A Darkness Absolute (Rockton 2)

"No," I whisper. I look up at the sky to see snow falling.

"No. No, no, no!"

Dalton's fingers wrap around my arm. "Let's do what we can. Quickly."

FORTY-NINE

We barely get to the old logging site before the wide path is covered. We try another direction, in case heavier tree cover keeps the ground barer, but by the time we reach that, it too has been blanketed in snow.

I want to keep searching. Blindly searching. Stumbling through the dark and the snow. I think I might have, too, if the wind hadn't whipped up, a true storm blowing in, Dalton all but picking me up and carrying me back to Rockton.

"We'll go out at first light," he promises. "The first hint of light, and we'll be out on the horses, searching."

Searching for what? I don't even know. Nicole's captor isn't going to set up camp right off a main path. He's not going to light a fire and call attention to himself. He's not going to take Nicole to the same cave where we found her.

Back in Rockton, Dalton doesn't even suggest sleep. I have a witness to question and a scene to process.

First, I talk to Sutherland. The marks around his neck tell me it was a soft ligature. Manual strangulation leaves very different pattern. The thick mark and lack of abrading suggests a fabric, like stockings, rather than something rough, like a rope. I notice fibers and remove them.

Anders found no sign of serious injury. Just a very traumatized victim. He escaped his captor, made it back to Rockton, thought he was safe ... and he wasn't. We promised safety and failed to deliver on that promise. Failed him, failed Nicole. She's back out there. Back with her captor, her tormenter, her rapist.

Like Val, Sutherland woke to someone in his room. Someone strangling him while holding a bag over his head.

A surge of adrenaline let Sutherland throw off his attacker. By the time he clawed free of the bag, he was alone in the room. That was when he'd grabbed a knife and raced outside to find Sam unconscious. He'd left him there and run all the way across town to Dalton's place.

That's all he can tell me.

*

On to the scene of the main crime: the poisoning of Diana and the abduction of Nicole. I find the tea blend in the kitchen. There's only one, making it easy to dose. I bag that as evidence. Then I pour Diana's leftover tea into a jar.

Upstairs, I stand in Nicole's bedroom doorway and visually process. Dalton says he only came as far as the door, so the scene is intact. I sketch it. Then I go straight for the teacup on the nightstand. I pick it up and sniff. It's nearly empty, and it smells the same as Diana's. There's no sign of struggle in the room, suggesting Nicole was unconscious when she was taken.

I hunt for further clues but find nothing.

*

I'm at Sutherland's place, piecing together the evidence with his story. I find the ligature used to strangle him. That doesn't exactly take skilled detective work--there's a ripped length of sheet lying beside the bed.

A strip from a sheet seems an odd choice until I think about it. His attacker undoubtedly made a choice not to use rope. It would abrade the attacker's hands, leaving marks. It also isn't easy to stuff a suitable length of rope in your pocket. For this, all Sutherland's attacker needed to do was rip a length from his victim's spare set.

*

I'm back at the clinic. Anders and Dalton are talking to the militia and volunteers, preparing for tomorrow's search. Diana is being watched by Sam, who's back on his feet and eager to prove himself. Jen's assisting.

"So, you guys screwed up," Jen says as I walk into the room where Diana is still unconscious. "Val has some lunatic break into her place, and the very next day, Nicki is taken. Again."

I'm about to answer when Dalton's voice drifts in from the hall, punctuated by footfalls. "Yeah, I fucked up. Now go make yourself useful."

Jen turns on him. "You did fuck up, Sheriff."

"Didn't I just say that?"

"No, we fucked up." I turn to Jen. "All evidence suggested Val's intruder was only a nightmare, but we should have proceeded otherwise. Added extra guards. Maybe moved both Shawn and Nicole into a place with a single entry point."

"Happy?" Dalton says to Jen. "Or do you want us to sign a confession, too?"

Jen's eyes narrow. "I was just pointing out--"