by D. K. Hood
Jenna nodded. “Thanks. I figure Rowley will be checking in soon. I don’t envy him his job.”
Moments later Jenna’s cellphone pealed. She snatched it up and put it on speaker. “What have you got for me, Rowley?”
“The last time Mrs. Paul had contact with Sky was at 11:00 p.m. She called to say she had reached the Blackwater Roadhouse and was getting gas and something to eat. She was upset.”
Jenna exchanged a look with Kane. “Did she say why?”
“Yeah, they had an argument about Sky’s brother. She didn’t go into details but said it was pretty heated. Sky told her mom she wished she could drive away and leave Ella at the roadhouse.”
“We’ll need Sky’s cellphone number. If it’s turned on we might be able to trace it and locate her.”
“I have the details in the report. I’m at the office and I’ll send the file now. I’ve gotten a BOLO out on Sky, her car and the description of the man Ella gave me. I’m writing a media report and will call it in now. Any calls will be diverted to your cellphone, ma’am. Someone might have seen something. Is there anything else you need me to do, ma’am?”
Jenna tapped her bottom lip, thinking. “Have you seen Wolfe this afternoon?”
“Yeah.” Rowley sucked in a breath. “He’s at the Paul residence, taking blood samples, I believe, to crossmatch the blood found on Ella Tate.”
Jenna heaved a sigh of relief. “Walters and Webber are heading back to the office. Once they’ve had lunch, send Webber over to the ME’s office to assist Wolfe. You can close up. There’s another blizzard forecast.”
“Do you want me to ask Wolfe to track the cellphones or call the Blackwater Roadhouse and follow up?” Rowley sounded apprehensive.
Jenna glanced at Kane. “No, that’s fine. Kane will be able to track the cellphones from here. I’ll call the Blackwater Roadhouse and follow up on the argument. If it was bad enough for Sky to mention it to her mom, someone might have heard them.” She turned her head away and coughed. “Could I ask you a personal favor?”
“Sure.”
“Could you pick up my meds from the pharmacy on the way home?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The line went dead.
Her cellphone and Kane’s ringtones went off in unison. “That will be the file.” She smiled at Kane. “Go work your magic.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Nine
It was a nightmare. The heaviness of limbs and the inability to open her eyes had Sky convinced nothing was real. She tried to wake but just as in her childhood night terrors, her eyes refused to open. Somewhere just out of reach she could hear the soft murmur of voices, and bright lights shone red against her eyelids. She tried to speak but her mouth refused to form words. Her ears made a strange buzzing sound and she could hear a slow beep, beep, beep close by.
She tried to rationalize her situation. The memory of the man at the side of the road, the pain in her head, then waking up in the hospital and being told she was going to have an operation. She remembered the headache then the floating sensation after the nurse injected something into the tube in her arm. If she could remember all these things, she sure wasn’t dreaming. Why can’t I open my eyes?
The voices came closer and a familiar smell smashed another memory into her mind—but was it a memory or a bad dream? She remembered the smell of the man who’d hit her and dragged her into his truck. In sheer panic, she used every ounce of strength but she could not as much as flutter her eyelids. Someone touched her face, a gentle touch, almost a caress, her head moved from side to side then she heard a voice.
“I know you can hear me.” The man leaned over her. “Isn’t this fun? You must be enjoying the drugs, well some of them at least.” He chuckled. “I can do whatever I please. I can cut you or pull out every one of your fingernails and you’ll just have to lie there and take it. Does that scare you, Sky?”
Inside, Sky was screaming. Terror made her heart race so fast the monitor sounded an alarm. Someone would come, they had to. She heard soft footsteps and from his voice, it was the nurse.
“Is everything okay?” He moved closer and cool fingers pressed against her jugular. “She may be allergic to the drugs.”
“Nah.” The man’s voice seemed closer now. “She’s just excited to see me, is all.”
Terror gripped Sky and she tried to call out and tell the nurse she was not okay, but she could not move a muscle. What was happening to her? Then she heard a chuckle and hot onion breath brushed her face. She wanted to turn away but every muscle had frozen.
