by D. K. Hood
“That sounds like a plan.” Kane climbed behind the wheel and added the coordinates into the GPS. “The girlfriend lives five minutes from here.”
Vicky Perez lived in a very picturesque wooden ranch house at the end of a long driveway on Pine. Jenna inhaled the scent of flowers and admired the overflowing garden beds on each side of the porch. The neat, well cared for home was nestled among pine trees and seemed to blend in with its surroundings. She went alone to the front door and knocked. When a middle-aged woman opened the door and stared at her with one hand over her mouth, Jenna moved quickly to reassure her. “Mrs. Perez? There’s nothing for you to worry about, I’ve come to speak to Vicky about Laurie Turner.”
“Bob called this morning looking for Laurie, has something happened to her?” Mrs. Perez waved Jenna inside. “Come in, I’ll get Vicky for you.”
Jenna followed her into a clean kitchen. “We’re trying to locate Laurie. She didn’t go home last night.”
“Oh, that’s not good.” Mrs. Perez went out and stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Vicky, come down to the kitchen now, the sheriff wants to speak to you about Laurie.”
A girl appeared at once and came down the stairs at speed. She was dark-haired and exceptionally beautiful. Jenna smiled at her. “Do you recall what happened last night after practice?”
“Yeah, we collected our stuff and left as usual.” Vicky frowned. “I went over this before with Laurie’s dad. You do know he’s the school counselor, don’t you? He grilled me like I’d done something wrong.”
Taken aback, Jenna blinked. “Really? He didn’t mention anything to me at all. Can you just think back to when you last saw Laurie, what she was wearing, who she was with, and what she was doing?”
“We wear our old uniforms for practice. A whole bunch of us walked out to the parking lot and she went to her pickup.” Vicky twirled a strand of hair around her fingers. “There was this almighty clap of thunder and someone bumped into her and she dropped her phone. It smashed.”
Wanting to know who had delayed Laurie, Jenna raised both eyebrows in question. “Who bumped into her?”
“I didn’t see, there was a crowd of us all walking together. One of the girls I think but I’m not sure. Laurie was really upset her dad would find out and then Becky suggested she take it to Cory, he’s the maintenance guy and cleans the gym after practice. He’s real good at fixing things, especially phones. So, she went off to speak to him. Becky went to chase after Wyatt Cooper and then we all went home.”
Jenna took out her notebook and pen and took down the names. “So, what’s Becky’s last name and Cory’s too?”
“Becky Powell and Cory Hughes.” Vicky’s eyebrows met in a frown again. “Becky shouldn’t be chasing after Laurie’s boyfriend, they only just had a fight, I don’t think it’s over. He was there watching her at practice like always.” She sighed. “Although, everyone knows she likes Cory, she’s always drooling over him.”
Ignoring the statement, Jenna nodded. “Did you see her talking at length with anyone else at all that night?”
“Yeah a few people.” Vicky thought for a few minutes. “We went to the refreshments kiosk for a drink, and she chatted to Dale. He was working behind the counter. He’s on the football team but his aunt owns the kiosk and opens it for us during practice. Marlene was there too, Marlene Moore, she’s on the cheerleading squad. She is always hanging around Dale. He’s the quarterback, so everyone wants to be his date at the prom.”
Jenna was having a hard time keeping up with the teenager’s personal life. “Including Laurie?”
“Including everyone.” Vicky grinned. “But he plays it real cool.”
“I see.” Jenna wanted to roll her eyes. “Can you tell me the name of the captain of the cheerleading squad?”
“I am.” Vicky smiled.
Jenna heaved a sigh of relief, at least this part of the investigation was easy. “I’ll need you to call the squad and everyone you can remember was at practice last night. Tell them the sheriff wants them at the gym at six tonight. Laurie is missing and we need to find out her movements. We found her pickup in the school parking lot so she must have taken a ride with someone.”
“She wouldn’t take a ride with someone she didn’t know.” Vicky lifted her chin. “She’s smart, not stupid. I’ve been calling everyone all day and no one has seen her since last night. Are you sure her father hasn’t locked her in the cellar? He threatens her all the time. He tells everyone he doesn’t know where her mom is but she’s still working at the beauty parlor in town. He told her if she tries to take Laurie away from him again, he’ll kill her.”
Jenna stared at the girl. “You heard him threaten her?”
“No, but everyone says so.” Vicky’s brown eyes widened. “What if he’s killed Laurie?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. He’s a fine student counselor and I’ve never heard a bad word against him.” Mrs. Perez shook her finger at her daughter. “You can’t believe everything you hear.”
