“Logan, we can’t—”
“Oh but we can. Let me show you what I had in mind,” he said as he tugged her up and across the hall and into Aaron’s office.
Chapter Eighteen
The next day Troy Dayton’s supporters gathered inside the living room at Promise Cove for a strategy session. It wasn’t just Kinsey and Logan in Troy’s corner anymore. Since Troy’s court appearance, Kinsey and Logan had met with their friends only to discover everyone seemed to be in agreement on one thing. Troy didn’t kill Gina Purvis. Now they just had to convince a stubborn Ethan Cody of it. Hayden crowded in next to Nick and Jordan sitting on the sofa while Cord and Keegan Bennett spread out on the floor beside Wally and Lilly Pierce.
Ethan walked back and forth with a fussy Nate on his shoulder. Ethan was the only one in the room that wasn’t yet convinced of Troy’s innocence.
Kinsey acted as hostess so Jordan could get off her feet for a few minutes. She passed around coffee to anyone wanting it, offering the sandwiches Jordan and Hayden had fixed. But no one seemed hungry enough to eat.
Logan didn’t have a baby to walk but that didn’t keep him from pacing. He wanted to make a point so he said, “Ethan, just because they found Gina’s body at Troy’s trailer doesn’t mean he killed her. Garver jumped the gun and you know it.”
Ethan handed the baby to Hayden and scrubbed the palms of both hands down his face. “If you’re talking about any other missing persons cases, Logan, of course, I know Troy had nothing to do with those. When the first one disappeared Troy hadn’t even been born yet. And he was still in diapers when Megan vanished.”
“Who’s Megan?” Nick wanted to know.
Ethan and Logan exchanged glares.
It was Logan who told them. “My sister. She went missing here in Pelican Pointe twenty years ago.”
The stunned look on the faces around the room said it all. No one had known that until now.
“While Ethan might not think Gina’s death has anything to do with the other missing persons cases. I do. It’s just that simple. The fact Troy has been accused of something so horrific, has escalated things for me. Considerably.”
“It isn’t personal,” Ethan snapped then let out a sigh. “Look, according to the info Dan got from Gina’s parents, she went out that night specifically to see Troy at his trailer. The box of stuff was still in her car. Troy may possibly be the last person to see Gina alive and doesn’t want to admit it.”
“I don’t believe that. The guy readily admits Gina had been bugging him for a week about coming by to pick up that stuff she’d boxed up. She got upset when he didn’t jump Saturday night.”
“Not only that, there are text messages and several phone calls to prove it,” Kinsey stated.
“I’m aware of that. But it looks bad for Troy that they found Gina’s body right fifty yards from his trailer. You can’t connect Gina’s death to the others because the others are—”
“Still missing,” Logan finished. “Yeah, not finding a body means nothing much gets done. I get that.” Logan looked around the room before focusing on Ethan again. “Why don’t you tell them, Ethan? Tell them the rest of it. Now that they know about Megan, tell them what kind of history there is in Santa Cruz County?”
“Not relevant here, Logan. Not at all, there’s no point in bringing up ancient history.”
“Says you.” Logan took the time to study each face staring back at him. “Are any of you aware that at one time there were three serial killers operating at the same time in Santa Cruz County? So many that the district attorney at the time dubbed this county as the murder capital of the world.”
“Ancient history,” Ethan repeated. “Just because you found a bunch of crap on the Internet about what happened decades earlier doesn’t mean squat now. Investigative legwork—”
“Was non-existent in Megan’s case,” Logan broke in. “And I’d bet the others were just as poorly dealt with. Because basically law enforcement decided a seventeen-year-old teenage girl took off despite having no history of doing so in the past, and she left without taking any of her clothes, or makeup, or money with her.”
But Kinsey held up her hands in peace, eyes bugged out as if just understanding the implication of what Logan said. “Wait a minute. You didn’t say anything about three serial killers working in the same county at virtually the same time. That certainly didn’t come up in my interview with Hartley. I’ll be honest, if I’d known that I doubt I would’ve taken the job. And that’s coming from a life-long inner city girl. I mean this looked like the quintessential little town. A single woman leaves San Francisco thinking she’s found a safe haven in a quiet, peaceful town, only to discover the county had a serial killer problem.” Kinsey shook her head. “That’s more than a little off-putting.”
