Page 80 of Race to Save Her

“A little over twenty-five acres.”

McGaven kept driving as the private road narrowed. There were tire tracks coming and going, so it was being used; the fine gravel crunched under the sedan’s tires as they slowly moved forward. The overgrowth became denser and made you feel as if you couldn’t tell where you were going. It was claustrophobic.

“Are you on the right road?” said Katie.

Trees and heavy brush surrounded them for a while longer until they finally drove into a small clearing with a modern log cabin. It wasn’t a large house by any means, but it appeared to have been built recently with new logs and fresh walkways. There was a small white older-model pickup truck parked.

“Did you know about this cabin?” she said.

“No. He made it seem like he was meeting us in a field. Nothing about a house.” McGaven pulled up in front. “Well, let’s see what’s going on,” he said.

The detectives got out of the car and slowly walked toward the entrance. There was no sound, which seemed odd. There were no other buildings, storages, or garage. It almost felt like they were in a soundproof area due to the surrounding trees, bushes, and foliage.

Katie shrugged and walked to the front door and knocked. She stepped to the side of the doorway and waited. She thought she heard movement, but wasn’t sure. McGaven made a wide walk around to see if there was anyone about. It was a place where they could easily be ambushed.

Katie knocked again and then eyed McGaven. She knew her partner felt a strange unease because she did too.

Still no answer, so Katie joined McGaven.

“What do you think?” she said, keeping watch.

“I think we’ve been played.”

“But why?” After she said that, she knew. That man, the killer she chased, was still a few steps ahead of them.

“Let’s look around,” McGaven said.

She nodded.

Katie went to the truck and casually looked in the windows. The vehicle was clean and empty. She touched the hood; it was cold. There was nothing in the bed. She decided to call in the license plate to find out the registered owner. As she waited for dispatch she kept a visual on McGaven, who slowly walked a grid, which she thought was interesting.

“Three-six-nine-two. The vehicle, a 2014 Toyota truck, is registered to a Martin Sills, PO Box 178, Pine Valley.”

“Thank you. Ten-four.” She met up with McGaven. “The truck is registered to Martin Sills.”

“So where is he?”

“Let’s look around more. I’ll take the cabin.”

Her partner nodded.

Katie walked cautiously and unholstered her weapon, but kept it pointed down—for now. There was a soft breeze blowing away from her, which caused movement in the trees and she could distinctly smell the fragrance of wild jasmine. It was nice and even a bit relaxing, but then the scent changed.

Katie went around the cabin to a small backyard with a wooden deck. She saw the evidence first before the smell. There was a shattered back window that had left glass on the decking with the heavy, distinct smell of a decomposing body. Covering her nose with one hand, she kept her weapon ready in the other.

She stepped onto the deck and moved toward the broken window—and that’s when she saw it. A dead body that had been there for a while on its side in the kitchen. Gases had built up during decomposition and the pressure ultimately exploded out, causing the window to shatter.

“Ugh,” said Katie and she turned to get her partner.

“What is it?” said McGaven, seeing her jog toward him. He hurried to meet her and stopped. “Oh,” he said knowing what it was.

“We have to call this in,” she said.

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know. I can’t tell if it’s male or female. It’s pretty bad.”

McGaven wrinkled his nose as they moved toward the truck. “If that’s Sills, then who did I talk to?”