Chapter 87

One twenty five in the morning. Brian stalked the gas stations parking lot, his gut lurching at the sight of bloody glass. Harrison punched off his cell phone and stepped over to him.

"That was the lab," He said quietly. "Blood here is O-negative. Matches Sarra's."

Brian wondered why the news hit him so hard. He had expected the blood to be Sarra's. She had taken off her shoes in the living room of the apartment. She couldn't get them with Eddie there. She didn't have a coat either, and the overnight temperature dipped in the fifties. illogically, the idea of Sarra being cold was as cruel as the dozens of horrific images Brian had conjured up on the way here. They images preyed on his brain, stalking him like a predator he couldn't see or touch or get his hands on.

He walked toward Harrison, who was watching the crime scene unit take apart Gretchen's car. Keep working, work. Don't feel. God knows, he had done that for nine years. Why couldn't he manage that now?

Harrison met him half way across the parking lot. "They dusted the Monte Carlo, and they are about to open the trunk, see if any trace evidence can be collected."

"I can't believe he drove Gretchen's car all the way up here without being noticed. There has been a APB out on the Monte Carlo since we got Gretchen out of the park."

"But he was already on his way by then. Driving in the dark, on back roads....."

A chopper sliced through the air overhead, and they waited until the noise had faded before going on. If Brandon was deep in the woods, a chopper would have a hard time finding him. Even though the forest wasn't in full foliage yet, the trees were dense and it was dark. The better bet was the canine team. Brian had given them Abby's t-ball hat with the embroided ladybug, and Sarra's shirt with Poo and the Honey pot. Dog handlers hadn't thought there was any hope of getting a scent of Brandon from the cabinets in Sarra's basement, particularly after the crime scene unit had gone over it with chemicals and cleaners. But if Brandon was actually with Abby or Sarra...

A local deputy with a jack worked at the Monte Carlo's trunk, freeing it suddenly with a crunching sound. He wrenched his fingers under the edge and pried it open.

"Holy god!" He said leaping back

Brian rushed forward. The deputy was still catching his breath, and two others had stepped close to see. Brian barged through, shoved aside a uniform and looked down into the cavern on the cars trunk.

They had found Abby..