Page 50 of Forensics of a Fable

“I trusted you.” Bel looked up at him with an accusatory stare. He met her glare with a challenge but grunted his surrender as the deputy joined them.

“We found a connection between Alana Drie and Rebecca Kolm,” he said. “Kolm had a cat that she took to Brick House Veterinary for regular checkups. Drie had no pets, so we didn’t catch it at first, but it turns out that she owned a hamster briefly. It was elderly, so she only had the animal for a short time. It got sick, and she brought it to Brick House, where they, unfortunately, had to euthanize it.”

“She didn’t live in town. Why travel to Bajka for a vet?” Griffin asked, and Bel froze against Eamon.

“The reviews,” she said. “Brick House is the highest-rated vet in the surrounding area. I looked them all up when I moved because I would rather drive than get terrible care from a closer one.”

It was Eamon’s turn to freeze, his hand involuntarily tightening around her elbow as he pulled her against his chest, but it was Griffin who spoke what they all feared.

“Two brunettes. Two women with pets who were connected to Brick House.” He looked at Bel with horror. Only she and Eamon suspected she was the true target, but as he opened his mouth, Griffin officially confirmed their theory. “Weren’t you supposed to leave early that night? You were supposed to be in the parking lot, and you’re a brunette with a pet who’s a patient at Brick House Veterinary.”

“If you’rethe intended target, you shouldn’t be here,” Griffin said as the volunteer crowd gathered, readying to search the hiking trails on the Reale Estate. At a loss for how to move forward, the sheriff had relented, taking Eamon up on his offer to organize a search. His wealth and influence had most of the town flocking to help, and Bel was thankful for once that her dark beast was convincingly relentless.

“I have my dog, and I’m surrounded by cops,” she argued. “I’m armed, and our killer doesn’t seem to like conflict. He takes the girls at night when they’re alone. When they can’t fight back. In this crowd, taking me would cause an altercation.”

“I hope you’re right,” Griffin sighed. “I can’t convince you to stay at the station?”

“No.” Bel tightened her grip on Cerberus’ leash, choosing not to remind her boss that Alcina Magus had broken into the station and killed three officers. Nowhere was safe when beasts ruled the darkness, and Bel wasn’t sure if this killer was man or monster.

“Please be careful, Emerson.” Griffin looked uneasy, both annoyed at her recklessness and afraid for her safety. “I know you want to find your partner, but I worry it’s pushing you to trust the wrong people.” His eyes flicked warily to Eamon. “I understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. My anxiety increases with every hour that Gold’s missing. After what happened… I can’t find another officer dead, and that fear extends to you. I worry you blame yourself for their deaths, and you’re throwing yourself into harm’s way to save her.”

“Sheriff…” she trailed off, unsure what to say. He was right. She blamed herself, and she had thrown herself at the devil’smercy. Only Griffin didn’t know the devil had a weakness, and it was her. Evil, but never the evil she sought. He was her protector, and while she was reckless in her need to find Gold, trusting Eamon was ironically the least rash option.

“I’m not your parent,” he continued. “You’re an adult, so I can’t tell you what to do, but I don’t want this hunt for Gold to turn into a hunt for both of you.”

“It won’t. I’ll be careful,” she promised. “I’ll stick with people I know.”

“Thank you.” He squeezed her arm as his phone rang. Bel noticed Portia Cochons and her German Shepard Wolf among the volunteers, and she walked Cerberus over to them to say hello. The women made small talk while their dogs made friends, but after a few minutes, Bel caught sight of Eamon stalking her. She politely excused herself from the vet’s company before making her way to the outskirts of the crowd.

“I want you with me at all times,” he said as Griffin began addressing those gathered.

“No, I have Cerberus to watch over me. You’re faster than any of us, and your senses are stronger,” she argued. “Griffin insisted we hold Orso for the full seventy-two hours, so we don’t have the bear’s help. You’re all I have. You’re Olivia’s best chance.”

Eamon glared at her, and she braced for the argument, but he simply bent and captured Cerberus’ meaty face in his hands. “Be a good boy and watch your mom for me. If anything happens, you come get me, because I can’t lose her.” Eamon stood up and casually scanned the crowd, his confession rooting Bel to the dirt as her heart raced, and when he realized all eyes were on Griffin and not him, he pressed his lips against her cheek before vanishing into the woods with silent speed.

Halfway through the day,a team thought they discovered something, but it turned out to be rotting furniture. It seemed at one point teens used them to gather and drink without their parent’s knowledge, but based on the accumulated debris and decay, they had long since been abandoned. The police quickly dismissed their relevance, yet the furniture were the only items of interest the search teams found. By the time sunset arrived, the volunteers had nothing to show for their efforts. No Cabin. No Gold. Not even so much as a tire track.

Bel took a sip of water. Her back ached. Her feet were sore, and even Cerberus’ energy had turned sluggish. With daylight fading, they had to call it quits. Traveling the woods was too dangerous in the dark, and she knew Sheriff Griffin and Eamon would force her to break for the night. Everything pointed to her being the target, and while that terrified both men, she hoped it was true. If she was the killer’s desired victim, Gold stood a chance. Based on how meticulous the crimes were, the killer wouldn’t waste his perfect scene on the wrong woman. He might still kill Gold, but Bel prayed he didn’t have the stomach.

“Sheriff Griffin wants us to turn around,” a deputy announced after hanging up his phone. “We’ll mark where we left off and then resume in the morning.”

Bel scanned the area as the deputies and volunteers marked the maps and strung strips of crime scene tape across the trail to make their progress easier to locate. They’d halted their hunt close to a swell in the path, and Bel caught the arm of a nearby volunteer.

“I’m going to walk to the top and look around,” she said. “Can you let the deputies know? I’ll come right back, but I just want to see the surrounding area before we leave.”

“Yeah, sure,” the volunteer agreed, and Bel pulled her dog up the hill. It only took a few minutes to reach the crest, and she spun slowly, praying to find something. Anything. But luck was not in her favor, and she hoped someone else had more success than her team did.

“You want to go home and have dinner, baby beast?” She crouched and poured water into her hand so Cerberus could drink. She waited patiently until he had his fill, and then the two of them ventured down the hill. Her search party had already started for town, leaving her alone except for a single man leaning against a tree, waiting for her. It seemed at least one person cared enough to keep her from walking unsupervised.

“Hello, Detective,” Abel said awkwardly, and Bel groaned internally. She didn’t have the energy for his brand of small talk, but there was safety in numbers. His and her dog’s presence would deter any kidnappings, so she smiled softly.

“Hi, Abel. Thanks for waiting for me.”

“Did you find anything up there?”

“No.” She fell into step with the tall man. “I hate this. I need Olivia to be okay.”

“Don’t worry. You’re a smart woman. You’ll figure this out.”

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