“I have something.” He paused and looked over one shoulder. “Here.” He indicated to a strand of pink thread caught on the lower branches of a Douglas fir. “See? And strands of hair here on the ninebark.” He pointed to a shrub at the base of the tree. “Do you want me to keep following Duke, Jenna?”
“Sure.” Jenna pulled on gloves, and then used her cellphone camera to take photographs before removing the evidence and waiting for Kane to mark the site with flags. “What do you figure could lure a teenager here in the middle of the night?”
“Search me. It looks as if she pushed her way through the bushes. Maybe she was following someone? But there’s no evidence of another person coming this way.” Kane placed the flags, and then straightened. “Did you ask her mother if a flashlight had gone missing from the house?”
Jenna shook her head. “No, but I will.”
At the sound of Duke’s loud bark, they both turned and stared into the distance, but the winding trail had hidden Atohi and Duke from view. Ahead, the twisted dark branches lining each side of the trail, combined with the rumble of thunder overhead, painted a scene from a horror movie. Dread dropped over Jenna like a shroud and she swallowed hard. Memories of murder victims found in forests rushed to the front of her mind and she gripped Kane’s forearm. “Duke’s found something. I sure hope it’s not a body.”
“Nah.” Kane picked up the bag and headed along the dim path. “We’d have smelled a corpse by now unless he chopped her up and placed her in garbage bags.”
Jenna snorted. “Well that makes me feel a whole lot better.”
They’d wound their way another fifteen yards into the darkening woods when Duke came bounding back and sat at Kane’s feet. Jenna looked up at Kane in dismay. “What does that mean?”
“The trail must have gone cold just ahead.” Kane patted Duke on the head. “Stay.” He glanced at Jenna. “She must have come this far then vanished.”
Jenna smothered a chuckle. “Next you’ll be saying she was abducted by aliens.”
“Hold up.” Atohi came out of the gloom. “You’ll need a flashlight. The trail leaves this switchback in a few yards and goes into a clearing. I found signs of a struggle and a partial boot-mark in the mud. You’ll need Wolfe to take a look at it soon – I smell rain.”
Jenna unclipped the flashlight from her belt. “Later, show me what you’ve found. Don’t worry, we’ll take some pics and make a cast of the footprint before it starts raining.” She turned on the flashlight and followed Atohi into a small clearing.
“The ground here is disturbed, dirt kicked up.” Atohi pointed to a patch of long grass. “See, here it’s as if someone plucked at the grass, as if they’d gotten bored waiting for her to arrive.”
Jenna peered at the ground. “Shame he didn’t chew on it and spit it out, we’d have his DNA.”
“The branches are broken over here as well.” Kane moved his flashlight over the trees, then down onto the ground. “It’s too rocky here for any footprints.” He sighed. “More hair here on the branches. She put up a good fight.”
“Okay, photograph it, mark and bag it.” Jenna turned to Atohi. “Show me the footprint and I’ll make a cast.”
“I’d say he rendered her unconscious and carried her to his vehicle.” Kane marked then photographed each piece of evidence, then plucked fibers from the branches, bagged them and labeled each one. “That’s why Duke couldn’t track her from here.”
“Makes sense.” Jenna took photographs of the print. It was a heel of a boot for sure, with a distinctive circle in the center. “At last, one single shred of evidence. Check all the trees and shrubs; the kidnapper must have snagged his clothes or hair too.”
“Roger that.” Kane handed her the casting kit from his bag and went to work meticulously checking every square inch of the area.
Jenna finished making the casts as the first big splashes of rain bounced off the branches and splattered onto the forest floor. The small amount of remaining light vanished, plunging them into total darkness. The smell of rain and damp vegetation closed in around her. Zigzag lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating them all for a split second, then the ground beneath her boots shook as if angry that someone had taken another girl against her will.
The sky opened up and rain poured down in sheets, slicing through the trees and forming little rivers around her feet. Squirrels bounded across the ground then scampered up trees to take shelter. The sky alternated between day and night with each flash of lightning. Jenna pulled up the hood of her jacket then gathered up the evidence bags. She hated storms and wanted to get out from under the trees as fast as possible. “We can’t do any more here. Let’s get back to the house and see if Wolfe has found any clues.”
“Roger that.” Kane waved at Atohi. “You coming?”
“Yeah, shame about the rain, it’s washed away the evidence.” Atohi followed behind them. “Just as well you took a cast of that print, Jenna.”
“Yeah, it looks unusual with that circle in the heel.” Jenna glanced down at the bag in her hand. “We should be able to determine the brand by that mark; it may be the breakthrough we’ve been looking for at last.” She turned into the switchback and stared at the place they’d left Duke. “Now Duke’s missing.”
“He’ll be hiding under my truck.” Kane smiled at her. “He’s obedient right up to the first clap of thunder, and then it’s every dog for itself. He trembles with fear; it makes me wonder what happened in his past to make him so scared.”
“Ah, I remember what happened. As you know, we raised Duke on the res. He was washed away in a storm as a pup.” Atohi shrugged. “My cousin came close to drowning saving him from the falls.” He glanced at Kane. “Dogs have long memories, but he won’t leave your side if you’re injured and gunshots don’t bother him.”
“That’s good to hear, about the not leaving me if I’m injured, I mean.” Kane grimaced. “Not good about him near drowning. No wonder he hates having a bath.”
“Most dogs hate having a bath.” Atohi smiled. “Jenna, do you want me to stow the evidence bags in Wolfe’s van?”
The wind howled and the rain came down so hard Jenna could hardly hear him. She turned and handed him the bags. “Yeah, thanks.”
“I’ll wait in the van, no need for us all to go dirtying up Mrs. Braxton’s house.” Atohi jogged out the woods and into the storm.