Haunted in the Night

Chapter Nine- Part One

Chapter Nine.
“I have sent off the sample, we should hear back in a couple of days” Bob told her once he walked back in and she nodded understandingly.
“Lets just hope that it leads us somewhere, anywhere, whatever it is, I’ll take it” she replied, sick of the frustration, her headache was already returning and she rubbed her temples, attempting to help soothe it.
“Lets get lunch” he said and she got up and followed him out to his car.
They went to Bob’s cabin, it was just like the one Claire was staying in, she was thankful that he brought her here though, she really wasn’t up to sitting in the cafe and have all those people staring at her, not while she was still a bit emotional after her night terror.
For a guy who lived alone he kept his place very clean, there wasn’t a speck of dust in sight, his kitchen was just like hers, stocked full of food, of course he had been the one to do that for her before she got to town and it was obvious he enjoyed cooking.
“I hope you like spice” he said as he started working his way around the small kitchen while he pointed to the kitchen table for her to sit down.
“Would you like my help?” she asked and he thought for a moment before he grabbed a wooden cutting board and placed it in front of her, handed her a knife then a green onion for her to chop up, mean while he sliced up chicken breast, she had no idea on what he was making but she was sure that it would be good.
It didn’t take long for them to finish everything up that he had been giving her to chop and such, then while that was cooking he began boiling rice, stirring it occasionally as the food filled the nice little cabin with a smell that made Claire’s stomach growl.
“Here you are, firecracker chicken on a bed of rice” he said once he plated it all and placed it in front of her, it looked great and it made her mouth water.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?” she asked amazed when he sat down and he just chuckled at her.
“Living by my own, I want to stay healthy, take away food all the time is not healthy” he replied as they began eating.
It was amazing, it was spicy, sweet and it just melted in her mouth, the rice was a good side with it, suited it very well, gave you a rest from such powerful flavours.
“Did you ever cook for Helena?” Claire asked curiously.
“Yes I did, that woman loved to bake, she was great with buns and cakes but I was the meal cooker” he chuckled and Claire remembered baking cupcakes with Helena when she was little and remembered how the woman hated to cook dinner meals and such though, those somehow she would always do something wrong that would ruin the entire taste.
“I miss her” Bob sighed sadly, poking his food with his fork before slowly stabbing a piece and putting it in his mouth, chewing slowly.
“Me too” she agreed as they continued to eat in silence for the moment.
“I know that you consider me a suspect” he told her and she gasped at his words, shocked that he knew somehow.
“Did you see my notebook?” she asked nervously, not sure on how he will react.
“No, I didn’t but I had a relationship with Helena, the second party is always considered a suspect until cleared, it’s alright, I’m not mad” he replied while he continued to eat.
“If it helps I don’t think you had anything to do with it, you care too much about these people, about this town and about solving this case” she tried to comfort him but also herself, she wouldn’t know what she would do if it ended up being him.
“That’s kind of you to say” he said, they stayed silent after that, just eating their food.
“Thank you again, that was amazing” Claire said when he took the empty dishes and put them in the sink before he turned and smiled at her.
“Anytime, you’re door should be fixed now, I’ll take you home” he said as he grabbed his brown coat, shrugged it on then opened the front door for her.
“Okay” she said as she stood up from the table but suddenly Bob’s phone began to ring and he smiled at her apologetically before answering it.
Claire decided to wait for him by the car instead of eavesdropping on his phone conversation and she zipped up her jacket and made her way out.
The day’s were getting colder as autumn got further and further into it, not long and it would be winter and if Helena and Katherine were still alive out there the likelihood of them surviving winter was a long shot.
“Claire we have to go now, the rangers may have found something out in the woods” Bob spoke with urgency as he quickly rushed up to the car, unlocking it and swung his door open, he was in and buckling his seatbelt before she even managed to open her door.
Quickly she climbed in but he already took off down the road before she had clipped in her seatbelt, she hadn’t seen him like this before, not even when they had learned another person had gone missing and he was beginning to scare her.
“What is it? What have they found?” she tried to ask but he just kept his eyes on the road, his jaw tight.
She fiddled nervously with her fingers as they drove a little way out of town until he turned left down a dirt road and came to a whole bunch of cabins, with an archway sigh that read Ranger’s Park.
“Hi I’m Tony Esgot, it’s nice to finally meet you” the head of the park rangers came up and offered his hand to Claire.
“Claire, I’m guessing you already know that” she said as she accepted and shook his hand.
He had long floppy curly light brown hair, blue eyes and a thin nose with thin lips also, he looked to be in his late thirties, there was a presence about him, like he had seen a lot of things in his time but he held himself well, tall and strong.
“This way, follow me” he said as he turned and began walking down a dirt walking trail that led into the woods.
Claire gulped, remembering her dream, Bob must have sensed this because he put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her but they continued forward, following Ranger Tony.
“One of my park rangers was out here today checking to make sure everything was in order, that no big animals were making their way too close to the town when he came across something” Tony started telling them as they wandered further into the woods, when Claire looked back she could no longer see the cabins from the park, it was all just trees now.
