by D. K. Hood
His confirmation of being in the area could go both ways. Either he was sure the victims had not recognized him or he was innocent. Jenna took in his self-assured attitude and the way he looked at her, moving his eyes up and down her body, and decided the former. “What about Thursday evening, what time did you drive to Black Rock Falls?”
“I had one delivery in town so it was a quick turnaround. I got back here before one, I guess.” Knox glared at Kane and shook his head. “I don’t like people messin’ with my stuff. I ain’t done nothin’ wrong. This is police harassment.”
Jenna glanced at Kane. He was removing the sheets from the bed with care and stuffing them into plastic bags. They exchanged a meaningful look. She figured Kane had found evidence, but he said nothing and added the bag to the pile he had collected on the table. She turned her attention back to Knox, ignoring his outburst. “Did you have car trouble on Thursday night?”
“Nope.” Knox shuffled his feet. “It seems real strange speakin’ to you behind that face mask. What’s wrong, scared you might catch somethin’?” He moved a step closer, grinning.
“You need to mind your manners.” Blake stepped in front of Jenna. “You’re speakin’ to a lady, not your stripper girlfriend.”
Jenna shot Blake a look she hoped conveyed her annoyance and moved around him. “Stand down, Deputy. I am quite capable of handling Mr. Knox.” She lifted her chin. “Did you have a woman in your room, Friday before last?”
“If I did—” Knox grinned at her, “—as a gentleman I wouldn’t tell.”
“Ma’am, may I have a word?” Kane moved to her side.
Jenna followed him outside and shut the door. “What have you found?”
“What could be blood on the sheets.” Kane shrugged. “A few blonde hairs on the carpet, some red hairs. The room is a DNA cocktail.” He removed his gloves. “The blonde hairs could belong to the receptionist so we’ll need a sample of her hair for Wolfe to compare. I’ve bagged the sheets. They stink as if they’ve been on the bed for months.” He held up a set of car keys. “I’ll check the pickup as that was the vehicle Aitken mentioned in his statement. If there’s blood inside, and it’s a match for Sky Paul, we may have our Axman.”
“If you find some and it’s a match.” Jenna removed her gloves and mask, then bundled them into a ball. “I have him in the location of all three incidents at the right time; he drives a white pickup but not regularly and has an injury to his right arm. It sure points to him but many people drive white pickups and use the same road regularly at night for deliveries. Unless Wolfe finds some trace evidence, we don’t have one chance in hell of convincing Judge Eaton to sign an arrest warrant. He’ll say it’s circumstantial evidence at best.” She sighed. “He seems so unconcerned, it’s unnerving.”
“Yeah, but we shouldn’t discount him yet.” Kane leaned one shoulder against the wall and huffed out a cloud of steam. “He displays narcissistic tendencies and is so sure he hasn’t left any DNA, that’s a red flag in itself.” He rubbed his chin. “We’ve dealt with his type before. They believe they can outsmart us and without a trace of the missing persons, no bodies, we have zip right now. If Knox is the Axman, he has the upper hand and knows it. I figure we should dig a little deeper into Mr. Knox.”
Jenna tossed her gloves into a trash bin. “He hasn’t convinced me he isn’t involved.”
“Blake obviously knows the woman he sees. Maybe we need to get a name and check out her story.” Kane removed his gloves and mask. “If she’s the woman he carried into his room, he’ll be in the clear for kidnapping Sky at least.”
Jenna straightened. She still had to sweet-talk Knox into giving a DNA sample. “Okay, you process the pickup and van then go speak to the receptionist, see if she’ll volunteer to give you a hair sample. I assume she is the one who cleans his room and if not we need a name. I’ll wrap it up with Knox.”
She pushed open the door and took the few steps across the small room to speak to Knox. “Mr. Knox, are you willing to take a DNA test to exclude you from our list of suspects? Then we’ll leave you alone.”
“Sure.” Knox wet his lips. “Trust me, I never leave my DNA anywhere it’s not wanted.”
