‘I didn’t follow him long,’ the girl whispered, ‘but he went south on 395 and turned onto Modoc County Road. I followed him for about twenty miles, and then he turned onto a road that wasn’t paved. It was a private road, not part of the national forest. I wasn’t brave enough to go any farther. It was just a crush, you know?’
Mercy smiled gently. ‘I know. Thank you.’
‘Ginger!’ a man bellowed from the other side of the store. He wore an apron and stood behind the deli. ‘Stop yakking and get back to work.’
‘Sorry, Nick,’ Ginger called, then dipped her head so that she could roll her eyes unseen. ‘He owns the store. Sorry.’
‘I don’t want to get you into trouble. I’ll be going now.’ Mercy turned to find Rafe holding the jewelry box under one arm, leaning on his cane with the other. ‘Ready, honey?’
‘Whenever you are, snookums,’ Rafe replied.
Sasha appeared from the snack aisle, hands filled with bags of chips. Erin walked beside her, looking amused at Sasha’s gagging sounds. ‘Be cute outside,’ Sasha told them. ‘We’ll be out in a few minutes. We’re stocking up on supplies.’
Leaving them to shop, Rafe loaded the jewelry box into the back of his Subaru, then opened Mercy’s door. ‘Matthew McConaughey?’ he murmured, eyes narrowed. ‘Really?’
‘If Matthew had a rotted soul,’ Mercy muttered. ‘I hated DJ.’ Her voice shook. ‘Hated him.’
Rafe had the sense to look apologetic. ‘Sorry.’ He closed her door, then came around to his side. ‘I was being a jealous jerk and that was wrong of me.’
‘It’s okay.’ Now that the whole charade was over, she felt a little sick. ‘DJ was here, trading Amos’s cabinets and Eileen’s mother’s quilts.’
‘Yes,’ Rafe said evenly. ‘And the timing of the last delivery matches Eileen’s disappearance from Eden.’
Mercy thought of Eileen and the family who’d found and cared for her, giving her a few good weeks before she’d been snatched by a serial killer. ‘Mr Danton found her walking along the road in Macdoel, though. That’s over by Mt. Shasta. Has to be at least a hundred miles from here. If DJ left here to go into the Modoc Forest, Eden might not have been far from here. How did Eileen get all the way up to Macdoel?’
And then a train went by, blowing its horn as it passed the town.
‘Oh,’ Mercy said softly. ‘I didn’t know trains ran through here. I guess that’s one way.’
Rafe was already searching his phone. ‘Cell signal sucks here. I barely have one bar.’ He tapped his finger against the steering wheel impatiently, glaring at his phone. ‘Shit. It timed out. I’ve got no Internet. We’ll have to check on the train routes when we’re in a less rural area.’
Mercy jumped when the back doors of the Subaru opened and Erin and Sasha climbed in, Sasha behind Rafe and Erin behind Mercy. Doors slammed, then Erin said, ‘That man is an asshole. He was yelling at Ginger and giving her the third degree once you all left.’
‘He asked Ginger to tell him exactly what you’d said,’ Sasha added, then tossed one of the bags of chips to Rafe. ‘He went behind the counter and then they were whispering so we couldn’t hear.’
‘What did she say to you at the end?’ Erin asked. ‘We were buying food and missed that part.’
‘Basically that DJ was the man who’d repped Amos’s work and that she’d followed him once into the forest.’ Mercy shook her head. ‘She had a crush on him. I’m so glad that didn’t go anywhere. DJ was vile.’
Rafe opened the bag of chips. ‘You want to see what’s up that road?’
Mercy nodded. ‘Yeah. I do.’
‘Count us in,’ Sasha said. ‘I got provisions in case we get stuck.’
‘You got chips and candy bars,’ Erin said dryly.
Sasha grinned. ‘Health food. Besides, you got deli sandwiches, because you’re the grown-up.’
Erin handed out the sandwiches. ‘Eat up. We’ll follow you out.’
‘Why not just go with them?’ Sasha asked. ‘If they’ve gotten the need for conversation out of their system,’ she added with a bawdy wink. ‘Snookums.’
Mercy was sure that her face was beet red, but Rafe just shook his head. ‘Because Erin isn’t here to keep us company,’ he said. ‘She’s here to watch our backs.’
Sasha sighed. ‘Right. Goddamn reality is such a buzzkill.’
Erin smiled, amused. ‘Give me a minute to eat and we’ll be ready to go. I don’t want to eat while I drive. Not around here.’
Mercy craned her head around the seat to see Erin’s face. ‘Why not?’
‘Because that man behind the deli counter was watching us the whole time we were looking at that jewelry box and now he’s talking on the phone. Don’t look,’ Erin added in a hiss.
Mercy didn’t twist to look through the store window, but she did glance at Rafe, who appeared unsurprised. ‘You noticed him, too?’ she asked.
Rafe nodded. ‘Yep. And it gave me the same bad feeling.’
‘Maybe we shouldn’t go off-road,’ Mercy countered. The last thing she wanted was to put these people in danger because of her.
Not because of you. Because Ephraim and DJ are monsters.
‘He could have been a homophobe,’ Sasha ventured. ‘I don’t think he liked it when I kissed Erin’s cheek.’
‘Which is why you did it,’ Erin countered.
Sasha tossed her head, making her ponytail swing. ‘Duh.’
Erin checked her watch. ‘Going into the forest will be fine, Mercy. We have more backup coming.’
Rafe lifted a brow. ‘You called Gideon?’
‘Texted him before we left your house,’ Erin replied, not one bit repentant. ‘Kept calling once we got on the road until I woke him up. He was most unhappy that he had not been invited to our little party.’
‘I tried to invite him,’ Rafe said. ‘He never replied to my texts.’
‘He was asleep, and he about had a panic attack when he saw the missed texts from you. Luckily I was specific in mine. Why didn’t you tell him what you wanted?’ Erin asked.
Rafe gave her a withering look. ‘No way was I going to put that information in writing. I’m on leave, remember?’
Erin pouted. ‘So I was your second choice?’