Page 42 of Fire Harbor

Beckett gave Brent a thumbs up and hollered, “Brodie’s found more clothing. You want us to go in deeper to see what’s what before you send in forensics?”

“Bag it,” Brent shouted back before motioning for the forensic team to move in.

“Wait,” Beckett bellowed. “It’s not just clothing. I see a partial skeletal outline. This isn’t related to Gabby. It’s another victim.”

“Okay, get out of there,” Brent directed. “Switch places with forensics. Let them handle the excavation while we devise a way to get through that wall of vines. God only knows what’s on the other side.”

Minutes turned into hours as the team worked to collect the bones, combing through the undergrowth where Brodie had led them.

The dense thicket seemed to loom larger now. A foreboding shadow hung over the discovery of the second victim. Linus could feel the weight of the unknown pressing down on him, a heavy burden that threatened to suffocate any hopes of finding closure for those affected by these gruesome crimes.

His face was grim and determined when he angled toward Brent. “That wall of vines is no ordinary obstacle. There’s something in there. I can feel it. Is there any way we could work to clear that area while forensics does their job? You have at least five guys standing around here in a holding pattern with nothing to do when we could be cutting through that wall.”

“He’s right,” Birk said to Brent. “We could save time and get this done before dark tonight.”

Linus saw indecision in Brent’s eyes. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t want to compromise what we’ve already found,” Brent explained. “Search and recovery is a painstaking process, sometimes slow and methodical. You can’t hurry this along because it’s inconvenient timewise.” He scanned the faces of the men. “Every one of you should already know that.”

Theo traded looks with Colt. “Then we might as well be back on patrol taking calls.”

Colt scanned the terrain and scrubbed the stubble on his chin. “What if we cut through from the north side, completely avoiding the forensic team by approaching from the other direction? That way, we wouldn’t risk compromising what we have in hand.”

Beckett joined in the conversation. “Look, we’ll leave the dogs here while we cut through that mess. The ground’s higher over there, drier. Then afterward, when we’ve breached that side of the undergrowth, we turn Brodie and Journey loose to do their thing.”

“What do you say, Brent?” Linus prompted. “Coming in from the back side will take us hours. By that time maybe the forensic team will be finished extracting the second victim. Maybe we’ll find more bones. Who knows? It’s better than standing around here doing nothing.”

“Fine,” Brent finally uttered. “But you’ll need machetes to tackle that wall.”

“I have a bush axe in the truck,” Linus volunteered.

Birk slapped Linus on the back. “Go get it. We keep brushing tools in ours at all times. We never know what kind of search and rescue we’ll be handling. It helps to have weed whackers and brush hooks on hand to chop through undergrowth.”

With tools in hand, the five men got busy.

It wasn’t like hacking their way through the jungle. These vines were tough and dried out from years of drought conditions. Faced with removing several acres of brush, Theo and Colt worked in unison on one end while Linus and Beckett took the other. Linus used the weed whacker while Beckett chopped his way using the hook with a long, curved blade. The two followed behind Birk, wielding the bush axe with precision, hacking away at the thick branches he confronted every few feet. All they needed was to create an opening in the wall large enough for them to pass through.

Thorny, woody scrubs like hawthorn and acacia scraped along their skin. The sharp spikes tore at their clothes as the men chopped and hacked through the dense undergrowth. They pressed on, driven by the relentless need to rule out whether this place might be a dump site.

Finally, after what felt like hours of grueling labor, Birk struck the final blow with the bush axe, creating a large enough gap for them to walk through. They stepped into a small clearing surrounded by towering foliage, more gnarly vines, and tangled vegetation that had guarded this spot from outside intrusion. And there, lying in a patch of sunlight filtering through the dense canopy above, was the dump site. Bones and raggedy clothing were scattered everywhere.

The air was thick and heavy, filled with the musty scent of decay. A foul stench wafted out, causing Theo to gag and step back. Colt tried to cover his nose with his sleeve.

These men had been to war and were familiar with the odor of decomposition. They knew better than to disturb this makeshift graveyard.

“How on earth did he get his victims here?” Linus wondered aloud.

“No need to bury them,” Beckett noted as he stood without taking another step. “Who was ever going to get curious enough to discover what was here?”

“Are you forgetting that we’re standing underneath a bridge?” Colt pointed out. “How many cars travel overhead daily without anyone knowing this was here?”

“I’m counting seven skulls,” Linus offered.

“Negative. You missed the one nearest the perimeter,” Birk corrected, pointing straight ahead. “That makes eight.”

Linus liked to think he had a strong stomach. But a sickening feeling settled in the pit of his belly. He looked around at the horrific scene and almost lost the breakfast he’d eaten earlier.

The bones were weathered, some scattered in disarray while others were neatly arranged in grim patterns. It was clear that this was the work of someone meticulous, someone who took pleasure in displaying their victims like macabre trophies.

---