Guardian. Terri Reed
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The driver pulled next to their vehicles and rolled down his window. He had a craggy face that had spent a lot of time in the sun. Dark eyes regarded them beneath black winged brows. He wore a cowboy hat pulled low over his ears. “Agent Gallagher?”
Leo stepped over. “I’m Gallagher. You’re Craig Sampson?”
“Yep, that’s me.” His gaze shifted to True. “He’s a handsome fellow.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll put in and then you and your dog can come aboard.”
“My witness will show us where she saw the body go in.”
Craig glanced over at Alicia. “I don’t have room for the pretty lady and the officers.”
“They’ll stay on land. She was upriver fishing from shore, so she’ll lead the officers through the woods to the spot.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Craig rolled up the window and drove to the ramp, where he made a wide arc and then backed the boat into the water.
Leo turned to Alicia and the officers. “Ms. Duncan, I’ll need you to lead Officers Jenkins and Reynolds to where you and Charlie were fishing. We’ll head upstream with our diver and meet you there.”
“I can do that,” she said. She squared her shoulders. “This way, gentlemen.”
She strode away, forcing the two officers to hustle to keep up. Leo couldn’t stop the slight smile curving his lips. The woman may have been rattled and afraid earlier, but she was doing a bang-up job of pushing through to get the job done. He admired grit like that.
True started after Alicia. Leo whistled, bringing the dog to heel. “We’re taking to the water, boy.” He grabbed the necessary equipment from the back of the SUV and they headed to the boat ramp.
Once they were settled in the boat, True took his position standing at the bow, his official FBI K-9 life vest around his torso and Leo, with matching life vest, sitting on the middle transom. Craig fired up the boat. He’d pulled on a dry dive suit that covered him from head to toe, leaving only an oval for his face.
They puttered away from the marina and headed upstream. Anticipation and dread twisted in Leo’s chest. He didn’t want the body to be Esme Dupree. She’d witnessed her brother murdering one of his associates and had agreed to testify against him. And since the other Dupree sister, Violetta, who was clean as far as they could discover, had refused to cooperate, the FBI’s case against Reginald Dupree hinged on Esme’s testimony.
But whoever the poor woman was at the bottom of the river, her loved ones deserved justice for her murder.
They rounded a bend in the river, where the landscape on the right side of the river changed abruptly from wooded terrain to towering cliffs of sediment and stone. On the left side, the woods thinned and gave way to boulders that gradually rose to another steep cliff.
Leo shaded his eyes and scanned the shore, immediately spotting Alicia and the two officers standing on a smooth outcropping of rocks.
“Head over there,” Leo instructed Craig.
When they were within shouting distance of the rocks, Leo noticed fishing poles and a tackle box. This must have been where Alicia and her son had been when they’d seen the killer.
Alicia pointed upstream and yelled, “He came from that direction and stopped about three hundred and sixty feet straight out from here.” She gestured to the rocks beneath her feet.
“That’s helpful and gives us a place to start.” Leo stared, admiring the pretty lady. Her hair lifted slightly in the wind that had kicked up. Sunlight reflected in her piercing blue eyes. “You and the officers can head back to the station.” He didn’t want her here to see the body when they found the victim.
Alicia shook her head. “I want to make sure she’s found. Someone has to stand up for her.”
Respecting her decision, he saluted her then turned to Craig. “You heard the lady.”
Craig slowly turned the boat toward the middle of the river. True stood on the bow, his head up, gaze alert. Leo tuned in to the dog’s nuances the farther away from shore they traveled. He documented the time and distance from land on the notepad he carried. They circled the area where Alicia had pointed. True showed no signs of alerting.
“Head downstream,” Leo instructed Craig.
Since the body hadn’t been weighted down, it most likely had been swept along by the river’s current. Craig zigzagged the boat from one shore to the other, moving farther and farther away from the spot. Leo wondered if maybe the suspect had come back and removed the woman’s body. Frustration curled in his stomach.
Then True shifted. He licked his lips and shuffled his paws, clear signs he was picking up a scent. Leo’s pulse jumped. The dog’s tail went down as he craned his neck, dipping his nose toward the water. He pivoted, and then leaned over the starboard side. Keeping his snout at the surface of the water, True walked the length of the boat and stepped easily over the bench seat.
Anticipation revving through him, Leo gestured for Craig to make a slow turn. True retraced his steps, barking an alert. He scratched and nipped at the water. Knowing the animal had scent glands in the roof of his mouth, Leo interpreted these actions as the sign this was the spot.
“Good boy.” Leo grasped True’s life vest to keep the dog from jumping in.
Leo nodded at Craig, who shut off the motor, then strapped on a buoyance compensator, his mask and oxygen tank. The man sat on the side of the boat and fell backward into the water. True barked and lunged for the water. Leo continued to hold him back.
“No, boy,” Leo said, adjusting his grip on True. “We’re staying here.”
Leo and True both watched the surface of the river. Leo pulled on latex gloves in anticipation of handling the body and prepared the large, waterproof plastic body bag. His gaze darted back to the shore, where Alicia stood sentinel on the rocks, flanked by the two officers.
She held her head up and her shoulders back like a fierce warrior. She was tall and so very appealing. He admired her commitment to being a voice for the victim. Most people would want to bail the second they could. Not Alicia. He liked that about her.
Bubbles rose as Craig broke through the surface. In his arms he held a red-haired woman. Anxiety curled through Leo. He gave True the command to lie down so he could help Craig bring the woman’s inert body onto the boat and into the body bag. Smoothing back a chunk of matted hair, Leo inhaled sharply then let out his breath in a swoosh.
It wasn’t Esme. They still had their prime witness in the Dupree case. But there was enough of a resemblance that for a moment he’d thought the worst. And though Esme was still alive, sorrow welled within him because this woman wasn’t.
Now he had the difficult task of identifying the victim and informing the family.
He took his cell phone from his pocket and called Chief Jarrett, who promised to send the coroner to meet them at the marina. The coroner would take possession of the body and then call in a forensic pathologist to do an autopsy.
Leo then called headquarters. The team’s general assistant immediately answered. “FBI Tactical K-9 Unit, Christy Burton speaking.”
“It’s Leo. Is Max available?”
“Good afternoon, Leo. He’s on another line talking to the US Marshals. Is this urgent or can he call you back?”
There wasn’t much Max could do from headquarters, so not urgent. “Tell him to call me. I found what we were looking for.”
“I’ll tell him.” Christy signed off and Leo tucked his phone back in his pocket.
Before he could zip the bag closed, Craig murmured, “There’s something pinned to her clothes.”
A baggie had