Burnt River (20 page)

“She may have been chased.”

They followed the arc of the meadow for a few minutes before entering the woods. Now that the overhead canopy was burned off, Macy could see straight up into the sky. She stayed close behind Aiden. There were no distinct landmarks, but he seemed to know where he was going. He talked about summers spent working for the forestry department back when he was in high school.

“I used to know this area quite well, but it’s difficult to make sense of it with all this devastation.” He accidently brushed against the smoldering remains of a fallen tree. The white ash flaked away, revealing red-hot coals. He took a sip of water and indicated that Macy should do the same. “I’ve never seen it so dry.”

Macy nodded in agreement. She could barely breathe, let alone speak. The trail dipped and they had to negotiate a narrow ledge that zigzagged down the steep sides of a ravine. At the base there was a streambed choked with debris. Charred tree stumps and boulders ringed an onyx pool. Macy had already been e-mailed crime scene photos, so she recognized the site. The water was so saturated with ash that nothing was visible aside from Lindsay Moore’s face. Her expression was empty. There was no panic, no last agonized scream for help. It looked like she’d simply shut her eyes and died.

Macy and the medical examiner, Ryan Marshall, had been working together for so long he rarely bothered with formalities.

“I’m not sure what happened here. A preliminary examination has revealed a wound in the left shoulder that I’m almost certain is from a gunshot. There are abrasions to her hands, which could be defensive wounds. Ligature marks to her wrists indicate she was tied up at some point. Time of death is almost impossible to assess given the extremes in temperature, but according to Aiden the fire passed through here between five and six Tuesday afternoon.”

“Do we have a cause of death?”

“I don’t believe the wound to her shoulder was life-threatening. I’m leaning toward smoke inhalation. We’ll have to do more tests to be sure.”

Aiden looked up at the cliff edge. “She may have lost her way and stepped right over the side of the cliff.”

Ryan nodded. “She might have been sheltering in the stream when the fire passed over. She wouldn’t have been the first person to try it.”

Toward the east Macy could just make out the Flathead Valley. “Did you find her cell phone?”

“We’re just about to check the water. We had a couple of guys crawling around on their hands and knees doing a fingertip search near her vehicle. They came up with nothing.”

“I want your team to have another look at her vehicle. I think an accelerant was used.”

“You’re the boss.”

“If that were the case, I’d be home with my feet up. Aiden, how hot did you say it’s supposed to get today?”

“Somewhere around a hundred and two.”

Ryan opened the collar of his protective suit. “It hit a hundred and two in this suit some time ago. We need to get moving or we’re going to have a few more fatalities on our hands.”

Macy looked down the length of the ravine. “She may have been looking for this ravine. It heads right out into the valley.”

“That makes sense.”

Macy knelt down next to the water. It was a long drop from the cliff top. “Lindsay would have run if she could. I’m thinking she was hurt in the fall.”

Ryan started to slip out of his suit. “We’ll know soon enough.”

“We have to get hold of her phone records. She must have had a good reason to come out here.”

*   *   *

Aiden and Macy hiked out of the ravine in silence. He’d increased his pace and she was having difficulty keeping up. She tried to disguise it, but couldn’t keep her breathing even.

She caught up with him as they were heading downhill. “Aiden, I know you’re not pleased about finding out about Lindsay this way, but I want to be clear. Until last night I had no idea she was working in Wilmington Creek.”

“There’s no need for you to apologize. That’s Ray’s job.”

“Then it might be a long wait. He doesn’t apologize.”

“How long have you known him?”

“Ray? Going on twelve years. He recruited me.”

“I should have guessed something was up with Lindsay.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I saw them together.”

“When was this?”

“Early May. It was late and I pulled him over for speeding. It was a bit of a surprise to find the captain of the state police slumming it this far north. Lindsay was his passenger. He didn’t tell me that she was a cop, so naturally I thought it was something else.”

“You thought they were having an affair?”

“A married man alone with an attractive woman at that hour. What else was I supposed to think?”

“Well, you were wrong.”

