“I know this tunnel. It curves and bends then splits into four. One of the tunnels joins three others and lead to the Swirling Cave.” Nootau took the ball of twine and let it out as he moved deeper into the tunnel. “If we get close, you’ll hear the whispers, like sirens calling a soul to their death.”
Rowley shuddered. “I can’t wait.”
“The Swirling Cave fills with water from the falls.” Atohi fell into step beside him. “It comes through fissures in the rocks from many directions and the water spirals like it’s going down the drain in a sink.”
The memory of Sophie Wood’s pale floating body filtered into Rowley’s mind and coldness closed around him. “And it sucks a person over the falls.”
“Yeah, bears too.” Atohi searched the ground below their feet. “The current must be powerful, so you must keep clear of any water. Things change in these caves depending on the weather.” He stopped and aimed his flashlight at what looked like a cobweb. “Look here.”
Rowley turned his flashlight toward what had caught Atohi’s interest. In the beam something glistened. “Is that hair?” He moved closer and dragged a surgical glove from his pocket. “Don’t touch. It might be evidence.” He snagged the hairs and they broke in his fingers. “No, they’re just cobwebs.”
“If she was in Dead Man’s Drop, she had to have been here.” Atohi looked at him. “Maybe she holed up here?”
“I don’t think so. It would have been frightening for a young girl alone.” Nootau frowned. “Do you believe the man who set the explosive brought her here?”
The bruises on Sophie and the zip-tie around her ankle made sense now. The cruelty she must have endured was coming to light. Rowley nodded. “Yeah, it sure looks that way but somehow she got away from him.”
The whispers and strange sounds came at them in a relentless pace. Critters scampered away, red eyes reflecting in the beams from their flashlights and with each step darkness closed in behind them. It was like being trapped in an elevator with strange smells and unrecognizable music. Rowley could almost feel the threat in the caves, it seemed to come in waves of strange breezes and sounded so much like someone whispering it made the hairs stand up on his flesh. He searched the ground and the walls with each step and noticed Atohi doing the same but the solid rock gave no more clues until they moved over a patch of soil. In the damp earth that had spilled down from a gap in the cave roof, he made out indistinct marks. He laid a h
and on Nootau’s shoulder for him to stop. He bent and took photographs with his phone before they moved on.
Stink filled the air and the foul odor smelled as if a sewerage pipe had burst close by. Something was very wrong. Rowley had lived in Black Rock Falls all his life and he’d smelled blood and death in the forest but this stench was man’s doing. Ahead the tunnel bent sharply to the left. They stopped as one and looked at each other. Rowley’s heart picked up a beat and he indicated to them to turn off their flashlights and be silent. The non-stop moaning coming on the foul breeze surrounded them like an entity and Nootau’s stories suddenly made a whole lot of sense. He drew his weapon and indicated to them he would go first. Atohi, Nootau, and Mingan vanished into the shadows behind him. Holding his flashlight down the barrel of his Glock, he kept close to the wall of the cave and moved forward, step by step, into the darkness. He held his breath as he turned the corner, aware a monster might be waiting in the gloom to kill them all.
Thirty-Four
A somber mood had descended on the team as Kane followed Wolfe into his office for the results of the tests he’d conducted on the blue Ford sedan and the evidence taken from John Cleaves house. As they pulled up chairs around his desk, Emily jumped up from his office chair and set about brewing coffee. Kane pulled out his notebook and flicked through the pages. He looked up at Wolfe, who was accessing files on his computer. “The mud on John Cleaves boots, did you have any luck with getting a location?”
“It’s from the local area and we know he was there watching the blaze.” Wolfe narrowed his gaze. “The sample of C-4 was much more interesting. It is the same batch used in the explosion and the same used in the DC bombings.”
“So, does this prove the bomber is John Cleaves?” Jenna shot a look at Kane. “The one who took the video of the house burning.”
“Not necessarily.” Wolfe looked from one to the other. “They make a great deal of C-4 and the same batch could be widespread but the batch number on the wrapping tells me it’s at least five years old.” He leaned back in his chair. “The analysis matches the batch used in the DC bombings.”
“This surprises me.” Carter moved his toothpick to the corner of his mouth. “I’d have to check on distribution but I can’t imagine the same batch appearing in different states and used for a crime. That is way too coincidental.”
Kane allowed the interview with Cleaves to run through his mind. “Cleaves was charged for stealing it from his workplace, right?”
“Yeah but what is military C-4 doing at a mine’s supply depot?” Carter removed his hat, scratched his head with both hands and looked at him with a bewildered expression. “What is it with this part of the country? I’ve investigated weird stuff before but nothing that happens here follows the normal course of events. Since I arrived, it’s like I’ve walked into another dimension.” He held out a hand to take the coffee Emily offered him with a nod and gave an exasperated grunt. “It’s as if we have two separate halves of one man. Cleaves knows explosives, is in possession of C-4, is excited by fires, and then we have Suffolk, who is threatening and has a fondness for underage girls. Put them together and we have a solid suspect.”
Kane smiled. “Yeah the cases get a little twisted around here and don’t discount Harvey Haralson and Simon Dexter, any of them could be involved.”
“We haven’t discussed the possibility of two men being involved either.” Jenna stared at the ceiling and sighed. “What if Haralson is in it up to his eyes? He might be the follower. We’ve seen psychopaths with men who admire them and go along just to be involved in something exciting. The bomber could have used him to steal the vehicle and, Haralson was on his way to dump it when Kane pulled him over.” She dropped her gaze and looked at him. “We need to look closer at Haralson and Dexter.”
“The blue Ford is likely the vehicle used to transport Sophie.” Wolfe glanced at his watch. “I’m waiting for the DNA result and it won’t take too much longer to confirm.” He sipped his coffee and sighed. “The prints in the vehicle belonged to Haralson, so he wasn’t taking precautions or didn’t have time to wipe the vehicle clean. It was wiped down prior to him returning it because I didn’t find the owner’s prints anywhere. However, I did find hairs in the back seat and blood. The hairs are the same color as Sophie’s and the blood will give us proof one way or the other. The mud on the tires is from Stanton Forest and it contains small amounts of gravel, so I would assume it was driven on a fire road during the time it was missing.”
“If Harvey Haralson took it from opposite the Triple Z Bar and drove it into town, he wouldn’t have been anywhere near a fire road.” Jenna looked at Kane. “The Whispering Caves are deep in the forest but since they cut the new fire roads, he could have gotten closer than before. I bet there’s easy access to them by foot now.”
Kane smiled at her. “I looked into the area last night. There are trails that hikers have used for years to the area but if he followed one of the fire roads we took to get to the lake, it would be an easy walk to the caves from there. The old trails are signposted as restricted but that wouldn’t stop a killer.”
“Hmm.” Jenna drummed her fingers on the desk. “Rowley was heading up there to take a look this morning. It will be interesting to see what he finds.”
A buzzer sounded and Wolfe stood and headed for the door. Kane stared after him. “That must be the results.”
“I hope Rowley didn’t head up there alone.” Jo looked anxious. “This killer is dangerous. One young deputy will be no match for him.”
Kane barked a laugh. “He’s highly skilled.”
“And he has Atohi, his grandfather, and a friend with him, they’ll be fine.” Jenna sipped her coffee. “He’ll check in every half an hour but I’m not sure if he’ll get any bars inside the catacombs.”