Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery (14 page)

Finally, they
arrived at the parking area near Jumping Off Rock. “This is near where Sandy
Hill’s body was found,” Sue reported.

“I thought that
case was one of the two that’s been solved,” Lin said.

“Well, it was
closed when the killer of the hiker whose car was stolen was shot by police in
Florida, but of course, he was never put on trial in either case.
 
I’m not so sure he was responsible for
Sandy Hill’s death.”

“Why?” Lin
asked her friend.

“For one
thing.
 
Her car was found
undisturbed right here in this parking area.
 
The killer they found had stolen the car
of his victim.
 
That’s how he got to
Florida.
 
Besides, he was wanted for
other crimes, but they were all in Virginia—further north.”

Lin pointed out
that those facts really didn’t prove much.
 
After all, the man might not have needed a car when he killed
Sandy.
 
Maybe he wasn’t ready to
leave the area.
 
There were lots of
possibilities.

“I realize I’m
just speculating,” Sue continued, “but I just have a feeling Sandy’s murder is
more like some of the others.
 
Anyway, I’d like to take some pictures while we’re in the area.”

Sue continued
to tell what she knew about Sandy Hill’s story as they left the parking lot and
began to walk down the slope into the woods below the parkway. “Sandy’s friend,
Jack Davis, said she’d come out to take photos for a collection she needed as
part of her graduate work in Botany.
 
Taking samples of wildflowers is not allowed on the Parkway; instead
students take photos and keep them for use in classes.
 
He’d suggested she come here because
walking wasn’t difficult, but there was no hiking trail; walkers wouldn’t have
trampled most of the flowers, as is often the case in heavily visited areas.
 
When her body was found, it appeared
that she’d been chased by someone, had tried to climb back up to the road, but
hadn’t made it.
 
She was shot with a
shotgun--similar to what happened to Pete and Ellie.
 
Interesting thing, her camera was
missing.
 
Authorities thought it
must’ve been taken by the shooter.”

“Was it found
with the supposed killer in Florida?”
 
Lin asked.

“No, it
wasn’t,” Sue replied. “The question did come up, but the police simply thought
he must’ve sold it or pawned it for cash somewhere.”

“But no pawn
tickets, or receipts?” Lin asked.

“If any were
found, I haven’t read about it,” Sue offered. “The best I can tell from news
accounts, they simply thought such had been lost or thrown away.
 
Anyway, there was no sign of her camera
and it’s never turned up.”

Lin and Sue
continued to walk slowly along a path angling down into the woods.
 
Walking here was easy.
 
It appeared that others might have come
this way as there was sort of an informal trail meandering through the forest,
but plant life was abundant.
 
From
time to time they stopped to take some photos.
 
Of course, it had been almost four years
since Sandy Hill died, so there was no way to tell where she might’ve been shot
or what direction she might have taken.
 
Nevertheless, they enjoyed their walk.
 
They’d just turned back toward the road
when Sue reached for Lin’s arm.

“Quiet.
  
I’d swear I just heard something
beyond those trees over there,” Sue indicated a nearby thicket.
 
Lin came to a stop and the two of them
waited for a moment.
 
It was
unmistakable, something or someone was moving through the forest coming toward
the spot where they stood frozen in silence.

Lin’s first
thought was that they should run away as fast as possible, but she remained
still, Sue gripping her arm firmly to hold her in place.
 
“Don’t move,” Sue whispered, “it might
be a bear or some other animal.”

Whatever it was
moved slowly, with long pauses between steps, but the sounds kept coming.
 
Lin felt her heart racing and her palms
were growing clammy.
 
She felt as if
she wouldn’t be able to keep breathing.

Finally, the
dense thicket parted in front of them—about ten feet away.
 
Lin held her breath as their visitor
emerged into the dappled sunlight.

Eustace Hinson
raised his head and looked them squarely in the eye. He was empty-handed “Get
the hell off my property and don’t come back.
 
Go now and be quick about it.”

Lin felt her
heart pounding and there was a strange ‘buzzing’ in her head.
 
She felt as if she might pass out and
wanted to cry out, but her voice was frozen.
 
She couldn’t get her breath.
 
Sue seemed to sense her paralyzing
fear.
 
She maintained a firm grip on
Lin’s arm and slowly turned her toward the way they had come.
 
Without a word she began leading Lin
back toward the road—one step at a time with a measured pace.
 
They trudged up toward the road without
pausing to see if they were being pursued.
 
Gradually Lin’s breathing began to calm down and the buzzing sensation
abated.
 
Finally, they reached the
side of the parkway and turned to look back.
 
There was no sign of anyone coming after
them.

“Let’s get out
of here,” Sue said.
 
She released
her grip on Lin’s arm and headed toward the car.

Lin could only
nod her agreement.
 
Physically she
felt calmer now, but she couldn’t recall when she’d experienced such a panicky
sensation before.
 
She’d been in far
worse situations on several occasions; after all old Eustace was threatening,
but was unarmed and scarcely able to pursue them.
 
Nevertheless, her fear this time had
been crippling.
 
