Ellie veered into the parking lot of the junkyard, a graveyard for broken vehicles, and parked behind a rusted Mustang which appeared to have been rolled. Dozens of run-down, beat-up cars and trucks, a wrecked school bus and two RVs had been dumped on the lot, most likely used for salvaging parts.
Captain Hale had called saying a black pick-up fitting the description of the one seen picking up Jacey Ward had been found here near Ballground, which was nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and was known for its relaxing rural atmosphere and scenic mountain views, the opposite of the desolate half-dead area of Brambletown.
A police cruiser sat adjacent to a mud-coated cinder block building. Ellie and Derrick got out and found the policeman beside the black pick-up sandwiched between the two big rigs. He was peering through the window with a flashlight, brows furrowed.
Derrick identified them and the officer straightened. “I haven’t opened the door and examined the interior yet. If this isthe truck you’re looking for, I figured you’d want to do that and have a forensic team process and preserve evidence.”
“Thanks,” Derrick said. “Protocol is important, especially if this vehicle was used in an abduction/murder.”
The officer nodded. “It was like this when I found it.”
“Was anyone around when you arrived?” Ellie asked.
“No, no one.” The office gestured toward the truck bed. “But I did notice it smells like fertilizer.”
Which would fit with Earl Bramble and his work in the graveyard. Although he left town over a decade ago. So where had he kept the truck?
Maybe hidden in a barn or outbuilding somewhere?
Ellie surveyed the rural setting and two-lane road. “If the killer used this truck to abduct Jacey in Athens, then dumped her body in Brambletown, why leave the truck here?”
“Because he knew the police were looking for it?” the officer suggested.
Ellie gave a little nod. “Probably. He either had someone pick him up or he stashed another vehicle somewhere for his escape.”
“There’s an old, abandoned farm about a half mile from here,” the officer said.
Derrick pulled his phone. “He could have been hiding out there. Do you know who owns that land?” Derrick asked.
The officer shook his head. “Don’t think anyone’s been there for a long time.”
“See if your department can find out while I call an ERT,” Derrick said.
Ellie pulled on latex gloves and opened the passenger door, then searched inside. “Nothing in here.” She was hoping to find a shoe or scarf or blood but didn’t see any.
She opened the glove compartment in search of the registration, but nothing was inside it either. Dammit.
Hopefully ERT would find DNA, maybe a hair or clothing fiber from the killer or Jacey to prove she’d been inside.
NINETY
Briar Ridge Mobile Homes
Kat had wanted to meet Carrie Ann after school to read more of the journal together, but she’d told her parents she’d come straight home and her father would kill her if she didn’t.
So she secluded herself in her bedroom to dig deeper into her mother’s past.
Her heart skipped a beat as she opened an entry and saw the first line.
Daddy’s dangerous.
I saw more bruises on Hetty today and know what’s been going on behind closed doors, I see all the little sneaky mean things he says and does. He’s a monster.
Maybe that’s why my mama left years ago.
Tonight, he was in a foul mood, stomping and cussing and drinking. I was afraid he’d come after Hetty. Sometimes he asks her to help him at the graveyard but when he goes late in the day, he makes me stay home. I used to think she didn’t mind, but I was stupid. Hetty doesn’t want to goand she hates Daddy. But she has no other place to live, no relatives that want her.
Funny how everyone in town thinks he has a good side for taking her in. But Hetty and I know the truth. He got some money for giving her a place to live. Worse, I guess he needed a punching bag and poor skinny, orphan Hetty is perfect for that.