“What did you find?” Claire asked when Tony suddenly stopped, turned and looked at her.
“Take a look for yourself” he said as he put his hand out towards a spot that had been taped off.
She gulped nervously again, if it was a dead body she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle it, especially if it was someone she knew, like Helena, or even her parents.
“I’ll go first” Bob told her when he saw her freeze when they got to the tape line.
“Thanks” she mumbled quietly, fidgeting again.
Her stomach felt like it had dropped down a mile, like she could be sick at any minute, her body temperature didn’t help, she was hot from walking out here, it had been further than it seemed.
“Here you look like you could need this” she jumped when Ranger Tony walked up behind her and offered her a bottle of water and she smiled slightly at him as a thanks as she took it, cracked open the lid and took a small sip.
She only took a couple of small sips at a time, being careful not to have it come back up.
“Claire you should come look at this” she heard Bob and she looked up to see him bent down near a small bush.
Slowly she ducked under the tape and made her way over to him, each step seemed painstakingly slow, she could feel and hear the twigs snapping under each step she took, leaves crunching as they crumbled as she slowly made her way to him.
“What is it?” she asked leaning down slightly to try and look behind the bush.
“I gave this ring to Helena for our 6 month anniversary” he spoke quietly, it hurt for him to say it, to admit that it had been Helena’s and Claire could see it, a small silver ring with a blue heart shaped jewel lying there in the dirt.
“The kidnapper must have taken her this way” Claire gasped as the realization hit her, she quickly stood up straight and looked around at her surroundings, looking for any sign that the kidnapper had left besides the ring.
“Shouldn’t there be drag marks?” she asked mainly to herself but Ranger Tony heard her.
“If there was they would be gone now, this trail is only checked once a week, the drag marks would have been dusted over by now, especially with the weather starting to get rougher now” he replied, answering her question and she sighed sadly.
“Why is it only checked once a week?” she asked curiously.
“There are many walking trails around here miss, we only have enough man power to check a couple of trails in a day so we spread them out over the week” he told her and she nodded understandingly.
She watched sadly as Bob picked up the ring with tweezers and put it into an evidence bag, she could see the way he looked at it, like he was losing her all over again, it made her heart bleed, he truly did love her.
“Where does this trail lead to?” she asked looking up ahead at the trail that they had been following to get here.
“Honestly miss this trail is one of our more rougher ones, a couple more meters up it starts getting real rough, roots from trees come up onto it, fallen trees always making a mess, there’s even a river up there that could easily sweep someone away if it got too rough” he told her but he only answered partially.
“Yes but where does it end?” she asked sighing.
“It leads into the mountains, kangaroos and dingoes tend to live up that way, if it weren’t for such a rough trail we’d have hunters up there all the time” he told her.
“But you don’t?” she asked curiously.
“No, only the odd hunter can handle the trail but most tend to just go the easier ones, especially if they want to bring their hunt back with them, carrying a dead animal on this trail is a lot harder than one would think” he told her.
So this trail is quiet, secluded, a perfect place for a killer not to be found.
“Is there anything else?” Claire asked, continuing to look around, hoping for more clues.
“No miss, that was all we found” Ranger Tony told her and her shoulders slumped disappointedly, all they had found was something that hurt Bob, but this trail in itself is a good clue too, she wanted to get a look up in the mountains though, but she knew with this hunt happening tomorrow the rangers would be too busy to help guide her through it.
“Let’s head back to the station” Bob said as he stood up straight, dusting his knees off.
She nodded, walking away from the scene, the trail up ahead haunting her mind, staying with her all the way back to the car.
“This trail, Helena’s house is on the opposite side of town, whoever took her would have to be extremely fit and strong, I don’t know if a woman could do this” she said once her and Bob were back in the car driving into town.
“You really think the person that was in front of your house had something to do with this?” he asked her.
“Honestly I’m not sure anymore, I mean the shoes are curious but how could a woman be strong enough to take all these people? Do you think we’re looking for a team?” she threw out the option but he didn’t look convinced.
“I don’t know” he answered honestly, not that it helped them.
“How are you holding up?” she asked him, referring to the ring they had found.
“I really don’t know” he answered honestly again, his face consorting in pain, frustration and grief.
“Do you think we’ll find her alive?” he asked her suddenly and she gasped before looking nervously down at her fingers, she knew her answer but she didn’t want to admit it.
They had never found anyone before and with winter closing in the likeliness was slim.
She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t bring herself to answer his question, it would hurt to much to tell the truth but she also knew it would hurt to lie so she just smiled at him sadly which he saw from the corner of his eye.
The rest of the trip was silent, awkwardly silent, she kept peeking over at him to gauge his reactions, but his face was hard and still, his jaw clenched, his eyes almost cold, he was trying to block out his emotions, he was trying not to feel anything and she could understand why.
Once they got to the police station Bob was just about to hand over the evidence to Officer Peter Lewis but instead he froze and looked down at the ring, he had already been parted by Helena and now to be parted with the evidence of her, it was a battle for him.
“I’ll be very careful with it" Officer Peter promised sincerely, him too noticing the effect it was having on Bob.