Page 14 of In Her Mind

“Looks like they were running,” he observed.

“Running,” Jenna echoed. “Amber fleeing, someone chasing.”

This stretch of nearly forgotten road had borne witness to a terrible act, and Jenna felt a grim satisfaction in her ability to read it. Yet the satisfaction was fleeting, overshadowed by the gravity of what those signs implied.

Jake came to a halt and pointed to the spot where the footprints veered off the road and plunged into the woods.

Together, they moved cautiously, following the disrupted underbrush and snapped twigs that marked the path of the chase. The air was still, and the only sounds to be heard were the crunch of their footsteps and the distant call of a crow. They tried to stay to one side of the route the woman and her pursuer had taken, in order not to obliterate any signs.

“Here,” Jenna pointed to where the foliage bore signs of a frantic struggle. Branches were bent at unnatural angles, leaves trampled underfoot. The man’s footprints circled, zigzagged, as if searching, while the woman’s showed a determined effort to escape, to evade.

They came upon a clearing where chaos gave way to a chilling convergence. The two sets of footprints came together abruptly; after that, there was only one set of footprints—deeper now, erratic, accompanied by a shallow trough in the dirt thatsuggested something being dragged. Those awful marks cut back through the woods toward the road.”

“God,” Jake muttered, voicing the dread that had already settled in Jenna’s stomach. He pulled out his phone and took pictures of those signs so they’d have them even if other searchers stormed over this area.

“Let’s get back to the car,” Jenna finally said, her voice steady. “Spelling will be here soon.”

Jake nodded, casting a last look over the scene. They retraced their steps to the road, where the mundane sight of their parked vehicle waited. As they emerged from the tree line, the distant rumble of an engine heralded Spelling’s arrival.

Jenna felt the earth compact beneath her boots as she stepped back onto Old Orndorf Road. The quiet was broken only by the hum of a vehicle approaching. Her heart pounded—not from the exertion of their search but from the terrible implications of her dream and the real-world evidence surrounding them.

Jake’s hand rested briefly on her shoulder, a reassurance. Jenna offered a tight nod but said nothing. Words were unnecessary; they both understood the gravity of what lay ahead.

Colonel Spelling’s truck kicked up dust as it drew near and came to a halt with a pneumatic sigh. The Colonel emerged first, his face set in a grim line, followed by two uniformed highway patrolmen who seemed equally uneasy. He did not speak at first, his eyes searching Jenna’s for an explanation, or perhaps absolution. Jenna simply met his gaze, her own eyes reflecting a resolve born from years of chasing shadows.

Finally, he spoke. "Show me."

CHAPTER SEVEN

Jenna stood on Old Orndorf Road with her arms crossed, waiting for the Highway Patrol men to return from the forest trails that were marked by flight, struggle, and capture. Jake was pacing a few feet away, the muscles in his neck tense with anger. Before she could ask what was bothering him, Colonel Spelling emerged from the shadows of nearby trees.

Jake stopped pacing and spoke up, “Colonel, we’ve already lost too much time.”

The accusation in his voice made his meaning clear—Spelling had made a terrible mistake in dismissing Jenna’s concerns a while ago, when he had seemed so sure that Amber Stevens’s disappearance wasn’t anything serious. Jenna watched Colonel Spelling’s jaw work silently, frustration evident as he collected his thoughts. His eyes narrowed as he faced Jake. The morning sun cast harsh shadows over his face, throwing the creases of his frown into sharp relief.

“We’re doing everything we can now,” he said, his tone defensive. “You two didn’t give me enough to go on earlier. I get a dozen reports like this across the state every day. The supposed missing usually turn up on their own.”

Jenna observed the exchange, the air thick with unspoken recriminations. Jake’s frustration mirrored her own impatience with the slow churn of bureaucracy. She knew that every second counted, and despite Spelling’s assurances, she couldn’t shake the feeling that vital clues were slipping away like sand through fingers.

“Let’s focus on the tasks at hand,” Jenna brokered peace, directing her gaze between the two men. “Colonel, we found a cell phone beneath Amber’s SUV. It’s likely to be hers. We need it to be checked for prints and turned over to a technician who can get at the contents.”

“My techs can do that,” he replied. “I’ll take it back to headquarters with me.”

Jake looked reluctant, but he pulled the evidence bag holding the phone from his pocket and handed it over. Jenna cleared her throat, ready to steer the conversation back to more of the matters at hand.

“How do you plan to move forward right now, Colonel?” she asked.

“APB for Amber Jennings and Jason Reeves,” Spelling replied without hesitation. “Reeves is our prime suspect. I’ll get his plate number to dispatch and call that neighbor you mentioned – the one who saw his truck. She can describe the vehicle for me.”

“Good,” Jenna nodded, relieved that they were finally moving in full pursuit. The urgency of the situation had rendered their prior disagreements irrelevant; there was only the chase now, and the unyielding drive to bring a resolution to the case that consumed them all.

“Colonel, how do we best divide the labor moving forward?” she asked.

Spelling’s eyes flicked to hers, and for a moment, Jenna saw the weight of responsibility he shouldered. “The Highway Patrol will take charge of the statewide search efforts,” he declared, regaining some of his usual command. “What about local leads? You two are better equipped to chase those down.”

“We’ll look into Amber’s last known contacts,” she responded as she consulted her notes. “We’ve got the names of the three co-workers who were with her at Paws and Harmony just before she vanished. We’ll interview them.”

“Good,” Spelling said, his tone now clipped with efficiency. “Get whatever information you can from them. Let me know if anything important turns up.”

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