Bear Truffle Murder (A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Book 10) Page 5

  “Okay, now let’s get back to the morgue and see what Hawk and the medical examiner have come up with.”

  Nikki was glad to still be on the case. She walked down the hall with the chief. When they got to the morgue, she walked over to Hawk and squeezed his hand. He looked down and smiled at her. The medical examiner continued with his findings, and Nikki listened for any pertinent information. A few minutes later, Nikki’s phone rang. It was the number Andrew had given her.

  “It’s Andrew,” she told Hawk. He and the chief perked up. They told her to answer it and put it on speaker phone.

  “Hello?” Nikki said.

  “Nikki,” Andrew whispered. “You have to come and help me. I’m surrounded. Why are there cops outside my motel room pointing guns at me? What happened with Karissa? Did she contact you? What’s going on? I am freaking out.”

  “What do you mean, surrounded? Where are you? We’ve been trying to reach you all afternoon,” Nikki said.

  “There are cops outside of my hotel room.”

  Just then the chief’s cell rang. It was an officer informing him that they had located Andrew. The chief told them to stand down.

  “Listen, Andrew, tell me where you are, and we will come and get you. No one wants to hurt you; we just want to talk to you. The chief has ordered the police to stand down,” Nikki said.

  “Okay, Nikki. I am at the Overlook on the highway.”

  “I know exactly where you are. What room are you in?”

  “The one surrounded by the cops,” Andrew sneered.

  “Now is not the time for sarcasm, Andrew,” Nikki scolded.

  “Okay, just get here quick. I don’t want to get shot.”

  “Fine, we will. Just stay in the room. And Andrew, did Karissa call you this morning?”

  “No, I haven’t heard from her. What is going on?”

  “I’ll let you know when we get there,” Nikki told him.

  Andrew hung up and Nikki looked at Hawk. “Let’s go,” said Hawk.

  “Just so you know, I do not think he did this. He sounded genuinely confused that the police were there.”

  Hawk looked at her and said he understood.

  The chief instructed his men to keep an eye on the room. “Do not let anyone in or out, but do not shoot. Hawk, bring him in.”

  Nikki and Hawk ran to his truck and started for the motel. Even though the motel was on the highway, there were many windy back roads they had to take. The trees had new bright green leaves on their branches, and the sun was shining oblivious to the darkness Nikki was feeling. The Overlook was a small motel run by a local family. It was a single story of rooms that were a bit shabby. It was a motel where people stopped for a night or two. Fortunately, it was not peak tourist season, so there weren’t too many guests staying there. When they got to the Overlook, Nikki admitted Andrew had been right. It was obvious which room was his. Andrew’s room was surrounded by police from their county and two surrounding counties. There were other guests gathered by the motel office. The owners were there handing out coffee and reassurances, trying to keep their guests happy during the raid. Hawk parked his truck, and they walked toward the police.

  “Hey, Jim,” Hawk said to the officer in charge.

  “Hey, Hawk,” he replied.

  “Has anyone tried to enter or leave?”

  “No, not since we’ve been here,” said Jim.

  “Okay, we are going to go in. The suspect is not considered armed or dangerous,” he said and looked at Nikki, and she nodded in agreement.

  “Okay,” Jim said. He instructed the other officers to lower their weapons but be on alert. Hawk thanked him. He and Nikki approached the room. Nikki knocked on the door. She told Andrew it was her and asked him to open the door. There was no answer. Hawk asked her to step aside.

  “Andrew!” Hawk yelled. “Open the door and come out with your hands up!” Hawk had not drawn his weapon, but he wanted Andrew intimidated into opening the door. Nikki tried to look in the window, but the curtains were closed. She looked at Hawk.

  “We’ll have to break in,” said Hawk. Nikki agreed. She wondered why Andrew had not come to the door. Maybe she was wrong about him. He might have turned darker after he had left her. Maybe he had continued drinking himself to sleep. At least he had not smelled like beer this afternoon at the park. That was one good sign.

  A loud noise drew Nikki’s thoughts back to the motel. Hawk had kicked in the door and entered the room. A quick search showed that Andrew was not inside. The room was a mess. There were food wrappers and clothing strewn around the floor. In addition, a couple of lamps had been knocked over, and the closet door stood open. Hawk was the first to notice the bullet holes in the wall.