“He can’t help you, Sky. I own him.” The man bent close and whispered in her ear. “I might keep you for two or three days, or a lifetime, before I kill you. Won’t that be fun?”
Ten
Monday
Kane’s patience was at an end. He wanted—no, needed—to get back to work. Being holed up inside the house twenty-four seven was driving him crazy. He’d spent all Sunday tracing cellphones and doing whatever else he could to aid the investigation, but he needed to get out for a while. The search for Sky Paul had come up with big fat zero. The search team had checked all the outlying factories and found no signs of life. All had shut down for the holidays. Snowdrifts of well over six feet deep covered both sides of the highway and with more forecast, they had no chance of finding Sky or her car until the melt.
After finishing a punishing weight training session, he aimed a few experimental kicks at the punching bag and his injured knee held up just fine. Although the reconstruction had compromised his flexibility, with a few adjustments to his stance he would still be able to kick hard enough to take someone down. The pivots would be a problem, though. With a reconstructed knee and repaired tendons he would never be one hundred per cent fit again. “I’ll just have to punch harder.” He smashed his fists into the bag and didn’t hear Jenna walk into the gym.
“If you punch any harder the bag will split.” She gave him a long considering stare. “You okay?”
“Nope.” He grabbed a towel from the bench and wiped the sweat from his face. “I’m going stir crazy. I’d like to get back to work now you’re feeling better.”
“What about the headaches?” Jenna narrowed her gaze at him. “You haven’t been outside for any long period of time to test if you can handle the cold yet.”
Kane shrugged and looked at his hands. “I have. I slipped out to help Rowley with the horses this morning.” He smiled. “Trust me, it’s no worse than before and if I wear a woolen cap under my hoodie it keeps my head warm.”
“I can’t stop you, Dave, but please take it easy for your first day back and take Duke with you or he’ll figure you’ve left him again.” Jenna rubbed the dog’s ears. “He’s worried about you.”
Kane looked at the sad eyes looking up at him and smiled. “Don’t worry, Duke. I’ll take you with me.” He looked back at Jenna. “Anything special you want me to do?”
“Why don’t you interview Ella Tate at the hospital? She’s being treated for exposure, so we have an excuse to keep her there without charging her.” Jenna dropped onto the bench and looked up at him. “The doctor hasn’t mentioned releasing her yet, so we have another day at least.” She sighed. “Wolfe should have analyzed the blood samples he took from her by now.”
Kane hung the towel around his neck and sat down beside her. “It’s no secret it’s Sky Paul’s blood, the Tate girl admitted as much.” He mopped at his face. “With nothing coming up on their cellphones, and no reports of anyone seeing Sky or her car, if what she said is true the killer could have destroyed the SIMs and dumped the car in a million places. Apart from the waterholes alongside the river, there are mineshafts all over the area. Search and rescue have checked the industrial buildings, and they’ll keep on looking for another couple of days, but they don’t hold out much hope. In this weather, if her vehicle is out there we won’t locate it until the melt.” He rubbed his temples.
“Not with more blizzards forecast, that’s for sure.” Jenna frowned. �
�I know you’ll hate me saying this but I still think it’s too early for you to return to work. Humor me and give it half a day to see how you go. There’s more bad weather due this afternoon and you might get stuck in town.”
“If that happened, I’d bunk with Rowley.” He turned to look at Jenna’s worried expression. “Okay, I’ll go into the office after breakfast and be back before two.”
“That sounds like a plan. Now you’re ready to go back to work, I guess you’ll be moving back into your cottage?” She pushed her hair behind one ear and raised both eyebrows in question.
Not wanting to ruin their close friendship, Kane stared at the floor, concentrating on the swirls in the polished timber and trying to find the right words. He remembered how close he had gotten to Jenna but it was more like a pleasant memory than the budding relationship they had enjoyed a couple of months ago. The image of his wife, Annie, drifted through his mind and his stomach gave a little twist. The short-term memory loss suffered due to his recent head injury had only involved his time in Black Rock Falls, and the car bombing and watching his wife die was as if it had happened yesterday. I feel like a married man.
