Evan Blessed by Rhys Bowen Read Free Book Online

did.”
    â€œOn the other hand,” Evan began, never comfortable at speaking out at meetings like this, “we do have a girl who vanished in good weather on a mountain that must have been crowded with other hikers. I agree there are some dangerous parts of the mountain where she could have slipped and gone over a cliff, but the paths are easy to follow when there are other hikers on them, and if she was injured, she would have been found by now.”
    â€œI agree with Evan,” P.C. Dawson said. “I do a bit of climbing
myself, but it’s like a zoo out there in the summer holidays. Crawling with tourists. If you’re a serious walker, you stay away from Snowdon in August.”
    â€œSo you don’t think it’s possible that someone could have grabbed the girl and taken her off without being seen?” Watkins asked.
    Evan considered this. “In that wooded area where we found the bunker, maybe,” he said. “It was quite warm yesterday afternoon. If she went into the woods for some shade, and he was in there …”
    â€œThen why not take her straight to the bunker, if it was all prepared and nearby?” Glynis asked.
    There was silence as the group digested this.
    â€œHe was waiting until it was dark, and by then our men were out on the mountain?” someone suggested.
    â€œSo what’s he done with her? Is she still alive? Is there any hope of rescuing her?”
    Silence again, then Glynis said in a tight voice, “He may have more than one of these bunkers prepared, sir. He may have gone to plan B.”
    â€œSo what do we do now, sir?” Sergeant Jones asked impatiently. “Have the girl’s parents been called, just in case she’s gone home or contacted them?”
    Watkins nodded. “They were called last night. They hadn’t heard from her then. We should check in again this morning before we do anything else.”
    â€œAnd if they still haven’t heard from her?” Sergeant Jones continued. “It was sheer luck we stumbled upon that bunker last night. The chances of finding another one are pretty slim. But we should take another look at the whole area in daylight, just in case we’ve overlooked anything.”
    â€œYes, we should definitely do that.” Watkins looked strained—tired and old and strained. “Can you arrange a team, Howell? See if you can get help from the Parks Service again. Pay special attention to areas where she could have fallen as well as looking for any signs of a scuffle.”
    â€œAnd what’s our next step with the bunker?” Glynis asked. She
looked at the faces around the room. “Do you want me to check the national sex offenders database? Find out if anyone has been released from a mental facility and is now living in the area?”
    â€œHow about seeing whether the modus operandi has come up before?” Watkins suggested. “That would narrow it down for us. Any cases of girls abducted and taken to bunkers, bodies with signs of handcuffs on the wrists.”
    â€œThe National Criminal Intelligence Service should have that kind of thing on file, shouldn’t they?” Glynis looked up from the pad on which she was scribbling notes. “That would save contacting every regional police force.”
    â€œStart off with them, definitely, but I think we should double-check with the regions too, just in case something hasn’t made it to the database yet. If they’ve got an ongoing investigation that’s similar, it might not have been put into a database yet.”
    â€œSo you want me to contact NCIS and all the regions?”
    Watkins grinned at her. “You’re our computer whiz.”
    â€œI wish I’d played the helpless female when I first arrived here,” Glynis said. “And while I’m at it this morning, do we have access to a profiler, or should I check who does?”
    â€œExcuse me, sir,” Evan