by D. K. Hood
“Ah… why?” The man gathered himself, dropped his feet from the desk and slowly looked up at Jenna. “Afternoon, Sheriff.” He stared down at Duke. “That’s a fine-looking dog you have there.”
“And you are?” Jenna stared at him and wrinkled her nose.
“Mason Lancaster, acting janitor.” He smirked at Kane. “A deputy dropped by and hauled McLeod out of here. Big guy, looks like Thor – one of your men, Sheriff?”
“Yeah.” Jenna pulled out her notebook. “You’re just the man we’re looking for. We need you to answer a few questions.”
“Then take a seat.” Lancaster waved them to chairs in front of his desk. “But I already gave Deputy Rowley all the information on my whereabouts Sunday night.”
Kane leaned forward in his chair. “We’ve a statement from Miss Pike stating when she woke at one, you’d already left. Where were you between the hours of ten and seven, when you started work?”
“I couldn’t sleep and she’d run out of beer, so I drove around some, then went home and fell asleep.” Lancaster raised an eyebrow at him. “I didn’t check to see what time it was but the alarm woke me at six and I came to work.”
“And last night?” Jenna lifted her chin. “Where were you between the hours of nine and six this morning?”
“Last night?” Lancaster rubbed his chin. “I had a few beers and watched TV, then went to bed.”
“Can anyone verify that?” Jenna’s dark hair fell over her eyes as she made a few notes.
“Nope.” Lancaster frowned. “After the grilling by your deputies Angela isn’t speaking to me right now, and my other girlfriends were busy.”
“That’s too bad.” Kane shrugged. “What do you drive?”
“A white Silverado. It’s parked out front.” Lancaster sat up straighter. “Why?”
Kane smiled. “Nice truck. Mind if we take a look at it?”
“Sure.” Lancaster pushed himself up to his feet. “You won’t find no drugs, I don’t do that shit.”
They followed Lancaster to his vehicle and Kane noted Duke’s lack of response to the man. If Lancaster had been involved in either of the kidnappings, he would’ve expected some sort of reaction – although, if he’d covered himself from head to toe in some type of suit, maybe not.
After taking in the state of the man, with his dirty nails and unkempt appearance, it surprised Kane to find the vehicle immaculate. Lancaster opened the door and Kane pulled on gloves and searched inside. From the fresh aroma, the entire interior, seats and carpets had been professionally cleaned and within the last few hours. He verified the time by the date stamp on the sales receipt Lancaster had left in the console. How convenient. “Just had it cleaned, huh?” He waved the receipt. “Can I keep this?”
“Sure. I’d just gotten back before the cops hauled McLeod away. Had a call from the principal ten minutes later. He told me to lock up after the drama club has finished.”
“The drama club is still here?” Jenna exchanged a knowing look with Kane. “Can you take us there? I’d like to speak with them as well.”
“Sure.” Lancaster locked his pickup and sauntered toward the building.
When Duke flopped onto the ground as if the short walk had worn him out. Kane hung back; he wanted to speak to Jenna. “He’s hiding something. Why else do you figure he’s gotten his car cleaned?”
“Suspicions, hell yeah, but again we’ve no solid evidence… unless…” Jenna’s eyes lit up. “Give me that receipt. Maybe the cleaner hasn’t emptied their vacuum yet. We might find some evidence.”
Kane shook his head. “It wouldn’t hold up in court. They’d have cleaned any number of cars before his and since. His lawyer will have the evidence dismissed.”
“Okay.” Jenna let out a long sigh. She glanced at her watch. “The chances of finding Amanda alive are getting slimmer by the second and we’ve found nothing. No sightings, no word from her abductor. Not one shred of evidence to find Amanda or lead us to Lindy’s killer. I’m just chasing my tail. I hope the girls in the drama club can give us a lead.”
Kane shook his head. “It’s never too late, Jenna, and the team are working their butts off searching for Amanda right now.”
His cellphone buzzed and he glanced at Jenna. “It’s Blackhawk.” Ahead he could see Lancaster hovering outside a classroom. “Do you want me to take this and catch up with you?”
