Townsend had practically made a living showing off her strength and familiarity with the outdoors. She’d highlighted photos of her hikes all over her profiles. A woman of her petite size and strength could drag a body through these woods. It’d be difficult, but not impossible.
Blair angled her flashlight beam a few feet in front of her. The drag marks continued up a slight incline, gaining elevation as she neared Tiger Mountain. Her heart pounded steady behind her ears, creating her own personal barrier from the noises of the woods. She tightened her grip on her weapon as battle-ready tension hardened the muscles down her spine. The air changed this deep into the forest, thinning slightly. The mountain had shielded the path from the rains for the most part, leaving behind nothing but the scent of earth and pine. Her legs burned with exertion. She hadn’t prepared to hike into the middle of the woods in the middle of the night. Moisture built down the length of her spine.
The drag marks ended.
Blair slowed, flashlight to the ground. She searched either side of the trail, then ahead, but it was as though the suspect had vanished in the middle of the trail. Turning around, she scanned back the way she’d come. The drag marks led straight to this point then…disappeared. Not possible. Unless it’d been washing out. Blair dug the toe of her boot into the soil, making a deep well from damp earth. She raised the flashlight beam up the solid wall of rock in front of her. The rains might not have been able to reach this point along the trail, but the dirt was still soft enough to disturb.
She unpocketed her phone and tried to bring up the map Thompson had showed her of the area. Cardin Townsend couldn’t have disappeared. There had to be another branch to the trail she hadn’t noticed. No signal. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
She couldn’t go back now. Every second she wasted was another second their suspect slipped through her fingers. After holstering her weapon, she pinched the radio’s press-to-talk button. “Thompson, come in. I’ve lost my cell signal. I’m at the south base of Tiger Mountain, and the trail just ends. I need you to tell me which direction to go from here.” She released the radio, waiting for his response. “Thompson, do you copy?”
Static broke through the shadows, and her gut clenched.
Blair checked the channel. She’d told him channel three, right?
A twig snapped off to her left, and she twisted around. The beam of her flashlight swept through thick pines, but she couldn’t help but feel as though she wasn’t alone. “Thompson?”
Movement registered deeper from the trees, and her pulse shot into dangerous territory. She killed her flashlight, throwing herself into complete darkness in an effort to keep the upper hand. She kept her weapon raised. Angling her mouth closer to her radio, Blair opened the channel. “If anyone is listening, this is Sheriff Sanders, King County Sheriff’s Department. I’m at the south base of Tiger Mountain in pursuit of a murder suspect, but someone else is out here.”
The shadow lunged for her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Static punctured through the buzz of crickets and soft call of wildlife.