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Mountain Peril
Sandra Robbins
According to an anonymous message, a young woman is going to be murdered in the North Carolina mountains. When a body is found, Danielle Tyler is shocked to learn it's her student–the third person in her life to meet an untimely death.Is she next? From disturbing notes and roses left in her office to cold-blooded murder, someone means deadly business. Detective Jack Denton–the stalwart lawman who makes her pulse race–vows to find the deranged madman, but Danielle doesn't dare let him too close. Especially when death seems to be the destiny of anyone she cares about…
Something horrible had happened in the wilderness.
Danielle ran to Jack before he’d reached the end of the trail. “Tell me what you found.”
The dim light accented the sadness in his eyes. “We found Tricia’s body.”
“W-w-was it like the Web site?”
He took her arm and guided her across the parking lot. Then he slumped against the side of the car and rubbed his hands over his eyes. “It was horrible.”
Danielle’s concern for Jack overshadowed her grief for Tricia. Nothing she could do would help the young woman, but Jack needed someone to care about him.
She stared up into his face. “I know what you’re feeling. I’ve been there.”
The hard lines of his face softened. “I still can’t believe what some people are capable of doing.”
“You’re a man who doesn’t share his feelings, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have any. I can tell you’re strong, and you’ll be able to do your job.”
He straightened. “Thanks. I’m glad I brought you with me tonight.”
SANDRA ROBBINS,
a native West Tennessean, is a former teacher and principal in the Tennessee public schools. She now writes full-time and is an adjunct college professor. She is married and has four children and five grandchildren.
Her fascination with mystery and suspense can be traced to all the Nancy Drew books she read as a child. She hopes her stories will entice readers to keep turning the pages until wrongs have been righted and romance has blossomed in her characters’ lives.
It is her prayer that God will use her words to plant seeds of hope in the lives of her readers. Her greatest desire is that many will come to know the peace she draws from her life verse Isaiah 40:31—But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
To find out more about Sandra and her books, go to her Web site at www.sandrarobbins.net.
Mountain Peril
Sandra Robbins
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
—Psalms 86:5
To my dear husband who has encouraged me in my writing journey. Without his love and support this book wouldn’t have been possible.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
ONE
The Webster Falls Sheriff’s Department Asks for Help in Apprehending a Killer.
The flashing words, accompanied by the steady drone of a drumbeat and the eerie sound of distant guitars, hovered above a picture that sent chills down Danielle Tyler’s back. She leaned closer to the computer screen and stared spellbound at the scene below the words. As Dean of Students at Webster University, she was familiar with some of the Web sites her students frequented, but she’d never seen anything like this.
A young girl lay on her back, her dark hair fanned out on a pillow of mountain foliage underneath. Red-tinged leaves littered her blood-drenched clothes. Her open eyes stared upward as if offering a silent plea for release from pain.
Danielle closed her eyes for a moment to shut out the grisly scene of the girl she knew so well and reopened them to stare at Detective Jack Denton from the Webster Falls Sheriff’s Department sitting across from her desk. “H-how did you find this horrible site?”
He opened the notebook he held and glanced at a page. “A man named Harrison Coleman from Marietta, Georgia, called our department this morning. He said his son who attends Georgia Tech said the Web site has become the main topic of conversation on the campus. When I pulled it up, I was surprised at what I saw.”
Danielle crossed her arms and hugged herself to suppress the icy feeling flowing through her body. “It’s given me quite a shock, too.”
“I can understand. I intended to take this to the university’s president, but when I arrived, his secretary told me he was in Asheville today. She suggested I bring it to you.”
Danielle nodded. “Dr. Newman will be back tomorrow. In the meantime, how can I help you?”
The muscle in the detective’s jaw twitched. “The Web site claims the girl on there is a Webster student and has been murdered.” He paused before he continued. “Our department doesn’t know anything about a murder, but we’re concerned that the scene is identical to the murder ten years ago of Jennifer McCaslin who was a student here.”
Danielle took a deep breath. “I realized that when I saw the picture.”
A frown creased his forehead. “Did you know Jennifer McCaslin?”
Danielle sank back in her chair. “We were roommates. She was murdered our senior year at Webster.” She pointed to the screen. “But this girl’s not Jennifer.”
“No, I realized that. I looked at a picture from Jennifer McCaslin’s cold case file. We don’t know who the girl on the Web site is.”
Danielle gritted her teeth. “She’s Tricia Peterson, a student here at Webster. But I saw her on campus this morning and she was fine. She was only a child when Jennifer was killed. How would she even know about the murder?”
“I don’t know.”
