Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner [142]
The tone of her voice was set and none of them had the energy left to argue. Instead, Kimberly turned to Ennunzio, regarding him curiously. “How did you know about this cave? I understand from Josh Shudt that Orndorff’s Cavern isn’t exactly a common cave for exploration.”
“Not after what the mill did to it,” Ennunzio said, “but twenty, thirty years ago, it used to be beautiful.” He shrugged. “I grew up in this area. Spent my free time running wild among these mountains and caverns. It’s been a long time now, but I like to think it’ll come back to me. And maybe the little bits and pieces I remember can be of help. I hardly know the whole state, but I know this one corner of Virginia fairly well.”
“Do you have any idea where he might have placed the fourth victim?” Quincy spoke up quietly, his eyes on Mac.
The special agent rolled out his shoulders, contemplating the question. “Let’s see . . . he’s done a Marine base, a national forest, and an underground cavern. So what do we have left? Chesapeake Bay rates high on the geological interest scale. I read about scuba diving in some reservoirs formed by flooding old mining towns—that’s gotta float his boat. Then there are a variety of rivers—last time he liked the Savannah.”
“There are two more major mountain ranges,” Ennunzio considered, but Mac shook his head.
“He’s done forests. He’ll go for something different.”
“What about the coastline?” Nora Ray asked. She was still staring at Ennunzio.
“Beaches around here are more populated than the Georgia coastline,” Mac said. “It’s possible, but I think he’ll look for someplace more remote. We can check with Ray.”
He waved his hand, and after a moment, the USGS man came over. Ray’s face was pale and covered with a fine sheen of sweat. Now that he’d seen an actual body, working a murder case had clearly lost some of its appeal.
“Any luck?” Mac asked him.
“Some. It’s hard to know what to look for on the girl . . . body . . . victim. Body.” He seemed to decide. “It, um, it was in the water for a bit, and who knows what that washed away. Kathy found some kind of crumpled leaf in a dress pocket. She’s trying to extract it now without doing more damage; tissue tears easily when this wet. Also, Josh Shudt went in and checked the ledge for us. Lloyd’s now working on some soil samples he took from the girl’s . . . body’s shoes. I’m trying to go through her purse, since you said he sometimes puts things there.”
“Have you tried the back of the throat?”
“Nothing.”
“I wonder about her stomach,” Mac murmured. “With the first victim, the map, he was very inventive. I’m not sure how he would consider these next ones in line. Maybe we should consider cutting her open.”
Nora Ray got up abruptly and moved away from the lantern light. Mac watched her go, but didn’t apologize.
Ray Lee Chee had turned green. “You didn’t, uh . . . you didn’t mention anything like that before.”
“We need the coroner,” Quincy said.
“You can’t ask a geologist to serve as ME,” Rainie seconded.
“Oh good,” Ray said. “’Cause I think I’m gonna barf.” He didn’t though. He just turned in a dazed little circle, then returned to them even paler, but with his expression set. “Look, we’ve done about as much as we can here. Best bet is to find a hotel, hole up for a few hours with our equipment, and see what we can figure out. I know you’re in a hurry, but if we gotta guarantee that we’re not sending you off on a wild-goose chase, then we need a shot at doing this right.”
“You’re the boss,” Mac said. “Pack up if that’s what you’d like. Rainie and Quincy are going to remain here with the body. The rest of us will follow you.”
Ray nodded gratefully, then returned to his team.
There didn’t seem much more to say, or much more to do.
Quincy was looking up at the sky. “One more girl to go,” he murmured. “And it’s already dark.”
Tina woke up to the sound of someone’s whimper. It took her a moment to realize it was her own.
The world was black, refusing to come into focus. She almost panicked. Her eyes had swollen shut again or worse,