Had it not been for
Sue, she might’ve been standing there in the woods still.

Nothing was
said as Sue started the car and turned back onto the Parkway toward Boone.
 
“I think we’ve explored enough for
today,” she remarked. She seemed to sense that Lin wasn’t yet ready to talk
about what had happened.

When they
arrived back at the house, Lin went directly up to her room.
 
She sat on the edge of her bed trying to
think about her experience—not so much their encounter with
Eustace—as her own personal reaction to the situation.
 
Her fear and panic had been
overwhelming.
 
That’s not like me,
she thought.
 
Sure, I’ve been afraid
plenty of times, but never before have I felt totally out of control, totally
unable to take any action.
 
Even
though she now felt calm physically, she was truly puzzled by her earlier
reaction.
 

She was still
sitting there, pondering the situation, when Sue entered the room.
 
“Let’s go downstairs.
 
I’ve opened some of that new wine we
bought last week and fixed a plate of crackers and cheese. Come join me.”

Lin tried to
smile and followed Sue back down to the living room.
 
She wasn’t ready just yet to talk about
her experience, but she welcomed the wine and snacks.
 
Sue seemed to understand what Lin had
just experienced.
 
She didn’t try to
press her with questions.
 
Instead
they sat quietly together, sipping on the wine and enjoying the food.

Finally, Lin
felt ready to talk. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt such paralyzing fear before,
and I’ve been in far worse situations.
 
What happened to me back there?”

“I think you
had a genuine panic attack,” Sue replied. “We were both startled and it was
frightening, but you simply seemed to freeze.
 
You looked to me as if you might pass
out at any moment.”

“That’s how I
felt,” Lin confessed. “If you hadn’t been there, I’d probably never have been
able to walk out.”

“I’m sure you
would’ve eventually,” Sue tried to sound reassuring. “These things just happen
sometimes.
 
You’ve had a couple of
really tough experiences in the past year.
 
Maybe your body and mind are just saying they’ve had enough.”

“That may be,
but what do I do about it?”
 
Lin
asked. “I don’t want to go around worrying that I’ll experience another attack
of nerves like that.”

“Right now,
just enjoy your wine and try to relax,” Sue smiled. “Maybe later we can try one
of those relaxation sessions like we did before, like I did with Ellie.”

Lin agreed that
might be a good idea.
 
For the
present she was content to relax and appreciate the warmth of the wine.
 
She felt mostly tired at this point.

“Meanwhile,
what do you think old Eustace was doing out there?
 
We didn’t see anyone else, but do you
think he was really alone?”
 
Sue
queried.

“Actually no. I
doubt the old fellow drives, and we didn’t see another car parked at that area.
 
His sons or some other family
member must’ve been nearby but I didn’t see or hear anyone else.
 
Besides where would they have parked?
 
I’m pretty sure we were still on park
land so he was dead wrong about our trespassing.”

“Given that
there are many side roads and the Parkway borders private land, I think that
Eustace and whoever he was with probably approached the area from another
direction, but what were they doing there?” Sue asked.

“Maybe they
were out hunting or something, but I certainly didn’t hear any shots,” Lin
offered, “and Eustace wasn’t armed.”

“Still, that
could be a possible explanation—especially if they live nearby. I’d guess
that, after the earlier trouble, his family would take care to keep him away
from guns.
 
Do you think we should
report this?”

Lin reflected
for a moment.
 
“I don’t see what
good it would do.
 
After all, even
though he ordered us to leave.
 
He
had no weapon and wasn’t really a danger to us.
 
We never saw anyone else.
 
Besides, we know of his condition and
that explains his behavior.”

Sue nodded her
agreement, “I suppose we might mention it if we have occasion to talk to Dave
Winkler or Mark Scott again, but I don’t think we should file any sort of
formal complaint.
 
It would be
pointless.”

They continued
to enjoy their wine and snacks.
 
Lin
began to feel quite relaxed anyway.
 
She turned to Sue. “Why don’t you talk me through this experience right
now?
 
I already feel fully relaxed
with this good wine.
 
You can be my
therapist.”

“I’m no
therapist,” Sue chuckled, “I just learned this technique during my reporting
days when I was interviewing folks and trying to help them focus and recall
their experiences.
 
If you keep
experiencing such episodes, you might need to see someone for real.”

“I hope it
doesn’t happen again,” Lin said, “Now let me refresh my wine and we can get
started.”

***

A little more
than an hour later Lin awoke from a short nap.
 
She was lying peacefully on the sofa and
felt very relaxed and refreshed.
 
She could hear Sue stirring in the kitchen, most likely at work
preparing that large salad she’d promised would be their dinner.
 
Lin stretched her legs and remained just
as she was, now recalling the relaxation session she’d done with Sue.
 
It had certainly done the trick.
 
Sue had asked her to close her eyes, had
her relax her body, and then asked her to talk about her reactions and feelings
when they were in the woods.
 
Lin
could clearly recall their entire conversation, but now any sense of panic was
far distant.
 
Evidently she’d
drifted off to sleep after they’d finished talking. She got up and headed into
the kitchen.