Aiden turned and looked her full in the face. “A little piece of advice. You should stop sleeping with your boss.”

“That’s out of order.”

“You’re the one that’s out of order.”

“Were you watching me?”

“You weren’t exactly discreet. Your hotel is a block away from my office. Your door opens onto Main Street.”

Her mind flashed to the man sitting on the diving board. “And you happened to be sitting outside?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I was dropping off the transcripts from the interviews the team did up at Crawley’s place. When I saw you had company, I headed home.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Is Ray Davidson the guy you were telling me about the other night?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s exactly what I think.”

“Is our working together going to be a problem?”

“If Lindsay’s house hadn’t been burned down, would you have told me about her being up here?”

“Of course I would have, but Lindsay had gone off radar so I had to act fast. Ray wanted to know if he should be worried.”

“So he sends his girlfriend over to have a snoop around.”

“Look, it’s one thing to be critical of my private life, but don’t you dare tell me how to do my job. I’m damn good at this. I’ve earned the right to be here. I’m nobody’s girlfriend when I’m working.”

Aiden dug his hands deep in his pockets. “Hey, I apologize. That was out of order.”

“Your problems with Ray aren’t recent, are they?”

“They’re not problems. I just don’t like the guy’s style. He’s too political for me.”

Macy stepped past him. “I never said he was a saint.”

“I never said I was either.”

“Then let’s just drop it. Lindsay was trying to track Ethan Green down and has ended up dead. Like it or not, he’s now a suspect.”

“Given the history between Green and Jeremy Dalton, it’s something to think about.”

“Do you know why they fell out? From what Jeremy said, they used to be friends.”

“There are rumors, but no one knows for sure. Some people said it was personal, others said it was political. Ethan formed his militia in the midseventies. There should still be a copy of his original manifesto in our files. He opposed government intervention and the private ownership of productive land. Jeremy’s family was the largest landowner in the valley. Needless to say, they didn’t see eye to eye. But it didn’t come to a head until the government laid siege to Randy Weaver’s family home up on Ruby Ridge.”

“Why was that a point of contention?”

“Jeremy Dalton came out strongly in support of the government’s response, while Ethan Green considered it to be a declaration of war.”

“Has Jeremy’s line softened at all? Ruby Ridge was a gross misuse of authority, and the siege resulted in the deaths of Randy Weaver’s son and wife, both of whom were completely innocent. I can’t see how anyone can defend how it was handled.”

“Waco was just as bad. Nobody seems to have learned anything.”

“How many homicides do you have up here in an average year?”

“One, maybe two, but that’s in the whole valley.”

“What are the odds that these two cases aren’t related?”

“Slim to none.”

“Maybe Lindsay found Ethan Green after all.”

“She sure stirred up some trouble if she did.”

“Has his militia disbanded?”

“There was a power struggle and the New Montana Militia re-formed under different leadership. Ethan was sidelined. He took a few loyal people with him, but the numbers stayed low. After Oklahoma, membership declined further. It’s only been in the last few years that there has been renewed interest in joining these groups.”

“So Ethan Green has been mobilizing people?”

“Like I said, last summer he went off the radar completely. Is this informant you’ve got on the highway patrol officer case reliable?”

“I can’t say, as I don’t handle him, but I’m making some enquiries. What about that compound Ethan was living in? Is the land still in his name?”

“Barely. He’s behind in paying property taxes. I hear it may be going up for auction.”

“Have you been out there recently?”

“No, it’s been at least a year.”

“So what was the other reason?”

“Pardon?”

“You said there may have been a personal reason for Ethan and Jeremy falling out.”

“There have always been rumors going around about Annie and Ethan. People say they were having an affair, but then again, they say a lot of things about Annie. She’s never been all that popular around here.”

Macy raised an eyebrow. “Given that John was worried Jeremy wasn’t his real father, that could be significant.”

“It certainly puts that text message Annie received from John’s phone in a new light.”

