Burn Out (17 page)

After a long, hot shower, Rachel
took the time to tend to the burn on her hand. She used the
ointment the doctor gave her and applied a clean bandage. Her ankle
still hurt, but she didn’t want to take any more of the strong
painkillers. She needed to think clearly, so she swallowed two
ibuprofen with a glass of water, and got to work on finding more
information on Millers Lake. If she was going out there to have a
look around, she would have to hurry. There was only a few hours of
daylight left.

First, she would have to find out
where Millers Lake was. She didn’t want to involve Mack or Tammie
with this. She still felt unsure about Mack’s motives with Sam and
she didn’t want Tammie to get suspicious.

She hooked up her computer
and tried Googling it. No such luck. Ken told her it was his dad’s
favorite fishing hole, so she decided to call a store that sold
bait and fishing supplies. She got the phone directory out of the
desk drawer and looked for any store listings under
fishing
.

She tried to first number. No
answer. The second one, someone picked up on the first
ring.

“
Haverty’s Bait Shack. This is
Stan. Can I help ya?”

“
Hi, I’m new in town and would like
to try out some fishing spots. I was wondering if you knew where
Millers Lake was located?”

“
Yes, I do,” Stan
answered.

“
Ok. Well, I need directions. I am
staying at the Seaside Inn.”

“
Why you want to go over to Millers
Lake? There is better fishing over at McCann Park.”

“
I want to go to Millers Lake. Can
you help me?”

“
Ok. If you are sure it’s where you
want to go,” Stan said reluctantly. Then he gave her the
directions.

She quickly called a couple members
of her team and asked them to meet her at the hotel in a half
hour.

Rachel knew going to Millers Lake
and finding something that would help locate Samantha was a long
shot. With nothing else to go on, she had to try. The tricky part
was going to be honoring Ken’s promise and keeping the Chief out of
it. This in turn meant keeping this from Stacy, again. Not
something she wanted to do, but she felt she had no choice. If she
told Stacy about the search at Millers Lake, and the search was
successful, Stacy had an obligation to report that in her paper.
And if she reported the search in the paper then the Chief would
catch wind of it and possibly confiscate any money – if there was
any money – and Ken would be furious with Rachel. She was lucky
Stacy had plans to go to dinner with Mack tonight to wrap up her
interview. The important part was to find Samantha – not the
money.

Rachel was getting everything ready
for the search at Millers Lake when she heard a dog barking in the
hallway. Must be Rankin and Max, she thought as she opened the
door.

“
That was quick…” she was beginning
to say when a black lab jumped up and licked her on the
face.

“
Mags!” Rachel was stunned to see
her faithful companion, Maggie, and her top investigator at Florida
Omni Search, Red, standing at her doorway. “What are you guys doing
here?”

“
We thought you might need some
help. And besides, Maggie was missing you.” Red walked in her
room.

“
Last I talked to Janine, she said
you were working on a new case.”

“
Yep, well the case resolved
itself.” Red sat down on one of the dining room chairs and watched
Rachel fill up a bowl of water for Maggie.

“
Which case was this?” Rachel
inquired.

“
A young lady reported her husband
missing when he didn’t come home after a dinner meeting. The police
told her the standard ‘you have to wait 48 hours before we can do
anything’ and she freaked out and called us. Long story short. He
was discovered the next day by a hotel maid handcuffed to a bed.
Apparently he picked up a prostitute after a dinner meeting at the
hotel, went to a different hotel, had some disagreement with the
prostitute over money, she tied him up and stuffed her bra in his
mouth, taped it shut, and left. She told the police she intended to
return later that night and let him go – after he learned his
lesson – but her son got sick and she had to take him to the ER.
She forgot about it until the next morning and then was too scared
to go back to the hotel. So she made an anonymous call to the
police.”

Rachel started laughing. “Oh my
gosh, that’s horrible. Was the guy okay?”

“
He was when he left the hotel. I’m
sure his wife did more damage when he finally got home.” Red looked
around at all the stuff on the dining room table. “So, what’s going
on here?”

“
Well, you arrived at the perfect
time. We are getting ready to go on another search.” Rachel brought
him up to speed on the case and what they were planning on doing at
the lake.

“
If you can give me a few minutes
to change, Maggie and I will go with you.”

“
Thanks for looking out for
me.”

“
You okay?” Red nodded to her
bandaged hand.

“
Yeah, I’m fine.”

Red was a man of few words when it
came to mushy stuff, but Rachel could always rely on him to have
her back. She had a feeling he would probably make his way up here
to help her even though she told him not to. He was like a second
father to her. While he went to change, she sat down and cuddled
with Maggie. “I missed you, girl. This has been so hard. I need to
find Sam. Can you help me find Sam?” Maggie answered by licking
Rachel’s face. “That’s a good girl.”

A few minutes later, Mike walked in
with Rankin Smartz and his dog, Max, and Peter Moore, her forensic
specialist.

“
Well, who is this?” Mike said as
they all walked in.

Mike had never met Maggie. And
Maggie never met a human being she didn’t like. Especially if they
gave her belly rubs like Mike was doing. Rachel introduced everyone
to Red and explained where they were going.

“
You think Sam knew where the money
was hidden?” Peter asked.

“
Ken didn’t say it outright, but I
think he must have thought Sam knew where it was. Or had an inkling
of an idea.”

“
How do we know Sam didn’t take the
money before she went missing?”

Rachel thought about it for a
minute. “We don’t. But my gut feeling tells me she wouldn’t take
the dirty money.”

