“But neither young woman was on vacation.”
“True.” The first young woman had been living on the Portland streets in a homeless camp. No one had noticed when she vanished. The other had been living with her boyfriend when they got in a fight and she stormed off. He hadn’t been surprised not to hear from her for several days.
“Something or someone brought them here,” Dr. Lockhart said quietly.
Evan was silent. He didn’t like to speculate on how the women had arrived in Central Oregon; there were dozens of possibilities, and nothing indicated they’d arrived under the same circumstances. One woman had been found six weeks ago and the other four weeks ago.
The doctor hummed to herself as she continued her rapid examination.
“How long ago did she die?” asked Evan.
“Somewhere between five and ten days,” said the doctor. “I’ll try to get a tighter timeline after I run some labs. Lot of factors to consider. The sun speeds things up, but the cold water might have slowed them down.” She stood and looked up and down the river. “At least it’s a peaceful place.”
Evan didn’t care. There was no mitigating the circumstances of the woman’s murder. Someone had brutally taken her life. It made no difference to him whether the location was peaceful.
It could be suicide. She might have poisoned herself.
And removed her clothing?
No clothing had turned up yet. No indication of how she’d arrived in the middle of nowhere.
Someone undressed and killed her here.
So far everything pointed at a murder.
“Hey, Detective Bolton.”
Evan turned to see the deputy who’d taken charge of the explorers. Evan’s jaw tensed at the concern on the deputy’s face. “What’d they find?” he asked.
The deputy stopped and looked at Dr. Lockhart, who was watching with interest. “You might want to come take a look at this too, Doc. One of the kids found a lot of bones.”
“Human?” asked Evan, already sure of the answer.
The deputy grimaced. “Can’t vouch that all of them are human, but I know a human skull when I see it.”
“Let’s take a look,” said Dr. Lockhart, already heading toward the explorers.
Rowan had stood up from her seat on the rock, concern wrinkling her forehead. “What’s going on?” she asked as they approached.
“Explorers found something,” said Evan.
Rowan joined their group without asking permission, Thor at her side. The deputy glanced at Evan as if expecting him to protest, but Evan ignored him. Finding things was what Rowan and Thor did best. The group tramped into the woods. Ahead, the explorers were spread out in formation but standing still, watching the four of them. The deputy must have told them to hold their positions.
Evan and the others followed the deputy to an explorer at the far end of the line. The teenager’s eyes sparkled with excitement about her discovery.
“I saw something pale,” she said as they moved closer. “I thought it was a rock and simply pushed it with my boot. Then I saw the teeth.” She gave a small shiver, but the animation didn’t leave her eyes.
“Good work,” said Evan. “Would you mind joining your teammate over there?” Disappointment crossed her face, but she moved.
Evan watched where he stepped. The skull was just visible under a scrubby-looking bush, the teeth of its upper jaw visible. He squatted with Dr. Lockhart, and Rowan peered over his shoulder. Gloved, he picked up a stick and gently moved some of the dirt next to the skull.
More bones appeared.
“That’s a female skull,” said Dr. Lockhart. “There’s some more bones over there too,” she added, pointing a few feet away. “Looks like a humerus and radius.”
“There’s a second skull,” whispered Rowan. She had one hand on Thor’s harness. Evan followed her gaze.
“Yes,” said Dr. Lockhart. She took Evan’s stick and dug away the dirt from the other skull. “It’s smaller. Might be male.”
A sharp intake of breath from Rowan made Evan stand. “Are you okay?” He put a hand on her shoulder, noticing she’d gone pale.
Her brother.
Shannon Steward had said Rowan still searched for her brother.
Is this where he went missing? Is that why she’s here?
He looked back to the second skull. “Are you sure about the sex, Doc?”
The doctor took a closer look. “Well, I take that back. With younger skulls it’s more difficult to tell,” said Dr. Lockhart. “We need an anthropologist and recovery team up here.”
Rowan’s gaze moved from the second skull to Evan, and he swallowed hard at the pain in her eyes. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said in a quiet voice. “We’ll find out.”
She nodded.
“Find out what?” the doctor asked sharply, her gaze bouncing between the two of them.
Evan lifted a brow at Rowan, asking permission to share. Her nod was infinitesimal. Either she couldn’t speak or she didn’t want to.
“Rowan’s brother went missing in the woods,” Evan said. “He was seven.”
The doctor’s eyes widened, and she immediately returned her focus to the skull, speculating.
Evan eyed the bones.
Could this be her brother?
11
Malcolm, twenty-five years ago
“Hit her, boy! Pinch her hard!”
Malcolm hated him, but he did as he was told.
Rowan whimpered although Malcolm had barely touched her, making him proud. She was so little, but she got it. She had learned to act, pretended to give the man what he wanted. He wanted to see them hurt each other. He liked it. They’d gotten good at pretending they’d hurt each other worse than they had.
Malcolm hated him.
But he obeyed.
That night his reward for making her cry was a warm can of soda, and the man made Rowan watch him drink it. It was diet soda and tasted of sickly-sweet chemicals. He’d always hated the flavor. The two of them hadn’t eaten since early morning, and the gross drink hurt Malcolm’s gut, making him worry he’d vomit. He held the can several inches from his lips, breathing deep, trying to calm his stomach.
I can’t imagine what he’ll do if I throw up.
Malcolm felt his silent rage at his disobedience even though he couldn’t see the man because of the blindfold. The hairs on Malcolm’s arms rose as the man’s breaths sped up, and he sensed the man move closer.
“Drink it! Finish it up! Ungrateful brat! I give you an entire can of soda, and you act like you’re too good for it!”
His breath touched Malcolm’s cheek, but Malcolm knew if he moved away, he’d be punished. Determined, he drank as fast as he could, ignoring the awful taste, and soda spilled out the corners of his mouth.
“Slob!” He wrenched the can out of Malcolm’s hand and slapped his face. “Ungrateful child! I do everything for you two, and this is how you treat my gifts!”
Malcolm’s face stung but he held still, terrified that if he moved, the man would hit him again.
“Finish this!”
His voice was farther away, and Malcolm knew he’d given the can to Rowan. He thought he had drunk two-thirds of it, so Rowan should be able to finish it. She suddenly coughed and hiccuped at the same time, and the man laughed.
“Good girl. See, boy? Even your sister could finish it, you worthless piece of garbage.” He chuckled as he left, and Malcolm stayed frozen in place until he heard the last lock click into place.
Malcolm ripped off his blindfold and blinked in the poor light. “Are you okay?” he whispered. Rowan’s blindfold was already off, and she set it close to the door in case he returned to retrieve it. Malcolm added his.
“It wasn’t bad. It was sweet.”
“It’s disgusting.” His stomach churned, and he pressed his lips together.
“Do you think we’ll get anything else for dinner?” she asked in a small voice.
Rowan might get more, but Malcolm doubted he would, since he’d screwed up. “Don’t know.”
“At least he was laughing.”
“Yeah, it’s always better when he’s happy. Maybe he’ll bring something else,” Malcolm said, trying to be optimistic for her.