The Courage Tree - Diane Chamberlain [81]
A charred smell filled Janine’s nostrils, but it took her only a second to recognize the burned contents of the bag as Sophie’s backpack.
“That’s Sophie’s!” she said, arms outstretched to receive the plastic bag and its contents.
“Right,” Valerie said. “It was in the trunk, so it was not completely destroyed. If you don’t mind, take a look through it and pick out a couple of things that might still have Sophie’s scent on them.”
Janine’s hand shook as she struggled to unzip the charred backpack, still inside the garbage bag. Lifting Sophie’s Winnie the Pooh T-shirt from the pack, she raised it to her nose.
“Oh, God.” She pressed the shirt to her face again to breathe in her daughter, then handed the shirt to Valerie. “I know this smells mostly like smoke,” she said, “but Sophie’s smell is just beneath it.”
Valerie nodded. “We’ll see how the dogs do with it.” She took the backpack and garbage bag away from Janine and placed them on the floor of the trailer. “There’s one more thing you should know about,” she continued. “I don’t think this will actually affect our search in any way, but, we just need to be aware of it.”
“What’s that?” Joe asked.
“You know Zoe? The actress?” Valerie asked.
They nodded, and Janine frowned. Zoe was dead. What could she possibly have to do with Sophie being lost in the woods?
“Well, her daughter—Martina Garson—was convicted of murdering another actress. You might remember—”
“Tara Ashton,” Paula said, and Janine remembered the graphic descriptions of the bludgeoning death of the young actress and the well-publicized trial that followed it.
“What does this have to do with Sophie?” she asked.
“Well, about five days ago, Martina Garson escaped from prison in California. She was helped by one of the wardens there, and the authorities figured that the two of them were traveling together. You know, on the run together. Last night, some hikers came across a car on a dirt road about twelve miles from here, as the crow flies. On the other side of this piece of forest.” Valerie pointed in the general direction of woods. “Inside the car was a man, shot to death. He’s been identified as the warden.”
Janine glanced at Lucas, who wore a frown. “What does that mean?” she asked Valerie.
“Well, we’re pretty sure it means that Martina Garson shot and killed the warden, for whatever reason. She had definitely been in the car with him. There were beer cans and other paraphernalia with her prints on them. Maybe they had a fight. No one really knows. Maybe she just used him to get across the country and didn’t need him anymore. At any rate, the speculation is that she killed him, then took off on foot.”
“But that’s twelve miles from here,” Joe said. “What does that have to do with finding Sophie?”
“Probably very little,” Valerie admitted. “But there’ll be a search for Garson starting from that dirt road, just like there’s one starting from here for Sophie. And, yes, twelve miles is a good distance, but desperate people can cover a lot of miles pretty quickly. The point is, we’re going to have to be careful. Garson’s considered armed and dangerous. We don’t want our searchers to be in jeopardy.”
“Is Sophie in any danger from her?” Janine asked.
Valerie chewed on her lower lip for a moment before answering. “Mrs. Donohue,” she said. “Janine. Based on the evidence from the Honda…It was completely demolished….”
“I know,” Janine said impatiently. “We saw it.”
“Well, based on the condition of the Honda and the trauma suffered by the other two victims, it’s our best guess that Sophie would have been very severely injured in the crash. I doubt she could have gotten far enough to be in danger from Garson.”
“You think she’s dead,” Janine said, the words more of an accusation than a statement.
“We’re operating on the assumption that she’s still alive,” Valerie said. “But we will have dogs out there who are trained to find the deceased in case—”
“And dogs who are trained to find the living, too, I hope,” Janine said. She felt Lucas rest his hand against her back. “I know Sophie’s still alive,