Chapter 49

CHAPTER 49

“ J ared went to the hospital to visit one of his coworkers who was in a car accident,” Gibson told them. “We already confirmed his story, and it’s true.”

“I thought he went into Emmett’s room?” Andi said.

“If you look at the video, a nurse walks in front of him as he’s headed down the hallway,” Gibson explained. “It’s hard to tell exactly where he went. His friend’s room was right beside Emmett’s.”

Andi fought a frown. She’d hoped to get somewhere with this case, to find some type of answer.

Jared could still be a suspect, she supposed.

“Thanks for letting us know,” Duke said.

“Of course,” Gibson said. “We did find one thing that was interesting.”

Andi sat up straighter. “What’s that?”

“We looked through some of the photos Barb had posted on social media.”

“Barb is the woman who fell through the ice, right?” Duke clarified.

“That’s right. She was a nature photographer. Anyway, we were just doing our due diligence. But one of the photos she took at the camp was of the northern lights with the reindeer.”

“So what about it caught your eye?” Duke’s gaze narrowed with thought.

“If you blow it up and look in the background, you can see someone walking in the woods behind the reindeer.”

“What’s suspicious about that exactly?” Andi tried to put things together in her mind.

“It appears to be a man with a bag. Based on the way he’s glaring at the camera, I think he was up to no good.”

Andi’s breath caught.

“Could you tell from the photo if he was doing something wrong?” Duke asked.

“No, we couldn’t. But if the person who was photographed knew that photo could later be used as evidence, they may have wanted to silence Barb. Maybe they feared she saw more than she did, so they wanted to keep her quiet.”

“She’s still alive, right?” Andi didn’t want to ask the question, but she had to.

“She’s fine, but she already left to go back home. Apparently, she said she’d had enough of Alaska.”

That move may have saved her life.

“Can you tell who this guy was?” Andi held her breath as she waited for Gibson’s response.

“As a matter of fact, we can,” Gibson said. “He’s Caleb Brinley.”

Duke’s thoughts raced as they headed back to the camp.

He reminded himself to stay focused on the road. It was slick, and the snow had started to fall again. He couldn’t afford to be distracted.

“So is Caleb Brinley the one behind these murders?” Andi’s question echoed Duke’s own thoughts. “He was at the camp last year when Calvin and Mary were killed. He was there when Pepper was found dead.”

“And we can’t forget the fake blood found in his cabin along with that mysterious note,” Duke said.

“Maybe we’re looking at it wrong,” Andi suggested. “Maybe Caleb wrote that note to give to someone else, and he just hadn’t delivered it yet. What did it say again? I’ve got to hand it to you, you’ve made a real mess of things. You’ve got one chance to make it right. Don’t make me tear you apart.”

Duke nodded slowly. “You could be right. Everything does seem to point to him. The fact he’s using a false identity only confirms our theory.”

Caleb Brinley from Montana didn’t exist. Without knowing what his true name was, it would be hard to track his history. To see where he’d been living over the past several years. To see if he might be responsible for the other murders.

He was definitely their number one suspect right now.

Then there was Tim. The fact he’d disappeared was also suspicious.

But what if Tim had caught on to what Caleb was doing? What if he’d gone to confront Caleb, and Caleb had threatened him?

The signs of struggle they’d seen in the snow behind Caleb’s cabin could have been Caleb forcing Tim to an awaiting UTV.

Caleb could have done something to Tim.

Right now, this was their most plausible theory. The fact they didn’t know where Caleb was only solidified that thought.

“Why?” Duke asked aloud. “Why would Caleb do this? I mean, other than the fact that maybe he’s a little psycho. But even psychos usually have some reason for why they choose who they do.”

Andi nibbled on her lip before shaking her head. “That is something I don’t know, especially since we don’t know anything about Caleb’s past, including his real name. But maybe there’s some type of link we’ve missed.”

“I still get the sense as well that there’s something Juniper isn’t telling us. I’m just not sure why she would be hiding something, considering the stakes.”

“I agree. I’ve thought that from the start. And I’m still thinking about the birth certificate I saw. About the fact Juniper’s parents had trouble conceiving. That they moved here from New York twenty years ago. They may have had some secrets of their own.”

“It looks like we have more investigating to do.”

Andi nodded. “But first, we need to get back to the camp—in one piece.” She groaned. “Poor word choice.”

Right as she said the words, the SUV lost traction again.

This time, Duke quickly gained control of the vehicle, and they continued down the road.

It would be a tense drive. But he was anxious to check in with everyone to see if they’d discovered anything.

They only had twenty-four more hours to figure out who the next victim might be and to stop this killer.