Jenna held up her hand to prevent an argument. “Do you happen to know Mrs. Turner’s phone number or where we can find her?”
“Yes. I know her number by heart, we were at school together.” Mrs. Perez rattled off the number.
Jenna entered it into her phone. “Has anyone called her?”
“Not that I’m aware.” Mrs. Perez frowned. “It would be too far for Laurie to walk alone at night. She lives in town.”
Jenna punched in the number. “I’ll call her now.” She walked down the hallway and went outside.
The phone rang several times before a woman answered. “This is Sheriff Alton, am I speaking with Jeanette Turner?”
“Yes, this is she.”
Not wanting to alarm the woman, Jenna kept her questions general. “Could you tell me when you last spoke to Laurie?”
“She called me last Thursday to chat about the Fall Festival, they’re having a parade and she wants me to come by. Why? Is she in trouble? It’s that damn pickup, isn’t it? Has she had an accident?”
Taking a deep breath, Jenna kept her voice calm and professional. “Not that I’m aware. I’m trying to locate her is all, she didn’t go home last night. She isn’t in trouble with the law, Mrs. Turner. If she calls or drops by could you let me know please?”
“Yes, I’ll call her, she always answers my calls.”
Concern for Laurie washed over Jenna. This wasn’t the news she needed right now. “Thank you.” She disconnected and walked back into the house and made her way to the kitchen. “Jeanette hasn’t heard from her either.”
“Okay. Vicky, pick up your phone and we’ll split the list and get everyone back to the gym.” Mrs. Perez grabbed the landline and looked at Jenna. “We’re used to calling everyone to make plans. I’ll make sure they’re all there.”
Relieved, Jenna smiled at her. “I really appreciate your help, thank you.” She handed her a card. “Here are my contact details, call me if you hear anything, anything at all no matter how insignificant.”
“Okay.” Mrs. Perez pulled out a notebook from a kitchen drawer. “Come on, Vicky, start dialing.”
Jenna headed for the door. “I’ll see myself out.”
She moved swiftly along the hallway and outside to Kane’s truck. After explaining, she leaned back in her seat. “The boyfriend may still be in the picture. We’ll go see him next and I’ll get out a media release and see if anyone has seen Laurie.”
“It would be unusual for a girl of her age with so many friends, on foot, not to contact someone. I mean, she could have dropped by here and called her mom, they are obviously on good terms. Even if she didn’t want to go home one of the friends from her inner circle would have seen her.” Kane turned the truck around and headed back to Stanton. “I guess we should speak to the boyfriend but I have a very bad feeling about this, Jenna. If she was attacked on the street, the chances of finding her alive are slim. I figure we conduct a search along Stanton, like you said no streetlights. Anyone could
have dragged her into the forest and no one would’ve heard or seen a thing.”
Four
“You’ll never amount to anything.” His ma’s voice shattered his thoughts. “You’re a waste of my time. The sooner you leave school and go work with your pa the better. I’ll be glad to see the back of you.”
“I’m sorry I don’t earn more, Ma.” He looked at her curled lip. “I’m doing the best I can. Dad doesn’t have a position for me yet. When he does, I’ll move out.”
“And leave me here with nothing to live on?” His ma shook her finger at him. “You’re just like him, he don’t care if I live or die.”
He couldn’t win. Nothing he said pleased her. “I’ll still look after you, Ma, but right now I have to go do something before dark.” He turned to leave.
“That’s right, leave me alone again.” She moved toward him, fists clenched. “If you were still little, I’d lock you in the closet to teach you some respect.”
He backed away from her, remembering the terror of the dark smelly hole in the wall. He’d learned enough “respect” to last a lifetime. “I do respect you, Ma. I’ll be back soon and we’ll watch TV.”
“Liar! You’re going to see her again, aren’t you?” She spat at him. “You’re just like your father, a no good, useless SOB.”
It was pointless arguing with her. When she looked at him, she saw a replica of the man who’d cheated on her and set up house with a bottle blonde. He headed for the door, he hated living here. The day his pa had walked out he’d made it clear he had no room for him in his new life but he’d promised him a position in his business even though he’d be expected to start at the bottom and work his way up. Of late, he’d started helping his pa, driving over on Sundays to do yard work, and dropping by each morning at his business to show his enthusiasm. He had to get away. Anything would be better than living with his ma.
