Page 28 of Critical Doubt

He tried to remember. "I think it was sometime before five in the morning." He'd barely finished speaking before she headed to the door. "Where are you going?"

"Outside. I want to look around."

"It was probably in my head," he said, as he followed her outside. He was barefoot, and the ground was ice cold, but as she moved around the house and down the side yard, he kept up with her. She stopped by the window, then squatted down to look at the ground. "It wasn't your imagination, Ryker." She pointed to several large footprints in the wet soil.

He was shocked by the sight of them. He'd been almost positive the noises were in his head.

"Someone was standing by this window," she added, straightening. "They could see into the house."

"They would have seen me on the couch," he said, realizing the sofa was in plain view. "And then when I got to my feet."

"They must have left when they saw you."

He thought about that. "Who would have come to Todd's house in the middle of the night? What would they want? And why wouldn't they ring the bell?"

"Maybe someone decided to break in after they heard the news about Todd. They figured the house was empty."

"What are you doing?" he asked, as she pulled out her phone.

"Taking a photo of the print. I'll send it to one of my techs, see if they can tell us more."

"Like what?"

"Size, type of shoe, whether it's male or female. We may get nothing, but you never know."

"You're treating this like a crime scene." The idea bothered him more than a little.

"Maybe it is."

"Nothing happened."

"Because you were in the house."

He could see a mix of emotions flitting through her eyes. "What are you thinking?"

"Maybe Todd's accident wasn't an accident. Perhaps he was run off the road. It's a long shot, and I'm probably wrong, but the fact that someone tried to break into the house after Todd went in the river concerns me."

"I agree. Hell, maybe neither of their accidents were accidents. What if Paul didn't just fall off the roof?"

"But who would have a reason to kill Paul or Todd?"

"I don't know, but it's almost easier to believe that there was someone else involved than to think that one fell off the roof and the other drove off the road. Neither of those actions fits the men I knew."

As they walked through the yard, he could see her looking around for more clues, but there was nothing that stood out. When they came around the front, he looked up and down the street, but he could barely see the nearest house. "If someone was snooping around in the middle of the night, I doubt anyone saw them," he said. "No neighbors to speak of."

"And Todd has no security cameras on the house. Why would he? There's not much crime in Dobbs. At least, not until now."

"We need to find Todd, and we need to look at his car."

"I'm ready whenever you are."

Chapter Seven

Thirty minutes later,they were on the road. Ryker had showered and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, then downed two bagels before getting into Savannah's car. She'd insisted on driving, since she knew her way around the area, and he'd reluctantly agreed. He liked to be in control of everything, including a car, but he didn't want to waste time getting lost.

When they got to the river, there was a command post set up near the crash site with groups of volunteers walking along the shoreline. The helicopter was back up in the air as well. They checked in at the command post and were told they could start from the crash site, or they could drive themselves to a spot farther down the river and begin there. They opted for the latter. He didn't think Todd would be near his point of entry into the water. He had to have been swept downstream.

As Savannah drove along the river, he realized the water was even higher and faster than it had been the day before. Last night's storm had dumped enough rain to bring the level up several inches. There were lots of people walking along the shore and the road. It felt like the entire town had come out to search for Todd. It was amazing how many people cared about a man who had only been in town a few months.

---