by D. K. Hood
“Jocelyn S-M-Y-T-H-E.” McLeod looked at his feet. “This will cost me my job.”
“Unfortunately you’re gaining a reputation for being a little too familiar with the students. It’s a crime for a man of forty to make out with a girl of fifteen, and don’t give me the excuse you didn’t know how old she is. You knew darn well she was underage.” Rowley straightened to his full six-two and looked down at the smaller man. “It was only a matter of time before someone made a formal complaint.” He took a beat, watching the man’s reaction. “So you went to the party on Saturday night and you lucked out, so what did you get up to on Sunday night?”
“I stayed home, had a few drinks and watched TV.” McLeod cleared his throat. “I guess you’ll want someone to verify that, right? No can do. My wife left me and took the kids over a year ago. I live alone.”
Walters stepped forward and his eyes flashed with anger. “I gather you’ve met Lindy Rosen?”
“Yeah, she’s one of the group that hangs around Mason.” McLeod snorted. “She’s not interested in me, she prefers the ex-football jock type and Mason was a star before he injured his knee.” He chuckled. “It must be good to be him.”
Unease prickled the back of Rowley’s neck. He was looking straight into the eyes of a typical pedophile and wondered how many young lives the man had destroyed. They all “loved” kids and used it as an excuse. He pushed down the anger percolating inside and gave McLeod his best “Don’t mess with me” expression. “I’ll speak to the sheriff but if you want her to go easy on you, I suggest you don’t leave town. If you do Sheriff Alton will have the FBI on your tail before you can blink.”
Resisting the urge to punch the disgusting SOB in the mouth, he turned on his heel and left the building. He could hear Walters puffing along behind him and slowed his step.
“Don’t go soft on him.” Walters jerked on his arm. “The sheriff will want to follow up on that asshole.”
Rowley stared at him in disbelief. “Go soft on him? Jesus, man, I’ve seen things monsters like him do to kids. It took all my strength not to tear him apart with my bare hands.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Seems to me, if what he said about Mason Lancaster is true, we could have two potential murder suspects working with kids at a high school.”
Sixteen
Julie Wolfe walked back to the sheriff’s department, her arms loaded with bags from Aunt Betty’s Café. She had a deal to think about during her first day as an intern working beside Magnolia Brewster. She liked her; Maggie and her southern charm and big brown eyes brought back a flood of memories of the housekeeper who lived with her family in Texas. It had been hard leaving the only home she’d ever known to start over in Black Rock Falls, but moving had eased the constant reminder of watching her mother waste away. The illness had taken her from an active mom who played basketball with them to a shadow of the person she once knew. Her father had left the marines and remained home, refusing to allow anyone else to nurse her. She remembered the worry in his eyes and the way he’d stayed positive and made her mom fight using every known medical treatment he could find but nothing had worked. She pushed down the tears threatening to spill and concentrated on what Maggie had discussed with her earlier.
A man had taken Lindy Rosen from her home and murdered her right here in Black Rock Falls. She recalled Lindy had suffered nightmares like so many of the girls at school. Not being in the clique of popular girls, Julie had only overheard a few stories but earlier, as she waited for her order in Aunt Betty’s Café, she’d listened with interest to a conversation at a nearby table. She walked into the sheriff’s department and stowed the bags in the refrigerator in the small kitchenette, then went back to the front counter carrying two bags of sandwiches and drinks for her and Maggie.
The office was quiet and apart from answering the phone, there was really nothing much for her to do. She handed Maggie the food and drink and sat down beside her. “I overheard some girls from school talking in Aunt Betty’s about what happened to Lindy. I figured it might be important.”
“Well don’t keep it to yourself, child.” Maggie blinked her large chocolate eyes at her. “Tell me.”
Julie’s face grew hot. She hated the thought of gossiping but it might stop another girl being hurt. She looked at Maggie’s encouraging smile and swallowed hard, then, thinking better of it, shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, it’s probably nothing.”
