Burn Out (6 page)

“
The accident changed
everything. It took my beautiful girl away from me. But it didn’t
take her spirit.”

“
What accident?” Rachel
asked, confused.

“
Sam was in a boating
accident when she was twelve. She got cut up pretty bad by a boat
propeller blade. She almost died.” Tammie told her.

“
Wow, I’m sorry. I had no
idea,” Rachel said. “So, Samantha has scars from her accident?” The
more she knew about scars, tattoos and any other body markings, the
better.

“
Yes. She had several
reconstructive surgeries. You can still see the faint scars on her
face and body.”

“
Do you have any current
photos of Sam?” Rachel would use the photos to put on the Florida
Omni Search website as well as to show her team.

Nora got off the couch and walked into
another room. She came back a few moments later with a couple of
pictures. “Sam didn’t like her picture taken much after the
accident. I only have these to give you.”

Rachel took the photos from her. Sam
was still very pretty. Her blonde hair was now cut shorter and
framed her face. However, her eyes seemed a little dull and her
smile not as big. Rachel could see the faint scars that made a
trail down her face. “Thank you, Nora. I will make copies and give
these back to you.”

“
Anything I can do to help
find my baby.”

Rachel swung the conversation back
around to Sam’s disappearance. “I heard all charges had been
dropped against Sam for the marijuana operation. Was she worried
about any repercussions from local drug dealers?”

“
She was worried about the
safety of her and the kids,” Tammie answered. “When Ken started
dealing dope, he pissed off a lot people, especially the drug
dealers he put behind bars.”

“
Did she receive any
threats?” Rachel asked.

“
No, not that she told me.
It was rumored Ken had stashed some of the cash he got from the
drug dealing. Sam was scared people would come after her for the
money thinking she would know where it was. But she didn’t have a
clue what Ken did with the money – if there was any truth to it,”
Tammie said.

“
Was there anyone else Sam
was close to that she may have confided in?”

“
She and Mack got pretty
tight. But they always have been. She leaned on him after Ken was
arrested. I came by her house a few times to help watch the kids
and Mack was always there. Of course, they work the same shift at
the fire station and you know those people are like a second family
to her.”

“
Ok, thanks for all the
information.” Rachel looked at her watch. “I need to get things
started. I’m going to coordinate another search around the
warehouse. The police department may have missed something the
first time. Nora, you might want to think about having a press
conference. It would be good to get Samantha’s face out there.
Someone somewhere may have seen something and we need all the help
we can get. I can get that coordinated for you through the police
department.” “Sure. Whatever you think will help find Samantha.
Thank you so much, for coming down here to help us.” Nora walked
her to the door. “Believe me when I tell you something happened to
Sam. She wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”

“
I know. I’ll do everything
I can to find her.” Rachel gave Nora a hug. “I’ll check in with you
tomorrow.”

Rachel treaded lightly down the steps
and walked back to her truck.

Tammie yelled at her. “Hey, Rachel.
Wait up for a sec.”

“
Yes?”

“
I didn’t want to say
anything in front of Nora. Is there any way we can talk in private
later?”

“
Sure. What’s on your
mind?”

Tammie looked back at the trailer.
Nora was sitting on her chair, with another glass of tea and
watching them.

“
There is something about
my last conversation with Sam that’s bugging me. Here’s my number.
Call me later so we can talk.”

Rachel took her number and promised to
call her. As she drove down the long driveway, she picked up her
cell phone and put it on speaker while she checked her voice mail.
There was only one and it was from Janine.

“
I just wanted to let you
know, you are all good for tomorrow’s search. Peter and the rest of
the team are on their way up. And I have talked with Chief
Gladstone and he wants to coordinate with you. Call me back for
more info.”

Rachel pressed the
end
button and put her
phone away.

This would be the most intense search
she’d ever had. She didn’t have much to go on. Questions about what
happened to Sam went through her mind. Did Samantha plan this fire
as an escape from her life? Or did someone else plan this fire as a
means to kill or kidnap Samantha? Revenge and retaliation from the
drug cartel? Or her husband who was in jail – did he have something
to do with it? All she knew was the answers would come in time.
They always did.

Santa Rosa Beach, Wednesday
7:00 AM

It was seven in the morning and the
heat was already intense. The Florida sun was bearing down and
sweat trickled down Rachel’s back. It was early August and still
the dog days of summer.

Rachel was always amazed at the number
of volunteers that turned out for searches. All she had to do was
put the word out to the local media, which is what she did after
meeting with Nora yesterday. She also contacted Chief Gladstone and
got the ball rolling on a coordinated search of the warehouse
grounds where Sam was last seen.

The volunteers included members of the
police department, local firefighters, plus members of the public.
Rachel was happy to see Mack Dixon and Jeff Stanton even made it
out for the search.

Red and Janine had sent up their main
search team which was specifically trained in forensics to round
out the volunteer list. Florida Omni Search used specialized
equipment in their searches. In Sam’s case they were using search
planes, ATV’s, and sonar equipment.

“
Ok. Just to highlight what
the Chief said. Stay in your group of four and within your search
grid. If you see anything at all that looks suspicious, use your
marker and call it in immediately," Rachel said, wiping the sweat
from her brow with a handkerchief. She never went on any search
without her purple hankie. It was a good luck charm of sorts given
to her by one of her first clients – an elderly lady who had
Alzheimer’s. She had gotten lost while walking home from the
grocery store.