  “Look here,” he told Nikki. Nikki flinched and looked on the floor. There was no sign of blood. Nikki ran to the bathroom.

  She saw the small window above the sink was open. It was small but large enough for someone to squeeze out. “Come here!” she yelled to Hawk. He ran in with his gun drawn and saw the window. The razor and toothbrush from the sink were on the floor by the opposite wall. It appeared someone had crawled out the window. There was a mirror by the side of the sink. It had been shattered. The glass fragments were all over the sink and on the floor. Hawk ran out of the motel room, and Nikki looked out the window. She heard an engine revving. She decided to follow whoever climbed out of the window. Nikki found a towel and wrapped her hand in it. She put her hand on the sink, mindful of the glass, and started to boost herself up. Nikki hopped on the sink and put her foot through the open window. She balanced there and then she stuck her head and shoulders out. She stretched and got her feet on the lower sill. Nikki jumped to the ground. She landed well and ran toward the back parking lot. A beat-up truck was weaving towards her. Nikki jumped out of the way just in time. Whoever was driving had tried to hit her. Nikki looked in the rearview window of the truck and saw two men. The driver was steering with one hand and beating up the passenger with his other hand. The passenger managed to turn around and look out the back window. He saw Nikki and put his hand on the glass. He had blood dripping from his hand, nose, and eye. It was Andrew. Nikki got the license plate number of the truck, and when Hawk appeared she gave it to him. She told him it looked like someone had kidnapped Andrew. This day is getting weirder and weirder, thought Nikki. Hawk had brought his truck around from the front of the motel. The other police were just getting around back. They had been searching around the motel for Andrew when Hawk told them he was no longer in the room. Hawk told the police what had happened. He said he would call the chief, and he was sure the chief would be sending them orders soon. Hawk and Nikki hopped into Hawk’s truck and drove out of the parking lot and down the road after the truck with Andrew in it. They drove down the road the truck had taken, but there was no sign of it or Andrew. Nikki and Hawk drove around the country roads for a while, but there was no sign of the other vehicle. Hawk phoned in the license number, and the chief put an APB out on the truck. Suddenly Nikki’s phone buzzed. It was a message from Andrew. She read it to Hawk.

  “I am being held hostage in a cabin somewhere. Please help me.”

  “Let me call the chief, and he can tell me any nearby abandoned cabins,” Hawk suggested. “I know some, but he should have a record of them at the station. That is probably where that other man has taken Andrew.” Nikki agreed. Hawk called the chief, and the chief gave Hawk a nearby address.

  “I will also have men looking around at the other cabins,” said the chief. “I have a list of them on the map over my desk.”

  “I thought you might. Thank you, Chief,” said Hawk. Hawk then warned Nikki to buckle up. “This is going to be a bumpy ride,” he said. Hawk drove another mile and turned into what appeared to be the side of the road. Hawk drove into the long grass, and after a few feet Nikki could discern a trail. The ride was bumpy, and Nikki almost hit her head a time or two. The trail was nothing but overgrown grass in some places and dried up dirt in others. Nikki would have
never known there was a trail, let alone a cabin here. Hawk was right. It was a bumpy ride. Nikki held on tight as Hawk guided them toward the abandoned cabin. The road got bumpier, and outside, the light dimmed as they got deeper into the woods. Nikki shivered. She wondered how scared Andrew was. Nikki knew what it was like to feel helpless. She felt a bit sorry for Andrew, but then she figured he had somehow done this to himself. Was the man a friend of Karissa’s? Had he followed Andrew to Maple Hills? Had he seen Andrew shoot Karissa and followed him back to his hotel? Nikki’s head was spinning with questions only Andrew could answer. She put her hand on Hawk’s leg to steady herself. Hawk was busy maneuvering around the trail, but he shot her a reassuring smile. Nikki felt the truck lurch again and braced herself for the bump. She felt the truck slowing and realized they were stopping in the middle of the woods. There was nothing around but trees and some wildlife. There was no sign of a cabin. Nikki wondered where Hawk had taken her.

