One Step Too Far (Frankie Elkin #2)(60)

Nemeth nods his agreement.

“Then Martin’s car died a few weeks ago. Turned out someone had poured bleach into the gas tank, destroying his engine with corrosive rust. Cars can be repaired, but it takes time and money. And when you’re a guy whose wife is dying and you’re trying to organize a final search party to find your son’s remains . . .”

“Someone wanted to make it too difficult for Martin to come,” I fill in. “Make him abort the trip.”

Bob nods. “We think so. I am BFBob from the online forums,” he tells me apologetically. “And I do have a fascination with Bigfoot and a passion for working cold cases. I don’t want you to think it’s all been a lie.”

I give him a look. Too little too late.

Bob concedes with a shrug. “Either way,” he continues, “it’s been clear for a matter of months that someone hasn’t wanted this expedition to happen. Who, however, I haven’t been able to determine. To be honest, I was wondering about Josh, given he’s always been the most reluctant participant. Now, after that story the three of you gave last night . . .”

“How sick was he?” I ask abruptly, glancing from Martin’s back to the college buddies. “When you took him the hospital, he appeared to have the DTs. But could he have been faking it?”

No one seems to know what to say to that. “Was he shaking and sweating and trembling?” Miguel speaks up at last. “Sure. You all saw that. But could he have been faking it, or maybe have taken something . . . ?” He looks at Scott and Neil for confirmation. “Honestly, I have no idea.” Scott shakes his head, clearly taken aback. “But even if it was Josh, are you thinking he followed us up here? How? You were there for the hike up. Not exactly a hop, skip, and jump. Let alone . . . why would he be attacking us? We already know what happened that night, and we’ve never told anyone.”

“Good point.”

Miggy is also frowning. “Besides, it’s not like slugging your friend for getting your sister pregnant and leading her to have an abortion is a criminal offense. Tim still took off on his own. What happened after that remains an accident.”

Martin snorts derisively.

I ignore him. “Another good point. Except . . .” I study the three friends. “Didn’t you all say you went to bed first, after Tim left? But not Josh. Last you saw Josh, he was sitting in front of the campfire.”

One by one, they nod.

“Meaning you don’t actually know if that was the end of the story. Maybe Tim did return. Or Josh went after him.”

They clearly don’t like this thought.

Miguel speaks up. “And did what? Chased Tim down, killed him with his bare hands, then returned to camp and went to bed? Wouldn’t we have found the body by now? I mean, that particular area.” Miggy looks at Nemeth for confirmation. “Those woods have been gone over dozens of times.”

Nemeth nods. “Course, we were looking for a missing hiker. Not something like, say, a shallow grave.”

“The dogs would’ve found it,” Luciana provides. “Any SAR dog, even one not specifically trained for cadaver recovery, will react to a dead body. You had to have been using dog teams.”

“We used half a dozen different dog teams.”

“Then whatever happened, it wasn’t in that area, or . . . I don’t know. This Josh kid knew some particularly ingenious method of body disposal we’d better hope no one else ever figures out.”

“Josh is smart. The smartest of all of us,” Miggy comments.

“Josh is clever,” Neil agrees tiredly. “But he’s not vicious. Never.”

No one has an answer for that.

“I’m leaving,” Luciana states levelly. “I am taking Daisy, and whomever else, with me. Once I get to town, I’ll notify the sheriff of the situation. In addition to organizing a rescue chopper, I’m sure he can check into Josh’s status.”

Nemeth nods, returns his gaze to me. “That leaves you,” he says. “You go with her.”

“There’s another solution.”

“To you staying here with no food or survival experience?”

“I have peanut butter cups.”

Nemeth gives me a pointed look, as if that says enough about my survival skills.

“You should go with her,” I tell him.

“I’m the leader—”

“Yes, meaning you’re the one responsible for getting us help. Neil can’t make it down on his own. Given that, it makes sense to have Miggy and Scott stay with him, as they aren’t the strongest hikers anyway. That leaves Martin, who’s clearly gone rogue. No way you should be putting his safety ahead of the rest of the party. Bob would be a good choice to accompany Luciana, but turns out he’s working for Martin. So why not let him earn his keep? He can starve up here with the rest of us while you and Luciana hightail it down. You two should be able to reach civilization and summon the cavalry in record time.” I shrug, concluding bluntly, “Face it, at this stage, we need a medevac chopper more than we need you.”

Nemeth doesn’t flinch. I respect that about him. I deal with so many people who lie, it’s always nice to meet someone who can handle the truth.

“Why are you doing this?” he asks me quietly.