Rachel glanced at her map of the area.
It was a pretty easy terrain – flat, sandy ground with small
undergrowth and pine trees. The volunteers would have to pay extra
attention to the tropical undergrowth in order to see anything out
of the ordinary. Unfortunately, there were a lot of snakes and
other vermin to watch out for.

The police department had searched the
night Sam disappeared and again the morning after, but did not find
anything other than Sam's helmet discarded by the back door. One
theory, Rachel thought, was Sam might have been knocked unconscious
by the blast from the propane tanks and her helmet came off. She
could have suffered head trauma and wondered off.

Chief Gladstone came over and asked if
she was ready to go. Rachel thought he was a little anxious to get
started. He was reluctant when she called him to coordinate the
search, but he seemed to be warming up to her. When she came at the
families request for help on some of the cases, she never knew how
the authorities would treat her. Some thought she was some kind of
quack and didn’t like her butting in on their territory and others
were grateful for the help. She figured Chief Gladstone was
somewhere in between the two.

Chief Gladstone’s demeanor fit his
physical profile. He was a stocky man with thinning gray hair –
complete with Donald Trump comb over – and a round, doughy face
that was always red, which gave an appearance he was mad about
something.

Getting a large search team together
in a short amount of time required a well balanced plan.
Fortunately for Rachel, she had a lot of practice. She grouped the
people into separate categories. The experienced searchers and
equipment handlers would be involved in the ground search. The
volunteers, who had not received training which Florida Omni Search
mandated, manned a relief station with water and snacks. Another
group was also set up to administer first aid. The last group was
communications and they were responsible for marking the map as
groups called in their locations and anything that was found. The
area would be marked and the police department would tape off the
area and process the scene.

Rachel would be teaming up with Peter
Moore, who was her specialist in ground searching. He had an
impressive military search and rescue background. Peter had been
with Florida Omni Search since the beginning. He was one of
Rachel’s real estate clients and had moved to Miami when he retired
from the military. He knew this area well, having been stationed at
Eglin Air Force base, which was about forty five miles west of
Santa Rosa Beach. He was one of first people Rachel contacted when
her daughter disappeared. Also in her group were Chris Cumbie and
Darcy Black, another forensic specialist team. They would start
their search at the rear of the warehouse, where Sam's helmet was
found, while the other teams set out to search the
woods.

Nora had given Rachel some clothing
Sam had recently worn in order to aid the search. She handed it off
to Rankin Smartz, who was the dog handler. His dog, Max, was an
adorable and capable black lab who reminded her of her Maggie.
Rankin and Max would start at Sam’s last known position, called LPI
by search and rescue people, which was the rear of the
building.

Searching in a grid system was tedious
work, but it was also the most effective. After an hour had passed,
Rachel heard the crackle of a call come through on the radio. One
of the search group members reported finding an object and gave
their exact location over the radio.

"Group five. Stay where you are. We
are on the way," Rachel instructed. "Grab the thermal equipment,
Chris.” They headed out with Chief Gladstone and his crew. It was a
quick walk to where the group was waiting. She was thankful she
dressed appropriately today and worn plenty of sunscreen. The
weather was humid and her t-shirt was sticking to her chest. She
wore her typical search and rescue outfit. The long khaki pants
were helpful when searching through dense undergrowth. Most of the
low-lying bushes had prickly vines and weeds. Her boots and socks
always picked up sand spurs. Even though today’s temp would
probably reach ninety degrees, she wore a light, long sleeved
t-shirt with the Florida Omni Search logo on it, to prevent sunburn
and scratches on her arms. Her baseball cap protected her from
possible ticks and other icky bugs.

They got to the site where one of the
search groups was waiting for them. The head of the group, Casey
Simmons, was one of her best volunteers. He had been with the
Florida Omni Search for about three years. He was always available
for searches and he never missed a thing.

"Whaddaya got?" Chief Gladstone barked
out at the group. He was red-faced and breathing hard by the time
they got there. Rachel didn't think the police department got
exciting action like this. The most he probably got was drunken
teenagers on spring break.

"We first saw some red fabric in the
bushes here. When I got a closer look, we found this." Casey
pointed the bush. He had put down a marker when he saw it – just
like he was trained to do. He also had taken a few photos with the
digital camera he always carried.

One of the officers on Chief
Gladstone’s crew put on a pair of gloves and reached down to the
bush. He pulled out a pocket knife and turned it over in his hand.
Rachel noticed it had a Maltese cross on the side.

“
That is a firefighter
emblem, right?” Rachel asked him.

The officer bagged it along with the
red fabric. “Yep. Looks like it.”

"Get this back to base. Let Mack Dixon
take a look at it and see if it belongs to Sam," Chief Gladstone
said as the other officer handed him the bag.

Rachel got her radio out. "Rankin, can
you get Max over here and let's see if they can pick up a scent?"
She gave him their position again.

A few minutes later Rankin and his dog
Max came to the site. He gave Max another sniff of the scent and
they took off.

Rachel and her team followed Rankin
and Max for about a half mile along a worn path through the woods.
She could hear the Chief behind her, gasping for breath and
struggling to keep up. Every few minutes Rankin would give Max
encouragement. The path suddenly ended at a dirt road.

Max wondered around the dirt road a
bit and finally settled down on his hind legs. He let out a whine
as Rankin soothed him and gave him a treat.

"Where does the road lead?" Rachel
asked.

“
It dead ends at a fishing
camp this way.” Chief Gladstone pointed east. “And if you go the
other way, it hooks back up to the highway by the farmers market.
There are also some trailers, maybe six or seven which are on this
road.”