27. December, Present Day

CHAPTER 27

DECEMBER, PRESENT DAY

B efore Andi and Duke turned around, something up ahead caught her attention.

“Duke . . .” she murmured.

He followed her gaze and grunted.

They walked several steps farther before stopping at a clearing. A set of tire tracks stretched there.

Andi watched as Duke kneeled to examine them. “Based on the size of the tires and the distance between the wheels, these tracks most likely belong to a UTV.”

“You think someone took off with Caleb?” she asked. “Had the UTV waiting here?”

“It’s a theory.” Duke rose. “We need to go check the garage. See how many vehicles the camp has and if they’re all accounted for.”

Andi nodded. “Assuming they keep the door locked . . . we need to talk to Juniper first to get access. Come on, we don’t have any time to waste.”

Quickly, she and Duke trudged back through the snow to the lodge.

Juniper looked up with hopeful eyes as they walked in.

Andi quickly shook her head to let her know there were no updates.

Juniper’s shoulders instantly sagged.

“We need to see your UTVs.” Duke got right to the point.

“What?” Surprise filled Juniper’s gaze. “Why?”

“We think Caleb left on one—though we don’t know if it was by his own free will or not,” Duke explained.

Juniper gasped, and her hand flew over her mouth. “No . . .”

Andi squeezed her arm, trying to offer a measure of comfort. “I know that’s hard to hear, but we don’t have any time to waste right now. We need to figure out if this was one of the camp’s UTVs or if we’re dealing with an outsider.”

Her eyes widened as the reality of what they were asking seemed to hit. “Of course. Uncle Tim is probably the best one to talk to—other than Caleb.” Her voice cracked.

“Can you radio him and have him meet us at the garage?” Duke asked.

“I’ll do that now.”

“And call the cops,” Duke muttered. “I know you don’t want to, but you need to. Caleb’s life could be on the line.”

Her skin pale, Juniper grabbed her phone and nodded.

“They’re going to tell you not to let anyone leave,” Duke continued. “Do your best to stop people. Everyone here should officially be questioned to see if they know anything.”

“Got it.” But Juniper’s voice wavered as she said the words.

Tim was waiting at the garage when they arrived. He was already counting the UTVs and comparing the license numbers with those on a clipboard. The camp didn’t have a large fleet—probably only eight, so checking didn’t take long.

“All the vehicles are accounted for.” He pulled his gaze away from the list and looked at them. “None are missing.”

Did that mean someone who didn’t live at the camp had shown up and abducted Caleb? Andi nibbled on her bottom lip. Was that what had also happened the day Calvin and Mary were killed?

Tim turned toward them, a frown forming deep creases at the corners of his mouth. “What now?”

“We wait for the police to get here,” Duke said. “They have resources we don’t. In the meantime, do you have any idea where the trail behind Caleb’s cabin leads?”

Tim stared into the distance as if thinking through the question. “Well, they could pretty much go anywhere from there. They could follow the pipeline to the White Mountains. From there, there are numerous trails. It would be nearly impossible to track someone or to catch them at that point.”

“That’s too bad.” Duke rubbed his chin as if he didn’t like that answer.

Tim continued to stare at them. “You really think someone took Caleb?”

“Either that, or Caleb disappeared and took someone with him,” Duke said. “But considering the fact a UTV from off campus was used, I’m thinking someone took Caleb.”

“Why would anyone do that?” Tim fisted his hands at his sides, his expression hardening. “What exactly has that guy gotten himself caught up in?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out also,” Andi said.

Tim’s gaze sharpened. “I thought you were here to try to figure out who killed Calvin and Mary.”

“We are,” Andi said. “Now Pepper is dead also. Right now, we don’t know how or if everything is connected.”

“What if Caleb had something to do with their deaths?” Tim practically spit out the words as if they disgusted him. “What if we let him stay here all this time, welcoming him into our homes when all along he’s been a killer?”

Andi didn’t know what to say, so she let his words hang in the air.

Relief filled Duke when he saw Gibson pull up to the camp.

Their friend looked serious as he climbed from his SUV and strode toward them as they all waited in the lobby of the lodge.

He paused when he reached them and glanced back and forth between Duke and Andi. “Someone is missing?”

Duke explained the situation to him.

Gibson clucked his tongue with each new detail. “I don’t like hearing that.”

“Believe me,” Duke muttered. “We don’t like sharing it.”

“I take it you’ve all already done your own investigation?” Gibson stared at them, his expression making it clear he already knew the answer.

“We did what we could,” Duke said. “We think either someone grabbed Caleb, managed to subdue him, and then took off with him in a UTV toward the White Mountains. Or Caleb grabbed someone and took off. There’s no telling where he might be right now.”

“And you have no idea why someone might have done this?”

“I have a couple of theories,” Andi said. “Either Caleb was involved in Pepper’s murder, or Caleb was involved in Calvin and Mary’s murders. Because of that, he wanted to run now that we’re here investigating.”

“There is a third possibility,” Duke said. “Something could be going on here at the camp separate from last year’s murders, and Caleb is caught up in that.”

They gave Gibson the note they’d found and then ran through the details of what had been happening.

Gibson shook his head as they finished. “I’m going to need to talk to Ms. Burrows again.”

“Juniper is in her office on the other side of the lodge,” Andi said. “I can take you to her.”

“That would be great.”

“If it’s okay, while you two do that, I’d like to wander the property,” Duke told them. “I want to take another look at things.”

There wasn’t anything specific. But he wanted to get a better feel for this place and see if there was anything he’d missed earlier.

“Of course,” Andi said. “Don’t forget that the Carswells are coming later.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” He watched as Andi and Gibson walked toward the dining area where everyone had gathered.

As soon as Andi and Gibson disappeared from sight, Duke headed out to survey the property.

He stopped by the pen where the reindeer were kept. They were acting uneasy, pacing with skittering gazes.

They must sense something was wrong, he realized.

He paused to watch them. The creatures were majestic. They really were. If only they could speak. Maybe they had seen something.

This was also the area where they’d discovered Pepper’s body. Crime scene tape still formed a square in the area where she’d been found, partly tied to the fence and partly to metal stakes in the ground.

Her death was still a mystery to him.

The method of her death didn’t match that of the December Dismemberer. That seemed to point to the idea that two different killers were at play here—not a comforting thought.

The hard part in situations like this was that snow and ice could obscure so many clues. When Duke had worked this one case with the Army CID, his team had to wait until the landscape began to thaw out in the spring before they could uncover evidence without damaging it. Sure, they could use heat lamps. But that wasn’t ideal for preserving fibers and other possible evidence.

He squinted as he looked down at the snow. What was that?

He leaned closer and realized it was some kind of glitter. The particles were contained to a small, two-foot-by-two-foot area. He was certain the specks hadn’t been there yesterday.

Almost like . . . fairy dust.

He scoffed at himself. Fairy dust? To make the reindeer fly?

Yeah, right.

If that was what the substance was, then it had to be a gimmick given to a child who’d then come over to the reindeer pen.

This didn’t have anything to do with Pepper’s death.

He frowned.

But what if it did? He needed to keep this finding in the back of his mind . . .