Ignoring his smart mouth, Jenna turned back to the table and opened the forensics kit. The idea of getting close to Knox made her want to gag. She tossed a pair of gloves to Blake then gave him a test kit. “I’ll leave that to you, Blake.” She turned to Knox. “Thank you for your cooperation.” She noticed him open his mouth to reply, but put her back to him and collected up the evidence bags, then opened the door, glad of the rush of fresh cold air on her face.
She waited outside for Blake to join her, then added the DNA kit to the large bag of evidence and looked at him. “Do you know the name of the woman you mentioned? He could have been carrying her into the motel room.”
“Nah, she’s a redhead.” Blake snorted. “One of the dancers who works at the titty bar.” He flushed to his ears. “Sorry, ma’am. I meant the local strip club.”
“Okay, I’ll need all the information you can get me on Knox. I’ll clear it with your sheriff.” Jenna tapped her bottom lip. “Someone will know his friends and who he hangs out with, bars he goes to, so see what you can find out about him. He is way too overconfident. Most people freak out when the cops search their homes. I’m worried if the woman Aitken saw him carrying into his room was Sky Paul, where is she now?”
Fifty-Two
Despondent from the lack of progress in the missing persons’ cases, Jenna trudged through the fresh snow to Kane’s truck. During their time with Knox, the sun had slipped away and now colored flashing lights from the gaudy motel sign reflected in the icy parking lot. The world had turned from a winter wonderland to every shade of gray in minutes, much like her mood. The facts surrounding the disappearances gnawed at her. When people went missing in similar circumstances, either of two things usually happened: the kidnappers sent a ransom note, or they found bodies, but some cases were never resolved. She let out a sigh filling the air around her in a cloud of white. Where the hell do I go from here?
She met up with Kane at the truck and heard Blake jogging up behind them. They turned to greet him. “Problem?”
“Nah.” Blake smiled at her. “It’s just you might want to hold off leaving for half an hour or so. The snowplows drove by just before. They’ll be clearing the highway and spraying salt, so you might want to give them a head start?”
Jenna stowed the evidence bags in the back of Kane’s truck and nodded. “Thanks. I could do with a strong coffee before we head home.”
“Can you suggest a good place to get a steak?” Kane gave Blake an optimistic look. “We might as well eat before we leave. I won’t feel like cooking by the time I’ve gotten home.”
“The Turf and Surf Grill is opposite the park.” Blake waved a hand in the direction of town. “Good food, nice clean place.”
At the mention of steak, Jenna’s stomach growled. She glanced at Kane. “That will do fine, thanks.” She pulled open the door to Kane’s truck, then paused to pull a business card from her pocket and handed it to him. “Call me if you find out anything about Knox.”
“I sure will, ma’am.” Blake took the card and made his way to his cruiser.
An hour or more had passed by the time they reached the highway and headed back to Black Rock Falls. Snow pelted the windshield like confetti, slowing the wipers and turning the highway into a scene from a Christmas globe. With no traffic on the highway, the blacktop loomed before them in a tunnel of the truck’s headlights. Glad not to be alone, Jenna leaned back in the seat relaxing and listening to the chatter on the radio. It was unusual for Kane to be so quiet but as he needed all his concentration to drive, she decided not to discuss the case. Instead, she glanced at him, wanting to know more about his secret past. “Have you ever wondered why the three of us ended up together in Black Rock Falls?”
“At first, I figured this was the end of the line, put out to pasture job.
I had a degree of memory loss covering the time before the car bombing, so I guessed it was because of my injury.” Kane shrugged. “Until I worked alongside you. I know agents and you had so many tells, I could only imagine I’d been sent here to protect you.” He barked a laugh. “An obvious mistake.”
Jenna grinned. “What about Wolfe? I know we need his expertise as an ME and his IT skills are crazy but why send him?” She reached for her to-go cup of coffee. “He isn’t in witness protection, is he?”
“Nope, no need.” Kane flicked her a glance. “As far as anyone knows he left the service, worked in IT for a while, then stayed at home to nurse his wife. That’s all true but he built a secure room to use for communications. I would imagine he handled a few agents before me. When I realized you were an agent, I made enquiries. That caused enough ripples for POTUS to send Wolfe here. He is my communication to HQ should I need it because unlike you, I’m not in witness protection, I’m officially off the grid.”
