"I'm going to start tracking him down as well," Owen said.

  May looked up the name, working on one side of the desk with Owen on the other. She looked up the name Jacob Hargreaves, cross-referencing it with all the local databases.

  While she waited for them to give her results, Owen was getting them faster.

  "I'm watching a video here," he said, turning his screen so that May could see. "Take a look at this. He's describing how to forage for berries.

  Immediately, May saw that Jacob was a charismatic figure. With his short beard, his mane of tawny hair, and his big shoulders, he was a leonine personality. Add a flashing smile, and she could see why his followers numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

  "Now, berries are powerhouses of nutrition," he was saying, his piercing blue eyes fixed on the camera lens. It looked as if he was in the middle of the woods. Trees framed the backdrop, thick and dark.

  Most definitely, this man had a lot of charm, and May had the sense he was speaking to her and her alone.

  "They truly are a superfood. Juicy, tasty, and with a lot of bang for the forager's buck, so to speak. So, I'm going to show you some of my favorites, the most gorgeous little gifts that are nestling in nature's hideaways. And at the same time, I'm also going to show you a few types that you definitely want to avoid, because there are a few berries that are toxic to humans. Here's how to tell the difference."

  Taking the focus off Jacob himself, May took a look at the background. But it was impossible to tell where Jacob was from his surroundings. It could have been anywhere. However, what she did notice was that he seemed to be based in the thick, remote woodland. And there was a yurt to the right of him. He was a tent dweller, somewhere in the far wilderness.

  May remembered the place where Chloe had been spotted, fleeing. Was his yurt located near there? That would provide them with a strong link that he’d been involved in the crime.

  At that moment, her databases pinged, and she turned back to them.

  "Well!" she said.

  "What?" Owen asked.

  "We do have a record for Jacob Hargreaves," May said. "He has had criminal charges of assault laid in the past. He's now twenty-five years old and there were two charges in his early twenties, and another when he was a minor."

  "Who did he assault?"

  "The juvenile records are sealed. But recently, it seemed like he assaulted people at his college. A colleague and also a teacher from the looks of things," May said. "He didn't spend time in jail. Seems like he had access to a very good lawyer. But it looks like he dropped out of college, and maybe that's when he decided to go off the grid."

  He was a violent man. That was immediately clear to May.

  "Who gave him access to a very good lawyer?" Owen asked.

  May thought that was an excellent question. Whoever had paid for the lawyer to keep Jacob out of jail might have enabled him in other ways too.

  Luckily, Owen was answering his own question, now leaning over May's shoulder and peering at the screen while running some searches on his own laptop.

  "Okay, this is interesting. Research is a wonderful thing when you start finding links. It looks as if the lawyer he used also does a lot of work for his stepfather's firm. And the stepfather, you'll be interested to know, owns a huge piece of land not far away from where Chloe stayed."

  Owen called up the map and showed May the land. It was a vast area, covering hundreds of acres, that included a river and forested area, as well as some hilly meadows.

  Narrowing her eyes, May also noted that it was no more than a few miles from the place where Chloe had been captured on camera.

  "I wonder if he's living there," she said.

  "His stepfather is definitely protecting him. Enabling him, even. And he has a lot of land. So that would make sense. He'd probably get to stay there for free. Living off the grid with all the bounty that nature provides, and also with his stepfather's fridge a short walk away?" Owen's voice rang with cynicism.

  "Sounds about right," May said. "I am sure that if he's not living on the stepfather's land, then he'll know where he is. But we need to get there fast, because if he is the killer, his stepdad could even be helping him to hide away or escape."

  ***

  Half an hour later, May and Owen pulled up outside the farm "Robbie's Adventures," where Robbie Grant, Jacob’s stepfather, lived. It was in an idyllic part of the world, May saw. The terrain beyond the farmhouse was a blend of forested tracts, rolling hills, and secluded streams winding through the landscape.

