Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 3 - Chasing Ghosts - IV

  As expected, Jeremy didn't get much out of the park ranger's interview. He found the corpse in the woods during a routine patrol, just as Dave had said. There didn't seem to be any particular reason Jerry Hauserman was in that part of the forest, though it was on a trail that lead close to Rallsburg if followed for a dozen miles. Real progress would have to come from the array of rangers now trawling through the thick Olympic forest south of Rallsburg.

  Jeremy and Lani joined one of the south-most groups, riding up as far as Lani's jeep could take them. When the terrain became too steep, they dismounted and continued on foot, catching up to the rangers ahead in short order thanks to radio communications and satellite locating. The wonders of modern technology.

  "What do you think we'll find out here?" Lani asked as they followed a few steps behind the line of rangers.

  "A killer."

  "You think a person did all this?"

  Jeremy climbed over a huge tree root blocking the path, feeling once again how out of shape he was. He resolved to get back into his workout regimen from training as soon as they returned to Seattle. "This confirms it."

  "How so?"

  "In Rallsburg you had a ton of fires, explosions, a wrecked town and a bunch of unexplained bodies. Could have been an accident, could have been on purpose. We had no clue." Jeremy paused for a moment while they waited for one of the rangers to return the latest call out. When he finally did, to a chorus of relieved voices, Jeremy continued. "Jerry Hauserman escaped whatever the hell happened there. He ran for it, then he somehow survived months on his own hidin' out here. Until they found him."

  "Who?"

  "Whoever can do that to people. Tear them up like ragdolls. This was the killer catching the rest of his prey." Jeremy looked him dead in the eye. "There might be more bodies out here we ain't found yet, if anyone else managed to make a run for it and got hunted down."

  "How many were we missing?"

  "Twenty one missin' from the total count. Twenty now, since we've found Hauserman."

  "You think they're all dead?"

  I hope not. "We'll find out. That's our job, remember?"

  Unfortunately for the agents, they found nothing but trees that evening in the sweep. After five miles and the sun completely vanishing below the horizon, they finally gave in. The ranger in charge promised to begin a new sweep further north as soon as the sun came back up. Lani thanked them for their time while Jeremy waited for the backup to arrive and drive them back to their jeep.

  It had been a long, hard hike for nothing whatsoever and he was getting increasingly frustrated. He should have been used to it after so many months without an inch of progress, but between the conversation with Maddie and the surprise lead in the form of Hauserman's death, Jeremy had an itch he hadn't felt in months. There was a real investigation for him to pursue.

  Lani drove them back along dark, sparsely populated streets, through Olympia and Tacoma and back into the Seattle area. He dropped Jeremy at his condo, promising to write up the new report for their agitated chief in the morning.

  Jeremy dragged himself inside and collapsed on the couch.

  "What happened to you?" asked Maddie, pajama-clad and holding a mug of tea. She walked over from the small kitchen and sat down opposite the couch in his favorite lounge chair.