Not by Sight (9 page)

“How’d they find out you were looking for Ella?”

“I don’t know. Maybe one of them works at one of the places where I left my card.”

“What makes you so sure it was them?”

“Because the guy said”—Abby nudged Jay with her elbow and spoke with a drawl—“‘Stop askin’ questions about the girl, and don’t tell nobody about this call. Or you’re liable to go missin’ too.’ Now if that doesn’t reek of Mason and his loser friends, nothing does. I’m sure they’re all having a great laugh at my expense. Let them. I don’t care what they think.”

Jay turned to her. “Think you should be so quick to blow it off, Abby? What if the call was for real?”

“It wasn’t. Mason’s trying to get back at me because I won’t go out with him.”

“Maybe I should pay Mason a visit and tell him to back off.”

“Please don’t,” Abby said. “They’ll gang up on you. Just ignore it. I am.”

“Shouldn’t you at least tell your grandfather?”

“No!” Abby lowered her voice. “He’ll tell Mama, and she’ll tell the sheriff. Then they’ll all make me back off looking for Ella. Besides, Mason will deny he knew anything about it.”

“The jerk as much as threatened you.”

“I’m sure he thought it was funny. Just drop it.”

Chapter 10

Raleigh Country Sheriff Virgil Granger sat in the glider on the wraparound porch of his Victorian home on Puckett Street, holding a glass of sweet tea and listening to the happy chatter of neighbor kids riding their Big Wheels up and down the driveway across the street. They were still going strong, even though it was dark except for the glow of the streetlight.

It didn’t seem that many summers ago that his own sons were outside doing the very same thing. Now that they were grown, he and Jill Beth didn’t need all this space. But any time he hinted about putting the place on the market, she looked up at him with those sentimental puppy eyes that reminded him it was more than just a house—it was where they had raised their triplet boys from infancy to adulthood.

Virgil took a sip of tea. The house begged for paint. It was too much for him to tackle alone, and his sons had offered to come for a long weekend to help him get the job done.

Virgil chuckled, remembering the fiasco the first time he painted the boys’ rooms. Robby, Ricky, and Reece were eight years old and eager to
watch.
Ricky stepped in the paint pan and ruined a new pair of expensive sneakers. Reece and Robby got into a tug-of-war over the dog’s leash, and one of them finally let go. The other fell on his behind, knocking a half-full bucket of paint off a stool, the contents splattering both misbehavers—and the family’s beagle—with a rich shade of yellow.

Virgil heard the front door open.

Jill Beth stepped out on the porch, dressed in her pink bathrobe and emitting the sweet fragrance of gardenia bubble bath. She held up his cell phone. “It’s Chief Deputy Mann.”

Virgil kissed her hand and took the phone. “What’s up, Kevin?”

“Duncan, Hobbs, and I responded to a 9-1-1 call from a teenage couple that said they found skeletal remains in the woods off Smithville Road—up yonder on the mountain. Sure enough, there’re remains up here. Way too decomposed to make any kind of ID—even gender. But judging by the size of the skull, it had to be an adult.”

“Why were the kids in the woods?”

“Said they were
owl watching
.” Kevin snorted. “Hey, I’m just the messenger. Anyhow, they were trudging through the woods and spotted the bones with the flashlight. They thought it was animal remains until they saw the skull. They ran back to their truck and called 9-1-1. They’re still pretty shook up. Duncan and Hobbs are fixin’ to take them to the station and wait for their parents to arrive. That’ll give them a chance to calm down before we question them further.”

“What about CSI?”

“On the way. Emergency responders are coming out of the woodwork. I’ll bet you can see the lights flashing from down in Foggy Ridge.”

“All right,” Virgil said. “You’re in charge. Preserve the scene. I don’t want any missteps. It’s hard to say what we’re dealing with.”

“Wouldn’t it be something if this turned out to be Micah Cummings?”

“That’s the understatement of the century.” Virgil looked up into Jill Beth’s wide, questioning eyes, his pulse soaring, his curiosity on tilt. Did he dare hope that this was the break they’d been waiting for? “You know what, Kevin? The media will be all over this like fleas on a hound dog. I’m coming up there.”

Virgil moved his flashlight across a swath of the forest floor that had been roped off with crime scene tape. Bones were scattered over an area of about twenty square feet, a human skull visible in the midst. It was sobering to consider that this might be all that was left of Micah Cummings. Virgil had imagined such a scenario many times in the past five years but didn’t realize that the discovery would make him feel as if he had swallowed a lead weight. He had grown up on the same street as Micah. Knew him when he was a scrawny, runny-nosed little kid, always wanting to hang out with the big boys. He should’ve let him.

Virgil heard voices and spotted Kevin walking over to three crime scene investigators getting out of a familiar black Suburban. Virgil raised his hand to acknowledge them, content to let Kevin fill them in.

Several minutes later, just as the red-white-and-blue van from KOMN-TV pulled up behind the long row of flashing lights, Kevin came over and stood next to Virgil. The chief deputy’s carrot-red hair was unruly from the humid night air.

“The media didn’t waste any time,” Kevin said. “Want me to call Mrs. Cummings? She probably should know what’s going on before it hits the news. The way these bones are scattered, could be more than one person.”

“She doesn’t need to hear that over the phone,” Virgil said. “I’ll drive up there and tell her myself.”

Kevin nodded toward four Foggy Ridge police officers talking to Deputy Duncan. “PD’s up to speed. Chief Mitchell’s en route.”