  Chapter Eight

  “The cabin is about a quarter of a mile away,” Hawk told Nikki. Hawk stopped the car. He and Nikki got out. They were in dense woods surrounded by trees. It was darker and cooler in the woods. At a better time, this would be a fun place to go with Hawk, Nikki thought. She imagined hiking along the small trail and making new trails with Hawk. She pulled her mind back to the current situation.

  “How do we get to the cabin?” Nikki asked Hawk.

  “See that small trail?” he answered, pointing out a worn spot about a foot across that stretched into the woods.

  “Yes,” said Nikki.

  “It’s along that trail,” replied Hawk. Nikki started walking, and Hawk followed closely behind.

  They walked carefully, trying to avoid fallen logs and ruts in the ground. Nikki stopped and pointed. There was a deer a few yards ahead of them. While Nikki wanted to get to the cabin quickly, she did not want the deer spooked. Someone in the cabin might notice it running. She and Hawk stood there for a moment, and the deer wandered on after nibbling some young leaves. Hawk took the lead and moved through the woods, careful to be quiet. The woods were so still it seemed any noise would travel quite a distance. A cricket started chirping, and Nikki jumped. She kept up with Hawk along the trail. Suddenly, Hawk stopped. He motioned Nikki to his side.

  “Look up ahead,” he murmured to her.

  “Where am I supposed to be looking?” Nikki asked. Hawk pointed up and Nikki saw a roof peak in the distance between the trees. She would not have noticed it if Hawk had not pointed it out. It was the same color as the tree trunks. Nikki figured the cabin must have been about as old as some of the trees. It now blended in with the forest.

  “Follow me,” said Hawk. Nikki followed right behind Hawk, careful not to make any noise or step off the trail. The sides of the trail were grown up, and Nikki did not want to step on anything she could not see. Hawk picked up the pace and as they got closer, the woods thinned a bit. The cabin was small and worn down. There were a few small windows. One of them appeared cracked. There was no sign of the truck. Nikki pointed that out to Hawk.

  “They could have parked the truck further away,” suggested Hawk. Nikki nodded. Hawk moved slowly toward the back of the cabin. Nikki followed. Hawk got to the side of one window and looked in. He shook his head and moved aside. Nikki looked in. There was an old wooden table and a chair and a lot of dirt and dust. It looked as if no one had been in that room for years. If Andrew was in this cabin, he was not in that room. Hawk moved toward the side of the cabin. He looked in the window and shook his head again. Nikki looked in. There was a kitchen that had obviously not been used by any human being in quite a long time. There was an open cabinet with boxes strewn around the floor and some canisters on their sides. There was no food to be seen, and Nikki supposed it had been eaten by some critters. Everything in the room had a thick layer of dust. Hawk walked around to the front door and found it open. Nikki figured that is how the critters would have gotten in. Hawk walked in with his gun drawn. Nikki followed him and looked around. This was an old fishing cabin. A few stuffed fish hung on the wall, and there was an old cot in the corner of one of the rooms. There was room for one or two people to live here comfortably for a week at most. The only prints on the floor were from raccoons and other forest animals that now called this cabin home.

  “I guess the raccoons enjoyed the food,” Nikki said as they walked through the kitchen. They searched the cabin, but there was no sign of anyone ever being there. Nikki opened a closet and was startled by a squirrel that had made a nest there. Nikki jumped and shut the door quickly. She walked back to the front of the cabin. She noticed the cabin was not wired for electricity. She asked Hawk about that. He explained that this was one of the older fishing cabins. The man that owned it would use candles and lanterns to light the cabin.

  “They came out here to fish, not watch television,” Hawk explained.

  Nikki remembered a cabin Andrew had rented outside of Atlanta by a large lake. They had rented it before Seth was born. The area was quiet, but the cabin had a television, refrigerator, stove, and shower. Nikki preferred that cabin to this one. Thinking about Andrew made Nikki worry more. She turned to Hawk and voiced her concern.

  “Now where do we go?” asked Nikki. She was starting to worry about Andrew. Yes, she did not like him, but she didn’t want Seth’s father getting hurt. Or, if he did get hurt, she wanted to be the one to inflict the pain.

  Hawk came back toward the front door. “Let me check in with the chief. I seem to remember another cabin nearby.” Hawk pulled out his cell, but there was no reception.

