Caching Out (23 page)

“So
you’re not going to pull any strings to get Dad removed from the force?”

Moving
to the door, Tate hedged. “I won’t as long as he knocks it off, but you’ll have
to talk to the Sheriff about your dad, since he doesn’t report to the city or
to me. Come on and you can talk to him now. The Sheriff and SSA Gage-Echo are here
and we have an idea about how to catch this killer. We could use your help.”

Surprise
showed on Martin and Emma’s face when Tate stepped into the kitchen, followed
by Chad Green. “Martin, Emma, seems we’ve got that help we were talking about
and congratulations are in order as well. Chad just told me that he’s going to
be a daddy!”

Martin
extended his hand to Chad. “Now that’s good news, Chad. Your wife feeling all
right?”

Chad
smiled and nodded as he took the older man’s hand. “Just fine, Sheriff, but
that’s not what brought me by tonight. I’d like to speak privately with you for
a minute if you’ve got time.”

With
a nod toward Martin, Tate said, “Why don’t you and Chad step into my office
while me and Emma continue working to narrow down our search perimeters?”

Still
stroking the dog in her lap, Emma waited until Martin and Chad left the room
before speaking. “What’s that about?  Keeping the friends close and the enemies
closer?”

Tate
slid into the chair next to her, “Nope. Chad just confirmed that Pete is the
one who started all the trouble in town and he pulled a few cards of his own to
make sure that it stops. Now what about these cache sites, where’s our focus
going to be?”

Turning
to her screen, Emma pointed. “Martin and I narrowed it down to the six most
likely sites. These six are secluded enough to give the UnSub the privacy that
he needs, all have had recent finds and are relatively easy to access. I’m very
confident that one of these sites will be his next kill site.”

Nodding,
Tate watched as Emma pulled her phone out and loaded the coordinates to all six
caches in her GPS system.

CHAPTER 34

“It
won’t be long, it won’t be long now.” Gavin felt better than he had since that
old fucker made a mess of his last hunt. He turned the car around and drove
back through town toward the interstate and his grimy motel room. Spotting a
flashing neon sign ahead, he pulled the car to a smooth stop in front of a convenience
store. He strolled to the back of the store and pulled a six pack of beer from
the cooler then grabbed a bag of chips from a metal rack on his way back to the
counter. Laying his purchases on the counter and reaching for his wallet, Gavin
stilled.

Neatly
stacked newspapers sat on one side of the counter and right there on the front
page was the old man’s picture. Willing his hand not to shake he pulled a paper
from the stack and added it to his purchases. Gavin slid a twenty from his
wallet across the counter and waited while the cashier rang up his total and
then pushed the chips and newspaper into a plastic bag.

“You
want a bag for the beer, mister?” 

Shaking
his head, Gavin wadded his change in his hand pushing it into his pocket. He
grabbed the beer and the plastic bag, and then left the store without a word.

Back
in his room, Gavin popped open a beer and leaned back on the bed. He stared at
a picture of the old man he’d met just once. “Old geezer looks happier here
than when I last saw him.” He snorted, “He screwed you, Gav. Totally screwed
you. The bastard had to go and die before you could kill him and you didn’t get
it recorded either. I hope his fucking dog died, too.” 

Wadding
the paper in his hands, Gavin threw it against the wall and watched as it bounced
then landed near the end of the bed. He leaned back and rested one arm over his
eyes. Suddenly he sat up and crawled to the end of the bed and reached to the
floor where the wadded up newspaper lay. Opening the paper to the obit page he
studied the information shared in the paper. “Well, I got fucked out of
watching them find you Walt Mabry but I can still watch them put your sorry old
ass in the ground.” 

Feeling
only slightly better, Gavin scanned the date and time then pulled his grey suit
from the closet and laid it neatly across the back of the only chair in the
room. “Tomorrow, Walt. We meet again tomorrow.” Happier than he’d been in days,
Gavin swigged his beer and waited for his computer to boot up. “A little late
night freak show and you’ll sleep like a baby, Gav.”

