Jenna kept the cellphone to her ear. “You had your hands in your pockets the entire time you spoke to me. I don’t think you dropped them here. Maybe try looking closer to your truck.” She sighed. “I would come out and help you but I have to take this call. Kane is only a few minutes away and will give you a hand when he arrives.”
“It’s okay, here they are.” The doctor held up the keys. “They were in my pocket. Silly me. Sorry to have troubled you.” She trudged back to her truck, started the motor and drove away.
“Has she gone?” The sound of Kane’s engine had stopped.
Surprised the woman had unnerved her to such an extent, Jenna heaved a long sigh of relie
f. “Yeah, where are you?”
“Outside the office. I’m heading home now.”
“Good.” Jenna peered out the window. “I’m not sure who she was calling, so I’ll be in the safe room just in case. Come get me.” The sound of a powerful motor filled Jenna’s ear as Kane headed his truck back out onto the highway. “I’ll stay on the line until you arrive. Drive safe.”
“Roger that.”
Twenty
Ella paced up and down before the roaring fire in Doug Paul’s man cave. She wished Sky’s family would listen to her and stop treating her as if she’d lost her mind. None of them seemed to be doing anything to find Sky. They all sat around waiting to hear news from the sheriff. The waiting was driving her nuts. She glared at Doug. Unlike his small sister, he was well built and athletic, but they had the same hair and eyes. “I figure I’ve waited long enough for search and rescue to find Sky. They have to be searching in the wrong place. I want to borrow your truck and look for her myself.”
“I’m not allowing you near my truck.” Doug glared at her. “Mom will have a fit if you go out there alone.”
Ella lifted her chin. “I won’t be alone. I met a guy online, a medical student, who says he will help me look for Sky. I’m meeting him later.”
“Do you honestly believe we could find her if search and rescue failed? Didn’t you watch the news? The sheriff had everyone available out looking and the news chopper was doing updates—they had fifty or more people on the ground. The deputies were on scene directing the search. Trust me, the sheriff is moving heaven and earth to find her.” Doug snorted. “You’re nuts if you figure you and some med student will find her in the middle of the night.”
“Well, at least I tried. Not like you sitting all cozy in front of the fire while Sky is out there freezing to death.” Ella walked across the room and pointed to a framed map of Black Rock Falls hanging on the wall. “How old is this map?”
“I’m not sure but it’s not a map, it’s one of my dad’s aerial shots.” He turned in the chair, making the leather upholstery moan, and stared at it. He gave it to me for my last birthday, so it’s not too old at all. Why?”
Ella peered at the image, then traced her finger along the highway. She pointed to a number of buildings scattered all over one side of the image. “What are all these buildings used for? Are they cattle ranches?”
“Nope. The place you said Sky disappeared is a mile from the industrial area of Black Rock Falls. The grasslands out that way are a honeycomb of abandoned goldmines and not many people use it for grazing. The buildings there are potteries, ironworks, a recycling yard and industrial machinery mostly.” He pointed to a group of six or eight buildings. “The only place up that way with any cattle is the meat processing plant. The cattle are trucked in then held in those fenced areas before processing.” He moved his finger to a huge building. “That’s the meat processing plant and here”—he slid his finger along the map—“is the fertilizer factory.” He turned and looked at her. “Why?”
Ella nodded. “Why hasn’t anyone mentioned searching the factories for Sky? All they mention is searching the highway, but I can see all these places are only a mile or so away from the highway. What if someone works night shifts at one of these places and he is the man who took Sky?”
“That’s unlikely at this time of year. All the factories are in shutdown over the holidays and they would have alarm systems. If Sky made it that far and I doubt it, she would have frozen to death. And anyway, someone would have found her by now.” He shook his head. “The news said the search and rescue chopper searched the entire area, and the team on the snowmobiles checked out all the factories.”
Ella gripped his arm. “She has to be in the area.”
“What makes you say that?” Doug leaned one shoulder against the wall. “He could have tossed her into his trunk and driven anywhere before you reported her missing. He had about nine hours’ start at least.”
Ella shook her head and gripped his arm tighter. “Then where is her car?” She lifted her chin and glared at him, trying to make him understand. “I saw one man. How did he move her car? One man can’t move two vehicles.”
“Yeah they can.” Doug strolled to the door to the garage. “Come here, I’ll show you.” He led the way through a door into a huge garage. “See this?” He pointed to a piece of machinery. “It’s called a towing frame or an A-frame. It attaches to the back of my truck and hooks up to the front of another vehicle or trailer. No driver required. It doesn’t take up much room in the trunk. Many people use them.”
“Okay.” Ella rubbed her arms against the chill. “But I think it was an ambush. Somehow he knew we would be there.”
“Out at midnight with a blizzard coming? No way.” Doug shook his head. “We didn’t know what time Sky would arrive until she called Mom from the Blackwater Roadhouse so how could the man who attacked her possibly find out?”
Ella shook her head. “I don’t know but I have this feeling she’s out there somewhere. We have to go find her.” She led the way back into his man cave and peered into the dancing flames in the hearth. “If I’m right, that man might have a place close by. He could be out waiting for another person to kill.” She turned to look at him. “I figure if we get there at the same time as he took Sky we might catch him. We’ll outnumber him and this time, you can take that.” She pointed to a shotgun in a rack on the wall. “He won’t be expecting us to fight back.”
“You’re in Montana.” Doug shook his head. “Most people carry weapons in their vehicles out here. If he is doing as you say, chances are he’d be dead by now.”
She glared at him. “Well, he was alive and well the last time I saw him. Take the shotgun.” She frowned. “And I have arranged to meet a guy named Jim. I can’t leave him out there to freeze his ass off waiting for me to arrive or turn on the news to discover the killer murdered him too.”
“Okay, I’ll take the gun. That area is a black hole for phone reception and you would be surprised how many people break down or are involved in a wreck within that one mile stretch. It’s like it’s cursed.” He stared down at her with a determined expression. “But if you must go, bundle up and meet me back here. I’ll grab some blankets in case we get stuck out there.”
Ella winced. “Do you figure we’ll get caught in a blizzard?”