  “We’ll have to get back to the car to call him,” Hawk said.

  “What about your radio?” Nikki asked.

  “I left it in the car. I didn’t want it to go off while we were approaching the house.”

  “That makes sense,” said Nikki. She and Hawk started back toward the car. Suddenly, Nikki heard a rattle. It sounded like a baby’s rattle but more intense and close by her feet. She stopped. Hawk had heard it, too. He stopped and they looked around. Nikki knew that sound from hikes she had gone on. That was the sound of an angry rattlesnake. They needed to find the snake so they could avoid stepping on it. Hawk pointed about a foot off the trail. There was the snake, poised to strike. On the end of the tail was its rattle. It was shaking it hard trying to scare the humans away. Nikki knew if they continued down that trail, one or both of them would be bit. Hawk took Nikki’s hand. He led her off the trail in the other direction about three feet. They walked in a half circle and got back on the trail about five feet from the snake. The snake settled back down, and Nikki and Hawk walked back to the car.

  “That was too close,” said Nikki.

  “I can take you back to the station if you want me to. These deep woods can have some unpleasant creatures in them. Someone told me they saw a bear here once. As close as the trees are here, I believe him. If you don’t want to be out here, I can find this guy on my own,” said Hawk.

  “No. I want to go with you. I just don’t want to get bit by a poisonous snake or by a bear,” Nikki replied.

  “Okay. Let me call the chief.” Hawk and Nikki climbed into his truck. He got on his radio and called his father.

  “We checked the cabin, Chief. There was no one there.” Hawk talked to the chief for a few more minutes.

  Hawk hung up and started the truck. “The chief agreed that we should go to the next cabin. It’s only about five miles from here.”

  “Is the road there any better?” Nikki asked. Hawk laughed.

  “Nope,” he replied. He turned the truck around and they bounced down to the road. Hawk asked how Nikki was holding up. She said she was fine. She told him she was still being objective; however, she was concerned that they had not found Andrew yet. Hawk reassured her that they would find him soon. He reminded her that the chief had different patrols checking out all the nearby cabins. About four miles later, Hawk pulled the truck off the road into what appeared to be high grass again. As they dr
ove deeper into the woods, the tall grass disappeared, and shorter grass and moss surrounded them. The trees were just as thick here as they were by the other cabin. Hawk pulled the truck off the trail. Hawk stopped the truck before they could see the cabin. He got out of the truck and told Nikki to follow him. They walked along a small path that was just discernible through the undergrowth. At one point, they crossed a small stream. It was a bit too wide to hop across. Hawk helped Nikki across a stone path. Nikki was glad her feet were still dry when she reached the other side. She followed Hawk to where the trees thinned. Hawk stopped. He pointed, and Nikki looked. She saw a truck. It looked like the same truck that had almost run her over at the motel. She nodded to Hawk. The woods stopped, and there was a small meadow. On the other side was the cabin. This was a larger cabin. The front door was closed.

  “We cannot approach from the front; there’s no cover,” said Hawk. “We’ll have to follow the tree line to the back. The forest is close to the back porch. We can check in those windows first.” Nikki agreed. She followed Hawk. This took longer than Nikki had anticipated. There was no trail, and they had to be careful of fallen trees and holes that animals had dug. Nikki stepped in one of the holes and turned her ankle. Hawk caught her.

  “You should go back to the truck,” he said.

  “I’ll be alright. It was just a quick turn,” she reassured him.

  “Okay,” said Hawk, and they started walking again. Hawk helped Nikki over a fallen tree and under some low hanging branches. After what seemed like hours, they reached the back porch. It was a small porch that could fit about three or four people. There were three steps on the side leading up to the porch. There was a small bit of grass, but Hawk had been right. They had forest cover almost to the porch steps.

  “Let me go first,” said Hawk. He ducked and carefully walked slowly up the back porch stairs. He looked in the windows and motioned for Nikki to follow him. She carefully ascended the three steps. She ducked down beside Hawk and looked in the room. It was empty. Nikki could see the front door, and there was enough light from the other windows to realize no one was there. Nikki was getting very concerned. Andrew and the stranger should have been there. Nikki was sure that was the truck she had seen at the hotel.