‘Wait here,’ Ben barked at her and Marc.
She watched as he got out of the car, tugging his coat around him to keep the wind out, the warrant was clutched firmly in his hand.
‘What’s going on with him?’ Marc asked without turning around to look at her.
‘I wish I knew.’
‘What, he hasn’t said anything to you about why he’s so against this?’
‘Nothing.’
‘I don’t get it, that guy is good for it, don’t you think so? Lives here, in the middle of nowhere with all this land and no neighbours nearby. Has plenty of places to hide bodies too.’
‘Maybe it’s his gut instinct telling him no.’
‘Yeah, I get that, but you can’t rule out the possibility they could be our person of interest because you like someone.’
Ben was standing, head bent against the wind, talking to Amos. He turned around and beckoned them.
‘Well, I guess we’re on.’
‘I guess we are.’
They got out of the car and Morgan shivered at the biting wind that nipped at her face. The search officers slammed the van doors as they got their search kits out. Amos led the way and they followed behind in a line. She didn’t miss that he was limping badly tonight, and poor Shep wasn’t walking much better. She wondered how Amos had hurt his leg.
The house was lit up, every window shone warm yellow light onto the wilderness of the fell which guided them towards it through the bitterly cold night. Morgan turned to look at thedilapidated cabin that Tori had been found hiding inside and shuddered. This was raw, not to mention terrifying, and as much as she wanted Ben to be right about Amos, she was praying he was wrong and they would find those two missing women scared, but safe somewhere on this property.
Amos led them into his home, no questions asked, no anger, just a determination to do the right thing judging by the set of his jaw as he nodded at each and every officer who came inside.
‘Look, I don’t want to get in your way. Use the kitchen as your base, it’s got that big old farmhouse table in it. Where do you want me to be while you search?’
Ben glanced at Morgan. ‘Amos, if you could wait here with Morgan while we look around that would be the best thing.’
Morgan felt a brief flash of anger. Why should she be babysitting this man who could be a violent killer? She wanted to be out there searching with the others and opened her mouth to disagree, but Marc stepped in.
‘Actually, I want Morgan out searching. Ben, do you want to wait with Amos?’
‘Whatever you think, boss.’
Ben didn’t argue, he didn’t even make eye contact with Marc or her, and she felt that icy chill settle over her again as she wondered what was going through his mind. Morgan pulled some gloves out of her pocket and tugged them onto her fingers.
‘Amos, how many outbuildings do you have?’ Marc asked.
‘Four and a crumbling shed, well if you don’t count the old cabin that the girl was in yesterday. God, it seems like it was ages ago, not just a day. How is she doing?’
‘She’s holding it together, as well as she can be,’ Morgan answered. She was the only one who had spoken to her. ‘Do we need keys for any of them?’
Amos nodded and took a keyring off a hook next to the back door, passing it to her.
‘They’re a mess, full of dust, spiders and possibly rats so be careful out there. I can’t be responsible if you hurt yourselves. You are doing this of your own volition that is documented, right? I don’t want to get sued if somebody falls or gets in trouble.’
Ben and Marc nodded.
‘Yes, this is our doing. Is there anything out there that we should know about, Amos? If you do have anyone out there who shouldn’t be or anything dangerous hidden away, now is the time to talk about it,’ Ben asked him.
‘To be honest, I don’t know what’s out there, plenty of broken furniture, old rusted up tools, lawnmowers, the odd chainsaw that kind of thing. To my knowledge there is no person out there, hiding or being kept hidden.’
Marc nodded. Morgan looked to Ben, who finally met her gaze and smiled at her, and she smiled back. He looked so angry underneath it though, and she just didn’t get why that was. She followed Marc and the rest of the search team outside, tugging her beanie hat down over her ears and zipping her coat as far as it would go.
