Murder Fir Christmas (6 page)

“I’m sorry. It’s good you could be there for him.” She wished she wouldn’t have asked.

“Where else would I be? Mara didn’t want Peter, but I persuaded her not to get rid of him. As soon as he was born, she was gone. We weren’t married. It was an accident. Not a pleasant one for her.”

That hit a little close to Bonnie’s heart, and she stopped asking questions. It was hard to sit around with someone and not talk about their lives.

As if he could sense the truth about why she’d left Christmas Tree Valley, he asked, “What about you? Any kids? Married? Why did you leave the valley?”

She wished she could get out of the truck and walk away, but the situation didn’t allow for that. “No kids. No husband. I was young and looking for something else, I guess.”

“Something you found in Alabama that you couldn’t find here,” he guessed. “Until now. And still, only the most dire circumstances bring you back.”

“I visit every year. It’s not like I haven’t seen my family in ten years.

“Yeah. I get that.”

The sun played through the tree tops above them as the sky slowly turned blue. The ice on the trees looked like a diamond glaze that sparkled and shone with prisms of light. It wasn’t long before the heavy snow on the branches above them started falling on top of the truck.

“It never takes long,” Matthew finally said. They’d been quiet for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. “Most of this will be gone by tonight.”

She laughed. “Just in time for everything to freeze again when the sun goes down. I haven’t been gone that long.”

John Trump pulled up in a jeep. Just as Matthew got out to talk to him, Bonnie got a call from her brother. 

“I’m going to miss my plane if you don’t get here soon,” Eric said in an irritated tone.

“You told me it was okay to leave Mom alone for a while each day while I’m working,” she answered. “Get on your plane. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Some things came up when I got to Sweet Pepper, worse things than the snow and ice.”

“Look, this is a great opportunity for me. You’ve already wasted your life. I shouldn’t have to waste mine too.”

This was the way their conversations always sounded. Eric resented her for leaving the valley but had still chosen to stay, even before their mother got sick. Bonnie felt guilty that he’d always been there for her mother and put up with his annoying tone.

“I’m not saying you should waste your life. I’m stuck here right now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

His end of the phone went dead. She knew the conversation was over. Matthew had opened the driver’s side door as she’d finished speaking, so both he and John Trump had heard the last of her heated words to her brother.

“We found some tracks going from the back of the ice house,” Matthew said without mentioning her phone call. “John wants me to help him follow them in case it’s the person who took Harvey.”

“If you have somewhere you need to be,” John said, “take my jeep. We can trade cars later. I’ll come back with him.”

Bonnie stepped out of the truck. “I’ll go with you. I found Harvey, and I owe it to him. I’m sure the Wildlife Agency would want me out there.”

“Okay.” John smiled at her. “Let’s go.”

She was grateful to them for not asking any questions about her conversation. Eric’s job would keep—he was leaving two weeks early anyway. Bonnie was sorry she wasn’t wearing boots, but she did have her service revolver and her ID. Her brother was just going to have to understand that this was part of her job.

“You can see where someone got through this rotted wall,” Matthew said as they circled around the ice house. “You couldn’t see it as well inside because of the lighting. I’m guessing they got Harvey out this way.”

Bonnie crouched close to the crumbling concrete. “There’s something here—maybe some skin and clothing.” She pointed to the find.

“There was some snow on the ground already when this happened,” John said. “But at least another foot has been added.”

“But under that top layer of ice, the snow is still soft,” Matthew added. “If we’re careful, we should be able to follow where they went. Once we reach the trees over there, they act like a snow break, keeping the snow from falling under them. That’s where we’ll see the best tracks.”

He was right. It appeared whoever had taken Harvey’s body half carried, half dragged it away from the ice house. There were more incidents of pieces of clothing that snagged on trees and even a single shoe that had been left behind.

As they got into the thick, pine forest, the snow was thin, even spotty in places. It was simple to follow the trail as Harvey’s dragging feet showed them the way.

John got ahead and pointed out the boots that led the way before the drag marks. “Looks like a big fella. Look how deep these prints go into the ground, even though it’s frozen on top.”

