Page 37 of Scent of Death

“Is there a problem?” The woman stepped closer to the kids.

“No problem. I’m wondering if any of you have seen a man with a four-wheeler.” Griff didn’t want to spread panic through the campsite. “He was probably here over the past few days.”

“Is he a suspect in a crime?” the woman asked fearfully.

“I just want to talk to him,” Griff said. In his periphery, he noticed Alexis and Denali had moved close enough to hear the conversation without being intrusive.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen him,” the man replied. “Have you, Sheri?”

“No, I haven’t.” Sheri looked thoughtful. “I may have heard a four-wheeler, but it could have been a car.”

The engine of an ATV was much smaller than a car, but Griff nodded. He was about to pull out a business card, when the boy said, “I saw him.”

Sheri whirled to look at her son. “Tim, are you sure? When did you see a four-wheeler?”

Tim glanced up at his father, then shrugged. “Okay, you won’t like this, but Darla and I took a walk late last night. We came this way for privacy.”

Tim’s mother looked like she might faint. “Tim! You’re too young to be dating!”

Tim rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t a date. We just wanted a quiet place to talk.”

“To talk or make out?” Sheri demanded.

Griff held up his hand. As much as he appreciated Sheri’s concern for her son, he needed information. “Go on, Tim. Tell me about the four-wheeler.”

“Oh yeah. Well, Darla and I heard a rumbling sound. We stopped and waited, thinking someone was pulling into the parking lot.” Tim flushed beneath his mother’s piercing gaze. “We didn’t do anything,” he said defensively. Then to Griff, he said, “I realized the engine wasn’t a car, but a small motorcycle or ATV. And I was right because just then a guy came riding out of the woods into the parking lot.”

Griff’s pulse skyrocketed. They had a witness! “Did you get a good look at him?”

Tim grimaced. “Not really. He was about as tall as my dad but way younger. Maybe in his twenties? He had dark hair. He walked to a large Ram pickup truck with a small trailer. He used a ramp to get the ATV into the trailer, and then he drove away.”

Griff nodded encouragingly. “You’re sure he was driving a Ram pickup truck?”

“Yeah. It was an older model, but it’s just like the one I’d like some day.” Tim glanced at his parents. “Hey, I’ll be sixteen in a year and two months!”

“What about the color of the truck?” Griff asked, before Sheri could interrupt. “Or a license plate?”

Tim shook his head. “I didn’t look at the plate. The truck was light in color, but in the dark, it was hard to see. Maybe gray or silver. Could have been a dirty white.”

Griff knew there were hundreds of white, silver, or gray Ram trucks in the state. But he could at least get a list to see if any of the names popped. “Is there anything else you can tell me about the driver? Anything specific that you noticed?”

Tim frowned. “Not really. Oh, he wore a baseball cap. Does that help?”

Griff nodded. “Yes, Tim, you’ve been a great help.” He turned to Tim’s parents. “Do you mind if I take down your names and phone numbers?”

“I’m Dave Johnson, and this is my wife, Sheri. Our son, Tim, and our daughter, Sylvie.”

Griff entered their personal information into his phone. Then he stepped back as the family piled into the car and headed out. No doubt Sheri was giving Tim grief over his late-night walk with Darla.

A man in his twenties wearing a ball cap and driving a white, silver, or gray Ram truck pulling a trailer. It was the first solid lead he’d gotten since this nightmare had started.

For the first time since Grace had passed away, Griff lifted his gaze to the sky and opened his heart to prayer.

Please, Lord Jesus, help me find this man before anyone else gets hurt!

9

“Is there a way to find the light-colored Ram truck?” Alexis looked at Griff expectantly. “You must have access to a database that can provide that information.”

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