“It does. I’m really glad she decided to go back to part-time. Especially since we will have to decide where we’ll be living. Not to mention the wedding business when we get around to it. So it’s going to be a lot of work and stressful. At least she can take some time off and chill. I think that has been bothering her.”
“You mean because now you’re taking up all her spare time.”
He laughed. “Yeah, kind of. It’s good, but I’m sure she needs some time to herself too.”
They drove for what seemed like forever through the countryside, past farms, ranches, acreage lush and green from recent rains, took two false turns, and backtracked both times.
“Do you think Kinney really remembers where it is?” Tori asked, sighing.
“I sure hope he does.” Then they turned off on another road, and this time Kinney wasn’t driving as slowly and Adam thought he might finally know where he was going.
About a quarter of a mile after that, Kinney slowed down and pulled onto a rutted private dirt drive.
Kinney turned his truck around and called out to them, “It’s down that road.”
“Are you sure?” Adam asked.
“Yeah. They have a gate up, but I don’t want to get that close to it. No security, but I don’t want to run into anyone if someone’s out here right now.”
“Okay, thanks, Kinney. We’ll set you up for talking with Dover as soon as we can.” Adam really appreciated his helping them.
“Thanks,” Kinney said and drove off. Now that he wasn’t trying to find the place, he headed out in a hurry.
Adam drove up to the gate and saw the overgrown vegetation covering the farmhouse from years of neglect.
“That’s what happens when nature takes its course,” Tori said.
“Doesn’t it look like a great place to run as a wolf?” Adam asked.
“I’ll say.”
They cut the lock to the gate and drove onto the property.
Adam was hopeful they would find enough evidence to put all of them away for a good long while.
Once Adam and Tori were inside the farmhouse, he smelled Phyllis’s scent right away.
“Yeah, I smell her too.”
“And I smell the men who had been on the stolen boat that we picked up,” Adam said.
“Which includes Burt Barnes, the other kidnapper in Melissa’s case.”
“Kinney’s been here, but his scent isn’t recent.” Adam was glad for that. “The carjacker’s scent is here too.”
A couple of policemen came in to check for the list of items they were looking for. “We found tons of spent casings and bullets out there,” one of them said. “They’ve been doing tons of target practice. And we’ve got some men searching an old barn now too.”
“Okay, good,” Adam said, wearing gloves and peering into drawers in one of the bedrooms.
Tori was checking out a closet. “Boy, they have lots of great vintage clothing in here.”
Adam chuckled. “You would love Brooke’s antique shop. She has some vintage clothes. In fact, we’re doing a 1920s-themed celebration in the winter.”
“Oh, wow, that would be fun.”
“Where?” an officer asked, coming into the room.
“Oh, just a few friends getting together.” Adam hadn’t meant for anyone else to hear.
Tori smiled at Adam.
“Sounds like fun.” The officer left the room in search of anything else related to the burglaries.
“Look what I found.” Tori brought a red wig out of the closet.
“Great. That’s just what we needed. As long as it’s the same one used in the kidnapping of Melissa.”
“It has Phyllis’s scent on it. And there are hairs inside that might be from her own hair. Long, dark-brown strands.”
“Good.” Adam got a text and pulled out his cell phone. Sierra had texted and he instantly worried about her. “Hey, honey, what’s up?”
“My car tires were all punctured.”
“When you were getting a witness sketch at a crime scene?”
“No. At the police bureau. I had to have an officer take me to speak to the witness.”
“Did you have someone check the security videos at the bureau?” Adam was furious someone would do that to her car. And at the bureau in broad daylight? He couldn’t believe it.
“Yes. They said a teen did it.”
“Your car only or others too?”
“My car only. The police are out looking for him and two buddies of his. Hopefully, they’ll catch them. I’ve got a tire company serviceman taking care of the tires.”
At least Sierra was safe and not in harm’s way. That was the only consolation Adam had.
“How are you doing out there? I don’t have any sketches to do at the moment.”
“Good. Take a break. We’re getting some evidence here. We just found some stuff that had been stolen from various hotels that tie Victor in with the thefts. They were in a locked closet. And in the bathroom were sample bottles of shampoos and conditioners from the various hotels they stole from.”
“Oh, that’s great.”
“And we found the wig Phyllis probably wore when she kidnapped Melisa. We’ll have to look for a DNA match, but—”
“You smelled she had worn it.”
“Yes. And we found a stash of passports and driver’s licenses that match the names of some of the victims we had reports on. Credit cards and debit cards too. We’re verifying the rest of them now based on victim reports.”
“You really hit the jackpot.”
“We did. Phyllis has been in jail before, so we have her DNA on file. We should be able to match her with the wig. We found a stash of guns, including a couple of rifles, and the picture of your brother in his wolf form.”
“Oh, wonderful on all those things. I’m so glad you got the photo of my brother back. I only had the one copy. Kinney told you all about this place?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to put him in witness protection?”
“We may have to. If Victor learns Kinney ratted him out, he and his family could be in danger. I’ll check with Kinney and see what he wants to do. I’m not sure if he knew all this stuff was here, but now that we’ve found it, he could be in worse danger. I have to look for some more evidence, and we’ve issued a warrant for Victor’s arrest.”