Stella saw Eric’s shoulders fall. He shook his head and stalked away toward the lodge. She hoped a good meal would ease his temper. She was glad the award ceremony was slated for after the meal. By then everyone should be in a mellow mood.
He shouldn’t be so damn happy about making another man miserable, Steel suspected, but showing up Eric Holden had been the most fun he’d had in a pig’s age. Daniel Ortiz was steamed at him, but the deputy had acquitted himself well. He’d take a silver medal in the men’s all-around. Eric wouldn’t even get bronze.
He kept a low profile during the dinner hour, changing back into jeans and a T-shirt, wolfing down a burger and nursing a bottle of beer as the sun sank low over the western horizon. Some people danced to the music. Kids ran around and screeched in that after-dinner-games way that kids had done since time began, he suspected. By the time the awards were announced, a general feeling of goodwill pervaded the crowd. Steel took his place on the podium several times, including for all-around athlete, and bowed in recognition of the cheers he received, boosted by his family.
“I think Eric snuck off and left,” Daniel said as they accepted the gold and silver medals placed around their necks by more of the teen volunteers.
“Good riddance,” Steel said.
“He always was a prick,” Daniel agreed. “Next year I’m taking you down, though.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Would there be a next year? Maybe so, he thought, looking out at the happy crowd. If Runaway Lodge reopened, it would be good for the local economy. Maybe things would finally look up for Silver Falls.
“Ah, heck.” Daniel turned his face up to the sky. A moment later Steel felt a drop of rain and understood what he meant. “We’re going to get washed out!”
As the heavens opened up and a torrent of rain began to fall, shrieks of dismay punctuated the frenzy of motion as people leaped to their feet, began to gather their belongings and picked things up to carry inside.
The band was under cover, thank goodness, and Steel saw people letting down the sides of the awning under which they were playing to protect the instruments and equipment.
Steel headed for the nearest food vendor but quickly realized they had things under control. Anyone serving at festivals in this area had to have precautions for this kind of thing.
He began to gather the little clear globes that held the tea lights on each table. When he had an armful, he made his way to the lodge, where he bumped into Mary Turner.
“Have you seen Liz?” she asked him, stumbling among the crowd all trying to get inside at once.
“No.”
“I can’t find her anywhere!”
Normally, Steel wouldn’t think much about a missing teenager at an event like this. She was probably with friends, or maybe she’d made a conquest of some boy. Teens didn’t want to hang out with their parents at this type of thing.
But teenage girls had been ending up dead recently, and Liz seemed drawn to trouble.
“I’ll look for her,” he told Mary and pushed his way inside. There was a shortcut to finding Liz. He found Stella and her microphone.
“Can I borrow this? Liz is missing,” he explained succinctly.
“Of course.” She handed it to him, immediately beginning to scan the crowd as if she hoped Liz would turn up nearby.
He took the mic, turned it on and said, “Hey, folks, we’re looking for a teenager, name of Liz…” He looked to Stella and covered the mic. “What’s her last name?”
“Stanton.”
“Liz Stanton. Fifteen, blonde, new to town. Liz, you out there? If you are, please come to the stage.” She’d probably be embarrassed, but he hoped she’d turn up just to get him to stop talking about her on the microphone.
A minute passed, then several more. Steel moved to the door and tried again, noticing the crowd was taking the search seriously. A few people slipped by him into the rain, and he heard voices calling Liz’s name.
Mary was back at his side. “We’ve checked the treehouses and the greenhouses, too. She’s nowhere.”
“Sheriff Johnson, Sheriff Bolton, you want to join me up here?” Steel said into the microphone.
All around them people hushed and then burst into a new round of conversation. Steel heard the words “Silver Falls killer” more than once. People were quick enough to laugh at campfire stories until the lights went out—then they were all too willing to believe. Maybe Steel should have felt some vindication, but the last thing they needed right now was panic.
When he took in Stella’s white face, he went to herd her and her family into a corner. He turned off the mic and pocketed it in case he needed it again. When Cab and Bolton met him, Bolton raised his eyebrows questioningly. Steel knew his current behavior was sorely out of sync with his carefully crafted undercover persona, but he also knew he wasn’t going to let another girl die.
“Liz has been hanging around with Lara Whidby recently,” he explained to Bolton. His boss immediately understood. “Lara was a friend of Sue Hill’s,” he added to make the connection clear to everyone else.
“I’ll round up my deputies. You round up yours,” Bolton said to Cab. “My people will spread out and look for her up the road. Cab, you want to stay here and organize a search on foot?”
“Glad to help,” Cab said. He got right to work, walking through the crowd, gathering men and women and organizing them into small groups.
As the sheriffs and deputies headed outside, Steel went with them, Stella following close behind.
“I’m coming with you,” she said. Steel didn’t bother to argue with her.
“I’m