A
sliver of morning sun peeking through a gap in the curtains woke Gavin the
following morning. Smiling he stretched and slid out of bed making his way to
the bathroom. He turned the shower on and pulled the plastic curtain closed,
stepping into the hot spray. Minutes later he stood at the bathroom sink,
wiping fog from the mirror with his towel. Pulling a comb through his wet hair
he said, “Got to look good today Gav, you’re going to a funeral.”

Three
hours later, Gavin parked his red rental near the end of a long line of cars
just inside the cemetery grounds. Stepping behind a foursome of funeral goers,
Gavin watched as the cemetery filled with people saying their last goodbye to Walt
Mabry. A large green canvas canopy covered the grave site and what he assumed
to be family and close friends were seated on white folding chairs in the shade
of the covering. Small clusters of people milled about speaking quietly to each
other. Standing near the back of the canopy Gavin listened as a man with a
bible in his hand spoke about Walt’s life. Moving over a few steps he had a
clear view of the rose draped coffin. Red roses. Then he stopped in his tracks.

The
dog.

Sitting
at the head of the casket, the German Shepherd appeared to be at attention, his
gaze fixed on a pretty young woman sitting on the front row of chairs. Stepping
further to the side, Gavin watched the woman. Long blonde hair draped across part
of her face as she stared straight ahead. Even from this distance, Gavin could
see that her eyes were puffy and red and one hand seemed to pulse around a wadded
tissue. The service ended with a prayer for Jewel.

“Jewel,”
Gavin whispered. “What a lovely name.” 

Mourners
came forward, forming a line that passed between the woman and the coffin. Stepping
forward as their time came, people either shook her hand or gave a quick hug
while whispering words that Gavin assumed were meant to comfort.

Stepping
into the line, Gavin moved forward with the other mourners, head down, a small
smile on his lips. Reaching the woman, Gavin stopped, taking her hands in his
and leaning forward he whispered, “Walt was a lot of fun… Jewel.” 

Her
expression quizzical, Jewel looked at the man in front of her trying to place
him as a friend or acquaintance of her father, but she could do neither. A low
growl pulled her attention away from the man. King had moved to sit at her side.
Touching a hand to the large dog’s head she softly fussed, “Hush, King.”  When
she looked up, the strange man had been replaced by Curtis Weston, who opened
his arms pulling her into a tight hug.

Pushing
through the crowd, Gavin moved toward the line of parked cars at the cemetery’s
edge.  Reaching his car, he turned and stared back at Walt’s grave and the
people gathered there. “This is almost as good as watching them find you, Walt.
I loved seeing your Jewel all torn up. Maybe she’ll be the next cacher I meet.”

 As
he reached for the door handle, Gavin noticed a Shannon County patrol car
parked three spaces behind him. Sliding into the seat and adjusting the rear
view mirror, he watched as an older man in a uniform talked to a dark haired
man with a beautiful woman at his side.

He
recognized the sheriff from the night he killed the boy. The man next to him
seems vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t really place him. He had to be ex-military,
cop or both. Keeping low in the seat he continued to watch as the woman pointed
to an older couple in the crowd, smiled and said something to the man that
caused him to scowl. “Wouldn’t mind meeting her on a lonely road.” 

When
the uniformed man turned to get into his car, Gavin whistled, “Old cop from the
cache site where I took the kid. He’s just everywhere isn’t he?” Turning the
key, Gavin started the car, slowly pulling away from the curb in the opposite
direction of the patrol car.

Tate
watched as well wishers moved, forming a line and offering their condolences to
Jewel. Almost everyone in town over the age of forty had known Jewel since she
was a baby and had known Walt even longer. Tate felt a sense of pride watching
his friends and neighbors come together to support one of their own.

