Chapter 1

Summer Vacation

It was an unusually warm day for June, especially along the route to the Cordillera Central in Puerto Rico, and the air conditioning in their 1999 Ford Windstar minivan was malfunctioning. The brilliant green canopy of fern trees overhead provided shade from the sun, but did precious little to shelter them from the intense heat. Moisture clung to Isobel’s bare arms and legs, causing the back of her thighs to stick uncomfortably to the vinyl seats.

“How much further, Tio? This heat is unbearable.”

“Aye Dios Santo, stop whining, Isobel. You sound like a seven year old.”

“Are we lost? I haven’t seen another car on this road for the last 30 minutes.”

“Isa, relax. You’ll live longer. You’re far too wound up for a seventeen year old.”

“Too wound up? What do you mean by that, Tio?”

“Well first you graduate high school two years early, then you get an Associate’s degree, in Wildlife Conservation Management, by the age of 17. And now you’re rushing off to Syracuse University for your BS degree. Tell me Isobel, when do you get to enjoy just being a teenage girl?”

Isobel exhaled deeply as she sat back in her seat and stared out of her window at the lovely vista. Flamboyan trees dotted the landscape. Their blood red petals stood out in riotous display against the pale blue horizon. Her uncle Marco was right. She had always been a “type A“ personality, high achieving, independent and work obsessed. She too had started wondering lately what it was she was rushing to. Perhaps this summer hiatus in the mountains of Puerto Rico would provide her with some answers.

“You know something Tio? You are absolutely right.”

Marco looked over at his hardheaded niece in feigned shock.

“You’re kidding me, right? You are actually agreeing with me? Well that is a first. Maybe you really are growing up.”

Isobel smiled warmly at her uncle, “Well, if I were ‘learning to relax’ it wouldn’t be thanks to the example I’ve received from you.”

“Si, you have a point, carino. But I’m trying to change that? Why do you think I bought this place out here in San Felipe? New York City is just not amenable to relaxation, especially in my line of work.”

Marco lapsed into silence, trying to dispel the unsolicited memories that had once again intruded into his thoughts. He had worked as a forensic anthropologist for the NYC police Department for the last 12 years. He had seen things on the job that still gave him nightmares. It had not been the dream job he had always wanted, but it had been a necessary career move after Isa’s father had disappeared over 16 years ago. Black smoke suddenly erupted from the front hood with a hissing sound, and the car stalled. Marco slammed his hands down on the steering wheel angrily and jumped out of the vehicle to check under the hood.

Isobel sighed and stared out of the dirty front windshield. The remains of tiny bugs of several different varieties covered the glass, hapless victims of fate and circumstance. Towering mountains flanked them on either side and a light fog covered the road ahead in a fine mist, as the setting sun streaked the sky overhead with muted hues of pink and lavender. She examined the forest surrounding them and easily identified several different types of tree ferns, heliconias, and cecropia trees. This forest was very old. She had spent a lot of time in the woods over the last two years, as part of her training in Wildlife Management, and the forest had never frightened her, but something about these woods made her uneasy. It struck her suddenly that there were no animal sounds, no birdcalls, not even the incessant whistling of coquis, an ever-present accompaniment to life in the Cordillera Central. The silence around them now was unnatural and deep. Darkness had a way of creeping up on you quickly and completely here in the mountains. She shivered involuntarily and pulled out her iPhone to call for help.

“Don’t bother, Isa,” Marco stated exasperated. “No signal up here”.

“Of course, there’s no signal. Why am I not surprised, Tio? This scene is straight out of a horror movie. Stuck on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere with night coming on, and you know how all those movies end. Next thing you know, some nut with a hockey mask will step out of the…”

At that very moment, she was startled by the appearance of a small group in the distance, walking down the road toward them from out of the fog. She literally had to stop herself from making the sign of the cross. Where had they come from? The road had been deserted just a moment ago. As they drew nearer she could make out four people, three men and a young woman. Marco jumped out onto the road and started waving them over. The group stopped a short distance away and seemed hesitant to approach. After a brief discussion, one of the men and the young woman stayed by the side of the road, while the other two men approached the vehicle. Isobel couldn’t help but stare at the petite young woman. She had an exotic type of beauty that made Isobel feel self-conscious and plain. Her long thick hair was black as midnight and she had huge eyes that seemed to take up most of her face, giving her the appearance of a small child, in spite of her curvaceousness. She wore a multi-colored skirt with a red peasant off the shoulder top that stood out in sharp contrast to her almost translucent porcelain skin. The young man she was with seemed overly attentive – clearly not a brother or close relative. He was tall and broad shouldered, with dirty blond hair. However, in spite of his size, he seemed to fade next to the stunning young woman. “Moth to the flame,” Isobel thought to herself, and then wondered where that thought had come from.