“Yeah. I’ll call Maggie about the drama club girls.” Jenna turned and hurried away, cellphone pressed to her ear.
Kane took the call. “Did you find the cabin?”
“Yeah, it was right where Lucy said. No one’s been here for months. We’re heading back to join the search now. Apart from a few tire marks consistent with Miller stopping along the side of the forest we’ve found nothing. I figure he parked and walked to one of the houses. There’re a hundred or so in walking distance. I called Rowley and asked him to hunt down any of Miller’s friends in the area. We checked out three addresses and his friends were cooperative, allowed us to do a walk-through even though we’re not deputies. We checked them real good too. Root cellars, attics, the whole nine yards.”
“We’ve lucked out all day as well.” Kane sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “We had to let him go. We didn’t have enough evidence to charge him.” He cleared his throat. “He pulled in a real smart lawyer, Samuel J. Cross.”
“I know Sam. Honest as the day is long.” Blackhawk chuckled. “Hard to believe he came back here. He studied at Harvard and became a partner in a law firm in New York.”
“You don’t say.” Kane shook his head in disbelief. “He looks like a hobo.”
“He’s a cowboy born and raised. A non-conformist. I’d say the New York lifestyle was too fast for him. Old man Cross couldn’t understand where Sam’s brains came from and figured he’d been swapped at birth.”
Kane glanced down the hallway to see Jenna walking into a room. Lancaster was heading back his way. “I gotta go. It’ll be dark soon. You might as well call it a day.”
“Sure but someone close by is doing this, I feel it in my bones.”
Kane nodded. “Yeah, I feel the same way. Thanks for your help.”
“Any time.” Blackhawk disconnected.
When Lancaster strolled up to him, Kane looked him up and down. “Had any experience with explosives?”
“Nope.” Lancaster smiled. “Not much call for them in my line of work.” He tipped his hat and kept walking.
Thirty-Four
Kane slipped into the classroom and all eyes turned to him. Jenna sat in the middle of a group of teenage girls. Two teachers he assumed were Miss Dryden and Mr. Ambrose stood to one side, and a few boys were there too, listening with interest. From the conversation, the girls involved all had similar dreams. A shadowy figure appeared in the corner of their room and sometimes they could hear a whisper. When their parents searched the room and outside the home, they found no trace of an intruder.
Outside stimuli often generated dreams and a hypnotist could utilize them as a preset trigger. He walked closer to the group. “May I ask a question, Sheriff?”
“Go right ahead.” Jenna turned to look over her shoulder at him.
“The girls who’ve had bad dreams raise your hands.” Kane looked at the six of them and smiled. “How many of you leave your drapes open at night?”
Their hands all remained high in the air. Interesting. All the girls had outside stimuli to trigger their dreams. He turned his attention to the remaining three girls. “How about you? Do any of you sleep with the drapes open?”
No hands raised.
“Okay, thanks, girls.”
As Jenna continued to chat to the girls, he allowed the information to drift through his mind. He’d found a key to link the girls together. His attention moved to the teachers, wondering if either of them was involved. The problem was all the staff would’ve undergone vigorous background checks to be able to work with children, so he dismissed them but took note of their names to run
a background check anyway. He let the case of Lindy Rosen filter through his mind again. They hadn’t considered the fact the killer could be a woman. He’d discuss the notion with Jenna on the way back to the office. He headed over to the teachers with Duke at his heels. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to have the dog sniff them; but again Duke didn’t react and just rolled on his back to allow them to rub his belly.
He smiled at the teachers. “I hear you’re doing Macbeth this year. Great play. I saw it at Stratford-upon-Avon in England many years ago.”
“We don’t mention the title during the rehearsals or anytime during the performance of the play. It’s said to be bad luck.” Miss Dryden, a petite, dark-haired woman in her late twenties, looked distraught. “We’ve two of our students involved in the play missing already.”
Kane shrugged. “If you believe naming the play aloud caused their abductions then I’d suggest you forget performing it again.” He scrutinized their unconcerned reactions. “Did the same thing happen the last time this play was performed here?”
