Free The Blue Coyote (The Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries Book 2) by Karen Musser Nortman Page A

big park.”
    “Did you tell him about the
road workers?” Frannie said to her husband.
    Larry shook his head. “Not
yet.”
    “What’s this about?” the
sheriff asked, looking from one to the other.
    Frannie told him about the
one man’s interest in Sabet and Tessa, seeing them at the flea market near all
the children and the storyteller, and overhearing their conversation about
“Don” getting them in trouble. And all the time she was talking, realized how
thin it sounded.
    But the sheriff didn’t scoff.
“We’ll check it out. Meanwhile my deputy and I will be searching every unit in
this campground, starting here. Volunteers will continue searching the park. I
want you and your group to stay put in this campsite. I would like to see
inside your camper, sir. I can get a warrant if I need to.”
    Larry shook his head. “Not
necessary. You are welcome to look around.” He led the way to the trailer and
opened the door for the sheriff.
    Inside, the sheriff looked
around the living area, opened the bathroom door, and checked the bedroom. He
opened the doors on the short closets above the nightstands and the pantry
doors. He looked back at Larry.
    “Is there storage under the
bed?”
    Larry nodded and lifted up
the foot of the mattress platform. Gas struts held it aloft. The sheriff
glanced over the contents: sleeping bags, an old parka, toolbox, portable water tank.
    He again fixed his very
direct gaze on Larry. “Do you have other storage areas?”
    “Yes—but they’re more
accessible from outside.” He led the sheriff back outside and opened each of
the storage compartments in turn. Most were so crammed with tools and equipment
that it was evident to the sheriff there were no abducted children being hidden
in there. He thanked Larry curtly and went to check the Ferraros’ RV. Mickey
went in with him while the rest stood around awkwardly. What do you chat about
with friends while your home, permanent or otherwise, is being searched?
Finally the sheriff followed Mickey out and directed him to unlock and open his
storage compartments.
    Finished, the sheriff touched
the brim of his hat and, leaving his car by their sites, moved to search the
next unit.
    Everyone relaxed a little and
Frannie went to the truck to get the atlas from under the seat. She brought it
to the picnic table and opened it to Iowa.
    “What are you looking for?”
Nancy asked.
    “The town that the other girl
disappeared from.” She knew the general area from the road construction maps
but couldn’t pinpoint it so she referenced the index, found Sharm Crossing,
repeated the coordinates out loud and turned back to the Iowa map.
    “Why? What good will that do ?” Nancy was puzzled.
    “I don’t know, really. Just
want to get a better idea of the area.” She found the tiny town and checked for
bigger towns around and nearby highways and parks. If this road crew usually
camped...then she spotted something else. The nearest town was Tennyson. Her
eyes continued to circle the area. Another nearby town was Rogers—RST
Consolidated—Rogers, Sharm Crossing, Tennyson .
Now, why had Tammy mentioned that school district?
    “The storyteller!” she said
out loud.
    “What about him?” Larry
asked. He had wandered over to see what she was up to.
    “A woman at the playground
told me the storyteller was at her son’s school last spring. He goes to RST
Consolidated and I bet Sharm Crossing is part of that district—I’ll check
for sure. If it happened to be when this little girl disappeared, it would
certainly be a big coincidence.”
    “But that’s a pretty big if,
too, Frannie. ’Spring’ covers a long time.”
    “I know, but at least it’s
something.”
    He put his arm gently across
her shoulders. “You are grasping at straws like you think I will be spending
the rest of my life in the Big House. This will get straightened out.”
    “I hope so, but I don’t want
to count on it. Then it won’t. Besides, maybe it will help find