Caching Out (16 page)

“Let’s
see what we can find in this one, King. Hope it’s another lottery ticket,
‘cause I’m on a roll. Hell, I might even go buy me one of those tickets when we
head home. I feel lucky!”

The
old man sat there for what Gavin calculated to be a full ten minutes before he
finally snapped the top back on the cache sliding it under the rocks. Gavin saw
the man slide his hand into his pants pocket and then motion for the dog to
follow him back down the hill.

“Old
man, without my computer, I can’t tell if you took my coin or not, but you sure
as hell found my cache and that’s good enough for me.”  Shaking his head Gavin
pushed away the urge to act on his own thoughts rather than waiting to honor
his pact with the coin.
You know you can’t do it unless he took the token,
Gav,
he reminded himself.
What would Mama say?  There’s only one way to
find out what you need to know without your computer so suck it up and go talk
to the old guy. Just stay away from that big ass dog.

Walt
made his way down the hill, and then opened the truck door waiting for King to
jump up into the cab. Watching King struggle to jump in the truck, Walt knew
that it wouldn’t be too many more years before the dog was going to need a
boost to make the seat. Hell, maybe he’d buy a car, something that they could
both get in and out of with less trouble than the truck. Slamming the truck
door closed, Walt walked to the rear of the vehicle.

Still
hidden, Gavin watched until the old man loaded the dog in the truck. Instead of
getting in himself, the old guy made his way to the rear of the truck and
unzipped his pants to take a leak.

Now,
that was a lucky break. Show time, Gav
. 

As
the old guy zipped up, Gavin stepped out of the woods, GPS in hand. Calling a
friendly hello, he walked toward the man.

Looking
up, Walt replied, “Hey there, you looking for that cache thing?” 

Stepping
closer, Gavin peered at his GPS and replied, “Yeah, that’s what I’m doing. You
find it?”

Walt
leaned against his truck and slid one hand into his pants pocket. “I sure did
and look what I took from it.”  Pulling his hand free from his pocket, the old
man extended his arm as his hand opened to reveal the coin. Just the sight of
his coin resting in the old man’s calloused hand caused Gavin’s blood to rush
from his heart to his head, where it pounded like the native drums that had
beat on this land for hundreds of years.

Turning
his head toward the cache site, Gavin hoped to hide the raw exuberance that coursed
through him, but more than that, he frantically searched for a way to stall the
old man while he repositioned his camera.

You
need that video!
 

Knowing
that the window of opportunity was small and that the old man would most likely
leave before he could move the camera, Gavin gave up the idea as another one took
its place. Squatting to tie his shoe, Gavin said, “Pretty cool, hope you left
something for me to find.” 

The
old man never stopped talking long enough to realize that Gavin had moved
uncomfortably close or that he now held a large rock in one hand. Gavin shoved
him against the truck, pinning him against the warm metal. Inside the truck’s,
cab the dog barked and clawed at the window; a vain attempt to help his master.
As the rock in Gavin’s hand cracked with a sickening thud against Walt’s skull,
he staggered, his body sliding down to the rocky sand on the side of the road.

 Struggling
to remain conscious, Walt looked up at the younger man with unfocused eyes, “Why?”

Not
bothering to answer Walt’s question, Gavin reached into his jacket pocket and
pulled out a hypodermic needle and a strand of red cording. He pushed the
needle into Walt’s neck with the quiet efficiency of an emergency room doctor
and then slid the empty hypo back into his pocket. Walt struggled to stand but
Gavin easily pushed him back down and began to wrap the cording around his
wrists. “Just wait for it, old man. You’ll be in K heaven any second now, and
once your there you won’t even care that you’re not coming back.”

Securing
Walt’s hands in front of him, Gavin stepped back to give the drug time to work.
He’d given the old guy a pretty good dose, so he knew that it wouldn’t take but
a couple minutes for the potent drug to take its full effect. Jogging quickly
up the hill, Gavin made his way to the mini-cam and positioned it so that he
should have a clear view of Walt leaning against the side of his truck.

