Page 58 of Murder at Rescue Ridge

Who did Nikki have on her side? She’d turned her face toward the passenger window. He could have sworn he heard a stifled sniffle a second ago.

“I’ll second that,” Conrad said.

“I stopped by the house. Where are you?”

“On the road, checking out fishing spots where I might find Lukas Wayne.” Conrad rattled off a couple of spots, just in case.

“Do you want backup?”

“Let me investigate,” Conrad said after briefing his brother on the conversation with Lukas’ wife. “I’ll text before running into a situation halfcocked.”

“Okay,” Kade conceded. “My phone will be with me at all times today.”

Conrad thanked his brother before ending the call. He wanted to ask Nikki if she was all right but stopped himself.

Instead, he reached over and clasped her hand in his. He brought the back of her hand up to his lips, where he pressed a kiss.

She didn’t say a word. Didn’t need to.

After a few moments, he gently set her hand down on her thigh and then drove toward lake number one.

There was no sign of Lukas at the fishing spot. The couple of fishermen in the area hadn’t seen him either.

Fishing spot number two, the one in the middle of the map Mrs. Wayne had shown, turned out to bear fruit.

Lukas Wayne’s pickup truck was tucked off the road, not aquarter of a mile’s walk from the exact spot his wife had pointed out. He looked to Nikki, who’d been quiet on the drive over and offered a measured smile. “This is progress.”

She sucked in a breath. “Let’s go find Lukas Wayne.”

They exited the truck and then walked over to Wayne’s ride. Conrad pulled out his new phone and took several pictures just in case. The doors were locked. There was no sign of struggle. No blood in the area.

Lukas Wayne made it to his fishing hole. Was he still alive?

Nikki followed closelybehind Conrad as they hiked toward one of Lukas Wayne’s favorite places to catch fish. Her mind wandered about everything from finding him camping with another woman to his body floating on the water or buried in a nearby shallow grave.

Would the stench have hit by now?

If he was dead, wouldn’t there be a smell?

Once when Nikki had lived alone with her mother, a mouse moved in. The critter had caused large-scale panic in Nikki’s mother, so she’d bought traps, but the mouse was too smart to take the bait. Poison worked. The problem then became finding the mouse inside the walls of the house in its hiding spot. An entire wall had to be rebuilt because the critter specialist couldn’t locate the dead creature. The stench had been so awfulthatNikki remembered it to this day.

Instinctively, she covered her nose with her shirt with the full knowledge it would only make the smell a little worse.

A creepy thought of buzzards picking at Wayne’s dead body stamped her thoughts. She involuntarily shivered, then forced the image from her mind. Imagination rarely matched reality. Internally, she repeated the phrase a few more times to solidify it in her brain.

They should be getting close. No smell. That had to be a good sign they would find Wayne alive with his pole in the water. It was a clear day in the middle of the afternoon. Though, she always thought fishing was best early in the morning or at dusk. Since there was a chill in the air, they might be at the surface. In hot summer months, they did like everyone else; searched for shade. Of course, it all depended on what kind of fish you were fishing for.

Should they have driven around more? Made certain there were no other vehicles parked? They’d driven past a few places that would be easy to hide a vehicle. There had to be more than the ones she’d noted.

Which reminded her eyes could be anywhere, watching. Waiting.

No matter how hard she tried to walk lightly, twigs snapped under her feet—feet that were feeling tons better now that Conrad had treated them and she’d slept. Sleep was a miracle when it came to healing. The cuts were definitely still there, but she no longer felt like she was walking on razors as she had at one point yesterday.

Conrad brought the shotgun for good measure. It was currently tucked underneath his armpit, the barrel resting on his forearm.

She listened, trying her best not to make any noise. She wanted to ask how much longer they’d be walking along the well-worn but small trail when she heard something or someone snort from above them.

Nikki reached for Conrad, but he was faster. He’d turned, tucked her behind him, and stepped behind a tree trunk before she could utter a sound. Both searched the trees to find out what had made the sound.

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