A Cold Dark Place: A Gripping FBI Kidnapping Thriller (Cassie Viera FBI Thriller Series Book 4) by Richard Bannister

Author:Richard Bannister [Bannister, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I SWING THE loaner plain-wrap cop car into Coyote Flats campground, reflecting that the investigation into Santoyo’s murder has splintered in so many directions. The thought of Myles calling me for an update churns my stomach. How would I explain why I’m still looking into the deaths of the two women when it hasn’t taken me any closer to my boss’s primary goal—finding the person who killed Santoyo?

I park next to the only other vehicle—a white Tahoe—and step out into a clearing surrounded by tall, majestic pines. The late afternoon sun peeks between their branches and dark green needles, casting patches of light and shadow on the ground.

This is the only access to Diamond Lake, so Emilie and Laura’s murderer must have parked here on the days they were killed. I can’t help but wonder where they died. Did the perp bring their lifeless bodies here, or did he force them to hike the trail to the lake and slit their throats at the water’s edge?

I spot Keera DaSilva waving to me from the start of a trail. The cops aren’t giving me the full story, so I’m planning on trading information with her.

“No trouble finding it?” she asks with a welcoming smile.

“It’s a straight shot from town,” I tell her. “The campground is well signposted. Thanks for agreeing to meet.”

“No problem.”

“You can’t quote me on whatever we talk about. I don’t want to read my name or the names of my agents in your articles tomorrow.”

“Are you comfortable with off the record?”

“You can attribute facts to unnamed sources. No mention of FBI agents or what they’re thinking. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

“I’m going out on a limb and trusting you on this, Keera.”

“You don’t need to worry.”

We chat casually about the area as we follow the trail between tall cedars and pines. After a quarter of a mile, Keera points to a narrower trail branching off from ours to the right. “That takes you to Oaklyn’s house. On her usual morning run, she would join our trail here and continue to the lake before turning around. She never got this far on the morning she was taken.”

“I know the police released a statement about the high school boys seeing the kidnapper’s vehicle on Grizzly Road.”

Keera nods.

“How far is that from here?”

“You passed the turnoff on the way in, though it’s easy to miss. The entrance to Grizzly Road is about three-quarters of a mile before the turn into the campground. In the summer, it’s a parking spot for couples, but in the winter, it’s a muddy mess.” Keera shakes her head sadly. “Makes me wonder why the kidnapper didn’t grab her here.”

“Too many people around at that time of day?” I suggest, as we pass several empty campsites and a half-dozen RVs in the woods off to our left.

“On the morning of Oaklyn’s abduction, freezing fog blanketed the area. I can’t imagine anyone else was here.”

When the lake comes into view, it becomes clear how it earned its name. The roughly diamond-shaped body of water gleams and shimmers in the sunlight, surrounded by a dense forest of pines and cedars.

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