Fireproof (Maggie O'Dell #10)

“And that he enjoyed watching a body burn.”


Maggie pulled out her cell phone as she told Patrick, “I need you to tell me everything you can think of about Wes Harper.” Then she punched in Racine’s number.

“Hey, I was just getting ready to call you,” Racine answered. “Virginia State Patrol just located Gloria Dobson’s SUV.”





CHAPTER 66





VIRGINIA


Maggie was surprised to find the rest area backed to woods. No meadow or pasture with the funky yellow weed that Ganza had found. But it did look like a place deer would frequent.

She and Tully had made the hour-and-a-half drive while Racine put out another alert on Dobson’s travel partner, Zach Lester. She also had started a background check on Wes Harper. Maggie had to stop Racine from bringing Harper in for questioning, telling the detective, “We don’t have enough and you don’t want to tip him off.”

They parked at the far end of the rest area and got out to walk.

“The State Patrol already towed the car to their crime lab,” Tully told her. “I’m not sure what else we’ll find.”

“He had to have taken her from here. It’s a crime scene.”

“The car may have been the only crime scene.”

Maggie stood on the edge of the sidewalk and took a good look around. Down here she could barely hear the interstate traffic. The exit divided cars from trucks right before they drove down into the rest area surrounded by beautiful and remote woods. Even the brick building with the restrooms was nestled in the trees. Well-kept sidewalks meandered all around, leading separate paths from up above where the trucks parked. She could hear the faint hum of their engines running. Through the trees she could see only five semitrailers occupied the area that, by Maggie’s estimate, could accommodate at least a dozen big rigs comfortably. She also noted that there were mulched trails leading into the woods.

“If it was her coworker, Zach Lester, why leave her car behind?” Maggie asked. “And how did he take her to the District?”

“Maybe he has an accomplice.”

“So they meet out here?”

“Or he called him. It’s possible. Might explain why the car doesn’t show any sign of a struggle inside. The State Patrol will be able to tell us if her car had been tampered with. He could have done something to it. Made her believe they were stranded.”

“So where did he take her to bash her face in? He couldn’t have done all that in a vehicle. Ganza found deer hair and weeds attached to her clothing. Dr. Ling made it sound like the killer used a large, heavy weapon.”

“If he had another vehicle or an accomplice, he could have taken her anywhere.” Tully was watching Maggie instead of studying the surroundings. “But you’re thinking it was here.”

“Just a gut instinct. I expected it to be secluded like this, but with an open field somewhere close by.”

“Because of Ganza’s weed?”

She nodded and started walking. Tully followed.

“Depending on what time of day or night they stopped here there may have been no one else.”

“He could have easily taken her into the woods,” Tully said. “Maybe convinced her to go stretch her legs with him.”

“I have to tell you I’ve looked over the file Racine has on Lester and he sounds squeaky clean. He doesn’t sound like a killer.”

“How many times have we heard that? It’s always the ones nobody suspects,” Tully said. “That quiet neighbor. The helpful janitor. Remember what people said about Ted Bundy. Such a nice guy. How about the BTK killer? Wasn’t he on the church council or something?”

“I’ve also read all the information on Gloria Dobson and she certainly doesn’t sound like the type of woman who would walk into the woods with someone suspicious. And she would have fought for her life. She has three kids. She’s a recent breast cancer survivor.”

Maggie continued to walk all the way up to where the trucks were parked. It was high enough to see over some of the trees that surrounded the lower half of the rest area. She studied the parked trucks.

“Ganza told me there’s a whole subculture to truck stops and rest areas. A whole world no one sees unless they know where to look. Prostitutes come knocking on the doors of the big rigs while they sleep. Drug dealers, too. Where do they go in between tricks and deals? Do they have their own vehicles? Why doesn’t anyone else see them?”

Tully was quiet for a moment, looking around. “Maybe no one else notices them because they blend in.”

She turned to examine the paths below and take another look at the travelers going in and out of the restrooms. That’s when the birds caught her eye.