Josie glanced first at Gretchen and then at Noah. Softly, she said, “Mr. Watts, I’m very sorry to tell you, but your mother was murdered last night.”
The air was so still that Josie could hear a mourning dove coo somewhere above them. When Gabriel didn’t speak, Noah added, “She was killed at Russell Haven Dam. Do you know why your mother and Eden would both be killed there? Does that place have some significance to your family?”
His eyes started blinking rapidly once more. Still, he said nothing.
Josie said, “What about a Dr. Jeremy Rafferty? Does that name mean anything to you?”
He didn’t respond, didn’t move a muscle.
Gretchen said, “I’m not sure how often you speak with other members of your family but a few weeks ago, your Aunt Nadine was drowned to death in a pond on her estate. Gabriel, we’re here because it appears that members of your family are being killed one by one and your sister, Amber, is missing. We know that you approached her before she vanished. We know you disabled her home surveillance unit. I think it would be best for everyone if you came with us and talked with us at the station. It’s only a short drive to Denton. We can take you.”
He pressed a hand down on top of his head and he blinked several more times. “I, uh, I… let me get my coat.”
He disappeared into the house, leaving the door ajar. They heard him moving around inside. Gretchen said, “It can’t be this easy.”
“It’s not,” said Josie. She left the stoop and picked her way over the dried, dead brush in the yard and around the side of the house. She had just turned the corner at the back of the house when Gabriel emerged from his back door. He had, in fact, put his coat on. She watched as he carefully and silently closed the back door behind him.
“Mr. Watts,” she called. “Going somewhere without us?”
His head jerked in her direction. Josie unsnapped her holster.
Gabriel Watts ran.
Thirty-Six
Josie hollered for Gretchen and Noah before sprinting after Gabriel. Dried leaves and twigs crunched under her boots as she weaved around trees. The state game land forest behind his house was dense and thick. She lost sight of him almost immediately. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, and she wondered if he had this planned out. Had he been expecting to need an escape route one day? She was vaguely aware of footsteps behind her, running fast. By the heavy sound of them, they belonged to Noah.
The ground began to drop off, first gradually, and then more sharply. She was chasing a man down the side of a mountain, and she had no idea what was at the bottom. Cold air burned her nostrils and dried her throat. Her cheeks felt numb. She picked up speed as the ground grew steeper, stumbling and grabbing onto tree trunks to keep herself from falling. Ahead, she heard branches snapping. Gabriel was still running. By the time she caught sight of him again, her breathing was labored, and her lungs were on fire. He was below her, running along a ridge, hopping from one large rock to the next. Josie stayed parallel with him, waiting for an opening. A moment later, she seized it. He jumped off a large stone and onto packed mud. She dove from above, onto his back, and tackled him to the ground. Together, they rolled until they hit the base of a large pine tree.
She was crushed between him and the tree trunk, but she kept her arms wrapped around his shoulders. He squirmed to get up but he was disoriented and she was a weight on his back. “Stop,” she told him.
“Let go,” he said. His hands flew back, trying to hit her but she was too close to him.
“Where is Amber?” she huffed.
“Let go of me.”
“Where is she? Tell me. Just tell me where to find her and this will be over.”
“Shut up,” he said. His upper body lurched forward but she rocked back, keeping him off balance.
“Is she still alive?” Josie tried.
He reached up and grabbed at her arms, trying to peel them away.
“Just tell me,” Josie said. “Is she still alive?”
He wrenched her wrist, and the pain shot all the way up to her shoulder, blinding. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground looking up at him. With her good hand, she reached for her gun but before she could touch it, he kicked her in the abdomen. All the air whooshed out of her. Her mouth worked, starving for oxygen, but none would come. He got down onto his knees, his hot breath tickling her ear. She barely heard his words over the sound of her raging heartbeat.
“I did what was necessary.”
Thirty-Seven
Noah appeared moments after Gabriel left Josie sucking air in the middle of the woods. She waved him off, indicating that he should keep going and try to find Gabriel while she caught her breath. Noah ran after Gabriel. It took several moments for Josie’s wind to return but once it did, she called Gretchen and requested backup. Then she went after Noah. What felt like an eternity later, they both found themselves on the bank of a frozen pond at the bottom of the mountain, exhausted and freezing. Luckily, Gretchen had called in reinforcements. By the time Josie and Noah trudged back to the top of the mountain, the area was teeming with state police and county sheriff’s deputies searching for Gabriel. The road was lined with police cruisers, and his house was cordoned off with crime scene tape. Gretchen stood in the yard next to the Rectify Church sign, scrolling furiously on her phone.
“You guys all right?” she asked as they tromped over to her.
Josie’s abdomen was sore, but she’d made the long trek back to the house with no issues. She flexed her wrist for the dozenth time since she’d hauled herself off the forest floor. It ached, but she didn’t think it was broken. Not that it mattered. She would have let Gabriel Watts break her arm a hundred times if it meant finding Amber. “I’ve been better,” she said. “Did you check the house?”
“She wasn’t in there,” said Gretchen.
“Shit,” muttered Josie.
Noah looked every bit as haggard as Josie. He pushed a hand through his hair. “Can you get a K-9 unit out here?”
“On their way,” said Gretchen. “Come on, you two. Get in the car and warm up. We’ll talk in there.”
Josie and Noah slid into the back seat of Gretchen’s car while Gretchen got into the front. She started the ignition and turned the heat onto full blast. Noah pulled Josie close to him, and she let her head rest on his shoulder. No one spoke for several minutes while the frigid air rushing from the vents turned hot. Josie felt like she might melt into Noah as warmth finally found her. As the cold wore off and feeling returned to her body, more aches and pains announced themselves.