“Now listen here.” Maggie turned in her seat to stare at her. “This here is the sheriff’s office; it’s where we try to prevent crimes like what happened to young Lindy Rosen. If people didn’t call in with things they’d seen or heard, the entire office would grind to a standstill.” She patted Julie’s hand. “Look around, there’s no one here apart from us girls and sure as heck I won’t tell anyone outside those you love and trust with the information.”
What Maggie said made sense and Julie took a sip of her drink to ease her suddenly dry throat and looked at her. “It’s about the nightmares. I know, Lindy was having them almost every night but she’s not the only girl at school with the same problem.” She placed an elbow on the table and leaned her cheek against one hand. “It’s like everyone is having them.” She frowned. “Well… I guess not everyone but before the man kidnapped Lindy, a few of the girls were talking about seeing a man in their rooms at night.”
“Okay, and what did you hear them say at Aunt Betty’s Café?” Maggie leaned forward, her face filled with expectation.
“They all had different dreams but seeing someone in their room was the same.” Julie tried to unravel everything she’d heard. “Let me see. One of the girls said Lindy had nightmares about a man hiding in the shadows. She was sure he was there, then when she awoke and her father turned on the light he vanished.”
“That information was on the news last night, so what else did they say?” Maggie opened the plastic wrap on her sandwiches and nibbled on a ham on rye.
“They all said they’d seen people in their rooms.” Julie ran the faces of the girls through her mind, trying to recall details. “Mandy, Amanda Braxton, said she often dreams too but she wakes up and sees her dead grandma in her room at the end of the bed just looking at her. Sometimes her grandma hums nursery rhymes. She said it’s happened a few times and last time she pinched herself to see if she was awake – and she was.”
“Her dead grandma?” Maggie’s brown eyes widened. “Anyone else see anything strange?”
“Yeah, there was a lot of talk about bad dreams but they were all talking at once. The others seemed to be dreaming about the man on the news, the Shadow Man.” Julie straightened. “One of the girls said just about everyone in her class at school – I guess she meant the girls – had seen him in their rooms but he vanishes like smoke.”
“I figure the girls at your school have very vivid imaginations but I’ll make sure to tell the sheriff.” Maggie made a few notes in a book on the counter, and then smiled at her. “Don’t you go worryin’ over them girls finding out it was you who told the sheriff. She hears secrets all the time and keeps them locked up in here.” Maggie tapped her head. “Now eat your food, we have work to do. I’ll show you how to inventory supplies.”
Seventeen
Jenna glanced at her watch, made a note in her book and climbed into the cruiser. She waited for Kane to join her and tossed him a packet of sandwiches. “Let’s eat now and discuss what you picked up about Mr. Packer, then we’ll go find Paul Kittredge. Mrs. Rosen said they go into town for lunch, but if he’s back by now he’s somewhere on the ranch working with a group of gardeners.”
“Sure.” He opened a go cup of coffee and sipped. “Coffee’s still hot.”
Jenna stared into the bag of takeout, found her bagel with cream cheese and sighed. Since Lindy Rosen went missing, she’d skipped too many meals, and after finding the young girl murdered her appetite had taken a downward slide. “So what have you got for me, Kane?”
“He’s a possible suspect for a number of reasons �
� close proximity to Lindy, seen as a trusted person by the family, has likely set up a friendship of sorts with the girls. All this could be innocent or he could be grooming them to trust him. He seems very relaxed and that’s unusual, although I’ve seen similar behavior in criminals who’re convinced there’s no evidence to link them to a crime. It wouldn’t mean squat if Wolfe finds his DNA in Lindy’s room. He admitted to working there recently. One thing that bothers me: he lied about his experience using explosives.” Kane sipped his coffee. “Why would he lie unless he has something to hide?” He bit into his sandwich and chewed. “No one outside our team knows the connection between the explosion at the old schoolhouse and the location of Lindy’s body.” A frown crossed his face. “That alone makes me suspicious of him. If we add it to the other things we know about him, it makes him a possible suspect.”
Jenna pondered his words for a few moments, and then sighed. “It baffles me how a killer can return to the scene of the crime and act as if nothing’s happened. Packer arrived this morning and carried on business as usual but from previous experience, a few have fooled us in the past. I guess you’ll be able to give me more than one example of a killer who acts perfectly normal after a vicious crime?”