  The rain had eased off, and was now no more than a light drizzle, falling from a sky that was still unrelentingly heavy and gray.

  May walked up and knocked on the door of the solid wooden farmhouse. The garage nearby was closed, so she couldn't tell if Robbie was in or not. She hoped he was, or that someone else was home.

  The sound of the knocker resounded through the house, and May wondered, with a sudden pang of doubt, whether anyone was in fact in. She knocked once more, but the door remained unanswered, and to May, that unbroken silence meant the house felt empty.

  She might need to do some more research, she decided. The stepfather had seemed to run his business—eco-tourism vacation bookings—from home. But then again, perhaps he was out in his idyllic lands, doing some fishing, or on a hike, or perhaps even some gardening.

  Wondering if she might spot him, May strolled along the garden path that led to the side of the house and peered out into the grounds beyond.

  She didn't see the stepfather. He was nowhere in sight. But she saw something even more helpful, if rather surprising.

  At the back of the well-tended backyard, bordering the forest beyond, May saw a yurt.

  Her eyes widened. This looked identical to the one she'd seen in the videos. Even the trees beyond looked the same, the way they seemed to form a natural archway over the top of the tent.

  In the backyard?

  "Owen, look!" she said, and her deputy came running.

  "Wow!" he exclaimed. "It's there?" He sounded just as incredulous as she felt.

  "Well, seeing it's there without a doubt, let's go and speak to Jacob directly. Hopefully we can bypass his stepfather now," May decided. This was a lucky break in the case, and after the soaking, discouraging search of the morning, she felt that they deserved a break.

  With their feet splashing over the still-wet grass, she and Owen headed down the lawn, toward the tent at its edge.

  But it was clear that May and Owen hadn't been the only ones keeping a lookout.

  As they neared the yurt, May heard a commotion from inside, a rustling and thudding and scraping.

  And then, from the back entrance of the large, well-equipped yurt, a tall, leonine figure shot out.

  "Hey! Jacob Hargreaves!" May yelled. Without a doubt this was the man from the video. That distinctive tawny mane was a giveaway.

  But Jacob wasn't listening, and he wasn't stopping. He was running—as far and fast into the woods as he could go.

  Swearing briefly under her breath, May set off in pursuit, racing as fast as she could to catch up with the fleeing suspect.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  No way was she going to allow Jacob to vanish into the vastness of his stepfather's woods, May resolved, her shoes skidding on wet leaves as she hurtled along the track. Because she had no doubt that he could, and would, disappear if he got the chance.

  After all, there was a strong likelihood he might have kept Chloe prisoner somewhere in these woods and have been watching out for the police to arrive since then. He clearly knew the area well and had any number of bolt holes and secret hideaways. If he got to one of them, they might not find him for weeks, if at all. There were too many places to get lost in these woods, and the thought of him disappearing into their misty depths made her feel sick with worry.

  "Stop! Police!" May yelled, glad that Owen was hurtling along behind her, because at least it meant two pairs of eyes and ears in the dark, dripping woods with their twisting paths.

  May, her pulse pounding and her breath coming in gulps, fought to keep him in sight. Her boots and pants were sodden from the soil and the rain, and the temperature was dropping now that the sun had been blotted out by the thick, dark clouds.

  It was obvious that Jacob wasn't listening and wasn't going to stop until he got to his destination—wherever that might be.

  He dodged around a thick tree trunk, and for a breathless moment, May realized that he was out of sight completely.

  "Stop!" Owen yelled, with an edge of panic in his tone.

  And then, they saw him, racing further on and up the hill. He'd headed down into a hidden gully, jumped a ditch, and was now powering up a steep slope.

  Gritting her teeth, May followed, slipping and sliding down the muddy bank. Tree branches clawed at her jacket and arms. A root thwacked against her foot, almost tripping her up. Down the bottom of this small gorge was a trickling stream with thick, caked banks of mud on either side. Taking a deep breath, May leaped for it, straining to clear the stream, and as much of the mud as she could.