Matthew nodded. “About a size twelve, I’d say. No deep marks like hiking boots. These are more like city boots or biker boots.”

They both compared the boots they wore to the marks.

“Not cowboy boots either.” John grinned at Matthew’s boots. “Not pointy enough.”

“Not work boots with steel toes either,” he said to John. “The toe would go down further. Do you want us to compare yours too, Bonnie?”

They all looked at her ruined tennis shoes. She wished she could hide them under the pants leg. “That’s okay. I’ll have to get some boots. I don’t think those marks look like something I could make.”

“Let’s keep going,” Matthew suggested. “We’ve still got another mile or so to get down the mountain. That’s the only place someone could get in a car or truck and transport the body.”

John nodded in agreement, and they continued down the slope.

Bonnie was starving by two p.m. but didn’t mention it. John brought out a candy bar, and they split it three ways. Normally she was better prepared for being outside for an extended length of time. With no water to drink, they ate some of the clean snow as they walked by it.

The air in the pine forest was crisp and clear, heavy with the scent of the big trees they passed. No animals crossed their path—probably still wherever they could find to stay warm. They had better sense than to be out in the cold or caught in their burrows without food. They could wait out the snow.

Feet hurting in her wet shoes, Bonnie was glad when they finally reached the main road that ran out of Sweet Pepper. Doc Schultz’s car had been towed, and the warm sun had left only patches of snow and ice on the road. Of course the vehicle that had transported whoever had stolen Harvey’s body was long gone, but John and Matthew found deep tire prints in the semi-frozen mud along the side of the road.

“I think we should be able to make a cast from this,” John said, using his cell phone to take pictures of the marks. “I’ll get someone out here right away.”

“And we need a ride,” Matthew said.

“What about Doc Schultz?” Bonnie asked.

“He probably intimidated someone into taking him home by now,” Matthew answered. “But we can check to make sure. Thanks for reminding me.”

John was on the phone alerting Chief Rogers to their findings and requesting transport back to the ice house. “I’ll stay here until we can get castings of these. Brown Elk and Agent Tuttle need a ride as soon as possible.”

He’d just finished saying the words when a bright red Jeep Cherokee with the Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade emblem slowed to a stop beside them.

“Never mind, Chief. I can get them back up there. I still need that casting set though.”

Stella Griffin rolled down her window and smiled at them. The strong breeze from the mountain swung her red ponytail around. “What’s going on? Good to see you again, Bonnie.”

“You too, Chief Griffin,” Bonnie replied. “We could really use a ride up the mountain to the ice house.”

“Brown Elk?” Stella responded. “Are you up for that?”

He glanced inside the Cherokee and shuddered as he shook his head, his long, brown hair flying. “I’d rather walk up there, Chief. Thanks anyway. I’ll just give Bonnie my keys, and she can come back to get me.”

“Is something wrong?” Bonnie wondered, looking at them. They sounded as though they’d had this conversation before.

John started laughing. “It’s the ghost of the old fire chief. Brown Elk says he can see him and it creeps him out. Isn’t that right?”

“I can see him,” Matthew agreed. “He doesn’t creep me out, whatever that means. It’s just not good to hang around with spirits. No offense, Chief Griffin.”

“None taken,” she replied. “Give her your keys, and we’ll bring the pickup back to you.”

Bonnie got the keys and went around to the passenger side. She started to open the door when John called out, “Not there. You’d have to sit on top of him.”

Stella and John both laughed at that. Matthew didn’t find it amusing. Bonnie wasn’t sure how to take it. She got in the front seat next to Stella and pulled on her seatbelt.

“I guess he moved to the back seat,” she said wondering if this was an ongoing joke between them. Matthew was scowling.

“I’m glad you find it amusing,” he said to John and Stella. “You don’t know the power of the spirits for good and evil. It may not seem like it, but it’s better to be safe and away from them than under the ground with them.”

“Okay. Sorry,” John said. “We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Stella’s Cherokee took the mountain and the occasional patches of ice that remained in the shadows as though they weren’t there.

Bonnie felt like she had to ask so she understood what was going on with these people she’d be seeing on a regular basis.

