Law enforcement ranger Annie Pederson rubbed her eyes after staring at the computer screen for the past two hours. She’d closed the lid on an investigation into a hit-and-run in the Kitchigami Wilderness Preserve, and she’d spent the past few hours finishing paperwork. It had been a grueling case, and she was glad it was over.
“I’ll be right back,” she told her eight-year-old daughter, Kylie, sitting on the floor of her office playing Pokémon Go on her iPad.
Kylie’s blonde head, so like Annie’s own, bobbed, too intent to respond verbally.
Kade Matthews looked up when Annie entered his office. Over the past few years he’d moved up and become head ranger. Kade’s six-feet-tall stocky frame and solid muscles exuded competence, and his blue eyes conveyed caring. Annie thanked the Lord every day for such a good boss. He was understanding when she needed time off with Kylie, and he let her know he valued her work and expertise. “Ready for a few days off?”
“Really? With all this work on your shoulders?”
He nodded. “I can handle it. I know this is a busy time for you.”
“I do have a lot of work to do out at the marina.”
Since her parents and husband died two years ago, she’d been tasked with running the Tremolo Marina and Cabin Resort. She managed with seasonal help and lots of her free time, but summer was always grueling. It was only June 3, and the season was off to a good start.
He cleared his throat, and his eyes softened. “I’m glad you stopped in. I didn’t want to send this report without talking to you first.”
“What report?” Her tongue felt thick in her mouth because she knew the likely topic.
“A child’s remains were found down around St. Ignace.”
It didn’t matter that it was so far. That route could have easily been chosen by the kidnapper. It was a common way to travel from lower Michigan to the U.P. “How old?”
“Five or six, according to the forensic anthropologist. I assume you want your DNA sent over for comparison?”
“Yes, of course.”
They’d been through this scenario two other times since she’d begun searching for answers, and each time she’d teetered between hope and despair. While she wanted closure on what had happened to her sister, she wasn’t sure she was ready to let go of hope. Though logically she knew her sister had to be dead. People didn’t take children except for nefarious purposes. Annie didn’t know how she’d react when word finally came that Sarah had been found.
Relief? Depression? Maybe a combination of the two. Maybe even a tailspin that would unhinge her. All these years later, and she still couldn’t think about that night without breaking into a cold sweat. Avoidance had been her modus operandi. Not many even knew about the incident. Kade did, of course. And Bree. Jon too. Probably some of the townspeople remembered and talked about it, too, but it had been long ago. Twenty-four years ago.
Nearly a quarter of a century and yet just yesterday. “How long before results are back on DNA?”
“Probably just a few days. With children they try to move quickly. I’ll get it sent over. You doing okay?”
She gave a vigorous nod. “Sure, I’m fine. I’ll file this report and get these pictures sent to you.”
“Bree told me to ask if you wanted a puppy, one of Samson’s. There’s a male that looks just like him.”
She smiled just thinking of her daughter’s delight. “Kylie has been begging for a puppy since we lost Belle. How much are they going for?”
The little terrier had died in her sleep a month ago at age sixteen, and they both missed her. Samson was a world-renowned search-and-rescue dog, and his pups wouldn’t come cheap. She ran through how much she had in savings. Maybe not enough.
“We get two free pups, and Bree told me she would give you one.”
“You don’t want to do that,” she protested. “You’d be giving up a lot of money.”
He shrugged. “We have everything we need. Head over there in the next few days, and you can take him home with you before our kids get too attached and bar the front door.”
She laughed. “Hunter says he’s marrying Kylie, so I think he will stick up for her.”
Kade and Bree’s little boy was four and adored Kylie. She was good with kids, and she loved spending time with the Matthews twins.
“You’re right about that. I’ll let Bree know you want him. He’s a cute little pup.”
“What are you doing with the other one?”
“Lauri has claimed her.”
Kade’s younger sister was gaining a reputation for search-and-rescue herself, and she already had a dog. “What about Zorro?”
“He’s developed diabetes, and Lauri knows he needs to slow down some. She wants a new puppy to train so Zorro can help work with him.”
“She might want the one that looks like Samson.”
“She wants a female this time.”
She glanced at her watch and rose. “I’ll get out of here. Thanks again for the puppy. Kylie will be ecstatic.”
She went back to her office. “Time for your doctor appointment, Bug.”
Kylie made a face. “I don’t want to go.”
At eight, Kylie knew her own mind better than Annie knew hers most days. She was the spitting image of Annie at the same age: corn silk–colored hair and big blue eyes set in a heart-shaped face. But Annie had never been that sure of herself. Her dad’s constant criticism had knocked that out of her.
She steered her daughter out the brick office building to the red Volkswagen crew-cab truck in the parking lot, then set out for town.
The old truck banged and jolted its way across the potholes left by this year’s massive snowfall until Annie reached the paved road into town. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere other than where the Snow King ruled nine months of the year. There was no other place on earth like Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With the Keweenaw Peninsula to the north and Ottawa National Forest to the south, there could be no more beautiful spot in the world.