“I’m glad I didn’t know that either when I lived out at the Cove all by myself for such a long period of time,” Jordan exclaimed. “I’d have gone nuts knowing that.”
Ethan sighed. “See what you started? For chrissakes that was three decades ago. And they were all caught, tried and convicted, locked up?”
“Were they? How can you be so certain? You’ve got missing women cases going back as far as twenty-five years ago…unsolved. That’s a fact, Ethan. Look, I’m not blaming your brother Brent for the lack of action, if that’s what you’re thinking. Some of these cases happened when we were all in our teens. But what if it were your sister, Ethan? What would you do?”
“Probably the same as you. I know you’re upset, Logan. You have a right to be. And whether you believe it or not, I do wonder about Troy’s guilt. You met him a month ago. I’ve known the kid his entire life. Susan Dayton, his mother, might have had her share of problems. But she took good care of that boy up to the day breast cancer claimed her life.”
“You know, that’s one of the things Troy and I have in common,” Kinsey noted. “I met him the very first day I interviewed with Hartley. I was walking around town looking in windows on Ocean Street, wandering around, daydreaming about what it would be like to live in this idyllic little town. This white-haired teen bumped into me as he was coming out of the bait shop. He could’ve done what thousands of other people do every day and brush past me to go on his way. But he didn’t. Troy apologized, stopped to talk to me. When he found out I was in town to interview for a job, we got to talking even more. I asked him about an inexpensive place to eat. We walked down to the Diner. We split the cheapest sandwich on the menu, a grilled cheese. And we spent two hours there during which time we discussed how both of us had lost our mothers to breast cancer, how painful it had been. Troy was easy to talk to. Or maybe I just needed a shoulder. I don’t know. At the time, Troy was it. I told him about my piecemeal education. He told me how difficult it was for him to find work. I felt his pain about his predicament and he felt mine. Because I’ve been there, wondering how to stretch my pennies to pay the light bill or the rent. That kid was the first person in town, besides Hartley, who was nice to me. That’s why I’d bet every cent I have in the bank, which I grant you isn’t much, but I’d bet my last dollar that Troy Dayton did not kill Gina with everything I own.”
Logan jingled the change in his pocket. “That about sums it up for me, too. Troy is the first guy to get to the job site every day. He’ll do any job I give him and won’t bitch about it for two hours afterward. He’s shown me character, determination. So yeah, I’ve only known the guy a month or so, Kinsey a few weeks longer than that, but I know Troy’s a good person. Not only that, Troy’s got heart. I think the guy is in love with Mona, or at least as in love as someone thinks they are at that young age. He showed me the jewelry box he was making Mona for her birthday next month. That to me says he’d already gotten past the breakup with Gina, which means there was no motive for him to kill her over a bunch of crap in a box.”
“He showed me one of his jewelry boxes, too. Troy has talent there. I’d planned to display them in the rooms. I told him I thought they’d sell,” Jordan
added and shook her head. “Troy just doesn’t have it in him, Ethan. Surely you can see that.”
“Troy helped me out last June when Scott was born,” Nick added. “Jordan and I had our hands full with a newborn and a toddler. Not only a new baby, but we had a houseful of guests at the time. Our timing was more than a little off, for sure. Then, an unusual summer storm hit us, lightning, wind, the whole bit. Blew brand new shingles off the roof. Troy was the first guy to come out to help. He patched the roof, sawed trees, worked like a fiend for three days straight to help us. When he was done, I sent him over to the farm to see if Cord could use a hand there. My vote is the same as the rest. Sorry, Ethan. But Troy didn’t do this.”
“He picked apples for two weeks, and according to Silas, was his best worker,” Cord explained. “He didn’t miss a day of work, even offered to stay late. Troy still makes himself available to do the milking in a pinch if something comes up for me, which lately is a lot. Like if I need to help Keegan with a rescue or assist in a surgery. I’ve used Troy several times now that the Miller boy joined the military. I even referred Troy to the center because Keegan can always use an extra pair of hands there.”
