Smith's Monthly #15 Read online

Fleet just blushed.

  Julia smiled at him and turned back to the living room. Lott was right. She had no choice.

  She had to see what was down there.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  May 15, 2015

  8 A.M.

  High Mountain Valley

  Near the Central Idaho Primitive Area

  Lott stood behind the couch that faced the fireplace, his arm around Julia, behind the FBI tech at the laptop computer on the wood coffee table.

  Outside the large picture window that looked out over the lake, the sun still was a long ways from hitting the valley floor, but the mountains were bright. From what was on the screen, the light was enough to see clearly in the lake water.

  The screen showed one diver’s camera and a second laptop set up beside the first showed the second diver’s camera.

  “Bottom is sloping away sharply,” one diver said.

  “Visibility about forty feet,” the other diver said.

  On the screens beside the images, Lott could see each diver’s vital signs, their air supply, their temperature, heartbeat, and so on. All were in normal levels.

  “Bottom is leveling off some at sixty feet,” the lead diver said. “Nothing so far but logs and mud bottom.”

  Lott was surprised he didn’t see any fish. More than likely the divers breathing sounds would have scared them out of camera range.

  The bottom of the lake looked more like a desolate alien landscape than anything that could be nearby. The light coming down through the water was dim, but each diver had bright lights on both sides of the cameras on their helmets that seemed to make the bottom of the lake seem even stranger and covered with shifting shadows.

  It looked more alien if that was possible.

  Another voice came over the link.

  “You are still a football field’s distance from where the car tracks are leaving the road above the lake. Stay on your heading and you should come to the area below the car tracks.”

  “Copy that,” the first diver said.

  Silence filled the living room as everyone watched the two screens except for Fleet. He stood in the kitchen staring out over the lake and watching the scene on the shore of the support divers.

  Lott glanced out the front window. The extra crew out there had inflated a large raft with a small motor on one end and another diver was standing by near the raft in full dry suit, clearly in case of any emergencies.

  On the screen the alien-looking landscape continued flowing smoothly past the cameras.

  The vital signs of the divers showed no variations at all.

  Lott had stood on the shore while divers had looked for bodies in golf course ponds and twice on the shore of Lake Mead. He never understood how anyone could be a recovery diver. They couldn’t pay him enough to do that job, especially considering the conditions the divers often found the bodies.

  “We’re approaching something,” one of the divers said.

  “You are almost to the area where the car tracks go over the edge,” a third voice came in.

  Agent Munn leaned forward and Lott held Julia even tighter. He could feel her tensing up.

  On both screens, shadows started to appear out of the gloom ahead.

  At first it seemed like large rocks sticking up out of the mud at various angles, but as the divers moved closer, it became clear the shapes were that of cars covered in layers of sediment.

  Some cars were piled on top of others.

  “Oh, shit,” one of the divers said. “We have an entire junkyard down here.”

  The intense silence in the living room felt to Lott like it could be cut. He wasn’t sure he was even breathing.

  Beside him Julia just stood like a stone pillar.

  “Let’s go left around the pile,” the lead diver said. “Get an idea how big it is.”

  “Copy,” the second diver said.

  As far as Lott was concerned, they seemed to swim for a very long time before finally passing the huge mound of wrecked cars.

  “There’s Trish’s car,” Julia whispered, her voice breathless.

  It was clear which car she meant. It was upside down and the driver’s door was open. From what Lott could tell, it was a BMW. And it had very, very little lake silt on it.

  Trish’s car was clearly the newest addition to the pile.

  “I’m going to go see if I can see inside one of the cars,” the lead diver said.

  The camera got closer and closer to a driver’s side window on what looked like an old Ford hatchback of some sort.

  Lott and Julia both sort of leaned back. Lott wanted to look away, not see what the diver found, but he couldn’t make himself.

  He had to see.

  The driver took a brush from his belt and carefully and slowly brushed back the silt on the window, sending it swirling into the water around him.

  Then, as the diver moved up closer to the cleared window, the bright lights of his camera filled the inside of the car as if it was daylight.

  A young woman’s white, peaceful face stared back at them.

  Lott had no doubt that face would haunt his nightmares for years to come.

  “Jesus,” the guy behind the computer said, leaning back away from the screen.

  Lott and Julia both eased back as well, as if getting away from the computer would help what the diver was seeing.

  The girl was nude, strapped into the driver’s seat, and didn’t seem to be more than thirty.

  Her long hair floated around her head.

  She seemed almost peaceful sitting there.

  The diver moved back to a place where he and his partner could see the entire pile.

  “There have to be at least forty cars here, if not more,” the diver said.

  Agent Munn glanced back at Lott and Julia. “We suspect Williams of over forty women’s disappearances in the three states. It seems we found the women.”

  “Now we just have to trap the bastard who did this,” Lott said. “Make sure he is tied to every one of those women’s deaths.”

