Page 91 of Forever Dark
Selena reached for the door handle.“Let’s go.”
The silo stood alone in a field gone dull with early light.
By the time they pulled up, the sun had not fully broken over the horizon.A pale wash sat low behind the farmland, flattening everything into cold color.The old structure rose out of the earth like a rusted shell, tall and cylindrical, with one side patched in places where metal had split and been hammered back into shape.A sheriff department’s SUV sat near the gate.Yellow tape stirred weakly in the breeze.Beyond it, the fields spread flat and empty to a line of trees in the distance.
Deputy Arnold waited near the entrance with a notepad in one hand.
The first morning Selena had met him, eagerness had hung off him like a second uniform.Today all of that was gone.His face looked drawn.His shoulders seemed to slope under the weight of the vest.
As soon as they stepped out, Arnold came toward them.
“Sheriff.Agent Raven.”
Connor nodded.“You all right, Arnold?”
Arnold looked past him toward the silo and swallowed.“No, sir.”
That answer sat between them for a second.
Then Arnold glanced at Selena.“You think we can catch this guy?”
Notdo you have a lead.Notwhat do you make of it.He seemed more desperate.
Selena met his eyes.“We’re doing our best, Arnold.What’s got you so rattled?”
Arnold gave a short nod, though it did not look like comfort.
“I… I knew the victim,” he said.“Tara Brennan.She used to babysit my kid brother when we were young.”
Connor’s expression softened by a fraction.“You want me to get another deputy in for the day?”
Arnold drew a breath through his nose and straightened.“No, sir.I can do this.”
Connor nodded.“All right.”
Selena patted Arnold on the arm, her heart going out to him.“I’m sorry.We’ll catch whoever’s behind all this.”
Near the gate an old farmer stood with both hands wrapped around the top rail, cap pulled low over a weathered face the color of old leather.He was spare and bent but still looked durable, the kind of man who had spent a lifetime outside and let the land etch itself into him.White stubble shadowed his jaw.His coat hung open over plaid flannel and bib overalls patched at one knee.Mud clung thick to his boots.
Connor angled toward him.“Hi.I’m Sheriff Chase, this is Special Agent Raven from the FBI.Are you the one who found her?”
The old man nodded once.“Name’s Walter Epp.”
His voice came out rough and dry.
“Please walk us through it,” Connor said.Selena felt a change in Connor.He was getting used to the procedure of this now.The procedure of murder investigation.
Walter rubbed at his chin with cracked fingers.“Came out just after sunup to check the lower pasture.Cows pushed through the fence on the north side yesterday.I was gonna mend it before the rain this afternoon.”He jerked his head toward the silo.“Door was open on this old silo.That ain’t normal.Kids used to mess around out here years back, but not lately.”
“You hear anything during the night?”Selena asked.
Walter spit into the dirt, then shook his head.“Nothing.Wind picked up around midnight.That old metal rattles when the gusts hit it.If somebody was in there, I didn’t know it.”
He looked toward the silo and the muscle in his cheek twitched.
“Should’ve stayed shut,” he muttered.“Whole place should’ve been torn down years ago.”
Connor thanked him, then ducked under the tape with Selena at his side.
