Russ marched toward the grave, no hesitation in his steps. Ryleigh got her feet heading in the right direction, but she wanted to run the other way. This part of the job had always been hard, and she was glad to have left it behind. Thankfully, she’d only had to work two murder investigations in her career. No doubt Russ had seen a whole lot more victims.
They reached the open grave. The young ME with thick blond hair, dressed in the usual white Tyvek suit, stood back, his lips pursed in a narrow face with a pointed chin. He’d erected bright lights giving them a clear view of the dirt he’d mounded alongside the body. He’d also uncovered and brushed off the victim’s face. It was bloated and discolored, but no question in her mind. The deceased was Uri Gates.
“It’s him,” Russ said. “No doubt.”
“Yeah,” Ryleigh added. “That’s Uri Gates.”
“Okay, then.” Dr. Meadows clapped his gloved hands. “We’ll finish the recovery and get him back to the morgue for the autopsy. I’ll let you know when I have any information to share.”
Russ eyed the man whose dark circles and bags under his eyes left him looking tired. “I know you don’t usually work overnight, but any way we could get results by eight?”
Dr. Meadows frowned. “You’re right. I don’t work overnight.”
Russ stepped closer as if he hoped his intimidating presence helped sway the ME. “It’s just that I’d like to get the autopsy in before the feds take over and claim jurisdiction.”
“Feds are coming?” Dr. Meadows perked up. “Well, why didn’t you say so? Yeah. You’ll have my findings by then.”
Not wanting to linger on the death, Ryleigh stepped away and took a few deep breaths of the cool evening air to think.
“Looks like we beat my self-imposed time clock on the investigation,” Russ said. “Should help with the feds taking me to task for not calling earlier. And since we aren’t dealing with terrorism, I hope they’ll just walk away.”
“That would be good,” she said absently, as it all seemed so irrelevant when another man had lost his life.
“If we don’t find Vick’s camping location soon, you’ll have to make the arrest in the morning,” he said. “I’ll need to be here to deal with the feds. As much as I always wish I could be, I can’t be in two places at one time.”
“No worries. I can handle it.” She filled her tone with a bravado she didn’t feel.
“Can I get your contact info, Sheriff?” Dr. Meadows asked.
“Let me take care of this, and then we’ll plan the morning takedown.” Russ strode back to the ME, his steps filled with energy. Learning the truth brought him relief. She got that, but a sense of sadness clung to her and wouldn’t let go.
Her phone rang.Finn.She didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Not even him. She’d been keeping him updated, but he’d been his usual antsy self and chomping at the bit to be allowed onsite. So she answered.
“We just identified the body as Gates,” she said. “So Vick is now wanted for murder.”
Silence was the response. Not expected.
“Did you hear me?” she asked.
“I did, and you’re still planning to go to the caves in the morning with Russ?”
“Not with Russ. I’ll go alone. He has to be here for when the ATF arrives.”
“No!” Finn’s voice erupted over the phone.
Russ turned to stare at her. He’d heard Finn’s outburst all the way across the yard.
“Sorry, but no.” He’d lowered his voice. “I can’t allow that. Put me on speaker so I can talk to Russ too.”
She didn’t want to comply, but Finn would just hang up and call Russ, and she wanted to be part of the conversation. She motioned for Russ to join her. “It’s Finn. He wants to talk to you, so I’ll put him on speaker.”
“Let’s move further away for more privacy.” He led the way to the back fence.
They were not only far enough away for the sound not to travel, but deep shadows of the night clung to them. She didn’t like it. Not one bit. Felt eerie and uncomfortable as if Vick were watching them. He could be, she supposed, but doubted it as he didn’t seem to think anyone would come for him and hadn’t hidden his tracks at all.
“Go ahead, Finn,” Russ said.
“You can’t let Ryleigh go to the caves alone,” he stated.