  “We’ll get him,” Agent Munn said, nodding as she stared at the image of the piles of cars on the lake floor. “We’ll get him.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  May 15, 2015

  9 A.M.

  High Mountain Valley

  Near the Central Idaho Primitive Area

  Trish’s body, along with the FBI forensics team lifted off in the large helicopter, leaving most of the FBI agents in place.

  Julia watched the large helicopter disappear up and over the tall ridgeline and turn south toward Boise. The next time she would see Trish, it would be in a proper funeral.

  But first they had to capture her killer.

  Julia knew that the FBI would be processing all this data, including the bodies, in a private lab in Boise that Doc and Annie were setting up at the airport. They could take no chances that any of this might leak out, and with William’s money, having spies in the police and FBI would not have surprised any of them.

  So they were taking extra precautions.

  That was also why most of the agents here would stay here in this contained valley until Williams was trapped and arrested. No calls out allowed in any fashion.

  Julia and Lott and Agent Munn were also becoming convinced that Williams had not killed Trish. She was not his type and he had not been close to McCall when she vanished.

  More than likely Trish had seen something, reported it to the wrong person in McCall, and gotten killed because of it. And her body had been handled as if Williams were there.

  When Trish was killed, Williams had been in Seattle and nowhere near his home in McCall, Idaho. Chances are, Williams didn’t even know about Trish’s death.

  Julia and Lott and Fleet and Agent Munn all headed down the long wooden stairs from the house to the parking lot and the helicopter Fleet had arrived in. The morning had warmed up some, but the sun still hadn’t reached the valley floor.

  “I’m arranging to have more food sent in this
afternoon,” Fleet said. “And other supplies. Your people are going to need it.”

  “Thank you,” Agent Munn said. “I’ll be back shortly as well and we’ll get set up for a long stay here. This lake and the road above it is a huge crime scene.”

  “That it is,” Lott said, glancing back at the valley as he and Julia got their things from the Jeep. Then Lott handed Agent Munn the Jeep keys.

  “Can’t begin to tell you how happy I am we are not driving out of here,” Julia said.

  “I should feel insulted,” Lott said, smiling at her, “but I completely agree. In fact, I was thinking that if we did have to drive out, you could do it.”

  “Not a chance in hell,” she said, laughing. Just the idea of that made her stomach twist into a slight panic.

  Five minutes later they lifted off, going mostly straight up, since the valley was so narrow. Trish had ridden in her share of helicopters before, mostly police and a couple of television helicopters. Never one this nice.

  They all had helmets on with sound-deadening abilities and a communication system so they could hear each other clearly.

  Julia and Lott sat in the seats behind the two pilots, with Fleet and Agent Munn behind them.

  As they lifted off, Julia could see all the activity going on below. Tents were being set up along the shore of the lake and agents were coming and going from the house.

  Other sets of tents were being constructed near the shed.

  The one lone lawn chair still sat just above the water line, empty. More than likely sitting in that chair had gotten Trish killed, but Julia still hoped they would leave the chair right where it was.

  As the helicopter climbed above the ridgeline, Trish could see that just a ways down the narrow road into the valley, some boulders had been rolled out into the road, blocking the road into the lake completely. Two agents stood to one side.

  Agent Munn pointed to the boulders. “If anyone tries to come into the valley by car, the agents will hide at first and then take whoever it is into custody and hold them until we have gotten everyone rounded up.

  “Great thinking,” Lott said, and Julia nodded.

  Julia knew that keeping a lid on an operation this size was going to be hard, but they only had to do that for another day or so. If Williams followed pattern, he would head to McCall a couple of days after his latest victim went missing. That had happened yesterday.

  And Julia was very glad the FBI had found and rescued that poor woman.

  No one had put Williams pattern together because, as the reports said, Williams had always made it a point to tell the police where he was going and when. He loved taunting them like that.

  As the helicopter gained even more attitude and turned west, the fantastic beauty of the Idaho wilderness came into stark relief under them. The extremely high, snow-covered peaks lined up like huge, sharp rows of teeth going into the distance as far as Julia could see.

  All the mountains were covered in dark pine trees, rocks, and bright white snow in the clear morning sunshine.

  It all looked stunningly beautiful and amazingly dangerous.

  “See that sort of gash in the mountains to the east?” Agent Munn said, pointing out the window near Lott. “That’s the main Salmon River, also called The River of No Return.”

  “That’s where Doc spends his summers,” Lott said, shaking his head. “He really is crazy.”

  “Your daughter spends most of the summers now in there as well,” Fleet said, laughing. “I think they’re both crazy.”

  Julia just looked out at the vast rugged wilderness below her and agreed. It was stunningly beautiful on a warm May morning, and more dangerous than any criminal on the streets of a major city.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  May 15, 2015

  9:30 A.M.

  Cascade, Idaho

  The helicopter touched down near one end of the Cascade airport, near a group of what looked to be private buildings and hangers. Cascade was tucked to one side of a wide valley, near a tall concrete dam that seemed to back up water for many miles behind it.