  She landed and it splattered around her. Grasping a sapling trunk to stop herself from sliding back into it, May hauled herself up the hill.

  "Damn!" She heard Owen curse from behind her, followed by a loud splash. Her deputy hadn't been as lucky with the timing of his leap and had landed in the stream.

  There wasn't time to stop and help him or give him a hand up the steep, slippery slope. All she could do was keep running, knowing that for the moment, she was now solo.

  This pursuit was messy, tough, and difficult. And if she took her eyes off the suspect for one moment, May was very aware it might also be futile. They couldn't let him get away!

  "Stop!" May called out, her voice cracking with the exertion. "Stop right there!"

  But Jacob didn't stop. He was as fast and wiry as a deer. His long legs stretched out in front of him, he leaped over fallen boughs and smashed through underbrush. The rain was still falling steadily. The woods were misty and dark.

  However, even though she was starting to get exhausted from this cold, wet chase, May saw that Jacob, too, was starting to take strain. He was tiring. His footsteps were starting to thud down. As she watched, he stumbled over a tree root, and instead of getting his balance immediately, he sprawled down, landing heavily on his outstretched hands. That gave May the impetus she needed to put on another burst of speed. She knew that if she could just close the gap between them, if she could get a hand on him, she could try to wrestle him to the ground. She would at least have a chance.

  Still yelling, still running as fast as she could, May drew closer to the fleeing man. He glanced back, and he was now close enough for her to see the strain on his face. His eyes were wide, his mouth set in a grim line.

  "Stop!" she yelled again. "Stop right there!"

  It was clear, though, that even though she was now yelling at him at close quarters, he was not going to stop. He wasn't going to give up. She saw the direction his head turned. He was going to make a break for it for the last time and head into the denser, darker part of the woods, and from there, who knew where he would go!

  With a burst of speed, May closed the gap between them, desperate to catch hold of his jacket. She made a grab for it but missed. With her own strength running out, and a slight downward incline now briefly tipping things in her favor, May decided there was only one thing she could do now. Only one way she could stop him before he regrouped after his fall and got away. It was a risk, a desperate one, but she had to do something.

  She tackled him from behind, throwing herself at him with all her weight, leaping ahead with outstretched arms, and hoping that this surge of forward movement would allow her to reach him.

  And it did. Her hands made contact with the back of his knees, and the force of the tackle knocked him off his feet. Jacob tumbled headfirst down the last few feet of the slope. His breath whooshed out as he landed on his back in the muddy, leaf strewn ground.

  He hit the ground with a thud. May landed on top of him, scrabbling to get a grip on him, to keep him down.

  Jacob struggled and hit out at her. He was strong and agile, and although she had all her weight on top of him, he didn't seem inclined to stay there.

  "Hold still!" she gasped at him as he fought and wriggled, trying to get out of her grasp. "Hold still, dammit!" A lucky punch almost caught her in the jaw. May dodged the blow itself, but not the fountain of mud, which splattered across her face and got into her eye, a rough, stinging hindrance.

  But thankfully, even as she worried that he was going to wriggle right out of her grip, she heard the pounding of footsteps behind her and knew with a rush of relief that her deputy had gotten out of the ditch and was back in the fight again.

  Owen grabbed Jacob's flailing arms and pinned them down while May tried to get hold of his legs. It was no easy job. It was as if he'd realized he was going to be caught and was determined to struggle free and escape before they managed to haul him off.

  Her hands slippery with wet mud, May struggled to keep hold of him as he bucked and kicked. Owen wrestled with him briefly, before Jacob, his face a mask of rage, tried to head butt him. Owen dodged the lunge, and Jacob spat out a mouthful of mud.

  That allowed Owen to grab a chunk of his hair, holding it tight so that Jacob yelled in anger. And together, with Owen holding his hair and May still hanging on for grim death to his legs, they managed to wrestle the suspect onto his front, and pull his arms behind him.