Jenna pondered his words. “So do you figure they sent Shane here to keep an eye on us?”
“Nope.” Kane glanced in his mirror and frowned. “I guess they wanted someone here I knew I could trust. If I get a message to inform me I’m back on active duty via him, I’ll know it’s true, but after the damage I sustained last fall, I don’t figure that will be anytime soon if ever.” He looked in the mirror again. “I’m sure I caught sight of a vehicle following us before and it just vanished.”
“Maybe it’s a ghost truck that haunts the highway late at night.” Jenna chuckled and stared into the side mirror. “I can’t see anything.”
She noticed the tightening of Kane’s jaw and the ticking of the muscle in his cheek. His attention flicked from the mirror and back to the road. Jenna turned in her seat to peer behind them. Her scalp tingled and her belly quivered with the unnerving feeling someone was watching them. The road behind appeared empty and only the blacktop snaked away around the previous bend.
“Turn back around and watch out the side mirror.” Kane’s voice was low and calm. “I caught a glimpse of something glistening when the moon came out from behind the clouds just before we took the last bend.”
Instinctively Jenna went for her weapon and laid it across her knees. She turned to look at Kane. “Do you think it’s the Axman? Maybe we have gotten too close and he wants to take us out?”
“Maybe but my truck is unmarked, so how does he know it’s us? Unless it’s Knox, he might have seen our vehicle but I didn’t notice him peer out the window at the motel.” Kane frowned at her Glock. “You’ll need both hands to hang on if he makes a move.”
“Okay.” She holstered her weapon and moved her attention back to the mirror. “I can’t see anyone.”
As they rounded the next sweeping bend, an engine roared behind them and as if out of thin air, the menacing crash-bar-covered grille of a vehicle appeared in the side mirror coming fast. Jenna clamped her jaw tight and hung on. “Oh, my God, watch out!”
“Shit!” Kane accelerated across the highway then slammed on the brakes and his truck slid sideways for fifty yards on the fresh covering of snow road before coming to a rocking halt.
The white pickup flashed past in a blur, missing them by inches, and fishtailed up the road then slowed to stop four hundred yards away on the sweeping bend as if waiting. Jenna’s heart pounded as Kane moved his truck back to the right lane then stopped in the middle of the road.
“Did you get a plate?” Kane’s gaze hadn’t moved from the speeding white truck.
“No, it was covered in mud. I figure he’s planned this and probably followed us from town.” Jenna swallowed hard. It was like being stuck in a horror movie. The white pickup’s lights came on in a flash of brilliance. It spun around and faced them, steam billowing from under the hood and the engine revving like a raging bull. The dark windows gave the pickup an eerily robotic appearance as the vehicle lifted up at the front and shook with power. Unnerved, Jenna gripped the seat. “What’s he doing now?”
“Playing chicken and he sure picked the wrong guy.”
A sense of foreboding dropped over Jenna. God help them. One look at Kane and she knew he’d dropped into combat mode. She took in his determined expression and noted the pulsing vein standing out in his neck. “You’d risk our lives on a stupid game on an icy road. Have you lost your mind?”
“You need to trust me, Jenna. No one wants to die. He’ll fold then lose control on the bend and end up in the ditch.” He glanced at her. “He wouldn’t be doing this without wearing a seatbelt, so we’ll play his stupid game, then drive over and arrest him.”
Angered by his overconfidence, she turned on him. “I’d rather you stopped acting like a teenager and shoot out his tires. You never miss, do you?”
“And if he’s just a kid in a high-powered truck playing chicken? I shoot out his tires and he rolls and dies in the wreck.” Kane didn’t take his eyes off the white pickup. “You willing to risk that, Jenna?” He revved the engine as if in reply to the challenge. “No? Then hang on tight.” He hit the gas.
The truck’s tires spun, then gripped the blacktop, and they shot forward at speed. Jenna dug trembling fingers into the seat, her gaze fixed on the white truck hurtling toward them. The space between the two cars narrowed and, blinded by the headlights, she held her breath. Her heart pounded fast in her ears and her stomach cramped so tight she wanted to vomit.