“I don’t talk about it much. People in Sweet Pepper would have regular conversations with me every day about Eric Gamlyn if I did.” She kept her eyes on the road. “When I first got here, they told me the old cabin was haunted. I laughed until I found out it really is haunted by the first fire chief.”

“I remember. That’s the cabin up on Firehouse Road. We used to go up there and try to do magic spells and other stupid things,” Bonnie said. “That’s the ghost? My mother said she used to date him in high school. That’s the only reason we thought he was real. How strange is that?”

“Very strange,” Stella smiled. “But not as strange as knowing he’s in the back seat right now. Do a parlor trick for us, Eric. Hold up my jacket. I don’t think Bonnie can see you.”

Obligingly, her heavy jacket went straight up in the air and from side to side before falling back to the seat.

“Wow.” Bonnie’s eyes grew wide. She was impressed but not afraid. “That’s really something. Does he do anything you tell him?”

“He says he’s not a zombie.” Stella laughed. “He definitely doesn’t do anything I ask. But he’s a great cook, which comes in handy before the Sweet Pepper Festival, and he’s not a bad companion.”

“And he travels around with you?” Bonnie couldn’t stop herself from glancing into the back seat but couldn’t see anyone. “I thought ghosts lived in haunted houses.”

“He was confined to the cabin for a while, but now he can leave as long as someone has his old badge with them.” She looked in the rearview mirror. “She’s not going to tell anyone, Eric. You’re just paranoid.”

Stella didn’t say anything else, but she appeared to be listening. Bonnie couldn’t hear Eric Gamlyn either.

“That’s right,” Stella finally said as if she was in the middle of a conversation. “Eric introduced me to your mother at the Pepper Queen’s coronation party a while back. I take it the two were close, but Eric went away, and she married someone else.”

“Yes. Her first husband, Wendel Harcourt. He was my brother’s father. She remarried after he died and had me.”

“He wants to know how Rose is doing.”

“She’s got Alzheimer’s, but it’s in the early stages right now. She’s doing okay. Does he ever visit her?” Bonnie thought it might be a good idea to know if the ghost came and went at the house. It could save her from thinking she was crazy if things started moving by themselves.

“Not unless I’m there. I mostly carry his badge with me.”

“Well, tell him I’m very pleased to meet him. He’s the first ghost I’ve ever met.”

“He’s laughing,” Stella said. “He says you can talk to him yourself. He can see and hear you just fine. And you remind him a lot of your mother.”

A chill went down Bonnie’s spine, and she shivered. Coming home was turning out to be a whole different thing from when she left.

Chapter Seven

Stella dropped her at the ice house, waving as she left once she had the truck started. Bonnie followed her back down the mountain.

She didn’t feel overwhelmed by realizing there was a ghost in the back seat of the Cherokee. On the other hand, she’d been raised in these mountains with plenty of scary tales of ghosts and other supernatural creatures. She wondered if the old mill to the north of Sweet Pepper was still haunted or if the ghost on Second Street who lost her head was still looking for it.

Another officer in a Sweet Pepper squad car had joined John and Matthew on the side of the road. Stella had parked her distinctive red vehicle along the edge too and was watching them mix and pour the solution into the tire marks to make casts of them.

Bonnie parked on the road too—it was beginning to look like a stopover for a parade. When she got out, Matthew was ready to go. He grabbed the keys from her and headed back immediately to the truck.

She ran after him. “Hey, wait a minute. I need a ride back to town hall.”

“Come on then.” His steps didn’t falter. “I don’t like standing around with ghosts either. You can bet when you see Chief Griffin that she has Eric Gamlyn with her.”

Bonnie got in the truck and slammed the door closed. “You really don’t like ghosts, do you?”

“Like I said—they’re bad news. I don’t care how friendly he is. I wouldn’t want to be around Casper. It’s just that simple. The dead are supposed to stay dead.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“So now what?” He took a deep breath and seemed to be more normal when he spoke. “It’s going to take a while to locate Harvey unless someone drops him off for us to find. Maybe you should have Chief Rogers get someone in to make a new set of keys for the Hummer.”