“
Why?”

“
Because she was looking for
another job. Her mom said she was struggling to make ends meet,”
Rachel said.

“
It could have been a cover,” Peter
said.

“
No. I don’t think Samantha would
have risked it. Unless someone forced her to find the money,” Mike
added.

“
You are operating on the
assumption she was taken against her will?” Rankin
asked.

“
Yes,” Rachel replied.

“
Let’s take this one step further.
Based on your assumption, someone set the fire knowing she would be
there and took a big chance of getting caught and grabbed her. She
was forced to reveal where the money was. She led them to Millers
Lake – if indeed that is where the money is – and she showed them
the hiding place.”

“
Right,” Rachel said.

“
So what next?”

“
If she was there, hopefully Max
will pick up the scent and lead us to the direction where she was
taken. At least we will know she was there at some
point.”

“
It’s a long shot,” Rankin
admitted.

“
Yes, it is, but it’s all we have
right now,” Rachel agreed. “And you guys know me by now. I check
out every lead and don’t give up.”

They all shook their heads in
agreement.

“
Well, what are we waiting for?
Let’s get our asses over to Millers Lake,” Red said.

***

After a thirty minute drive, they
finally found Millers Lake. Rachel felt a sense of peace and
tranquility when she viewed the surroundings. This was a spring-fed
lake which gave the water a pretty cerulean color. The water itself
was smooth and clear as glass. Visibility looked to be about six or
seven feet. Magnificent tall oaks, birch, and pine trees surrounded
the lake. A few picnic tables and BBQ grills were scattered around.
Rachel could imagine families coming here for Sunday picnics,
spending the day fishing and tossing a Frisbee or football. She
then remembered Tammie’s story about Sam’s accident. This is where
it happened, Rachel thought. How ironic.

While everyone set up and got
ready, she walked over to one of the trees. She looked up and
couldn’t see the hole Ken described.

She walked around checking all of
them. Her ankle was starting to bother her and she slowed down. In
the fall this would be easier, she thought. The trees were thick
with leaves. The fourth tree she checked out had possibilities. She
could see what looked like a small hole about half way up the
tree.

“
Hey, I think this is it,” she
called out to her team.

“
Want me to climb and check it
out?” Peter asked.

Rachel looked around. Daylight was
fading fast. The sun was starting its slow descent and soon it
would be dark.

“
Yes, go ahead.”

While he climbed up the tree, she
helped get Max ready for the search.

“
Here is the shirt we used for the
last search.” She pulled it out of the truck. “Let’s see what Max
comes up with.”

They all walked over to the tree
and waited.

Peter yelled down. “I found
something.”

“
What is it?” Rachel
said.

“
You are not going to believe
this.”

“
Try us.” Rachel answered
back.

“
Match box cars. And rocks.
And….”

Rachel could barely see him up in
the tree.

“
Star War toys. Old
ones.”

“
Money?” Red asked, looking up at
him.

“
If there was any, it’s gone now.”
Peter started heading back down the tree.

He dropped to the ground when he
was about five feet from it.

“
It’s like a dream toy chest for a
seven-year-old up there.” He wiped his hands on his jeans. “But no
money.”

“
Either Ken was telling tall tales
or someone got it already,” Mike said.

“
I am betting someone else beat us
to it,” Rachel said. She walked over and sat on the picnic table to
rest her ankle. She watched Rankin and Max walk around the
perimeter of the lake. After a few minutes of sniffing around, Max
started whining.

“
Nothing.” Rankin said walking back
to them. “I thought he caught a scent. If Sam was here, she stayed
around this immediate area and then was driven away.

The team looked disappointed. “We
have a few more minutes of daylight left. Let’s take another good
look around and then we’ll head back,” Rachel said.

Mike grabbed a flashlight from the
truck. “I want to take a good look inside the tree.”

“
Might as well,” Rachel said.
“Let’s start packing up.”

After a couple of minutes, he
yelled out. “Hey, Rach. Looks like we missed something.”

Rachel looked up and could see
Mike’s leg dangling precariously from a branch.

“
Looks like someone was here,” he
called down.

“
Well?” Rachel said.

Mike worked his way back down the
tall oak. “I’m not sure what this means, but I think it’s worth
taking a look.” He handed Rachel a sterling silver necklace with a
broken heart charm.

Peter took a look. “I don’t know
how I missed that.”

“
It was hung up on a piece of bark
inside the hole.” Mike said.

She turned the charm over and saw
the initials engraved on the back. A feeling of elation came over
her slowly. Then the feeling of dread when she realized what this
meant.

“
I think I know where Sam
is.”

Lake Juniper, Tuesday
evening

Sam was lying on the dirty cot in the
cellar trying to think of reasons why Paul would want to kidnap her
and hold her in this hell hole. He was not like the Paul she first
met back in high school. The Paul she dated for several years. Or
was he?

When they first met, she was smitten
by all the attention he gave her. She was still self-conscious
about the scars she had gotten from the boating accident. Everyone,
including Paul, told her she was still beautiful, but she didn’t
buy it. All she saw when she looked in the mirror were the angry,
pink zigzag streaks down her face. She wore makeup to cover them
up, but you could still faintly see them.

Paul would meet her every day after
football practice and they would do their homework together. Most
of the time he stayed over for dinner. In the morning, he would
pick her up in his Camaro and take her to school. They would take
off the t-tops and turn up the radio, singing Sweet Child O’ Mine
at the top of their lungs, the salty air blowing through their
hair.