“Why? What would make you think—”
“I just do, okay?”
Luke called out on the radio that he would be investigating a trespassing case at the Alder Ridge Reservoir and wouldn’t need backup at this time. He and his partner led Shayla and me to the gate that still stood locked.
“Do either of you have keys to this gate?”
“Not with me,” Shayla replied.
I shook my head.
“Perfect, I’ll have to get the bolt cutters.” He turned to go back to his car. “Shayla, come with me.”
A pang of jealousy stole through me, but I pushed it away.
“So you saw someone go in there, huh?” Luke’s partner asked.
“Yeah, a tall figure dressed in all black with what looked like a fishing rod and tackle box.”
“And why exactly were you here tonight?”
“I got an anonymous tip,” I said. Thankfully I hadn’t told Shayla about the notes.
He let out a rolling laugh. “Who would send you an anonymous tip? You’re just a park ranger, right?”
I didn’t know whether to punch this guy or cover his mouth due to the booming of his laughter. Surely the trespasser would hear him and hide.
“Keep it down, Jerry,” Luke said coming back toward us, but instead of Shayla, Antonio was following him. “Do you want everyone to know we’re here?”
“What—what’s he doing here?” I asked.
“He heard me call out on the scanner and brought us keys.”
Antonio winked at me. I pretended not to notice.
“Shall we?” Luke said through gritted teeth motioning toward the gate.
Antonio opened the lock. “It’d be better to go in with a vehicle, but it’s not too far to walk.”
“We can walk,” Luke said. “Rylie, you stay here. In fact, go back to your car, or back to Shayla’s and sit with her.”
“But I saw the guy. I can help.”
“No,” Luke’s voice was sterner than I’d heard in a long time. “If this guy is the killer, he’ll have no qualms about killing again. I can’t have you—” he ran a hand through his hair, “Just go back to the car.”
I turned and huffed back to Shayla’s car where she looked equally pissed to have been dismissed.
“What exactly did you tell him?” I asked as we leaned up against the hood of the emoji on wheels.
“I’m sorry, Rylie, I really am. I didn’t want to tell him, but when you were pulled into the bushes, I didn’t know what else—”
I took a breath. “I’m not mad. I just want to know exactly how much he knows.”
“Everything.” She hung her head. “I told him everything.”
Perfect. He was going to ream me for this one.
We stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity waiting for something to happen. A couple of cars passed, but one slowed and then stopped in front of us.
Kyle stepped out.
“I heard on the scanner there was a trespasser,” he said.
“Yeah, the police and Antonio are already in there.”
“Maybe I should go help too.”
“Doesn’t look like you’ll need to. Here they come,” Shayla said. And sure enough, four people were making their way from the gate and toward us.
When they got within the streetlamps, I could make out Antonio, Luke, Jerry, and Dave. The fisherman.
“Can you take us to your car, please?” Luke held Dave’s arms behind his back, likely in cuffs.
“Truck, it’s a truck, and it’s over this way.”
We all followed. He had parked almost two blocks away.
“Look, I was just fishin’. I know I’m not supposed to be here after dark, but it’s when all them big-uns come out.” Dave babbled on and on as we approached his pickup. “I dunno what you’re looking for, but you ain’t gonna find it—”
Antonio pulled a green and purple coil of rope from the bed. “What do we have here?”
Dave scrunched up his face to see. “Looks like rope to me. Not mine though. Someone musta put it there.”
My stomach turned. The rope was the same as the piece I’d found in the trash.
“Er, Luke?” I said. “I have something else I need to show you.”
Luke followed me back to my car as his partner searched the rest of Dave’s vehicle.
“I cannot believe you’d be this stupid. Careless. You were supposed to call me to handle these things. And after I told you to watch out for Shayla, you bring her into this—this . . . situation.”
Of course, he was mad that I’d endangered his poor, sweet Shayla.
“I told her not to follow me! And we caught the bad guy, didn’t we?”
“There’s a whole lot of evidence missing to pin the murder on Dave. A spool of rope in the back of his truck isn’t enough—”
I pulled the bag out of my trunk and handed it to him. “I’d venture to guess that rope has Ronnie’s DNA on it. And it matches the rope in his truck.”
Luke’s jaw dropped open. “Where did you find this?”
“I pulled it out of the trashcan just inside that gate.” I pointed to the entry gate where they’d taken Dave out in handcuffs moments before.
“You . . .” He took the bag from my hand and looked inside.
I was ready for him to praise me for finding the murder weapon, but instead of his face relaxing into a smile, it became even tighter.
“I cannot believe you touched this, let alone put it in the trunk of your car. That could completely ruin our case.”
“But I used gloves. I didn’t touch it.”
“You put it in a grocery bag in the back of your car. Any defense attorney is going to rip that evidence to shreds and put plenty of reasonable doubt in the jury’s mind. And if you had called me I would have known that.”
I fought back the tears forming in the corners of my eyes. My pride was shot.
“Oh, and Shayla called because she saw someone grab you. Mind telling me about that?”
“It was Ronnie’s wife,” I
