Page 81 of Special Agent Murphy

“Jesus, Boss, she drives like a maniac. Just knowing she’s behind the wheel scares the crap out of me. What’s up?”

“Did you know she sent in a mud sample from the vehicle where they stashed Gina’s body?”

“No. I didn’t. They’d have sent it to the lab as protocol, right?”

“Sure. Of course. But Kayti asked for a rush on it, and the results came through. This specific mud has a lot of clay and isn’t found just anywhere. I know the approximate location of the cabin. There’s a town called Bantam. It’s north from where you are, past Great Falls.”

“I’m on my way.”

Murphy headed for the doorway giving instructions to Chief Shale as he hurried. “The place we’re looking for is Bantam. I’m on my way there now. Send me any information you come up with for a cabin by the lake that fit’s our description.”

“Okay. We’ll be right behind you.”

Murphy drove like a madman, his heart thumping so hard, it scared him. Taking deep breaths, he concentrated on keeping his cool.

He hoped Kayti had been heading anywhere but there. Just the thought of her in danger made him physically ill.

A call came through. Thanking God when he saw her name, he pushed the button on his navigation system and heard a strange voice, young, scared with tears making it hard to hear.

“Mark? Is that you?”

“Yeah. I done what Kayti said. To call you after she left to explore, to see if she could find Misti. I couldn’t get any signal for a long time. She’s still not back. I heard some screamin’ from the cabin. I—I’m scared for her.”

“Look, kid. Just give me directions. Where are you?”

“North of Bantam. My uncle calls it the main artery from the lakefront. It’s about 2 miles in from the highway. Go through town on the main street and keep going until you see the sign on the left for Holiday cabins. Turn in there. We checked out the first two, and they was empty, but the last one had people stayin’ there. Kayti went to investigate.”

“I’ll be with you in a few minutes, Mark. I need to call in these directions. I’ll phone you back right away. Stay hidden, you hear me?”

“Sorry. Gotta go. There’s more screamin’. This time, I think it’s Kayti.”

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