Keegan nodded. “Troy’s worked there off and on since Christmas. Pete said he did everything he asked him. But the poor guy doesn’t have a strong enough stomach to work around animals for very long, especially if they’re sick. But that’s nothing against Troy. A person needs a strong constitution to clean cages and deal with the puke and poop on a regular basis. It isn’t for everyone. The first time Troy had to clean out the cages and work around a sick animal, he had a rough time of it. I felt sorry for him. He tried, he really did. But he’s a terrific carpenter. Last year during the street fair, Troy volunteered to build us our aquatic model, a replica of marine life under glass. It’s so sturdy the kids sit on it, play on it, even pretend they’re living in the sea. It’s one of our most popular features.”
Lilly let Keegan finish and then stated, “Troy stopped by the service station a couple of weeks ago. That old truck of his was acting up.”
“I showed him how to change out his spark plugs,” Wally added. “Took me maybe twenty minutes. Didn’t charge him because he brought Lilly one of those jewelry boxes in exchange for the labor and parts. I couldn’t turn him down when he needed his truck running so he could look for work.”
“You should see it. The wood is gorgeous, all handmade from an old cedar tree he found not far from where I used to live in that trailer with the kids,” Lilly said. “How could a man work with his hands like that and then strangle and rape his ex-girlfriend just because they broke up?” Lilly shook her head. “I don’t think he could. And I don’t think Troy cared one way or another whether he got that stuff back from Gina either.”
“Troy came by the bookstore looking for work,” Hayden tossed in.
“Not you, too,” Ethan groaned. “My own wife?”
“It was hectic that day. Nate was fussy, too. That was the afternoon you said you desperately needed to work on your new manuscript to get your ideas down before you lost them. Troy catalogued six boxes of used books for me that day, Ethan. Saved me hours and hours of having to do it myself. He was polite, worked hard. In fact, now that I’ve listened to everyone else, I’ve never seen Troy any other way. I gave him a full day’s pay, a sandwich, and a bottle of juice. It’s all I had. The juice, that is. I didn’t have a soft drink to offer him.”
“That had to be a month ago,” Ethan stated.
“That’s about right. If you’re saying you think a month went by before he suddenly decided to turn mean then direct that rage toward Gina over a breakup, I’m not buying it.” When Nate started to kick up a fuss from his baby carrier, Hayden went over to pick up the baby. “Troy held your son that day, Ethan, rocked him to sleep right there in the store. I’m sorry, but the man I saw that day who handled our son with kid gloves wouldn’t kill or hurt anyone.”
Ethan ran his hands through his long, black hair. “So everyone in this room considers Troy a candidate for sainthood, an innocent man, incapable of strangling the life out of his ex-girlfriend, someone he supposedly loved at one point?” He checked each pair of eyes, and watched each head bob in agreement.
“No one’s saying the guy’s a saint. Innocent of murder, yes, that’s the point, isn’t it?” Logan snapped. “But Troy damned sure didn’t cause ten other young women to vanish into thin air within the city limits of Pelican Pointe. I happened to think Gina’s murder and the ten missing women are related.”
“I agree,” Kinsey said.
When each one of the others said the same, Ethan twisted up his mouth and said to Logan, “You just won’t let this drop, will you?” When Logan just kept up the stubborn stare, Ethan added, “Okay, okay, let’s suppose for a minute, there’s a stone-cold serial killer walking among us.”
“An indiscriminate, opportunistic killer, you mean, living in or near the area for years. One that would need to control every aspect of his crimes, which is making young women disappear. He subdues his victim, controls the environment from the get-go which is the abduction right down to the killing itself,” Logan determined.
“All the while showing another face to the outside world, which is us, we’re the outside world. Then he works hard at convincing everyone around him he’s just a normal, everyday kind of guy,” Kinsey surmised.
“You do realize you’ve just described Troy?” Ethan pointed out.
