Cold Call: A Cold Poker Gang Mystery Read online

  Lott stepped toward Julia and touched her arm lightly. “You can go back up to the house while I get her out of there.”

  Julia shook her head, still not looking at the body. “No, you’re going to need help.”

  Lott had to admit that she was right. He wasn’t young anymore, and moving bodies around was never an easy task even when he had been young. But they had to get Trish out of the water to at least attempt to preserve what evidence might be found on the body.

  Lott knew this was going to be rough on Julia, but they both knew they needed to do it.

  “Take pictures of this every step of the way,” Lott said.

  Julia nodded and got out her cell phone.

  Lott got down on his hands and knees and shoved Trish’s body along the dock toward the shore as Julia recorded each move.

  After he got Trish’s body close to the shore, he sent Julia to get a tarp or a quilt or something from the lodge. She moved off without a word.

  He stood there in the dark looking out at the lake, at the embalmed body, at the log home lit up behind him, at the road down the side of the hill.

  Nothing made sense. Nothing.

  Julia started back down the trail from the log home with a quilt in her arms, so he forced himself to move. He waded into the water, the coldness shocking him.

  His legs went numb almost instantly.

  Julia stretched a plastic sheet on the ground just above the water line and then put the quilt over that. Then she took a couple quick photos of him standing in the water with Trish.

  Then Lott watched her as she took a deep breath and came into the water. She took Trish’s legs while Lott lifted Trish by the shoulders.

  The body seemed heavier than it should have, and the skin was hard to the touch.

  Somehow, they managed to get Trish’s body on the quilt in the dim light and rain, take more photos, then wrap Trish in the quilt.

  The plastic sheet that Julia had laid down first would make it easier for them to slide Trish along the ground. No way could they carry her.

  It took them three rest stops before they got Trish’s body stored in the maintenance shed. Lott was sweating about as hard as he could remember sweating and he was out of breath.

  Julia was panting as well.

  As hard as it was to do, both of them knew it was better to have the body stored than leave it in the water where it might sink and never be found again.

  After a few more pictures, Lott locked up the shed and rolled a large stump against the door so no wild animal could dig at it, then they turned and headed back up toward the lodge.

  Neither of them had said a word since the dock.

  All Lott could think about was how lucky they were that Trish didn’t smell like most bodies found floating. Some of the ones he had helped get out before had been in the water for so long that he had had to soak a rag in gasoline and cover his nose with it to even get near the rotting mess.

  But not Trish.

  No smell at all.

  He had no idea what that meant.

  They hung their coats up near the door to dry and then went upstairs to change into dry clothes.

  “Get your satellite phone,” Lott said to Julia as she climbed the stairs ahead of him. “And your gun.”

  She glanced back at him and then nodded.

  Lott made it back downstairs first, shivering even though he had on dry pants and socks and shoes and a thick shirt and a knit sweater. He started some hot water for tea and stoked the fire in the big stone fireplace.

  He laid his phone on the table beside his holstered gun.

  Julia came down wearing jeans, a thick sweater, and she had dried her hair and pulled it back. Her face looked white and she clearly was as chilled as he felt.

  She put her satellite phone and gun on the kitchen table next to his and they both stood there silently waiting for the tea water to heat. There was nothing either one of them could say.

  This situation was so strange, Lott was convinced that they were in shock from what they had found, as well as in mild shock from the cold and the exercise.

  Finally, as the water started to boil and he turned to get them mugs, Julia said, “We might be contaminating a crime scene here.”

  “I doubt it,” Lott said as he poured them tea. “Besides, it’s too late now. We already did that.”

  “That it is,” Julia said, taking the tea from him and warming her hands on the mug. “That it is.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  May 14, 2015

  9 P.M.

  High Mountain Valley

  Near the Central Idaho Primitive Area

  After getting a few sips of the hot tea down him, Lott dug out some crackers from a bag he had brought and some cheddar cheese he had stored in the fridge and cut up the cheese for them to use as a snack.

  After the cold and the workout they had had, they both needed something to keep them going.

  As he started to warm up, a few more pieces were coming clear and making this puzzle even more bizarre.

  If that were even possible.

  He and Julia needed to talk about what they were going to do next.

  “Well,” Julia said, “at least we know it wasn’t Willis Williams who did this.”

  Lott shook his head. “I don’t think we can rule him out in the slightest.”

  Julia looked up at him, clearly puzzled. “Why do you say that?”

  “None of this makes any sense at all,” Lott said. “And the puzzle piece that bothers me the most is where is Trish’s car.”

  Julia sat back, clearly her detective brain coming back strong as the tea warmed her up.

  “Someone drove her up here already embalmed and dumped her in the lake?” Julia asked. “But why?”

  “And being embalmed, they clearly didn’t want her found,” Lott said.

  “So us spotting her was an accident,” Julia said. “But I still don’t see why?”

