The Reservoir (24 page)

Holly slowly nodded her head up and down.  “They’re bodies,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.  She cleared her throat and spoke louder.  “Zack and I found them when we were swimming just beyond the rock shelf.”

David ran a hand through his hair, his face contorted in confusion.  “You were swimming and found…?”  He swallowed hard.  “You found … bodies?”

Zack nodded.  “We need to call the police,” he said, and then gave a self-deprecating, almost-smile.  “I mean, are we glad to see you, being as you’re the police and all…”

“Uh, yeah, right.  Look, Holly, your mom is heading for the cabin as we speak—driving her car.  I brought the truck and new boat and trailer.  The truck and trailer are parked at Saddle Dam.  We wanted to surprise you with the new boat—thought your friends would enjoy a late afternoon spin, but…”  His voice trailed off and he shook his head.  “Wow.” 

“I thought you guys were going to dinner,” Holly said.

“Uh, like I said, I bought a new boat and we wanted to show you.  Our plans … changed.”  He shook his head again, seemingly still stunned.  “Look, climb in.  I’ll call for law enforcement, but you two need to warm up.  I imagine you’re in shock from your … discovery.”

“We don’t want to leave the bodies,” Holly told him.

He gave her a startled glance, his fixed expression reflecting his shock.  “I’m sure they’ll be … fine, at least until I return with reinforcements.”  He seemed to be searching his brain.  “We’ll need divers and the medical examiner.”  He sighed heavily.  “Climb in, kids.  I’d like to get you both as far away from here as possible.”

Zack looked at Holly and whispered, “Cassie will watch them.  She won’t let anything happen to them.”

“What are you two whispering about?” David asked nervously.

“Nothing,” Holly said with a dismissive wave.  “We’ll come with you.”

“Okay, good,” he said with relief.

Zack helped Holly into the boat, and then flung himself over the side and in.  “Nice boat,” he said distractedly.

“Uh, yeah,” David muttered, as he started the motor and began backing out.  When he turned in the direction going away from the cabin, Holly glanced at him in surprise.  “Aren’t we going back to the cabin?”

He didn’t answer, but said instead, “So you haven’t told anyone else about the bodies yet?”

Holly shook her head.  “No. Deputy Donner came by here awhile ago, but we didn’t tell him.”  She refrained from mentioning she and Zack had run from the deputy, and she wondered what ramifications that might have for them later.  “Where are we going, David?”

“Oh, uh, like I said before, my truck and trailer are parked back at Saddle Dam.  We’ll go there and make the call to law enforcement.”

“But I have service,” Holly said, reaching for Kendall’s phone.  She didn’t make the call, however, since she spotted the Marine Patrol boat speeding toward them.  Deputy Donner was at the wheel and abruptly slowed, pulling alongside David’s boat.  Was it Holly’s imagination, or did David seem unhappy to see them? 

“David!” Donner called.  “Are we glad to see you!”  His eyes fell on Holly and Zack and he grimaced.  “I see you’ve found our escapees,” he said, failing to mask his frustration with them.

David glanced confusedly between the deputy and the kids.  “Uh, yeah, I’ve found them.”  He turned to Holly.  “Escapees?  What is he talking about?”

“I’ll fill you in later,” she told him tiredly. 

“Why did you kids run away from me?” Donner inquired, watching them curiously.  “It’s a wonder you didn’t kill yourselves trying to climb that hill.  Your friends at the cabin tell us you were searching for…”  His words trailed off and he shook his head bemusedly.  “They said you were looking for bodies in the reservoir.”  

David glanced between the deputy and the kids.  “You were
searching
for bodies in the reservoir?” he said finally, directing the question to Holly.  “Why?”  

Donner spoke up.  “John and I just came from your cabin, David.  The place is teaming with law enforcement.  We spoke to Hudson and Handbury.  Anyway, apparently, your stepdaughter’s friends found several items in your shed that apparently prompted them to go looking for … bodies.”

“What?” David interrupted, giving Holly an angry look.  “I told you not to go near the shed.  It’s unstable and could have fallen on you!”  He suddenly shook his head and sought Donner’s eyes.  “What do you mean they found items in my shed?  The only things in that shed are tires and assorted junk.  I was going to clear it out, and demolish the structure, but just haven’t had the time.”