The next moment the bright lights of an eighteen-wheeler rounded the bend in front of them, air-horns blasting in warning. Jenna bit back a scream. If they swerved to avoid the white pickup, they would crash head on into the truck, but Kane didn’t flinch and held his course. At the last second, the white pickup swerved in front of the oncoming truck. She waited for a loud bang and the scream of tearing metal but only the truck’s air-horns continued to screech into the night.
Panting and speechless with fear, she waited for Kane to slow down and stop beside the road, then leaped out the door and vomited. She turned to see him standing in the middle of the highway staring into darkness. “You. Are. Insane.” Her voice sounded shaky. “We could have been killed.”
“Not a chance, he started moving over the line to avoid us way before we’d gotten close. I figured he was going to use the truck for cover.” Kane held out a bottle of water and shrugged. “He must have nine lives to have gotten away with that.”
Legs trembling, Jenna took the water and washed out her mouth, then bent over, hands on thighs, trying to slow her panicked mind. “It’s pointless pursuing him. He knows this strip of highway and could be holed up anywhere.”
“At least we have a good description of his truck.” Kane pulled his hat down over his ears and rubbed his hands together. “White, blacked-out windows with a mark on the passenger-side door, like the outline of a sticker.”
Jenna gaped at him as she made her way back to the truck. “You saw all that in a split second?”
“Just doing my job, ma’am.”
Fifty-Three
Monday, week two
It took some effort for Jenna to climb into Kane’s truck the following morning without shaking the memory of the previous night. The winter weather was in full force and the roads more dangerous by the hour. As they would be working alongside each other all day, it seemed good sense to leave her cruiser and take a ride with him to the office. After being mad all evening after he risked their lives in a movie-like stunt, she’d run through the scenario a thousand times and realized that, stuck out in the middle of nowhere and twenty minutes away from backup, they’d had no other choice. Kane had made a split-second decision, summed up the situation and acted with confidence—as usual.
“I filed a report about last night’s incident.” Kane turned into town and slowed to join the line of traffic moving at a snail’s pace behind the snowplow. He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Are you holding a meeting today as usual?”
Jenna had held a Monday staff meeting at nine since she became sheriff, but of late they
needed meetings to update everyone more frequently. She nodded. “Yeah, I called Rowley yesterday and asked him to run down more info on Chuck Burns. I figure we’ve enough probable cause for a search warrant but the more we can sweeten the pot with the better. It’ll be interesting to see what he found. I’ll update everyone on Knox and our ‘incident’.” She held up two hands and made quote marks. “If that was the Axman, we might be looking at homicide for Mrs. Palmer.”
“It sure would be a way of pushing someone off the road without leaving any trace evidence.” Kane pulled into his spot outside the sheriff’s department. “I’ll give Ella Tate a call and see if she remembers anything about the white pickup. She didn’t mention the tinted windows or the sticker mark on the door.”
Jenna paused, one hand on the door. “So we can rule out Knox. You searched his vehicle but didn’t mention dark windows or a sticker.”
“It had dark windows but it had a logo across the door.” Kane shrugged. “It didn’t look like a sticker but maybe the Blackwater deputy could take a closer look. It could be a magnet. He owns those vehicles, not Brightways.”
“I’ll call him.” She slipped from the vehicle.
The wind had picked up, swirling the snow and biting through her clothes. She glanced down the sidewalk at the people bent over, heads down, battling against the weather with scarves wrapped around their faces and wearing sunglasses. The look struck her as comical for a moment but then she remembered the furnace. Even with the small heaters, the office would be freezing until they resolved the problem with it. She brushed away the snowflakes resting on her eyelashes and followed Kane inside the building. When a blast of warm air hit her, she stared at Maggie on reception in surprise. “How come it’s so warm in here?”
“I had a call early yesterday morning from Shane Wolfe. He said he’d found someone to replace the furnace. He didn’t want to bother you, seeing as you were lookin’ after his girls.” Maggie frowned. “I came down and opened up. I waited here until they’d finished. I didn’t want them poking their noses into things that don’t concern them.”