His memory of the last year had returned but the pain of losing Annie was like a raw patch on his heart. Sure, he enjoyed living in Jenna’s house but right now, he needed his own space as well. He wanted time alone to get his head straight. All his recollections had jumbled together and the last thing he wanted was to hurt his best friend. “Yeah, I’ll move back to the cottage as soon as you’re ready to return to work. Rowley has offered to stay on and help me with the horses for a couple more days.”
“Darn.” Jenna laughed and gave him a playful punch on the arm. “I was just getting used to washing your smelly socks.”
“I don’t have smelly socks.” Kane frowned at her. “Do I?”
Eleven
After breakfast, Kane waved Duke into the back seat of his truck, slid behind the wheel, placed his to-go cup of coffee in the holder and turned the heater up full blast. His dog was over possessive and leaving him behind wasn’t an option. The bloodhound had stuck to him like glue the moment he’d pulled on his coat. Last Saturday, the short trip to his cottage had resulted in Duke howling like the end of the world was coming and tearing at the front door. Jenna was not impressed. He turned in his seat and patted Duke on the head. “I hope you’ll be able to cope with the cold weather.” He had bundled him up in a thick black doggy coat, one of four Jenna had purchased after seeing Duke’s teeth chattering, and had brought along a thick thermal blanket to cover him. “I’ll have to leave you in the car when I go into the hospital, so you’d better be good.”
The snowplow had driven through over half an hour earlier and should have cleared a path into town by now. He waited for Rowley to drive past then followed—although he was heading straight to the hospital to interview Ella Tate, Jenna had insisted Rowley keep an eye on him. He smiled to himself. She didn’t know him as well as she thought. He would never get behind the wheel of a car if he had any doubt of his capabilities and the specialist had given him the green light. His head was fine and the headaches would ease with time. Unless someone else takes a shot at me.
Ella Tate’s expression of horror when Kane walked into her hospital room spoke volumes. He found her sitting by the window and she had frozen, as if suspended in time, at the sight of him. He figured, from her wide-eyed expression and the way she gripped the arms of the chair, she hadn’t recognized him as a deputy. Her reaction to him as a potential intruder gave him the impression the story she had given Rowley had been the truth. “Miss Tate, I’m Deputy David Kane. I’d like to have a few words with you, if you don’t mind?”
He removed his gloves, unzipped his thick overcoat and eased it off his shoulders, then tossed it onto a chair. The badge on his regulation jacket was now clearly visible and he noticed a subtle change in her posture. Taking his time, for her to relax, he pulled out his notepad and pen, then dragged a chair to the window and sat opposite her. “How are you feeling today?”
“I’m okay.” Ella blinked a few times as if she was having a problem focusing.
Kane smiled. “That’s good to hear. Did I startle you when I came in just now?”
“Yeah, you look like the man who attacked Sky and chased me. I thought he’d come back to kill me too.” She gripped the blanket covering her legs so hard her knuckles whitened. “Have you found her yet?”
Kane shook his head and made his voice as conversational as possible. “Not yet but we have search and rescue out looking for her.” He leaned back in his chair. He would ask her about the man who attacked her a bit later when she calmed down. “What can you tell me about the time leading up to the incident? Why were you and Sky driving to Black Rock Falls so late?”
“My brother was deployed and will be away for the holidays, so Sky’s family invited me to stay with them for Christmas. I’ve never had a vacation in Black Rock Falls, so I jumped at the chance.” She sighed. “We were going to come down at the weekend but then Sky’s mom called and told her a blizzard was forecast, so we left straight away.”
“You drove straight through from Billings? That’s a six-hour drive. You’re both at college there, is that right?”
“Yeah, we’re at MSU.” Ella shrugged. “We stopped for gas and to grab a burger. We would have made it if Sky hadn’t insisted on stopping.” She took a deep breath and gave Kane a long hard look. “You sure look like the man who killed Sky.”