Noticing
that the small green light on the device was not illuminated, Gavin cursed, “Fuck.
This just gets richer by the minute.” Giving the camera a good thump, he kicked
it when the light still didn’t come on. The camera rolled down the incline
landing a few feet from Walt. Making his way back down the hill Gavin stopped,
scooped up the camera and carried back with him.

Squatting
in front of the man, Gavin reached out and pulled one half closed eyelid up.
“Feels good, doesn’t it old man?  I knew you’d like it.”  Pulling a scalpel
from his pocket and removing the protective covering, Gavin stared at Walt
knowing that it was time.

Struggling
to speak, his words slurred, Walt looked up with unfocused eyes, “My chest….” 
His face was red and twisted with pain.

Realizing
what was happening, Gavin cursed and grabbed Walt by the shoulders and shook
him, “Damn it, old man!  Don’t you dare die!  Only I can decide when you go—do
you hear me!”

Minutes
later, Gavin stepped over the crumpled body of Walt Mabry, pausing he starred
at the ground, Walt’s blood seeping into the dirt had  already formed  a dark
pool on the dry sand. The dog in the cab of the truck still hadn’t given up his
mission to save his master, barking and pawing at the window.  Only minutes
later , he growled low and watched Gavin walk across the dirt road and out of
sight.

CHAPTER 25

Now
back to where she and Tate had parked the SUV, Emma pulled her hair out of its
ponytail.“Well, I can certainly see why people like geocaching! Looking for
hidden treasure is a lot of fun, but I do wonder if it really had anything to
do with the cases or if it’s just a coincidence.”

 “Yeah,
I know what you mean,” Tate agreed. “I have a hard time believing that there’s
some guy out there stalking cache sites and waiting for a victim to show up,
but you will have to admit that it’s pretty strange that Justin’s body was
found at the same place his family cached at earlier in the day.”

Emma
nodded her agreement, “I’d like to talk to everyone who logged that site in the
last week, to see if they found anything strange about the site or if they
noticed anyone lurking. I plan to call the geocaching website owner and
officially ask him to disclose the names and any other info available on those
who logged that site.”

“Good
place to start, Em. It’s getting pretty late, how about we save the Parker
house for tomorrow morning?”

“Sounds
good to me. I could really use a shower. I also want to do some research on the
killer’s signature. Maybe there are similar cases on file.”

Tate
turned the SUV onto the tree-lined road leading from the lake. “Home it is. While
you’re getting a shower I’ll make a couple of my world famous grilled cheese
sandwiches.”

Quickly
turning away to stare out the passenger side window, Emma wondered if Tate realized
that he’d made it sound like they were going to
their
home, not his home
where she was just a temporary visitor.
Damn it, Emma, it could have been
your home if you weren’t so stubborn. It still could be, but how long would
that door remain open?
 

Breathing
deeply, she wasn’t surprised when a heavy sigh pushed past her lips. This was
no time for self-recrimination. She was here to help solve the murders, as a
friend, nothing more.

Sensing
Emma’s mood change, Tate glanced at her but didn’t speak. Her forehead, creased
with worry wrinkles, gave the rest of her face a solemn and sad look.
Wonder
what she’s thinking about.

“Something
bothering you? Emma?” No answer. “Earth to Emma!”

Snapping
back to the present, Emma turned to face Tate, her cheeks warm and probably
three shades brighter. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“Just
wondering why you look so solemn. What’s on that busy mind of yours?”

Emma
gave him a sad half-smile, then frowned. “Nothing important, just
daydreaming.”  She looked away, fearing that Tate would somehow see through her
eyes and into her heart where he would find little pieces of the well-built armor
she’d worked so hard to construct around her heart slipping away from the
fragile organ.