  A moment later, the handcuffs clicked closed.

  May stood up, breathing hard. They all looked as if they had taken part in a mud wrestling competition—well, she guessed they basically had. She was filthy dirty, smeared and streaked with mud, wet to the bone, and exhausted. Owen looked the same way she felt.

  But they had their suspect subdued at last. Owen hauled him up onto his feet.

  Now, finally, they could question this clearly guilty man, and find out why he’d fought so hard to escape them.

  CHAPTER NINE

  It took ten long, cold minutes for May and Owen to retrace their steps back to the yurt, grasping their suspect firmly so he couldn’t try to make a run for it again.

  By the time they reached it, May had cooled down from the headlong chase and was shivering. At least some of the mud had come off her shoes and jacket during the walk back. But even though she felt as if her own condition was slightly improved, Jacob was still as mad as a snake.

  "Why did you do that?" he hissed at them while Owen shunted him in the direction of the yurt. "Why did you tackle me like that?"

  "Why didn't you stop when an officer of the law requested it?" Owen replied in reasonable tones.

  "I didn't hear you! I run for fitness purposes. That’s what I was doing. When you jumped me, I thought you were robbers."

  May raised her mud-streaked eyebrows at that bare-faced lie, deciding not to comment on it further. There were more important things to ask Jacob now.

  The yurt, luckily, was a spacious structure and May was impressed by the state-of-the-art setup inside. There was a heater, two laptops, several chargers and cables, an expensive looking camera, a kettle, and a nice-looking sound system. Not bad for an off the grid wildsman’s residence who made his money filming his romantic, down to earth circumstances. Not bad at all, she thought.

  "Shall we sit?" May asked, nodding to the raffia mat on the floor near the heater.

  They all sat down on the mat, and Owen put the heater on.

  "Nice setup," he said, staring meaningfully at Jacob.

  He had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. "Look, I am off the grid. More or less. But my stepfather refused to buy solar panels, so I'm connected up to their electricity via an underground cable. Just for the filming."

  "And the kettle," May said.

  "And the heater," Owen said.

  "You can't film well if you're cold," Jacob said angrily. "And I had to be close enough to get signal. Wi-fi in this area is dire. I couldn't educate anyone if I didn't have the ability to get my videos out there. But anyway, what's this about? Why are you even here?"

  He looked angry and defiant. His chestnut blond mane was tousled and streaked with mud.

  "Because of Chloe," May explained, watching him carefully.

  Jacob looked blank. "What about her?" he asked.

  "You know she disappeared?"

  Now, the hint of a frown creased Jacob's face. "Disappeared? I don't think so. She was just taking time out. That's what her mother said when I called. But her mother also told me not to call again, because right now the relationship between her and her dad needed work, so I didn't call, and I have been worrying about her.”

  “You have?” May asked.

  “I've messaged her mother a few times, but she hasn't replied."

  “Are you and Chloe dating?”

  “No, not as such. We were dating. Then we called it quits for a while, and then we started—sort of—getting friendlier again. So, I would call us good friends, for the past couple of months.”

  "Why did Chloe’s mother ask you not to call her again?" May said. This was sounding suspicious and irregular. What had really been going on? Cross-legged on the mat, feeling warmed by the blast of the heater, she watched Jacob closely.

  "You see, Chloe's mom didn't have issues with me. But she knew Chloe's dad would, because I’m a bit different, and because—well, there were some past issues that she didn’t want him to know about.”

  May nodded. Those must be the assault charges, she thought, as Jacob continued.

  “And it was complicated because he was her talent manager, so Chloe and her dad needed to keep a working relationship. Chloe's mom said that we should keep things quiet between us. So that's what we did. She was very busy with her modeling assignments, and I was also very busy here. People think being a social media star is easy, but it isn't. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time."

  "When's the last time you saw Chloe?" May asked, interrupting what looked like being a long diatribe.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17