“Thanks.” Virgil patted Kevin’s shoulder. “I’ll be back.”

Virgil walked a hundred yards across a clearing. He got into his squad car and made a U-turn, avoiding the potholes in the crude dirt trail that led back to Angel View Road. He turned north and headed up the mountain to the Cummings’ house.

Kate was sitting at the kitchen table, writing out a new recipe for herb chicken, when she heard the doorbell ring. She glanced at the clock. Who would come to the house at this hour?

She heard footsteps running across the wood floor, and then the door open.

“Evening, Sheriff,” Jesse said. “Come in. Mom! It’s Sheriff Granger!”

Kate came out of the kitchen, the recipe card still in her hand, and stood next to Jesse. “You need to come get me when we have a guest,” she said softly. “It’s not polite to yell.”

Jesse nodded apologetically. “Sorry.”

Kate turned her attention to Virgil. “So what brings you out this late?”

“I’d like to talk to you about something. Is there a place we could talk privately?”

“Sure, come out to the kitchen.” Kate felt as if her pulse rate had doubled. Had Abby done something she didn’t know about?

She walked across the living room and through the doorway to the kitchen, Virgil on her heels.

“Can I get you something to drink?” she said. “Coke, iced tea, lemonade, spring water?”

“No, thanks. I’m good.”

“Let’s sit here at the table.” Kate pushed her recipe box aside. “Is this about Abby trying to find that little girl?”

“Actually, I don’t know anything about that.” Virgil pulled out a chair and sat. “I came to inform you of a new development that happened less than an hour ago. I don’t know of an easy way to say this, so I’ll get right to the point. A couple of teenagers stumbled onto human remains. The skull size suggests an adult.”

The world stopped. Kate put her hand on her heart and struggled to find her voice. “You think … it’s Micah?”

“We have to consider that possibility. CSIs are doing the investigating and will make sure the remains are sent for DNA testing.” Virgil’s expression looked somber.

“What aren’t you telling me? Did you find other remains? A … child’s?” Kate refused to utter her daughter’s name, as if not saying it would make her worst fear impossible. “Tell me!”

Virgil reached across the table and gently gripped her wrist. “We can’t be sure the bones belong to just one person until the lab analyzes the DNA.”

“But you only found one skull.” Kate looked up at him, her mind processing the implications.

“It’s just too soon to tell what we’ve discovered or what else is still out there. We’re searching the area for any indication that this could be Micah
or
Riley Jo.”

Kate blinked away the grisly images that invaded her mind.

“I hate dropping this on you,” Virgil said, “but this is going to be breaking news within the hour. I wanted you to hear it from me—in person, not over the phone.”

“Where did you f-find the remains?” Kate said.

“Just a couple miles from here—in the woods. There was no way to determine if foul play was involved. It’s going to take the medical examiner for that.”

“You said a couple of teenagers discovered them?”

Virgil nodded. “They’re going down to the station now to give their statements. I’m headed back to the site. I’ll keep you informed. If I learn anything significant, I’ll let you know right away.”

“Thanks.”

Virgil withdrew his hands and folded his arms on the table. He spoke with a steady, compassionate voice. “We’ve both been dreading a discovery like this for a very long time. I can only imagine how much harder this is for you. Keep in mind we don’t know that these remains belong to Micah
or
Riley Jo. We can compare Micah’s dental records to the skull we found and get the results rather quickly. But it could take a couple months to get the DNA results back on each of the bones. I wish I could tell you I could speed up the process, but I can’t.”

“You said you were searching the area.”

“We are. We’re hoping to find some identifying article. Clothing. Watch. Jewelry. Anything like that.”

“A gold wedding band?” Kate said, feeling as if her heart were breaking all over again.

“That certainly would have withstood the elements. If it’s there, we’ll find it.”

“I should go out there in case you find something.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We’re going to be searching all night. It’s dark. We don’t know that we’re going to find anything. Why don’t you stay home and rest? I promise I’ll call you immediately if we find something.”

“I don’t care what time it is,” Kate said. “I doubt I’ll be sleeping.”

Virgil gave her arm a gentle squeeze and stood. “I’ll let myself out.”

Kate couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to. She was vaguely aware of Virgil walking through the living room and out the front door and wondered how many times he had done that in the past five years. Was this finally the beginning of the end?

A wave of nausea swept over her, and she laid her head on the table. No matter how much she wanted an end to the ominous unknowns that haunted her, closure wouldn’t come without heartache. And even if her beloved Micah and Riley Jo were proven dead, she would still be left wondering how they died.

Kate wanted to crawl into bed and fall into a deep sleep. But the night was young, and she would spend it staring into the darkness, waiting for Virgil’s call.

Chapter 11

Abby, still groggy from being awakened from a sound sleep, shuffled into the living room behind Grandpa and saw that the rest of the family had already gathered. She sat on the couch between Jesse and Hawk. Her mother sat in one of two easy chairs facing them, her eyes red and puffy and her expression somber. Grandpa sat in the other chair.

“I called this family meeting,” Mama said, “because I need to tell you the news the sheriff just brought. It’s hard to hear, but it’s important. In the woods, not far from here, a couple of teenagers discovered the remains of someone—an adult.”

Abby put her hands to her face and sucked in a breath. “Daddy?”

“They don’t know yet, but we have to brace ourselves for that possibility.”