The
rest of the short ride home was made in silence. Emma continued to stare out
the side window and Tate couldn’t help but notice that she had twisted a strand
of her long hair around one finger. A sign he recognized only too well. His Em
was either thinking really hard, worried or upset. Hell maybe she was all three.
You’ve got to stop thinking of her as your Em. Been there, done that already.
But in his heart Tate knew that she would always be his Em.

Tate
stopped to grab the mail from his mailbox before pulling the SUV into the
detached garage and parking it next to his personal car. Reaching for the door
handle, Emma was surprised when Tate reached out and grabbed her arm pulling
her around to face him.

Brushing
Emma’s cheek with the backs of his fingers, he whispered, “Don’t worry Em. Everything
will work out just the way it’s supposed to whether we like the end result or
not.”

With
the strangest urge to cry, Emma leaned into his hand. She tried to smile but
her lips quivered and refused to cooperate. Instead they convinced her head to
help them by turning into his caressing hand where those traitorous lips
proceeded to press soft kisses against Tate’s palm.   

Tate
didn’t know what exactly was happening here but he really didn’t care either. Emma
was here and she was kissing his hand. Hell, he’d take a crumb if that’s all
there was in the bread box.  He’d spent too much time thinking about the past
or the future and for now, all he wanted to think about was this minute…just
this one minute, nothing more.

Tate
clasped his other hand behind Emma’s neck and pulled her forward until their
lips met. The kiss was tentative at first, as if they were testing the water of
an unknown river. A moan escaped Emma’s lips and that soft little sound pushed
Tate over the proverbial edge. No more testing the water, he didn’t care how
deep the river was. Pushing his tongue past Emma’s lips and into the sweetest
warmth he’d ever known, Tate deepened the kiss pulling Emma tightly against him.

Emma’s
brain screamed,
STOP,
but her heart and body weren’t listening. Instead,
she moved closer, her hands climbing the hard planes of his chest. She grasped
his shirt collar to pull him closer. Opening her mouth wider, Emma accepted all
that Tate offered. Slowly, logic seeped like a dripping faucet from her brain
to her heart.

Tate
felt the change and pulled back far enough to look into Emma’s eyes. He saw
what he already knew. It was just a kiss, nothing had changed for them. But
what a kiss it was!

“I….I
shouldn’t have let you kiss me. Can we just forg…”

Cutting
her off, Tate said, “Emma, first of all it wasn’t just me kissing you, I seem
to recall someone else’s tongue bouncing around in my mouth. Second of all, you
can forget anything that you want. As for me, I doubt that I could forget it if
I wanted to and third, well hell, I don’t want to forget.”

Sensing
that he’d pushed the subject about as far as he could without totally ruining
the moment, Tate jerked the door handle open and stepped out of the SUV. He went
out the side door of the garage and into the back door of his house leaving
Emma to find her way in. They could both probably use a little space.

Watching
Tate’s back as he left the garage, Emma groaned.
What are you doing Emma? 
You know better than to kiss him. Damn it
! 

Once
out of the vehicle, Emma stomped toward the house. Slipping past the kitchen,
she turned down the hall to the bedroom and gathered a clean pair of jeans, a
faded t-shirt and some underwear. She stepped into the small bathroom and reached
behind the curtain to turn the water on. Emma stripped, letting her clothes
drop to the cool tile floor. Standing under the hot spray, she scrubbed at her
lips trying to wash away the kiss she’d shared with Tate, but all that did was
remind her of it more. The familiarity of his soft lips, the way that he tilted
his head and, most of all, the way his hand felt on the back of her neck,
massaging, caressing, loving…

”Stop
it!  Stop it right now, Emma Gage-Echo. All you’re doing is sensationalizing
the whole thing. It was just a kiss; you didn’t even like it that much.” 
Enunciating the last words through gritted teeth Emma reached to turn the
shower off knowing that she’d just told herself a big fat lie.

CHAPTER 26

Sitting
on the front porch smoking a cigarette, Martin cursed when his cell phone rang.
Glancing at the caller ID and seeing that it was dispatch, he groaned, “There
go your plans for a quiet night at home making love to your wife, Martin.”