“No. For this discussion I’m taking Troy out of our hypothetical serial killer equation,” Logan stated. “For one, he isn’t the right age. You said so yourself. No, we’re looking for someone who is approximately twenty-five years older than Troy. Try to stay with me here, Ethan.”
“He’d have no discernible pattern either.” When everyone turned their heads to stare at Lilly, she added, “Well, after all, so far he’s left no clues. There are no crime scenes. Ethan would’ve known about them. No one’s found a body—until…Gina.”
“Yeah, what about that, Logan? How come this hypothetical serial killer leaves Gina’s body out in the open when he’s never even given us a body before now? They don’t change their patterns.”
“Sure they do.”
“What makes you an expert? Just because—”
“My sister became a victim to one? That’s right, Ethan. I’ve had years to research this type of killer. And I know this much, they learn from their mistakes. They change MOs all the time to keep their crimes from getting linked. They’re hoping to fly under law enforcement’s radar. And look, twenty-five years goes by and you guys still haven’t connected his crimes.”
“Okay, okay,” Ethan uttered. “I suppose that was out of line for me to say.”
“Let’s go to neutral corners for a minute,” Kinsey suggested. “What if maybe this time the guy made a mistake? Or something interrupted him, got him out of his rhythm,” Kinsey offered. “Or, for whatever reason, the killer purposely wanted Troy to get the blame for this. Someone Troy knows, someone close to him, someone that has it in for him, I just don’t know. But this time, the killer didn’t have time to get rid of the body for a reason, but left it near the trailer for someone to find.”
“It didn’t take long for that to happen,” Jordan said.
“No, it didn’t take long at all,” Logan agreed, rubbing a hand down his face. “Okay maybe my imagination is getting the better of me here but I think someone wanted Gina’s body to be found right away. The killer wouldn’t have left it there otherwise. Either that or someone came along and, like Kinsey said, got him out of his usual pattern. He didn’t have time to dispose of the body.”
“Knowing Troy would get the blame,” Nick surmised. “What time did Troy get home that night?”
“He said around midnight. I went to the jail yesterday to sit down with him at length, found out more of the specifics, which aren’t really that helpful. He dropped Mona off at her house on foot. Then got back in his truck where he’d been parked all evening, went
home, went to bed. He didn’t hear or see anything out of the ordinary.”
“But her car was sitting right there at the side of the road,” Ethan pointed out. “Troy had to drive right past it.”
“I don’t have all the answers, Ethan,” Kinsey admitted.
“Okay, we need a list of suspects. Anybody in town fit the mold? Who are the bad asses around here?” Logan wanted to know.
“The Turley brothers,” Nick and Ethan both announced at the same time.
“Sal and Sam Turley,” Ethan stated flatly. “Troublemakers extraordinaire of the hard-ass variety. They have a long history within a fifty-mile radius of starting fights, usually just to make a point.”
“I know all about the Turley brothers,” Logan acknowledged. “His references checked out but each one made a point to mention the guy’s a hothead. After a month on the job, I’ve seen his temper for myself. Sam will go off over the least little thing. Maybe we’re on to something here. He bitches a lot, but other than that, he isn’t what I would’ve termed an indiscriminate killer.”
“And you know so much about character,” Ethan quipped before adding, “Anyone who hires Sam Turley gets what he deserves.”
Logan sighed. “Okay, I see your point. But it just means Sam’s good at putting on one face to the outside world while he hides a much darker side, which means from now on, I keep my eye on Sam Turley at the work site.”
“That probably won’t do a bit of good, although I would watch him. Sam’s not too bad if you get him alone, away from Sal. When he’s with his brother, beware. He’ll do anything Sal says. Anything. Sam’s a follower. Plus those two will turn a bar upside down in nothing flat,” Nick explained.
“Sal’s serving time, so Sam’s been a little lost for more than a year now without his brother telling him what to do,” Ethan detailed.
“Where would a serial killer put his victims though? That would be a lot of bodies to bury. He’d have to have someplace convenient,” Wally pointed out.
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