Into the Night(77)

“This is my assistant, Carlisle,” Dr. Lang said. “Carlisle, this is Agent Bowen Murphy and Agent Macey Night.”

Carlisle inclined his head toward them. He didn’t offer his hand, probably because the guy was wearing his gloves, and his gaze jumped between Bowen and Macey.

“Thanks for the work you’re doing here, Carlisle,” Macey said.

His shoulders jerked a bit. “I just... I want to help, you know?” His voice was a low rumble. “They had families. All of them. People who cared about them—people who wanted them back.” There was grief there, flickering in his gaze.

Dr. Lang squeezed his shoulder. “You are helping,” she assured her assistant. Then she exhaled and straightened her shoulders. “Keep supervising things here for me, would you? I’m going to talk with the agents for a moment.”

Carlisle nodded. He turned back toward the grave.

“Why don’t you walk this way with us, Dr. Lang?” Bowen invited as he motioned to the side of the cabin.

But as they started to pass around the side of the cabin, they nearly collided with Ranger Zack Douglas. The ranger staggered to a quick stop. “I was just coming to look for you, Dr. Lang.” But his gaze darted to Macey and Bowen. “I wanted to see if there was anything I could help with today.” Then he squared his shoulders. “The rangers have been helping to secure the scene. Not our normal type of work, but it seemed like an all-hands-on-deck situation, and these mountains? They are ours.”

But Bowen could see the guilt on the guy’s face. He still blamed himself.

“Give us just a moment, Ranger,” Macey murmured. “We really need to speak privately with Dr. Lang.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” And then he was hurrying back toward the rear of the cabin.

Toward the graves.

Bowen led them about twenty feet away. He stopped when he was beneath the colorful branches of a yellow birch tree. “How many bodies have you found?”

Dr. Lang frowned. “So far...just thirteen. I’ve been checking the area all around the cabin, spanning out more and more as a precaution—”

“Have you checked here?” Bowen asked her. “And I mean, specifically...right here? Beneath us?”

She blinked and looked down at the ground. “Um, yes. My assistant reviewed this entire area. It’s clear.”

Macey and Bowen shared a hard look.

Then Macey cleared her throat. “We’d like for you to review it again.”

Dr. Lang seemed hesitant but she nodded. “All right. If that’s what you want, but it will take a little time.”

And it did.

But by the time Dr. Lang had finished using her equipment, they’d found another body. A body that was exactly where Peter Carter had said it would be.

Susannah Kaiser was resting beneath the birch tree.

“How did your assistant miss this?” Bowen demanded.

“I—I don’t know...” Amelia was obviously flustered. “I’ll find Carlisle. We’ll ask. Maybe the equipment malfunctioned...”

But they soon realized they couldn’t ask him. Because when they searched the area, Carlisle had vanished.

*

“IT’S HIM.”

Macey stared at the picture of Dr. Lang’s assistant Carlisle Adams...and the picture they’d recovered of Wesley Kaiser.

The hair was different...because, as Peter had told them, Wesley had dyed his blond hair.

The face shape was a bit different...because, as Peter had said, Wesley had put on weight.

He’d grown a beard, making his jaw appear stronger. He’d even dyed the beard black, too. He’d used contacts but... That is him.

Carlisle was Wesley Kaiser.

“We have an all-points bulletin out for him now,” Bowen said. He stood to her right, his gaze on Wesley/Carlisle.

“He knew we were going to dig up Susannah.” That was why he’d disappeared in the mountains. “He knew, all along, exactly what Peter had done.” She shook her head. “The hate nails—that’s exactly what they were. With every death, it was about his sister. He was trying to show her to us.”

Bowen raked a hand over his face.

“He doesn’t fit our profile.” That was Tucker speaking. His low voice seemed to hang in the air. He was seated at the conference table, right next to Samantha. “Not exactly. This kid was a mess. Substance abuse, in and out of rehab. The last thing this guy seems to be is organized.”

“We thought we were looking for an older, more seasoned killer. A practiced hunter.” Now Samantha spoke. “But this fellow...he’s young. He’s angry.”

Macey turned to face them. “He actually does fit the profile, in certain ways, at least. He knows the area. Wesley grew up here. He has a desire for vengeance, I think that’s obvious. He’s highly intelligent.”

“I swear,” Tucker muttered, “it’s like we’re looking at a perp with a split personality.”

Yes, Macey could see what he meant. Organized at crime scenes, so very careful, but...

Vengeance driven? Shadowed by addiction?

“And the guy is currently AWOL,” Bowen added grimly. “And that fact alone tells me that we have big fucking trouble. Jonah is still missing, and now Wesley is in the wind.”