Her devotion to this place had cost her dearly nine years ago, but every time she saw the cold, crystal-clear waters of the northernmost Great Lakes stretching to the horizon, she managed to convince herself it was worth it.
Part of the town’s special flavor came from the setting. Surrounded by forests on three sides, it had all the natural beauty anyone could want. Old-growth forests, sparkling lakes where fish thronged, and the brilliant blue of that Big Sea Water along the east side.
They drove through town, down Negaunee to Houghton Street to the businesses that comprised Rock Harbor’s downtown. The small, quaint village had been built in the 1850s when copper was king, and its Victorian-style buildings had been carefully preserved by the residents.
Dr. Ben Eckright’s office was a remodeled Victorian boardinghouse on the corner of Houghton and Pepin Streets. She parked in his side lot and let Kylie out of the back.
She glanced across the street to the law office, and her breath caught at the man getting out of the car. It couldn’t be. She stared at the sight of a familiar set of shoulders and closed her eyes a moment. Opening them didn’t reassure her. It really was him.
Jon Dunstan stood beside a shiny red Jaguar. Luckily, he hadn’t seen her yet, and she grabbed Kylie’s hand and ran with her for the side door, praying he wouldn’t look this way. She was still trembling when the door shut behind her.
* * *
Where was he?
Christopher Willis struggled against the bonds binding his wrists behind his back. His legs were bound as well, and a bandana or some kind of cloth covered his eyes. Dead leaves crunched under him as he sat on the ground, squirming to try to get free, and he smelled mud and moss.
The ropes or whatever held his arms fast didn’t budge. To tamp down the rising panic, he ran through the events he remembered. He’d put out his campfire in the National Kitchigami Wilderness tract before he entered his tent and crawled into his sleeping bag. He’d fallen asleep to the roar of Agate Falls, a terraced waterfall in the middle branch of the Ontonagon River in the western Upper Peninsula.
A sound had awakened him, and he listened to a soft rustling before he unzipped his sleeping bag to investigate. The minute he poked his head out of the tent, something crashed down on it. The next thing he knew, he’d opened his eyes and was sitting on the cold ground.
There was no sound of the falls, so he’d been moved from his previous location. Who had knocked him out—and why? No one knew where he was either. He’d spent the past month hiking from Minnesota and through Wisconsin. Maybe someone would see his abandoned campsite and report it. Otherwise, he could disappear here and no one would know.
Panic threatened to choke him again, and he fought it back. A clear head would be the only thing that might get him out of this alive.
A rustle sounded to his left, and he turned his head even though he couldn’t see. “Help! I need help.” The male chuckle that answered him raised gooseflesh on the back of his neck. “Who are you? What do you want?”
The next sound came from the other direction. There was more than one person out there hiding in the thick pines. His mouth was almost too dry to speak, but he wet his lips and tried again. “Look, I won’t say anything. Just let me go.”
Something cold touched his wrists, and his bonds fell away. A knife? He pulled his arms forward and rubbed his wrists a second before he ripped the cloth off his eyes. He blinked in the bright sunshine and reached down to untie his ankles. Were they really turning him loose?
A voice came from his right. “If you can get away, you’re free. We’ll give you a head start of fifteen minutes . . . starting now.”
Christopher leaped to his feet and ran forward toward the glimmer of water. He was sure there was a man to his left and to his right. He’d learned how to track as a kid from his grandpa, so he might escape these men. And what kind of game was this anyway?
Maybe a cave would hide him from them, and he spotted pine trees ahead. He paused to get his bearings and swept his gaze around, searching for a place to hide. If he could wait it out until they left, he might have a chance.
There. A small cave beckoned to his left in the side of a rocky hillside. Maybe he could pile rocks in the mouth and hunker down inside. It was his best hope since he didn’t know where he was.
He darted to the cave and backed into it, then began to pile rocks in front of the opening as silently as possible. How long had it been since his escape? He patted his pockets, but of course his captors had taken his phone. Slowing his breathing to a quiet whisper, he waited.
It seemed forever since he’d crawled in here, and he could see the light through a crack at the top of the cave opening. He’d caught a glimpse of water, but it was too expansive to be the Ontonagon River. He had to be on the banks of Lake Superior.
Did he wait here and make them think he’d escaped long ago or try to make a break for it? A cramp seized his left leg, and he bit back a groan as he massaged it. Everything in him wanted to wait out the hunters, but it would feel so good to walk out the aches and pains manifesting all over his body.
As quietly as he could, he moved the rocks again until he was able to crawl out and stand. He was limping when he sidled along the face of the hillside toward the water. The sun oriented him, and he tried to think of his topography map. If he was anywhere near the Porcupine Mountains, Ontonagon would be to his right, but his captors might have taken him farther afield, maybe even up to the Keweenaw.
He turned to his left and walked along the water. If only he had a boat. When the gun’s echo came, he ducked but it was too late. As he plunged into the waves, his last thought was of his parents, who would never know what happened to him.
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