“The kids found a box,” Donner told him, “apparently belonging to the former owner of your cabin.  It contained a collection of mementos, which appear to have belonged to several missing children.”

“What?” David said, aghast.  “In my shed?  That can’t be right.”  He turned to Holly.  “What’s this about, Holly?  I told you to stay away from that shed.  You could have been hurt.”

“I never actually went in myself.  We heard a sound coming from the shed earlier, and found that someone had broken in.”  She refrained from mentioning that that someone was Thomas.  “Um, I wasn’t actually there when my friends found the killer’s … box,” Holly explained, glancing at Zack, whose face also registered surprise to hear about a box of mementos.  Their friends had yet to tell them about that.  But it all made sense.  Cassie had told them the killer took everything from them.

“Killer’s box?” David repeated, now looking pale as a ghost himself.  “Wait, I’m confused.  Donner just told me that your friends having found the box prompted you to go searching for bodies…”  He glanced off into the distance, as if trying to collect his thoughts, but turned back to her.  “Which is it?  Did you go searching for bodies because of the box, or because of…”  He shrugged, letting his words trail off in confusion.

Holly swallowed over a lump in her throat, and turned to Zack for support.  He looked stricken.  It wasn’t the discovery of any box that had prompted their search.  They hadn’t known about that box until a moment before.  “Look,” she said finally, glancing between her stepfather, Donner, and John, the Search and Rescue guy, who to this point, had remained silent.  “Zack and I found a locket dangling from one of the bridge supports…”

“The old logging bridge?” Donner cut in.

She nodded.  “Yes.  The locket had a name on it.  Anyway, after we found the locket, we didn’t think much of it,” she lied.  “Later, we went over to the slide to look for rocks.  Um, the little boy, Thomas, told us there are interesting crystals in the water.”  She glanced at Zack, feeling bad for lying, but unable to think of anything else that sounded reasonable enough to fool the adults, who watched them with unconcealed disbelief. 

“But your friends apparently told the deputies you had gone to search for bodies,” David persisted.  “I want to understand this…” he murmured confusedly, as his words trailed off.

Holly glanced at Zack for support, wishing he would speak up.  He obliged, rising and calling out to Donner.  “We found two bodies in the reservoir, just off the shelf of rocks at the slide,” he informed, effectively distracting the deputy from the current line of conversation.  “I dove into the water and my hand felt something tucked into the base of the shelf.  It was a … body.”

“And then we found a second one,” Holly said so matter-of-factly, she couldn’t believe it was her speaking so calmly about dead bodies.

“
What
?” Donner blurted, and glanced at David, as if for confirmation.  “Is this true, Gray?”

David nodded numbly.  “Yes, it’s … true.  There are two bodies at the washout.”

“Why didn’t you kids tell me before?” Donner demanded.  “Why’d you run from me?”  He raked a hand through his hair.  “Wait a minute—is that what fell into the water before?  It was big…”

Zack nodded.  “We were trying to pull one of the bodies out, but lost our grip and it fell back in.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about the bodies then?” Donner demanded angrily.  “We could have helped you.  You both could have been badly hurt trying to run away.”

Holly moved closer to her stepfather, glad for his close proximity and support.  “Because,” she said adamantly, moving even closer to David, “because … we figured you might be the killer.”

“Holly,” Zack whispered in her ear, “I can’t believe you basically accused Donner of being a murderer.”

She shrugged.  “I had to do something.  David was grilling me and … Donner was looking at us as if we were criminals.   I just didn’t know what else to do.  You have to admit, it shut him up pretty quick.”

Zack conceded the point with a nod.  “What do you think is going to happen next?”

The teens were currently sitting in David’s boat, which he had anchored just off the rock shelf at the slide where they had left the bodies.  The area was now teaming with law enforcement, who had been called to the area by Donner.  

The kids had watched as the little bodies had been loaded into a boat—their ultimate destination the coroner’s office.  Holly and Zack studied the water as unobtrusively as they could manage, wondering if Cassie, Erick, and Lucy were watching the activity from somewhere nearby.  She couldn’t even fathom what might be going through their minds at the moment. 

Was it relief?  Fear of the unknown to come?  She uttered a prayer for them, wishing them only the best after having experienced such horror in their short lives.