Emma
stood near the back of the line, talking quietly with Tate’s parents. A man
that Tate didn’t recognize stepped up to Jewel. Taking her by the hand, he
leaned forward and whispered something to her. At the same time, King moved to
stand at Jewel’s side, her hand reaching out to stroke her father’s best friend
on his big head. Looking up, Tate caught Emma’s eye. With a short nod she moved
away from his parents, allowing them to step forward in line as she moved
toward him.

Tate
and Emma stood with Martin at the front of his patrol car. “See you pulled the
short straw today, Martin.” 

Leaning
back against the car Martin replied, “Yeah, that’s about the way of it. I thought
it best to stop by even if I was on call. Couldn’t leave the car in case
something comes over the radio, since I didn’t want to turn my portable on too
close to the proceedings. Barb paid our respects with Jewel.” 

“Martin,
you see that young guy with the short dark hair, wearing a grey suit that
walked out into the parking area just a minute ago?  He got into a red rental
car. I didn’t recognize him, but I don’t think King liked him.” 

“No,
Tate I didn’t see him. What makes you think King didn’t like him?”

“When
the guy stepped up to Jewel, King left his post at the head of Walt’s casket
and moved to stand next to Jewel. I saw her say something to King and pet him. Just
seemed strange to me, since King hasn’t moved from Walt’s casket since he got here.”

Martin
shrugged, “Yeah, that is a little strange. Could just be that he didn’t know
the guy, most everyone here is local.” Walking around to the driver’s side of
the patrol car he continued, “I’m going to run my patrol real quick and I’ll
meet you all back at the courthouse in about an hour. Chad is coming in to meet
us too. I want to wrap this up and catch this bastard before he hunts again. That
give you enough time?”  

Tate
nodded.

Emma
said, “Tate, you’d better go talk to your mother a minute, otherwise we’re
going to be at her house eating cake in an hour instead of tracking down a
killer. I tried to beg off, but you know how stubborn she can be.”

Forty
five minutes later, Tate and Emma pulled into the courthouse parking lot. Martin’s
car was already parked in the designated spot for the Sheriff. Unlocking his
office door Tate waited for Emma, Martin and Chad to go inside before stepping
in and closing the door.  

“You
and Miss Emma ready to do a little geocaching?” Martin asked.

Tate
turned his computer on and reached into a desk drawer, pulling out a small
hand-held GPS and laid it on the desk in front of him. “This is Walt’s GPS. I
borrowed it from the evidence room. Figured if we’re going to cache, then we
should look like we’ve done it before and a serious cacher probably wouldn’t
use a cell phone.”

Until
now Chad had stood quietly behind Martin, but seeing the GPS he stepped forward
and picked it up, turning it over in his large hand. “I’ve never been
geocaching, can you tell me how it works before we go?  I don’t want to look
stupid or waste time.”

Walking
over to where Chad stood, Emma smiled, “Sure, Chad, we’ll give you a crash
course and you’ll be fine.”  Glancing at Tate, she turned to look at Martin.
“Martin, I know you want this guy bad, but I don’t think that you should go
with us.”

Martin
frowned, “Why not?  You know that me and Tate’s been working this case together
since the Parker murder and I can’t see any reason that I shouldn’t be out
there too.”

Emma
explained, “We know that the UnSub has been in the county, or in and out of the
county, for the last few weeks and knows the area well, right?” 

Martin
nodded, “That’s true, but what’s that got to do…”

“Chances
are,” she said, “that he’s seen you, and possibly Tate as well. We went back to
Parker’s house and came up empty when we searched for a camera. We know that
the camera was broken at the site where Walt was found, but we don’t know if he
had a working camera at the Babcock scene and you were there for a long time,
right?”

Deflated,
Martin sank back into his chair. “You’re right. I was there from the time the
boy was found until Daniel took the body to the morgue. If there was a camera
there, then he probably did see me. Damn. So now what do we do?  I thought we
were going out in teams.”

 “We
will go in teams,” Tate leaned back in his chair. “I don’t want anyone out
there alone.”

Stepping
to Tate’s side, Emma said, “I agree, but what we need is a partner for Chad, or
I can go with Chad and we’ll find you a partner.”