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The spot Chase had indicated was located at the foot of a steep hill that gradually turns into a densely wooded area, a place popular with hikers and people looking for some peace and quiet. There are also several log cabins in there, where nature lovers can go and enjoy some time away from civilization. And when you keep traveling like the crow flies, there’s a lake where supposedly the fishing is good. But since it’s hard to find, and even harder to reach—there are no roads that lead up there—fortunately for the fish not many people get that far.

“Let’s hope Addie isn’t buried in those woods,” said Chase as he pulled on his jacket. “Because we might never find her.”

“Let’s think positive,” Odelia suggested. “She might still be alive.”

But her words lacked the ring of conviction.

CHAPTER 24

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I don’t know what Chase had hoped to find, but when we got to the approximate location where Addie’s phone had transmitted its final signal, there wasn’t much of interest to see.

“Mh,” said Chase, as he stood on the side of the road, staring into the woods.

“No RV?” asked Dooley.

“No RV,” I said. Which was probably too much to hope for, after all.

“See? I told you: she joined a traveling…” When I gave him a look of censure, he quickly amended, “… band.”

“Of course she did.”

“I don’t suppose Randal Skip ever searched these woods?” asked Chase.

“No, I don’t suppose he did.”

Chase placed a hand to his eyes to shield them from a sun that was beating down on us.“It would take days to comb this area, even if we had the manpower.” He suddenly crouched down, looking intently at the road. “Look at this.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll bet this is where that RV went off the road.”

There were indeed tire marks that led off the road and onto the shoulder.

“You think Addie and Ted had an accident?” asked Odelia

“Either an accident or they were deliberately run off the road.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Cause this doesn’t look like the tire tracks of an ordinary vehicle. These tracks were made by a much heavier vehicle, like an RV.”

“Could be a truck. Could be anything.”

“Sure. But taken in conjunction with the information we have about that cell phone signal, there’s a good chance their RV met with an accident right here. And if you think about it: why would her phone suddenly die on her like that?”

“Maybe it got damaged in the accident?”

“Or it was smashed up by whoever drove them off the road,” said Chase grimly.

“I don’t like this, Max,” said Dooley. “Chase is making it sound as if something terrible happened to Addie.”

“That’s because he’s a cop, Dooley,” I said. “He’s programmed to think the worst, given his experience.”

“So you think Addie might still be alive?”

“Yes, of course. There could be any number of reasons why that phone died. Like a battery malfunction, or, like Chase said, it got smashed up in an accident.”

“If her phone got smashed up, chances are that Addie got smashed up, too,” Dooley argued. “Kids these days have those phones practically glued to their hands.”

He was right, of course. If Addie’s phone was dead, there was a good chance that so was that phone’s owner. But we owed it to Mr. Dexter to take a positive view of the situation, and until we found a body, we had to work from the assumption that his daughter was still alive somewhere.

But if she was, why hadn’t she been in touch? Why had this accident Chase was referring to not been brought to the attention of the emergency services? And where was that RV now? Big vehicles like that don’t just disappear.

Lots of questions, and no answers. But at least we had a place where we could start looking for the missing couple.

“We’re going to need more people,” said Chase. “Lots and lots more people.”

“Edward doesn’t want more people brought in,” Odelia reminded him.

“We can’t possibly cover these woods between the two of us, babe.”

“No, I know,” said Odelia, and that’s when she glanced down at me!

I swallowed.“Hi, Odelia,” I said, giving her a little wave with my tail.

“Max,” she said, “do you think you might be able to rustle up a team of cats—and possibly dogs, too—and search these woods?”

Her request reminded me of another time we’d searched for a missing girl. Only that time we’d had suspects we’d been able to question, and at least a certainty of where the girl had disappeared. Now, for all we knew, Ted had been able to right his RV and had continued on his journey to Montauk, which meant that the couple could be anywhere now. Possibly even on their way to Florida!

But of course Odelia had a point. If a posse of pets got busy, chances were we might find some trace of the missing couple.

So I nodded my agreement.“I think I could arrange that,” I said.