“A crime of passion would be different. They’re usually remorseful, shaky, upset by what they did and can’t face looking at the body of their victim, but psychopathic behavior follows a pattern of sorts once it’s triggered.” Kane met her gaze. “It’s no good trying to rationalize the mind of one because they don’t think like we do and they can’t be placed in a box with a label saying they are this or that type.”
Jenna nibbled on her bagel. “Yeah, they’re usually the opposite of the dirty old men our moms used as an example.”
“The problem is many have other psychological trails or crossover behavior, we never know what has triggered them or what’s going on in their minds.” Kane shrugged. “They could be anyone you meet in the street, there’s no particular type, but the one thing they’ve in common is their lack of empathy, remorse and guilt, so witnessing the aftermath of what they’ve done means nothing to them emotionally but hearing people talking about the crime might heighten their enjoyment of the kill.”
“So why is he playing this game with us?” Jenna turned in her seat to face him. “What perverted pleasure is he getting out of seeing us run around?”
“Two reasons, I figure.” Kane glanced out the window at the house then slowly back at her. “He’s got away with the same crime countless times before and he needs to kill but wants the added thrill of being chased, so he gives us a clue, then escapes before we find his victim.” He took out another sandwich and waved it at her. “Or deep down he wants to be caught. Maybe he’s tired of running.”
Jenna snorted. “You missed out the bit where he tried to kill us as well.”
“I figure he was testing us to discover if we had combat skills but one thing’s for sure, this is the lull before the storm. He’s already planning his next kill.”
Jenna turned as a truck with Green Thumb Landscaping Service painted on the side lumbered past and carried on along the curved driveway. She put down her coffee and started the engine of her cruiser. “I figure Paul Kittredge will be in that truck.”
She followed some distance behind. The truck stopped beside a stack of rolled turf and four men poured out. By the time she’d pulled up the men had set to work laying turf. They all stopped at once and looked in her direction. She climbed out and shut her door, then headed along a pathway to speak to them. Behind her Kane’s boots crunched on the gravel and she could see the men’s eyes flicking from her to Kane then back. None of them looked too pleased to see them. She straightened and marched up to them. “We’re looking for Paul Kittredge.”
“That would be me, ma’am.” A man with scraggy dark hair hanging down from under a cowboy hat turned and smiled at her.
Jenna wrinkled her nose as the smell of unwashed male and fertilizer oozed out of him in a fog of stink. Kittredge stood about five-ten with a rugged hawk-like appearance and piercing amber eyes. His dirty clothes clung to him and his bare arms were glossy with sweat and dusted with soil. She offered him a small smile and drew him out of earshot of the other men, who went back to work as if doing so would hide them from scrutiny. “I’m Sheriff Alton and this is Deputy Kane. As you’re probably aware, Lindy Rosen was found dead yesterday and we’re hunting down anyone who came in contact with her over the last couple of weeks.” She pulled out her notebook and glanced at her notes. “I gather you’re in charge of the Rosens’ landscaping project?”
“Yeah, I’m the landscaper; these guys are come-and-go laborers.”
“Did any of them work with you last week?” Jenna glanced at the men. “They legal?”
“It’s not my business to question my boss on who he hires.” Kittredge shrugged. “I get whoever the boss sends with me, depending on what work we’re doing.” He glanced over at the men. “Nope, can’t say if any of them were here last week. Maybe you should ask them – if you speak Spanish.”
“And you do, I gather?”
“Enough to get them working.” Kittredge glanced toward the ranch house. “Shame about Lindy, she was a nice kid.”
Jenna noticed his mouth twitch up at one corner into an almost-smile and bile rose at the back of her throat. She didn’t need to be an expert in body language to translate his reaction. Cold seeped into her and Duke was acting strangely. The dog walked around Kittredge, and then whined, before sitting at Kane’s feet. Not a clear indication of recognizing a scent but enough to get Kane’s attention. When he cleared his throat, she gave him a slight nod; it was obvious he wanted to question Kittredge too.