“I’ve no idea – that was before our time.” Mr. Ambrose, middle-aged and balding, glared at the group of boys, who were snorting with amusement. “I moved to Black Rock Falls about two years ago.” He indicated to Miss Dryden. “Miss Dryden joined the team this year.”
Kane turned his attention on the boys. “I see you find it amusing Lindy Rosen was murdered and Amanda is missing. Why is that?”
The boys sobered at once. Two of them went sheet-white. Kane looked down at one of them. “Well?”
“We don’t figure it’s funny about Lindy and Amanda.” The boy straightened, trying to be tough. “It’s the stupid curse about the play and the girls believing in ghosts. We figure it’s funny is all… ah, sir.”
“Okay.” Kane handed them all his cards. “If you hear or see anything unusual, never mind how trivial, call me. We need to find Amanda and stop this happening again.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Jenna staring at him. He turned to her. “Are you ready to go, ma’am?”
“Yeah.” Jenna turned to the teachers. “Thank you for your time.” She led the way to the door. Outside in the parking lot, she looked up at him. “Why did you ask about drapes?”
Kane unlocked his truck and lifted Duke into the back seat, then climbed behind the wheel. “It’s a link between the girls who had nightmares.” He started the engine and swung the car around to head back to the office. “I’d like to know if Lindy and Amanda slept with the drapes open.”
“Why?” Jenna clicked in her seatbelt and turned to look at him.
“Both the Rosens’ and Braxtons’ houses have trees opposite the girls’ bedrooms.” Kane accelerated along Stanton Road. “Either the shadows from the trees are triggering the dreams or, if you want to go with a hypnotist’s trigger, he could use the shadows from the trees hitting the windows.” He glanced at her. “Say he conditioned them to believe they see the man – first he tests it to see if it works, then perhaps he ups the ante and adds something like, ‘when the shadows cross your bed on a full moon’ or, ‘walk downstairs and out into the dark’ – or maybe the sunshine. Something that isn’t frightening.”
“Okay, we’ll look into that idea, as crazy as it sounds.” Jenna reached for her go cup of coffee, sipped, and then pulled a face. “Yuk, cold coffee, and I’m starving but we can’t waste time stopping to eat. Wolfe will be at the office with McLeod.”
Kane shrugged. “Rowley would have ordered a mountain of food from Aunt Betty’s.” He glanced at her. “Another thing – we’re focusing on a male killer. What if it’s a woman these girls know and trust? They’d open the door for her. Even take a ride with her.”
“Dang.” Jenna hand-palmed her forehead. “You’re right. We’ve never considered a woman killer.” She stared at him. “But who would do such a thing?”
Kane slowed as they drove into town. “I have no idea but the majority of kid-killers know the family.”
“That’s a chilling thought.”
* * *
It was dark by the time they walked into the sheriff’s department. Rowley was at the front counter talking on the phone. It was obvious from his conversation that he was winding up the search for the night. Kane took in his haggard appearance and waited for him to disconnect. “Any news?”
“Not a whisper.” Rowley looked at Jenna. “I’ve sent the search teams home, ma’am. Webber is talking to a local man who thought he saw Amanda in the park about an hour ago. Wolfe is in your office with the DA and Sam Cross.”
“The DA?” Jenna’s brow crinkled into a frown. “Here?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley cleared his throat. “We’ve been busy and Wolfe took over the McLeod case, called Sam Cross back in and the DA arrived about ten minutes ago. I was just about to call you with an update.”
“That’s fine.” Jenna glanced around. “Where’s Maggie?”
“She’s making another pot of coffee. I ordered in and Susie just delivered some fresh sandwiches.” Rowley smiled. “I made sure there was a bagel and cream cheese.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Jenna gave him a brilliant smile, then, pulling off her jacket, headed toward her office.
Kane watched her go then shrugged out of his jacket, pulled off his Kevlar vest and followed her. The men had gathered around the desk. When Jenna walked in, they got to their feet. He noticed Jenna’s twitch of disapproval and dropped into a seat beside Wolfe.
“Okay, what’s happening in the McLeod case? I gather that’s why you’re all here?” Jenna leaned back in her chair.