“Sorry I went
to sleep on you,” Lin apologized. “Must’ve been the wine.”

“More likely
just release from physical stress,” Sue commented. “You didn’t sleep long
actually.
 
Do you recall our talking?”

“Oh, yes,” Lin
replied, “clearly.
 
Thanks for doing
that.
 
It really helped.”

“You’re quite
welcome,” Sue smiled, “but I’ve been doing some thinking.
 
You really have had quite a lot of
stress, quite a lot of change in your life over the past year.
 
In addition to those difficult
situations—the close calls—you’ve encountered, there’s your
engagement to Neal…”

“Hold on,” Lin
interrupted. “I get it about the bad stuff that’s happened but I’m quite
delighted and happy about my engagement.
 
I’m looking forward to marrying Neal.”

“I know, I
know,” Sue responded, “but physical stress isn’t just about bad things that
happen.
 
Even positive life-changes
can cause us stress.
 
Marriage is
one of the biggest life changes we encounter.
 
Also, you’ve not been retired more than
a couple of years, and that also brought a lot of change to your life.
 
I’m just saying you’ve got good reason
to have reacted as you did today.”

“Are you
suggesting that I should do more of these relaxations sessions—talk about
all the changes in my life?”

“Only, if you
want to,” Sue grinned, “it might be a good way for me to find out more about
your love life,” she teased. “Actually, I’m really just suggesting you
concentrate on bringing some more relaxation into your life in general.”

Lin thought for
a moment. “You know, when we signed up to join that Wellness Center in town,
which we seriously need to visit by the way, I noticed that they have some open
yoga classes listed.
 
A long time
ago, I did some Yoga and it really helped me relax when things seemed to pile
up with work, the kids, and everything.
 
Maybe we should go.
 
Have you
ever done Yoga before?”

“Not in a long
time,” Sue reflected, “but that’s a great idea.
 
We need to exercise too.
 
That helps us all feel better in many
ways.
 
Besides, we promised
ourselves and then all this stuff with Ellie intervened and…”

“I know, we
haven’t made it yet,” Lin sighed, “tomorrow after work we should go straight
there.”

“Agreed,” Sue
said. “Now sit down.
 
I’ve got this
salad ready and some fresh bread that’s ready to take out of the oven.”

***

Life indeed did
seem to return to normal in the days that followed their scary encounter with
Eustace Hinson.
 
Visitation was
steadily increasing as the summer season blossomed on the Parkway.
 
Lin was so busy at the visitor center
she hardly had time to think of anything else.
  
Sue was experiencing the same
pattern at Moses Cone.
 
They kept
their promise to themselves about exercising and even took in a yoga class on
Tuesday evening that they both enjoyed.
 
Lin’s panic attack of the Sunday before faded into the background.
 
They heard no more from the deputy about
Ellie’s case and Lin did wonder about that investigation.
 
She was delighted to see Mark Scott walk
into the visitor center on Thursday afternoon; maybe he would know something.

As soon as
she’d finished talking to a group of visitors, Lin sought out the young ranger who
was relaxing outside the center enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

“Haven’t seen
you in awhile,” Lin commented, “What’s keeping you so busy?”

“I’ve spent
most of my time up near Deep Gap, helping Dave Winkler with the investigation
of that shooting, the one involving Peter Dunne and Ellie Clark.
 
You did know that case has been
reopened?”

“Yes, Dave
called us about it,” Lin responded. “He thought he might be able to charge
Stefan Kovich.”
 

“Well, I think
he’s was hoping to do that, but we haven’t found any real physical evidence to
tie him to the scene of the crime.
 
The weapon was of the same type he owns but his have all been cleaned
so…”

“ I was told
that.
 
He could’ve used them and
then cleaned them, but that’s circumstantial at best, “ Lin agreed.

“Yes, really
all of the evidence falls into that category.
 
The best evidence is the threatening
notes found at his place, and his overall behavior toward the victims.
 
There are witnesses to that.
 
I think Dave is going ahead with harassment
charges, but that’s all he can do at this time. We’ll just have to see what
happens.
 
I’m afraid a good defense
attorney might get him off,” Scott shook his head.

Lin frowned, “I
don’t like the sound of that,” she said. “He’s bad news and I’m afraid he might
try to come after us again, if he was the one who left that threatening note.”

“I know how you
feel,” Mark offered, “Dave says the assistant DA will argue that at the
hearing, but without real solid evidence a restraining order isn’t likely.”

That wasn’t
really much comfort to Lin, but she wasn’t sure that such an order would be
very effective anyway with a disturbed person such as Stefan Kovich.

Mark Scott was
soon on his way, and Lin realized that it was past time for her to leave
work.
 
She wanted to check her
schedule for the upcoming week.
 
She
still hadn’t heard from Neal, but she was expecting he might call tonight.
 
She really hoped he would be coming
sometime during the weekend.
 
All
week she’d found that she couldn’t stop thinking about him, and how much she
was missing his presence—in more ways than one—she could hardly
wait to see him again.