“When was the last time you saw Lindy?” Kane hooked one thumb in the belt of his jeans and took a casual stance. To anyone other than Jenna, he looked bored.
“Late Saturday.” Kittredge pulled off one gardening glove and scratched the stubble on his cheek. “She wanted to plant a climbing rose for her mom beside the trellis under her parents’ bedroom. I dug the hole for her and the girls helped me plant it.”
“Do you usually work on Saturdays?” Kane’s gaze narrowed. “When I contacted your boss he said this job was Monday to Friday because the family liked some privacy at the weekend.”
“True enough but Mrs. Rosen wanted the front garden planted and we ran out of time on Friday and came back Saturday to finish up. I stayed back to help the girls.” Kittredge gave Kane a cold stare. “If kids asked you to help them to do something special as a surprise for their mom, would you refuse?”
“You shouldn’t be allowed to work anywhere near kids, especially with priors involving child abuse.” Kane’s voice had dropped to just above a whisper and his expression changed from casual to deadly in a split second. “You need to keep well away from them.”
“Well now, that charge was dismissed, which means, Deputy Kane, by speaking about it in public so my workers can hear means you’re contravening my civil rights. The fine sheriff here is a witness that you’ve slandered my reputation.”
“Not when you pleaded guilty and you’re listed on the state sex offenders’ database.” Kane had moved closer. “I guess it slipped your mind to tell your boss, huh?”
“The charge was dismissed.” Kittredge fisted his hands. “The boss knows and I ain’t offended since. I’m not restricted from working near kids – read the court documents.”
“Oh yeah, I know how you slid under the radar.” Kane’s expression was dangerous. “Problem is, you’re slap bang in the middle of mine.”
In an effort to defuse the situation, Jenna exchanged a meaningful stare with Kane, and then turned her attention back to Kittredge. “What time on Saturday did you last see Lindy?”
“Around four.” Kittredge removed his hat and smoothed down greasy hair. “They went inside and I went home. I didn’t know she’d gone missing ’til Monday.”
Jenna met the man’s cold gaze. “Can you account for your
movements on Sunday night between the hours of ten and seven?”
“Spent the weekend at the Triple Z, woke up in some woman’s bed Monday morning. I don’t recall her name.” Kittredge gave Jenna a satisfied smirk. “Ask around. I’m sure she’ll remember me.”
Seething with anger over his arrogance, Jenna made a few notes to cool down, and then lifted her chin. “Do you remember what this woman looked like?”
“Nope.” Kittredge pushed his hat back on his head. “I like to drink at the weekends and my memory gets a little fuzzy.”
“I see.” Jenna wanted to move out of his circle of stink but stood her ground. “So any number of people will vouch for you at the Triple Z?” She glanced back at Kane. “We’ll head over there now and speak to the owner. I’m sure he’ll remember you taking a room for the weekend.”
“He sure will, I live there.” Kittredge gave her a lazy smile. “I’m what you call a permanent guest. Speak to old Bob, he’ll tell you I was in my regular seat at the bar all weekend.”
Unconvinced, Jenna made a note in her book, and then lifted her gaze. “That’s all for now, Mr. Kittredge. Thank you for your cooperation.” She made her way back to the car, not waiting for him to reply.
“Did you see the way Duke reacted to him? Oh, he is so on the suspect list.” Kane grimaced. “What a jerk. Are we planning on checking out the Triple Z now or are we hunting down Charles Anderson?”
Jenna pulled open the door to her cruiser. “The Triple Z as it’s not far from here, so Kittredge would have been in the vicinity Sunday night. I figure as Anderson is working way over the other side of town that he’ll likely be heading home before we get there. We’ll catch up with him on our way home.” She waited for Kane to load Duke in the back then climb in the passenger seat before starting the engine. “I’m not convinced Kittredge is telling the truth and if he lives at the Triple Z, he was in close proximity to the old schoolhouse as well. I’ll send Rowley and Walters to hunt down his mysterious bed partner in the morning. Right now I want to get back to the office and see what information they have on the other two persons of interest.”