Danielle glanced back at the screen. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
“We know that, but we wanted to see if anyone can give us information. From what my caller told me this morning, this Web site is causing panic on college campuses. Not to mention the fact that it doesn’t look good that a sheriff’s office is advertising for help in catching a killer.”
Danielle frowned. “But why are students frightened by this obvious prank?”
He nodded toward the computer. “Why don’t you read what it says next?”
Danielle turned back to the computer and read the lines printed underneath the flashing heading.
The Webster Falls, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Department asks for your help in the apprehension of Damien Carter, the chief suspect in the murder of Lila Barrett. The victim, a student at Webster University, was found on a Smoky Mountain trail outside of Webster Falls in September. Carter, also a student at the school, disappeared soon after the discovery of the body. Various sightings of the fugitive have been reported, but so far he has eluded capture.
Danielle shook her head and frowned. “We don’t have a Lila Barrett or a Damien Carter enrolled at Webster.”
Detective Denton nodded. “I know. When I went to the president’s office, his secretary told me.”
Acquaintances of the suspect report the young man had become obsessed with murders on college campuses and had often threatened to wage his own rampage across the country. Having been blackballed by a fraternity, he harbors animosity against anyone belonging to a Greek organization. Students enrolled in institutions of higher learning are warned to be on the lookout for this suspected killer. If he is seen, notify the Webster Falls, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Department at once.
Danielle leaned back in her chair and pointed to the screen. “I can’t believe this. Who would construct such a Web site?”
Detective Denton glanced down at the notebook. “Actually we know. Our tech guys traced the Internet Service Provider and found out the Web site owner is Flynn Carter.”
Danielle sprang from her chair. “Flynn?” she screeched. “He’s my work study student and Tricia’s boyfriend. Why would he do this?”
“That’s what I need to find out. Can you get Carter in here?”
She reached for the phone, but her hands shook so that it slipped from her fingers. Clutching it with both hands, she brought it to her ear. “Betty, would you find out what class Flynn Carter is in and get him to my office right away?” After hanging up, she glanced at the detective. “Is there anything else?”
Detective Denton nodded. “There are pages of forensics information, a picture of the victim and killer together before the murder. There’s even a page with pictures of the suspected killer at places all across the country—Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, a museum in Oklahoma City, Graceland. It says these photos were sent to the department by tourists who just happened to catch him in their family vacation pictures.”
Danielle clicked on the page with the photographs and gasped. “That’s Flynn in those pictures.”
“That’s what I suspected,” Detective Denton said.
She started to speak, but Flynn shuffled into the room. Wearing faded jeans with blown-out holes and a muscle-fitted, sueded cotton shirt, he looked like any other Webster student, not the designer of a gruesome Web site. His bleached hair tumbled over his forehead, and he glanced from one to the other, before he settled a deadpan expression on Danielle. “You sent for me, Dr. Tyler?”
She nodded in Detective Denton’s direction. “This is Detective Jack Denton, an investigator with the sheriff’s office. He’d like to ask you some questions.”
A crimson flush spread across his face and forehead. “What about?”
Danielle sucked in her breath and frowned. She opened her mouth, but Detective Denton interrupted her. “I’m here investigating a complaint I had today and need to ask you a few questions.”
Flynn tensed. “Fire away.”
“Are you responsible for the Web site that claims to document the murder of a Webster student?”
Flynn’s body relaxed, and a smirk crossed his face. “Yeah.”
The detective’s mouth thinned into a straight line. “Can you explain what made you construct such a site?”
Flynn chuckled. “What’s the big deal? It was just a joke. You know, shake some fraternity and sorority kids up a little.”
Anger flashed on Jack Denton’s face, and he advanced on Flynn. “I don’t consider it a joke when our department gets calls from parents in other parts of the country who have kids scared to venture out on their college campuses.”
Flynn glanced at Danielle. “You mean they thought it was real?”
The frown on Detective Denton’s forehead deepened. “Yeah. There’s no telling what harm your little prank has caused. With all the crazy people out there, all it would take would be for one to see your site and decide to copy the murder.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. Nobody would do that.”
Detective Denton jabbed his finger at Flynn’s chest. “Look, Mr. Smart Guy, if you could see all the information that comes across my desk about copycat crimes, you’d have thought twice before you put up that Web site.”
Flynn gritted his teeth. “I can’t help it if there are crazy people out there. It has nothing to do with me or my Web site.”
“Well, just to make sure, our department wants you to take it down.”
Flynn shook his head. “You can’t make me do that. My dad’s a lawyer, and he’s taught me all about my rights. I haven’t broken any laws, and you know it.”
“That remains to be seen.”
Flynn started to respond, but Danielle interrupted him. “I suggest you do as the detective tells you, Flynn, before your enrollment at this university is affected.”