The two men that were walking over were brown-skinned and tall, but where the elder was broad, the younger was tall and slim, with a muscular athletic build. They both wore loose fitting faded blue jeans and worn looking brown leather huaraches. The older man had very short-cropped grayish hair and a strong care-worn face and he wore a green military style camouflage vest. Both were listening carefully as her uncle explained their situation, but suddenly the younger man turned and looked directly into the van at her. It was the first time Isobel had clearly seen his face and she felt something inside her tighten. He had the same midnight black hair as the girl, but it was unkempt and wild, ending at his shoulders. His lips were full and as she stared at him, one side of his mouth lifted in a lopsided smile exposing white perfect teeth. His nose was crooked – as if it had been broken and reset incorrectly. As her gaze traveled upward, she found herself caught by intense large blue-black eyes – eyes that seemed knowledgeable beyond his years – eyes that spoke of experiences that he could not possibly claim at so young an age. He looked into her, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, feeling, wanting and she felt herself redden up to her ears, and his smile widened into a full knowing grin. The effect was devastating. Isobel found herself incapable of breaking free of those eyes and continued to stare until the older man touched the younger man on the shoulder, and he reluctantly tore his eyes away from hers and returned to the conversation. Isobel suddenly realized she was holding her breath and exhaled in a sudden rush. It had only been a moment, a few seconds, but she felt herself completely changed by some alchemical miracle. The men continued in conversation a few minutes longer and then her uncle shook hands with the two men and they walked back to their group. Her uncle came back into the car.

“They’re on their way to the town. They’re going to send back a mechanic.”

“Tio, I checked the GPS when we last stopped for gas. There’s no town for miles. Are they on foot?”

“Clearly not everyone lives as sedentary a lifestyle as you do, hija.”

The strange young man and his group walked past the van as they continued down the road, but Isobel found herself unable to look at him again.

That night at her uncle’s cabin, Isobel felt restless and could not sleep. There was something about the young man she had encountered on the road that had unsettled her. It was nothing she could put her finger on. Perhaps it was her own physical reaction to him, but as she drifted off to sleep, she kept visualizing those dark eyes, that lopsided smile. She saw herself running through the woods wearing a long white translucent gown. She was being chased by something and heard strange rustling sounds coming from above her. In spite of her fear, she lay down on the grass in the middle of an open field and stared up at the moon as if waiting. Suddenly, a dark winged shape materialized on the face of the moon and Isobel felt a knot of fear coalescing in her stomach, like something alive. She struggled to rise and run, but she could not move or scream.

Isobel awoke tangled up in sweat soaked sheets. Her head was pounding and she felt disoriented. She covered her head with a pillow in an attempt to block out the crowing of roosters in the distance. They had been at it incessantly for the last few hours.

“Ugh, the joys of country living” she mumbled to herself.

She finally gave in and rose awkwardly from her bed, almost tripping over the pile of clothes scattered on the floor at her feet. When had she taken off her clothes, but more importantly, why? She never slept in the nude. She checked her door. It was still locked, just as she had left it the previous night, but the window… Had she left the window open? She had a vague recollection of coming to the window late at night to look at the moon, but she could remember nothing after that. She shook off a sudden sense of unease that had taken hold of her. She must have been really tired last night.

After showering and brushing her teeth, Isobel put on her cutoff blue jeans and “Made in Brooklyn” black tee, and pulled her long curly auburn hair into a neat ponytail. She looked at herself critically in the mirror. She was tall for her 17 years. Last summer she had jumped from 5”4 to 5”9 in a matter of months, and her body had attained a new and unanticipated voluptuousness, which had transformed her from a math and science geek to one of the more popular girls virtually overnight. After years of solitary lunches, missed proms and lonely Saturday nights watching television at home alone, young men were suddenly falling all over themselves trying to talk to her and she didn’t quite know what to make of it.

As she descended the stairs, the doorbell rang and she rushed to answer it, but her uncle got to the door first.

“Are we expecting anyone this morning, Tio?”

“Not that I know of,” the doorbell rang again more urgently. When Marco opened the door, there were two policemen standing in the porch.

“Dr. Ortiz?”

“Yes, is there a problem officer?”

“There’s been an incident. Would you have a moment to speak with us…alone?”

Marco looked over at Isobel and then turned back to the officers.

“Please come in gentlemen. This is my niece, Isobel. You can speak in front of her.” The officers paused momentarily and looked at each other uncomfortably, but then the elder of the two shrugged and continued.

“I have some disturbing news. A young woman’s body was discovered in the woods this morning, about a mile from your home. Her body was horribly mutilated.”