Page 11 of JoyRide

“Deputy Bristol, ma’am. You mind telling me the name of your campground?”

She smiled. “It was on the sign at the road when you came in.”

“Didn’t come that way, ma’am.”

“Pine Hollow is what we call it.”

“Okay, Pine Hollow.” I stopped for a minute and texted that to Travis. “Would you mind telling me when Johnathan and Kathy Walker checked in, ma’am? When did they arrive here and what number is their campsite?”

“Let me look that up for you, officer. Are the Walkers in trouble?”

“Not anymore ma’am. They’re dead.”

She smiled. “That can’t be true. They checked in yesterday and they had their son with them. First time campers—all three of them.”

“Uh huh. Anybody come into the office asking which campsite they were at, ma’am?”

“No. Nobody asked for them. Not while I was here, but I’ll check with Norm. He was on the front desk for a while yesterday afternoon.”

“What time does your park close, ma’am?”

“No check-ins after eleven, officer.”

“Thanks. The campsite number for the Walkers?”

“Oh, yes. They are at twenty-seven. Right on the shore of Lake Frances. They wanted to be on the water. The husband was keen to take the little boy fishing in a boat for the first time.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Sheriff Frost may be back in a while to ask you a few more questions.”

“I’ll be here. I’m on duty until four o’clock. Are the Walkers really dead, Officer? I’m not quiet believing that story.”

“They are dead, ma’am. Any help you can give the sheriff’s office would be appreciated.”

“Nobody ever died on our campground before, Officer. This is a terrible blow for Pine Hollow.”

“Big blow for the Walkers too, ma’am.”

I jogged back to campsite twenty-seven and Doctor Olsen and his assistant were rolling the bodies into body bags.

Travis was busy inside the tent-trailer going through what little the Walkers had in there. He came out shaking his head. “Nothing in there.”

“The woman’s purse might be the best bet,” I said.

“Yeah, we’ll take everything back to the shop.”

“Call Ted and tell him to come tow the pickup back to the office. I’ll get my squad and I’ll tow the camper.”

“Copy, boss. I’ll unhitch it from the truck and put the top down.”

Travis smiled. “Be right back as soon as I climb a couple of fences and run a fuckin mile.”

I started on the tent-trailer. Never put one of these rigs up or down before, but it couldn’t be too hard to figure it out.

Travis was back with the Bronco by the time I had the fuckin top down and locked in place. I unhitched the trailer from the pickup, turned it and Travis backed into place.

“Ted on his way?”

“Yeah, he’s coming and brining Tammy back. Molly is giving the boy lunch from the diner.”

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