  “With her car gone,” Lott said. “We wouldn’t have looked for her here, in the lake. We would have searched that cliff face we drove down and hundreds of other miles of highway and never found a thing.”

  “She would have just vanished,” Julia said, shuddering slightly.

  “Just as all the women associated with Willis Williams have done over the last decade.”

  “Oh,” Julia said.

  For Lott, having Trish dead was slightly better than having her just vanish. But only slightly. At least with a person vanishing, there was always hope they might show up alive.

  Lott needed to get Julia back thinking as a detective again.

  “Remember where the road in here came up over that slight rise and we could see the lake and this house below us?” he asked.

  “You think someone embalmed Trish,” Julia said, “put her in her car, and pushed it off the edge up there and into the lake?”

  Lott nodded. “A window must have broken or a door came open in the fall into the lake and Trish floated out of the car. Otherwise we never would have found her. Ever.”

  Julia looked at Lott and he could tell she was thinking the same thing he was thinking.

  “You think there are other bodies in that lake?” Julia asked, now following his thinking completely.

  “It’s a long shot,” Lott said, “but I think we need to have divers check it out, at least to see if there is anything down there at all. And find Trish’s car which I bet anything is down there.”

  “And we can’t have Williams know we are even here or looking,” Julia said.

  Lott agreed with that as they both took some crackers and cheese, and he put the teakettle back on the burner to warm up more water.

  “I have another problem I can’t figure out,” Lott said. “Trish does not fit Williams’ normal victims.”

  “Too old,” Julia said.

  Lott nodded. “Exactly. The woman who disappear have always been thirty or under.”

  “So why do you think this might be Williams?” Julia asked.
r />   “Because it fits,” Lott said. “You never investigated the monster, but I did. I know his profile from front to back. He was born and raised in Seattle and until the age of ten his father was a mortician.”

  “Oh, shit,” Julia said.

  “So Trish might have discovered something or seen something she wasn’t supposed to see just by living here.”

  Julia nodded. “Likely and possible knowing Trish. Remember that single chair out there on the lawn. She would have been able to see the road above the lake from there.”

  Lott hadn’t thought of that, but it made sense.

  “So she reported what she had seen to someone in McCall,” Julia said, “and that got her killed.”

  “If we are right, my gut sense is that the reason there are no abductions and disappearances near McCall,” Lott said, “where Williams has a home and always goes to within a week of an abduction, is that McCall is where he plays with and kills his victims.”

  Julia nodded. “And that would be possible if he has help in the local law enforcement.”

  “This is all speculation,” Lott said. “Just trying to put pieces together in some desperate fashion, make some sort of sense of an event that makes no sense. But if I’m right…”

  He let that fade off into the faint crackling of the fire and the steady pounding of rain on the deck outside.

  Julia picked up her holstered gun and slipped it on her belt, then went and made sure every door was locked.

  Lott put his gun on his belt as well.

  Then she came back. “We’re going to need to be very, very careful if we are right.”

  “Very careful,” Lott said.

  He had no doubt that this was going to be a very long night.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  May 14, 2015

  10 P.M.

  High Mountain Valley

  Near the Central Idaho Primitive Area

  Julia watched as Lott talked to Fleet over the satellite phone. She had never been so relieved in all her life when Fleet answered. This house was so isolated, it scared her far more than she wanted to admit. Over the years she had faced down the worst scum of humanity. But here, isolated and out of her element like this, she felt terrified.

  And she could tell Lott wasn’t much more comfortable with it than she was.

  Lott first asked Fleet if the phone line was completely secure and Fleet had assured him it was.

  The next question Lott asked Fleet was if he knew where Williams was.

  Fleet listened for a moment, then said, simply “Shit!”

  Lott had Fleet hold and told Julia that Williams was in Seattle and another young blonde girl had just gone missing that morning.

  “He’s on his way to McCall in a few days,” Julia said.

  Lott nodded and went back to talking with Fleet, explaining everything they had found. And detailing out their theory and how critical it was to keep all this deadly silent.

  Then Lott nodded and said, “We need some research. Very secret and careful research.”

  Julia watched as Lott nodded.

  “First,” Lott said, “we need to know, deep background, through any sort of shield, who actually owns this piece of property. Who runs it? Who rented it to Trish?”

  “Second, we need to know if Williams or any of his companies has any connection to the mortuary business, or casket manufacturing or transportation, or anything like that. Again, super careful.”

  Lott nodded. Then he said simply, “Thanks. See you then.”

  He put the phone down on the table and took a deep breath.

  “Two helicopters coming in before dawn, as soon as they can see well enough to land.”

  Julia felt very relieved to hear that. “Eight hours from now.”

  Lott nodded. “He’s bringing an FBI agent and her team that he can trust, a forensic unit for Trish, and a dive team.”

  “So do you think anyone is coming up here in the meantime?” Julia asked.