Kane nodded. “So, he was big like me, six five? Or like me in looks?”
“Same size, dark clothes, wearing a woolen cap with a hoodie over the top like you.” She ran her gaze over him, examining him closely. “Big hands like yours and he made the same swishing sound as he walked.”
“Okay. That’s good.” Kane made a few notes, just to act as if everything was routine, then he lifted his gaze. “In case you’re wondering, it wasn’t me. Today is my first day out for six weeks. I’ve been holed up at the sheriff’s house recuperating. I smashed my knee and had to have it repaired and I think you would have noticed the limp.”
“That’s good to hear.” Ella went beet red. “Oh, not about your knee. I’m sorry. I meant about it not being you.”
Kane shrugged. “That’s okay. Let’s get back to the night Sky went missing. When was the last stop for gas?”
“Blackwater.” Ella picked at her fingernails. “We had a stupid argument about her brother.” She glared at him in a flash of anger. “She told me not to get involved with him. I couldn’t believe she would ban me from seeing him. We’ve been roomies since we started at MSU.” She looked away. “It was as if an army brat wasn’t good enough for her family.”
So you killed her. Kane rubbed his chin. The mood swings worried him and she had exhibited the same behavior during the interview with Wolfe, yet her reaction to him had seemed real enough. Unless she is a very good actor. “I gather you resolved the problem before you’d gotten back on the road?’
“Yeah. What could I do? I told her I’d stay away.” She sighed. “Don’t you want to know what happened?”
Kane shook his head. “No, I’ve read your statement. I just need a few more details. You can’t remember his vehicle at all?”
“Not really.” She stared at the floor.
Aware people often blocked out terrifying events or accidents, he tried to jog her memory. “Close your eyes and try to remember driving toward the vehicle.”
“It was dark. He had flashers going. It was difficult to see his vehicle.”
Kane smiled at her. “That’s great. You said he was a big man, so how did he appear beside his vehicle? Taller or the same?”
“I’m not sure.” Ella frowned. “He was sort of bent over so his hood fell over his face. “
“Was he leaning against the door?”
“No, he was leaning against—it was a pickup.” Her eyes popped open and she smiled at him. “A big light-colored pickup.”
Kane nodded. She appe
ared genuinely surprised she had remembered. “Okay. You said he was carrying an ax and laid it on the seat.” He frowned. “An ax is pretty big and so was he, and yet he managed to lean into the car between the steering wheel and seat with an ax in one hand, is that right?”
“He had an ax.” Ella closed her eyes again then opened them. “It was a small ax. Like about this long.” She held her hands about one foot apart.
Kane nodded. “Was it just a blade or was it a different shape, like a hammer on one side for instance?”
“I only saw it for a split second but I know it was metal.” Her expression became solemn. “It went like this: we stopped, Sky opened her window and he hit her with the ax, opened the door, dragged her out, dropped the ax on the seat then tried to grab me. He was big and couldn’t fit all the way into the car. I had time to open the door and run.”
“Okay. It was probably a hatchet from what you’re describing. An ax has a long handle.” Kane made notes. “So you don’t really know if Sky is dead, do you? She called to you later, didn’t she? How do you know he’d killed her?”
“I don’t, not for sure, but I heard her scream.” Ella’s eyes filled with tears. “It was terrible, like he was killing her. I couldn’t help her, could I? I was terrified. He threatened to hurt me too.”
“Not many people would take on a man of my size carrying a weapon.” Kane wanted to be sympathetic, but visions of Jenna luring a killer away from him to save his life slid into his memory. Friends performed heroic acts when necessary and the missing girl was Ella’s best friend. He needed to push a little and see if a dark side was hiding beneath her devastated façade. “Did you think to maybe follow him back to the road and see for yourself? It was pitch black, as you mentioned in your statement, and the brush is thick along the side of the road. It would have been easy to hide in the ditch beside the road.”