The streets of Denton grew darker as they moved out of the heart of the city and to its southernmost point where the tall mountains yielded to rolling hills and farmland. The sparkling holiday displays faded as Josie pulled onto a single-lane rural road that led to Russell Haven Dam’s private service road. Josie knew that either Noah or Gretchen would have tried to get in touch with either the dam manager or the duty operator in order to get access to the areas that were kept off-limits to the public. It was late in the evening though, so she wasn’t sure how much luck they’d have.
Spindly branches of trees reached out from the darkness, closing in on the SUV from both sides as Josie drove. The tires slipped on black ice a few times. From her periphery, she saw Mettner grab onto his door handle, posture stiffening. It had been an exceptionally warm and wet fall. Only now, in late December, had the weather grown frosty. They’d had some minor snowfall the last few days that melted in the daylight and froze again during the frigid nights. Only patches of snow remained here and there, but the icy roads were still a threat.
“You want me to drive?” asked Mettner.
Josie shot him a hard look. “Do you know where the Russell Haven Dam site is?”
“No,” he mumbled.
Josie turned her gaze back to the inky road ahead, knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. Ahead on the left, the headlights illuminated a white sign with black letters: RUSSELL HAVEN DAM. Josie knew that you could access the dam on either side of the Susquehanna River. This entrance would take them to the bank that held the large hydroelectric power station, a tall gray building that extended out into the river to where the spillway began. As they drew nearer to the power station, the foliage on either side of the access road receded until there was nothing but blackness all around them. The golden glow of the power station’s exterior lights led them forward to a black metal gate. A stop sign was affixed to the center of it. Below that were signs announcing: Authorized Vehicles Only Beyond This Point. A red pickup truck sat on the other side of the gate.
“Do you come out here a lot?” Mettner asked.
“No,” said Josie. “But I’ve been out here on cases. We lost a couple of kayakers here. On the other bank. I got called in on both of those cases, but they were open and shut. Accidental.”
Josie nosed Mettner’s SUV within inches of the gate.
“Kayakers?” Mettner said. “You mean they went over the dam? Over the top of the spillway?”
“No,” Josie said. “They came in traveling upriver, toward the face of the spillway. There’s a lot of rocky outcroppings and small islands that are accessible when the water is low. When they release water from the dam, it gets a little wild, especially up close to the bottom of the water release chute and spillway. Some of them like to do a version of whitewater rafting in their kayaks. Dangerous, especially with the water release. They’re not supposed to be there, but there are always a few who do it anyway. Only two have died.”
A set of headlights appeared in the rearview mirror. A moment later, a car stopped behind them. Josie watched in the side mirror as Noah hopped out of the driver’s seat and jogged up to Mettner’s vehicle. His breath came out in clouds. “We tried calling the main number, but the calls are being routed to a voicemail telling us to call back during business hours. The Chief is back at the station trying to find the cell or home numbers of either the plant manager or duty operator—anyone who can get us inside.”
A car door slammed and then Gretchen appeared beside Noah. She wore a thick purple winter coat and matching knit hat over her short, spiked brown-gray hair. In her late forties, she was the oldest and most experienced on the investigative team. Her résumé had included fifteen years on the Philadelphia PD, most of that time spent in homicide. Josie had hired her during her short tenure as interim Chief of Police. Gretchen waved her phone in the air. “Chief says he can’t get anyone, but he’ll let us know when he does.”
“I thought that would be an issue,” said Josie. “Until we can get in touch with someone, why don’t we go over to the other side of the dam? That’s not fenced off in any way. It’s accessible to the public. We can take a look around.”
“What’s over there?” Mettner asked.
Josie said, “From what I remember, there’s a control house and then the water release chute. It’s an old fish ladder that was converted to a water release chute when they built the hydroelectric plant. They put in a mechanical fish lift on this side to replace the ladder.”
“Wait,” said Gretchen. “Fish ladders and lifts? What are you talking about?”
They all stared at her. She shrugged. “What? I spent fifteen years on the Philadelphia PD before I came here. I don’t know these things!”
Noah said, “The American Shad—that’s a fish, by the way—migrates upriver every year in May in order to spawn. There has to be something in place along the dam that allows them to actually get upriver. Thus, the fish ladder.”
Josie remembered the emergency crews pulling the kayakers from the river just below the fish ladder. “It’s a structure, kind of like a wide set of steps, that lets fish go upriver around a dam. The one here is made of concrete. It’s like a long concrete chute. There’s a wall that separates it from the spillway.”
“That’s different from a lift?” Gretchen asked.
Noah said, “Yeah, a lift is a mechanical device. The fish collect inside a chamber and then that chamber is lifted up and over the dam and the fish are released from it.”
“Whatever,” said Mettner. “Let’s just go over there and check out the ladder or chute or whatever the hell is there.”
Josie touched his arm to quiet him.
“What about the control house?” Noah asked. “Does anyone man it?”
Josie shook her head. “The last couple of times I worked cases here, no one manned it although it does have an exterior camera. The control functions are duplicated, and the camera accessed from the main control room of the dam.” She pointed to the closed gate ahead of them and the huge building beyond it. “In there.”
Gretchen sighed. “It’s worth a look. Maybe by the time we’re finished the Chief will have gotten in touch with the plant manager or the duty operator.”
Five
They drove their vehicles to the other side of the river, which took nearly twenty minutes since they had to drive back out to Denton’s South Bridge, cross, and return to the dam. Josie led the way with Noah and Gretchen in tow. Mettner tapped one hand against his thigh the entire ride. Neither of them spoke. Josie knew he was wondering the same things as she: what would they find on the other side of the dam? Would they find Amber? What would she be doing out here at this time of the night, in this cold? How would she have even gotten there without her car? Had someone brought her?