Page 4 of Chasing Creed

“I’m staying right here,” she insisted.

Creed turned his back to them and busied himself with closing the tailgate of his Jeep, checking Grace’s vest, and readjusting his daypack. Brodie and Jason followed his lead and continued checking their gear and their dogs.

“Now, Mrs. Lawrence, we can’t start our search while you’re here,” the sheriff finally told her.

“What? What do you mean? You’re not getting started? This is—?”

“Not until you leave.”

“Leave? I have no intention—”

“I can’t allow you to be here, ma’am. This might be a crime scene. Now, Deputy Perry will help you to your vehicle.”

The silence lasted so long Creed looked over his shoulder. The weight of those words, “crime scene,” apparently broke through. The realization on her face transformed the anger into sobriety. The edge of grief surfacing. Silently, she went with the deputy while the sheriff made his way over to Creed and his team.

“Sorry to keep y’all waiting.”

They had barely made it through introductions and now the man was eager to get started. He glanced back at the woman’s vehicle leaving the property, taillights disappearing into the fog.

“Mr. Creed, you asked if we had a starting place with some scent. Did I get that right?”

Creed nodded then added, “We like to use personal items. A piece of clothing or even a shoe works best.” He hoped the sheriff hadn’t sent the mother away too early. He didn’t see her give him anything that they might use.

“If you can all follow me.” Sheriff Daniels didn’t offer an item or an explanation. Instead, he turned and headed up the path between the house and barn, where the dirt driveway dissolved into a grassy two-track. It led all the way behind the house and to a cut-through in the trees. The path was most likely one the previous owners took often and used as a shortcut to get to the pastures on the other side of these woods.

Old equipment appeared out of the gray mist alongside rusted vehicles. The kudzu had grown over and covered some of them so completely that it was difficult to tell what was originally parked underneath the green.

Trees stood so close Creed wondered if the vehicles had been driven out here long before the trees. Branches hung low, scraping the roofs. Vines disappeared inside through broken windows. Pieces of other metal skeletons were scattered in the tall brush. It reminded him of a graveyard from an apocalyptic movie.

While they treaded their way carefully, watching out for obstacles and threats of concern for their dogs, Creed started to feel a knot begin to twist in his gut. Something felt wrong. Grace had already started poking the air with her nose and swiveling her head in all directions. He hadn’t given her a scent to search for yet, and it looked as though she’d begun without him.

The sheriff stopped abruptly at the edge of the woods and pointed. Creed glanced over at Jason then Brodie. Without a word exchanged, he could tell they were as baffled as he was.

A lone vehicle occupied a grassy meadow. This one had recently been parked. It was a newer model SUV, and the only thing it had in common with the other abandoned vehicles was the broken window on the driver’s side. By Creed’s estimates, it had been driven here within the last several days. Tire tracks were still visible in the tamped-down dew-wet grass. The path disappeared into another skinny cut-through of woods on the other side of the meadow. From where they stood, Creed could see claw marks etched across the side of the vehicle where branches must have scraped the paint.

The sheriff stood quietly for several minutes before finally saying, “You said you needed a personal item from the missing person. This here vehicle belonged to Kyle Lawrence.”

3

Creed thought the sheriff looked mesmerized by the sight of the vehicle, as if he was seeing it for the first time. Mesmerized wasn’t the right word. He didn’t know Sheriff Daniels, so maybe he needed to cut him some slack. Otherwise, he’d say the guy looked spooked.

Creed glanced again at Brodie then exchanged a look with Jason. Brodie had already pulled out a small notebook and started scratching down preliminary details. Jason and Creed focused on their dogs.

Scout, the youngest of the three, tugged on his leash, stretching, poking his nose and ready to go. Grace still looked preoccupied with something back in the woods. Her body pointed in that direction. She didn’t seem interested at all in the meadow. Hank stood quietly, eyes darting from his handler to the other dogs and back to his handler. He kept a close watch over Brodie. She was always his number one priority, and Creed loved that about him.

When the sheriff seemed paralyzed in the moment, Creed grew impatient.

“You know for sure it’s his?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. It’s his.”

Creed waited for more. When it didn’t come, he asked, “It looks like this property’s been abandoned for quite a while. How did anyone find it out here?”

“A hunter called me. Not much to hunt this time of year. He was looking for bobwhite quail. You usually use a dog to flush them out. They got to this clearing and his dog started acting kind of strange. Whining. Tail tucked. He knew something was off. He knew the property had a bunch of abandoned vehicles but recognized this one looked too new. Also, it still had the plates on.”

“Unless there’s some article of clothing that we know belonged to Kyle, it’ll be difficult to get a scent just from the vehicle.” Difficult, but not impossible. He could swab the steering wheel, but that worked only if he was the last and only person to drive.

“There’s blood inside. Lots of it,” the sheriff told him and looked at him as if that should be enough.