  “I don’t know the answer to that,” Lott said. “But I don’t think we should take any chance at all. If someone on some sort of video feed saw us find Trish, they might already be on the way.”

  “You think this place could be wired in some fashion?” Julia asked. “That’s a long way for that kind of communication.”

  Lott pointed to the satellite phone. “I’ve looked and haven’t seen anything, but that sure doesn’t mean there isn’t something here somewhere.”

  “Agreed,” Julia said, nodding. “We take no more chances.”

  “Get packed and put on another layer of clothes,” Lott said as he took his phone and she picked up hers and they both headed upstairs.

  Julia knew they just didn’t dare take chances. Not with what happened to Trish. And if Lott and the other members of the Cold Poker Gang were correct, they were now facing one of the smartest and richest serial killers in modern times.

  And that just scared her more than she wanted to admit.

  Ten minutes later, she heard Lott go back downstairs and start putting out the fire in the fireplace and shutting off lights. If someone did come over that ridgeline above the lake looking for them, that someone would see a dark building.

  Julia knew that they needed to make it look as if they were leaving, heading to find help, which would be a logical thing for them to do after finding a body like they had.

  Julia headed down with her bag and another quilt. Lott grabbed two pillows from the couch and they shut off lights.

  He stuffed two bottles of water and some of the crackers and cheese into his bag, then pulling the door closed and locking it, Julia put the key back under the mat.

  Not the visit with an old friend she had hoped for.

  The air around them was bitingly cold and Julia could see her breath in the faint light. At least it had stopped raining.

  Five minutes later, they had their stuff in the Jeep and Lott, with Julia spotting him with a flashlight, backed the Jeep as far as he could into the trees beside the garage without turning on the lights. From the front seats they could see the road coming in, but in the dark the Jeep would be very difficult to see.

  With luck, anyone watching, if there was anyone watching, would think they had left. If not, they had a defensible position.

  Julia climbed into the Jeep and Lott went out from under the trees slightly and called Fleet back.

  She could hear him talking in the still night air.

  Lott quickly told Fleet what they had done. “Bring in some scanning equipment as well. We need to know if we are being watched. It’s going to make a difference on what we do next.”

  Julia watched as Lott nodded and then came back and climbed in the Jeep. She had turned off the interior light so it didn’t go on every time the door opened or closed. The heater had the Jeep warming up quickly so he wiggled out of his still damp ski parka and tossed it in the back.

  “Fleet’s bringing scanning equipment,” he said to Julia and she nodded. “Told us to stay safe. Help is on the way.”

  She just nodded, staring out at the dark night and the road up the hill. “How can a place that looked so beautiful during the daylight feel so threatening at night?”

  Lott looked out over the steering wheel and across the dark open parking area to the black mountains beyond, just shaking his head.

  Julia knew that he had no way to answer that.

  All she knew was that this was going to be a very long night.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  May 15, 2015

  6 A.M.

  High Mountain Valley

  Near the Central Idaho Primitive Area

  Julia had leaned against him, dozing. The faint sun was just starting to color the very tops of the hills, but it was still pitch black around them.

  During the night they had taken turns watching the road, munching on the crackers, and dozing. They had talked some, but mostly about possible plans.

  They were both in agreement that if this did have something to do with Williams
, if Trish’s death helped stop Williams, she would not have died in vain.

  They were also both convinced that she had seen something from that lawn chair and had gone in to report it to the county sheriff and that had gotten her killed. So more than likely the sheriff and other law enforcement officials were on Williams’ payroll.

  Lott had no idea how they were going to prove any of this, if it were true.

  About an hour ago, Lott had gone out in front of the Jeep again and called Fleet while Julia stood guard, her back against the garage watching the parking lot and the road, her gun drawn.

  Fleet said that he had had two of his best people on cracking who really owned the cabin and the land along the lake. It turned out it was a Williams’ holding company four companies deep.

  And Williams also had shell companies that not only owned the mortuary in McCall, but a casket manufacturing and shipping company in Seattle.

  “See you in an hour,” Fleet had said.

  Lott had gone back to the car and Julia had joined him.

  “Looks like we’re going to find a lot of bodies out there in that water,” Lott said, not really sure if he should feel excited or really sad.

  “What?” Julia asked.

  “Williams owns this land,” Lott said, “the McCall Mortuary, and a casket manufacturing and shipping company.”

  “Oh, shit,” Julia said, staring off into the dark.

  That was all they had talked about.

  He convinced Julia thirty minutes later to doze leaning against him and she did. Under different circumstances, he would have loved that.

  Now, as the early dawn light hit the tops of the hills, Lott could hear a faint rumbling sound.

  He nudged Julia and she came awake.

  They both grabbed their guns and went out into the freezing night air. Julia vanished back near the garage and he went out and up the hill slightly behind the base of a large pine. He tried not to breathe too hard for fear that someone would see his breath in the faint light. He could feel his fingers going numb as he held the gun up, ready for anything.