Holly wondered, had Erick and Lucy’s spirits left the lake yet?  Or would they hold on until they were told in no uncertain terms that the killer was dead and gone.

Divers continued to search the area for additional bodies, but the teens could have told them that there were no other bodies hidden here.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t tell them how they had obtained that knowledge.

Holly was beginning to think she had been wrong about Donner.  He certainly didn’t behave like a guilty man, as he directed new arrivals to various points along the rock shelf, instructing them to take care with the scene.  Holly wondered how much evidence they could find, since it seemed likely the water had probably washed away anything of importance.    

Holly realized that had Donner been the killer, he likely wouldn’t have called in law enforcement so promptly.  His willingness to make that call post haste lent him greater credibility in Holly’s eyes.  Apparently, Zack’s too, whose thoughts were in sync with hers.

“I don’t think Donner is the killer,” he said softly.

“I don’t think so either,” she responded.  “Maybe the Search and Rescue guy is the killer.  He’s awfully quiet.”

They glanced over at John, who was sitting still and silent in the Marine Patrol boat.  The expression on his face was grim, his features set in a terse, pained line. He wrung his hands together, apparently anguished by the discovery of the bodies of two small children in the reservoir.  Or, was he?

“I wonder why he isn’t helping with the search,” Holly commented and Zack shrugged.

“Who knows?  We’ll keep an eye on him.”

“I wonder how our friends are doing?” Holly said.  “I still can’t fathom the killer keeping mementos in his shed like that—and to think they’ve been there, right under David’s nose.”

Zack shrugged.  “The killer probably believed he’d never be caught.  He had to be a fairly cautious psychopath, in order to have concealed so many bodies for so long.”

“So the police are convinced that the former owner of David’s cabin is the murderer then?” Holly said.

Zack nodded.  “I heard that guy over there…”  He pointed at a tall, bald man in glasses.  “He said the guy, Cleve Walker, is likely the killer.  But he said they couldn’t be certain until all the evidence was in and the investigation is completed.”

Holly met his gaze.  “How do we get them to search under the bridge?” she wondered aloud.

“We don’t have to do anything,” Zack told her, pointing at a boat that was leaving the slide and heading toward the bridge.  “I heard Donner tell some guy to send two divers to the bridge.”

“So our ruse about finding the locket paid off,” Holly murmured, and then she frowned.  “Is it too deep for them to dive there?”

Zack shrugged.  “I don’t really know.  Let’s hope not.”

Holly reached for his hand.  “We don’t have to worry.  Cassie will find a way…”

Zack nodded sadly.  “Yes, I’m sure she will.  She’ll carry a body up if that’s what it takes.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Holly said with certainty, watching the scene unfold around her as if she were a player in a movie.  It was surreal, sad, and she hoped, soon to be over.

The teens sat silently, each lost to their respective thoughts.  Holly watched David interact with the other officers, as Donner continued to commandeer the scene.  If there was someone in a position of authority over him, Holly couldn’t tell it.  It became clearer with each passing moment that she had been wrong about him.  He couldn’t have been the killer.  He simply didn’t act like someone with a guilty conscience.  But then, if he was a psychopath, he could fool them all.

But John…  He hadn’t uttered a single word since Donner had followed David back to the slide.

Suddenly, there was a good deal of commotion coming from the shore.  A young cop, dressed in black shorts and a gray Marine Patrol shirt, began gesturing from his position near a large, fallen log. 

“I wonder what he’s found,” Holly said, turning to watch him.

Zack squinted to see, finally standing and peering intently at the young cop. 

“What did you find?” Donner called out.

“A toy car!” the cop told him.

“Take care with it as you bag it and tag it,” Donner instructed.

“You bet, lieutenant!” the young man called.

Holly and Zack turned toward one another, their eyes widened in shock.  “Donner is a lieutenant!” Holly said, incredulous.    

“Apparently so,” Zack murmured, and then dropped heavily onto the seat beside her.  “I bet the toy car belonged to Erick.”

Holly nodded and met his gaze.  Zack’s crisp blue eyes reflected his pain.  Holly well understood he was thinking about a little boy who would never play with that car again—whose life had been ended tragically by a monster.