Page 11 of Shrouded Past

He reached the road and started walking along its edge. On the shoreline, JT and Rachel’s home was lit up. JT had invited Bryce to stop by their office and meet the rest of the team anytime. Bryce wasn’t sure he could. Part of him still missed being a police officer. The adrenaline of chasing down the bad guy was still there lurking somewhere inside him. Every time he thought about going back to law enforcement, Jenna’s pretty face appeared. He’d taken her life just as assuredly as if he’d pulled the trigger himself.

Losing her had removed all the desire to return. The mayor had told him to take a leave of absence for as long as he wanted. He’d hold the sheriff’s position open until Bryce was ready to return. For days before he’d turned in his badge, Bryce had debated if he could ever return to the position and do a good job. The answer had been an easy one. He was all washed up.

Leaving Eric had been harder than he thought. He and Eric had become closer after Jenna’s death. They’d bonded over that dreadful night. Eric helped him through losing Jenna, and it had been his brother-in-law who had brought down the man who claimed he was responsible for taking Jenna’s and Tess’s lives.

For that, Bryce was grateful. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he’d had to take him in. Would the man have made it to the sheriff’s station alive? Thoughts like that cemented his decision to leave the sheriff’s department. It wasn’t his place to mete out judgment. When he wasn’t able to be objective then it was over for him.

Bryce stopped in his tracks when he realized he had almost reached the place where the car smashed into the tree. He shaded his eyes against the brilliant morning sunlight and realized something was terribly wrong. The car. It was gone.

How? There was no way the kidnapper would have been able to drive the vehicle. The radiator was busted, and who knew how much more damage was done by the crash. So, how did he get the vehicle out of there? Had the car been reported by a citizen and towed? The churning in his stomach told him that wasn’t the answer.

He crossed the road to the accident spot. The damaged tree and two sets of tracks were the only reminders of what happened. Two sets of tracks?

Bryce knelt to examine the two sets of far-different tracks. One appeared to have been left by a much larger vehicle, the second no doubt from the car. Someone had towed the vehicle from the area, removing all the evidence left there. The county? Had one of his neighbors called in the injured car and had it towed away? In the middle of a storm?

Bryce had doubts about that. Most people were tucked away waiting for the weather to pass. So, if not the county, then . . . ?

Bryce pulled out his phone. He still had the license plate photo he’d taken. He pulled it up and studied it. The plate was from Michigan. Why had Piper’s kidnapper ended up here in Maine? Had he driven her all the way to the coast for a reason? Nothing about what happened made sense.

He scrolled down until he found Eric’s number and called his brother-in-law.

“Bryce, how’s Maine? I heard your area had a nasty storm blow through last night.” Eric’s upbeat voice sent him back to that dark time.

Bryce shoved those painful memories back down into the recesses of his broken heart. “Yeah, it brought a lot of rain and wind but nothing else. Listen, I need a favor. Can you run a plate for me?” Bryce rattled off the number. “It’s from Michigan.”

Eric’s lengthy pause seemed to confirm his friend was probably wondering what Bryce had gotten himself involved in. “Sure. I’ll do it as soon as I go into work. Something I need to know about?”

He’d expected the question. Eric was now the acting sheriff, and he was a good deputy. He knew something was up.

“Not that I can say yet.” Bryce kept it as noncommittal as possible. Piper hadn’t wanted the police involved. For the time being he’d respect that. But if this trouble came to his door, he’d have no choice but to involve them.

“Got it. I’ll give you a call as soon as I have the owner’s name and address.”

“Thanks, Eric. Appreciate it.” An awkward silence fell between them that hadn’t been there before Jenna’s murder.

He and Eric had arrested several members of the drug-smuggling ring operating in the county before the case officially closed. Even though the one guy had confessed to killing Jenna and the informant, and the ballistics from his weapon seemed to back it up, Bryce didn’t buy it. He believed the real person in charge was still out there. He’d spent the last two years combing over every clue he could find, and he’d spend the rest of his life tracking the true killer down because he owed it to Jenna.

“How are you really, Bryce?” Eric said quietly.

How could he tell his brother-in-law that each day felt like a challenge he wasn’t sure he could get through. “I’m okay.” The catch in his voice gave away the lie.

“You are?” Eric didn’t believe him. Stood to reason. Eric had seen him at his lowest.

Bryce smiled. “I will be. Let me know when you have something on the plate, okay?”

A handful of seconds ticked by before Eric responded. “I’ll be in touch soon.” The line went silent. Regrets poured in. Eric had suffered every bit as much as Bryce, but he’d been the strong one. Eric had taken care of Bryce when he could barely get out of bed.

His attention returned to the tracks. The kidnapper had wanted to get the car out of sight before police discovered it. That told Bryce there was some form of evidence inside the car that might identify the kidnapper. No doubt he’d lost blood when he and Piper struggled for control of the knife. Maybe his DNA was on file somewhere and he couldn’t risk being discovered.

Bryce stepped back from the road as a vehicle approached. He recognized JT’s Suburban as it drew near. The vehicle stopped beside Bryce. Passenger window rolled down. JT was alone.

JT put his vehicle in Park and leaned over and asked, “Everything okay?”

Bryce did his best to cover up his concerns. “Yes. I was just checking for damage.” A stupid response and one JT saw right through from his expression.

JT nodded. “I just came back from checking the office building. Everything’s okay there and our property was spared. Did your place take any damage?”

Bryce hadn’t given his home more than a cursory glance. He’d been busy looking for footprints. “Not that I can tell. Did you notice a disabled car parked here when you came by earlier?”

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