They stepped out into the meadow and picked their way across the churned-over earth of a recently dug fire line. Even though the sun was in full force it was cooler out in the open. About two hundred yards farther on Macy could see the light reflecting off the windshields of their cars. She focused her mind on the last Diet Coke in her cooler. It was the only thing that kept her going.

“You said a fire crew found the body.”

“They were assisting us with the search.”

“Find out if any of the guys that found Lindsay’s body is named Nick. You never know. The guy that was harassing Lana at The Whitefish was on a fire crew.”

“I’ll give them a call.”

Aiden slipped his phone out of his pocket, but Macy kept walking.

“If it’s okay with you, I’m going to go on ahead. I’ll pass out if I don’t get something cold to drink.”

Aiden caught up with her a few minutes later. She already had her engine running and the air conditioner set to the highest level. She handed him a water bottle from the cooler. “Looks like you need this.”

“We might have just gotten lucky. Nick Childs was part of the team that found the body. Apparently, he’s a dead ringer for the composite sketch. I’m having him and his friend Peter Lane brought in for questioning. I’ll send their photos over to Lana and Jean at The Whitefish for confirmation.”

“It would be a hell of a break.”

“Sometimes they make it easy for us. By the way, what did the guys from John Dalton’s platoon have to say?”

“Same story. John was sound. No disputes with anyone. Peacemaker, that kind of thing.”

Aiden’s phone rang. He put it to his ear and rubbed his eyes.

“Okay. Okay. I hear you. Put an APB out on his vehicle and have a team meet me out at the campsite where he’s been staying.” He hung up and looked at Macy. “Nick Childs took off about an hour ago, heading south. They ran a check on him. He’s a convicted felon. Sexual assault and armed robbery.”

“We’ve got a license number for his vehicle?”

“Yep, we’ll find him. His friend Peter Lane is on his way to the station for questioning.”

“I’ll head over now to question him,” said Macy as she climbed into her car. “Call me if anything interesting comes up at the campsite.”

17

Macy stopped at a vending machine on the way to the interview room. She’d gone by the hotel on the way into town to have a quick shower. Her hair was still wet so she was cold. It didn’t help that the air conditioner was switched to arctic. She punched in the code for a candy bar just as her phone rang. It was Aiden. She went and stood next to a window where there was a better signal. Sun was streaming in through the gaps in the blinds.

“Aiden, you should be able to hear me better now.”

“Loud and clear. Nick Childs was picked up a few miles north of Kalispell. They’ve taken him into custody. He didn’t have any firearms in his possession.”

“He could have dumped the gun anywhere between here and Kalispell.”

“I’m at the campsite now. He appears to have left in a hurry.”

“When can we question him?”

“Once he’s processed. They’re bringing him up.”

“That’s very accommodating.”

“It must be a slow day.”

“Have them check to see if he has a satellite navigation system in his vehicle. If it was switched on it might give us an indication of where he was on the night John was murdered.”

“Will do. By the way, it’s not a late-model V8. It’s a pickup truck.”

“Montana’s usual F-150?”

“You got it.”

“Ray texted me. He’ll be here in an hour to discuss the case in person.”

“Do you think he wants to apologize?”

“I already told you he doesn’t do that. I’m getting the feeling that the crime scene analysis has come up with something unexpected. I called to ask what was going on and was redirected to Ray.”

“And just when I thought things had gotten complicated enough.”

“They sent me the access codes for Lindsay’s case notes. From what I’ve seen so far it doesn’t look like she was even close to finding Ethan Green. She was convinced he was either dead or had moved away. We need further proof if we want to tie him to her death.”

“It would be nice if Nick Childs stepped up. What have you found out about him and his friend?”

Macy glanced at her notes. “They’re seasonal firefighters. Childs has been doing it for years, but Peter only signed on with the state this summer. Childs was working out at Waldo Canyon the afternoon Lindsay disappeared.”

“That could be a coincidence.”

“I did a couple summers on fire crews. It would have been difficult for him to slip off unnoticed.”

“We’ll talk to everyone on his team. What do they do the rest of the year?”