  The town looked to be a combination of a tourist town and farming town and Lott figured it couldn’t have a population of locals of more than three thousand. But since it was clearly a winter and a summer resort, it was set up to handle a lot more.

  The airport was out in what looked like an open meadow across the main two-lane highway from Cascade. Buildings and farms dotted the flat fields and the mountains they had just come over loomed to the east of the big valley like a wall.

  Doc and Annie climbed out of the front of a white Cadillac SUV as the helicopter landed. They then stood there, waiting for the engines to shut down, and Lott and Julia to get out, before coming forward.

  The morning was still cool, but much warmer than in the small mountain valley they had just left.

  Annie had on a dark jacket, jeans, and had her long hair pulled back. Doc seemed completely in his element here as much as in a casino in Las Vegas. He had on jeans, tennis shoes and a dress shirt under a light tan jacket. Doc just radiated confidence, no matter where he seemed to be.

  Lott had to admit, after last night on guard in that car in those remote mountains, he was damned glad to see Doc and Annie.

  And from the hug Annie gave him when they got out into the cool morning air, she was glad to see him as well.

  Then, as Annie hugged Julia, Doc shook his hand and smiled. “Not a fun night in the mountains, huh?”

  “I think from now on I’ll leave the mountains to you two,” Lott said.

  “I’ll agree to that,” Julia said.

  “I have always said that,” Fleet said.

  Lott and Julia and Annie laughed.

  Agent Munn just shook her head. “Don’t look at me. After we get this sting set up, I’m heading back in there for the night.”

  “Not looking forward to it?” Doc asked.

  “Not with all the ghosts in that little valley,” Agent Munn said.

  “You found the cars?” Annie asked and Lott realized no one had called them and told them, since they had been on the way to Cascade from Boise.

  Agent Munn nodded. “Divers think there has to be at least forty cars down there, more than likely all with embalmed bodies. We’re getting makes and models and vin numbers first to trace before we even start the body recovery.”

  “I’ll get someone on tracing where the cars were bought after I get the vin numbers,” Fleet said.

  Doc nodded, then turned to Agent Munn.

  “The warehouse in Boise going to be enough room?” Doc asked, looking worried.

  “More than enough for the next three days or so,” Agent Munn said. “Thank you for doing that.”

  “Anything,” Doc said. “You know that.”

  Fleet nodded in agreement.

  “Thank you both,” Agent Munn said.

  “Now,” Doc said, “let’s get to the cabin and get these two into some fresh clothes and get some food and do some planning.”

  They all headed toward the big white SUV. Fleet and Agent Munn climbed into the third seat. Lott sat with Julia on the second seat, with Annie and Doc in the front seats.

  “You have a cabin up here as well?” Julia asked as Doc got them onto the two-lane highway and headed north.

  “Just a little place on the lake,” Doc said. “Across from the Tamarack Ski Resort.”

  “Why am I guessing that “little place” won’t really describe this cabin on the lake,” Lott said. He knew Doc and Annie and they didn’t hesitate in going first class all the way.

  Annie laughed and turned and winked at her dad. “It won’t.”

  “My family and I love it up here in the summer,” Fleet said. “I promise, it doesn’t feel remote at all.”

  “Paved road, neighbors, running water, and telephone reception,” Julia said.

  “All that,” Doc laughed. “And so much more.”

  Lott was going to need that, and a good nap at some point.

 
Beside him Julia reached over and took his hand and then smiled at him.

  Lott smiled back. “We’ll get the bastard,” he said softly, leaning into her and gently squeezing her hand.

  “I know we will,” she said. “How can we not with this team?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  May 15, 2015

  10 A.M.

  A home across the lake from the Tamarack Ski Resort,

  Near Cascade, Idaho

  The cabin was as Lott had expected. Not a cabin at all, but a huge, modern mansion sitting on a slight rise looking out over an expansive blue lake that seemed to almost shimmer in the morning sun. On the far side of the lake was a massive lodge and ski runs cut out of the trees above the lodge. There was still some snow near the tops of the ridges, but not much.

  The cabin had a huge green lawn and flowerbeds around the bases of pine trees. The lawn sloped down to the lake and a large ski-boat sat at the long wooden dock.

  The road in, as promised, had been paved and they had passed dozens of other similar mansions along the water. The cabin, as Doc called it, was only about five miles off the main highway and about fifteen miles from McCall.

  The house came to life on its own as they entered. A massive gas fireplace that dominated the living room sprang to life as lights came on, clearly triggered by motion sensors.

  The place had six bedrooms up a wide wooden staircase and a huge main area that had an open feel of kitchen, large dining table, and vast living room all combined. Everything was done in wood tones, including the wonderful-looking couches and chairs around the fireplace.

  Two-story-tall windows opened the living room up to look out over the lake, making the inside feel almost like a patio.

  “Wow,” Julia said, looking around.

  Lott had to agree. “Wow” expressed seeing this place perfectly.

  “No wonder you and your family are comfortable here in the summer,” Lott said to Fleet.

  “The kids really love the lawn and the lake and the boat,” Fleet said.