“I spoke to Jocelyn Smythe and she informed me McLeod has been making advances toward her for some time.” Wolfe cracked his knuckles. “McLeod admits to stalking her and grabbing her at a party and kissing her. I brought him in, called his lawyer, Sam Cross, and notified the DA. I did a sweep of the house and found a few interesting files on his computer. I’ve handed the evidence to the DA.”
“Long story short, Sheriff.” The DA, Bradley Cutler, smiled at her. “I’ve cut a deal with Mr. Cross and his client. A cruiser will be arriving shortly to escort Mr. McLeod to the county jail. I’ll take it from here; he’s no longer your concern.”
“Then, will you leave?” Jenna gave them a dismissive wave. “I’ve a missing girl to find.”
Kane waited for them to go and waved Maggie inside. She carried a tray of coffee and takeout packets then set them on the table. He smiled to himself as Jenna tucked into the coffee and bagel. He turned to Wolfe. “That was fast work.”
“Easy when they admit to committing a crime.” Wolfe looked over at Jenna. “Do you need me anymore? It’s getting late and I’ve left Emily at my office.”
“No. Thank you for helping, Shane. I really appreciate it.” Jenna smiled at him. “That’s one person off our suspects list.”
“You should try and get some rest, Jenna.” Wolfe pushed to his feet. “There’s nothing more you can do today.”
Kane nodded his agreement. “I’ll have the hotline transferred to your cellphone in case anything comes in. You’ll be the first to know.”
“Okay.” Jenna stifled a yawn. “I’ll bring the files up to date then we’ll head off home.”
Kane waited for Wolfe to close the door, and then looked at her. “You’ve no intention of leaving yet, have you?’
“Nope.” Jenna turned to her computer. “Not until I’ve run down a list of any suspicious females in town.”
Kane pushed to his feet and nodded. “I’m on it.” He picked up his coffee and a packet of sandwiches and headed for the door. It was going to be a long night.
Thirty-Five
Thursday
The buzz of the alarm hadn’t dragged Jenna from dreaming about surfing in Hawaii but the high-pitched whistle Kane used for Duke did. She dragged herself from the sun and sandy beach and cranked open one eye.
“Morning. It’s six-thirty, I’ve turned out the horses and breakfast will be ready in about fifteen minutes.
” Kane placed a steaming cup of coffee on the bedside table and smiled down at her. “Your clothes are fresh out the drier. They’re on the back of the chair.” He pushed a hand through his hair, still damp from the shower. “I figured after last night’s marathon, we’d skip our workout this morning.”
Jenna pushed her hair from her eyes and eased up onto the pillows. She’d happily forgo their usual morning workout together. After working late and with the awful feeling she could be the Shadow Man’s target, she’d spent the night in Kane’s spare room. She’d taken the offer of one of his T-shirts to sleep in and tossed all her clothes into his washing machine before falling into bed exhausted. When she stayed at his cottage, he refused to allow her to lift a finger. She glanced over at the chair to find her clothes neatly folded with military precision. This and coffee, with breakfast on the way – he’d be any woman’s dream come true. “You know, Dave, if you keep this up I won’t want to go home.”
“That’s the general idea.” He sat on the end of the bed and his expression became serious. “There were no calls on the hotline overnight. What’s your plans for today?”
“Rowley will’ve restarted the search at daybreak. I can trust him to organize that side of things.” Jenna reached for the cup and sniffed the rich aroma. “I guess as we don’t have any leads for a possible woman suspect, we’ll have to run down our second list of contacts. Sean Packer and Charles Anderson worked for both families. They’re on the list as persons of interest, and in contact with both girls at one time.” She sipped her coffee, and then looked at Kane over the rim of her cup. “Unless we get a sighting or contact from Amanda’s abductor, we’ve little to go on.”
“With both cases tied to the same list of suspects, we’ve no chance of hunting down who killed Lindy Rosen either.” Kane rubbed his freshly shaved chin. “I hope the bomb squad will contact us today with their findings. I’d like to know what they discovered – as in, what explosive he used. We might be able to trace the person responsible from that.” He frowned. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, trying to remember the sequence of events. The delay on the IED between the explosions was longer than usual, which makes me wonder how experienced the Shadow Man is in making bombs.”