The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1)(92)

A man I don’t know takes a seat on the porch deck next to me. He’s wearing a black windbreaker and has a real clean-cut face. If I had to guess, he’s some kind of federal agent.

“Dr. Cray, do you feel like talking?”

“Is Jillian safe?”

“Yes. She’s inside.”

“What about Gus?”

“He’s inside, too. Care to tell us what you’re doing here? Or, for that matter, why you’re alive?”

My eyes are still on the woods. “The killer. He said he’d hurt them if I talked to you.”

“Did he? When did he tell you this?”

“Two days ago.”

“Was this in person? Did he write you a letter?”

I turn to the man. “Why are you patronizing me?”

“Am I? I’m just trying to figure some things out. Let’s talk about your confession.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Special Agent Seward with the FBI. You came to my attention after you started finding all those bodies. Ones you now say you planted.”

“That was a lie.”

“Really? It was a convincing lie.”

My mind finally focuses. “Seward, listen to me very carefully.” I speak up so Whitmyer and Glenn can hear me. “The man who killed those women. The man who killed Juniper Parsons. I know who he is.”

“Joshua Lee Clark,” says Seward.

“Yes, but that’s not his name now. He left Montana and came back with a new identity.”

“Okay, what is his name now?”

“I don’t know.”

Seward makes a smug little grin and turns to the others. “Well, that’s not very helpful.”

“They know who he is,” I say. “They’ve probably talked to him dozens of times.”

“Gentlemen?” Seward says sarcastically. “Have anything you need to tell me?”

Whitmyer rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but Glenn is listening intently. “Who is he?” he asks me.

I ignore Seward and speak directly to Glenn. “He knew Juniper was stranded. He drove past Chelsea and the others. He knew when someone was from out of town and didn’t have any connections.”

“And how is this?” asks Seward, trying to take control of the conversation.

I stare at him, unflinching. “Because he’s the fucking tow-truck driver. He’s the first person you call when you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire or your car runs out of gas. He’s the one you tell your whole story to when you sit in the cab.” I look up to Whitmyer. “Did you ever find Chelsea’s car?”

“No . . .”

“No. But we found her body. Somebody hauled her car away.”

Seward stands up and walks over to Whitmyer and Glenn to talk. I can tell this has hit him by surprise. From his dismissive attitude, I got the sense that he believed my confession but not my death. He wasn’t really expecting me to name someone.

Glenn is nodding his head. Whitmyer is shaking his. They have a name in mind. They know who I’m talking about. They just don’t want to accept it.

“Who is he? What’s his name?” I shout.

Seward turns and glares at me. “Just wait.”

“Wait? My family isn’t safe. Nobody is safe!” I’m frantic. “Let me talk to Jillian. Jillian!”

There are footsteps behind me. I turn and see her standing at the door.

“Theo!” She puts a hand to her mouth when she sees the handcuffs.

“Go back inside!” shouts Seward.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“He’s coming for you and me and Gus and anyone else,” I yell.

“Who?”

“The tow truck guy. Whoever has this area and Filmount.”

“Joe Vik?” she says, then looks at the gathered cops. “Is this true?”

“We don’t know anything about that,” says Whitmyer. “We’re going to send someone to go talk to Joe.”

“You’re on a first-name basis with him?” I ask incredulously.

“Shut up, Dr. Cray,” snaps Whitmyer, “or we’ll have you tased again.”

“You don’t understand.”

Whitmyer pushes past Seward and crouches down in front of me. He shoves a finger in my face. “I’m sick and tired of your bullshit. Keep your mouth shut!”

“You don’t know what you’re messing with,” I say under my breath.

“Oh, really? What are you going to do?”

“Not me, dumb ass. Him! This Joe Vik. He’s a killer!”

“I’ve known him for twenty years. You’ve been here what, two weeks? I have a pretty good idea what I’m dealing with here.”

Glenn steps over and tries to calm things down. “Dr. Cray, we’ll take him in for questioning. We’ll see if his story matches up. This is under control.”

I shake my head. “You don’t get it. You don’t know what you’re dealing with. I’ve looked at his patterns. He’s not a man. He’s a monster that’s excellent at pretending he’s one of us, but all he really wants to do is kill. The bodies I found, they’re only part of it. This is only the beginning.”