Haunted by the Past (Original)

Chapter 71

"At the risk of sounding like an insensitive bastard, I think we need to rethink our strategy," Eli declared after hours of searching fruitlessly. "We could keep searching these woods until nightfall and still not find him, Dani."

Dawn was just beginning to break when we stopped at a cliff overlooking the Panuck River. I took a rest on a mossy boulder while Eli checked our position and the status of the police search. Though we had searched the woods for a good four hours, we had barely scratched the surface. For years I had roamed these woods, but now they were as foreign to me as any other forest.

"No, you're right," I hugged my knees. "This has been a colossal waste of time."

Eli sighed, "No, it hasn't."

I frowned, "Don't lie to me just to try to make me feel better. I should never have pulled you away from your computer for this exercise in futility."

"Hey," he sat down next to me. "I watched them enter these woods, ok? I watched as Parkinson found Meredith. I was checking every camera I could find for hours before you contacted me. If me being in front of a computer was going to help, it should've helped then."

"Too bad Cameron had his phone taken," I mumbled.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, perplexed.

"When Cameron visited me, he got caught snooping around and Agent Fullman had his phone taken," I explained.

"Oh, but they gave it back to him after they checked for any messages or calls from us. I deleted the history just in time, by the way," he clarified. "No, his phone was found smashed where Meredith said they were ambushed."

"Of course, they wouldn't want you tracking Cameron," I continued.

Suddenly the gears in my head clicked into place and for a moment, I swore time stopped. They didn't want Eli tracking Cameron. Cameron wasn't taken from the Night Owl, he was taken from the forest. Not only that, but he was led there by a woman.

Just like Jorge.

But did that mean-? Did that mean Meredith was involved? No, that couldn't possibly be it. She was a victim. She suffered immensely because of it. But what if she was threatened? Triple-6 was never identified so the nightmare lives on for her. He still held power over her. What if that other woman was another victim that got away? What if she too was threatened? What if both were told, 'Make sure you're not followed.'

My eyes darted to Eli who had gone back to swiping around on his phone. Mentally I was torn whether I should tell him of my theory. How would he take the news?

"You're wondering if the phone was smashed intentionally," he said suddenly while his attention was still on his phone. "I've considered that as well."

"Well, more than that," I responded nervously. He glanced up with an arched eyebrow. "It's just, when you think about it, Cameron was led away from where he was safe to a place where he was not safe. By a woman."

"Are you suggesting Meredith's done that on purpose?" he glared. "Never! Do you know how many hours of therapy it took before Meredith could even start attending college? How many different meds she has taken over the years? Everything that you went through, but a thousand times worse!"

"Exactly! He has power still over her! What if he threatened her?" I sympathized.

Just as the sun began cutting through the treetops, Eli clenched his jaw tight. A new fire burned in his eyes. The thought of Meredith's torment beginning anew brought out the sleeping demon within - the hannya.

"I will flay him," he ground his teeth.

This revelation brought up a new realization that none of us had considered, "We can't put any faith in what Meredith said or did then."