He walked through the trees and along a track that led to the old barn and smiled at the sight of a friendly face. She was his everything and they had plans to move in together but first they needed to find a place for Laurie Turner. He walked to her and they kissed. “I’ve been looking forward to coming here all day.”
“Yeah, me too.” She linked her arm through his. “It was fun last night. I want to do it again.”
They strolled together to the old barn and he pulled out a key for the padlock. “Me too.”
It had been a rush watching her strangle Laurie and bringing the girl here to their secret place. Sitting her up to watch them make out had stirred something feral inside him. It was like a hunger he couldn’t satisfy and he wanted more. “We’ll take her out and dump her, I know a ton of places to hide her.”
The smell of death greeted him as he opened the barn door wide. Propped up against the wall, Laurie’s expressionless eyes stared at them in the gloom. Her skin was blue and her legs stuck out from beneath her, the flesh bruised as if she’d been sitting in blood. Beside him he felt a tremble go through his girl. “She don’t look so pretty now, huh?”
“Seeing her here in our special place makes me mad.” His girlfriend scowled at him. “She’ll stink up the trunk.”
He shook his head. “No, she won’t. Remember last summer I painted the kitchen for Ma? I took a box of plastic sheets from outside the general store. I have tons more stashed in here. We’ll wrap her up and dump her.”
“Look what I have.” She grinned and opened her purse to reveal a pile of surgical gloves. “We’ll take everything, her clothes and shoes, and when we’re done dumping her, we’ll burn them and the plastic sheet. We don’t want anyone tracing her back to us because I’m not done yet.” She walked into the barn and stared at Laurie’s body. “I’m not done with her either. Look at the way she’s looking at me—she thinks she’s all that.” She turned and a determined look crossed her face. “I want to do a whole set of them. We’ll go down in history as the Cheerleader Killers.” She snorted with a sudden burst of laughter and then stopped and frowned. “We’ll need to be smart because I’m not planning on going to jail.”
“Don’t worry your pretty head about that.” He slid his arm around her shoulder and admired their first kill. “We’re way too smart for the cops to pin it on us. We’ll dump her backpack in the forest and they’ll never look for her out at the mines.” He squeezed her. “There’ll be nothing left of her here, I have the perfect place to burn everything.”
Five
Jenna and Kane drove slowly along Stanton from the high school to the alleyway, in the direction Laurie would have taken on foot. Jenna peered into the forest. She’d buzzed the windows wide open to pick up any smells. With Duke sitting in the back seat, any scent of death usually caused a reaction and the bloodhound had sat motionless the entire time. “We’ll need a search party for this to work.”
“If Laurie was the victim of a thrill kill, it’s unlikely the killer would have dragged her very deep into the forest.” Kane flicked her a glance. “He’d have attacked, made her walk into the forest, killed her, and then walked away. So, if she’s dead, I figure her body will be on the edge somewhere.”
Jenna pushed the hair from her eyes. “Yeah, unless she got a ride with someone.” She threw her hands into the air. “Why is it that as soon as we have a festival in town something happens?” She stared at the blacktop. “If someone’s harmed this girl, we have a thousand tourists to consider as well. It will be like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
“Let’s hope she’s just holed up at a friend’s house and we can go home and eat leftovers.” Kane flashed her a smile. “Or we’ll have to be forced to stop by Aunt Betty’s for supper before we head out to the meeting. As Rowley tended the horses and I have food in the truck for Duke, there’s no reason to go home before the meeting.”
Jenna snorted. “How come you always find an excuse to drop by Aunt Betty’s Café? No matter in the middle of a murder case or after an autopsy, it’s the same.”
“A man has to eat to keep up his strength.” Kane chuckled. “So, we can go out hunting and fishing to feed our families.”
“That’s what stores are for.” Jenna yawned. “I often wonder how you’d survive without Aunt Betty’s Café.”
“Oh, I’d survive.” Kane accelerated along Stanton. “Have you seen the size of the steaks at Antlers Tavern?”
As they drove to Wyatt Cooper’s house, Jenna called Rowley to bring him up to speed and followed it with a quick call to Wolfe. As a team, she liked to keep everyone in the loop. When the Beast stopped beside a small cabin-style home, she checked the address and shrugged. “This is the place. I hope Wyatt Cooper is at home. You take the lead and I’ll hang back.” She slipped from the seat and headed up the garden path. “He might talk to you man to man.” The rank smell of burning came in a cloud of smoke from the backyard.
“I doubt it.” Kane’s nostrils flared. “To him I’m still a cop.”
Jenna knocked on the door and a man in his fifties, wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, stared at them open-mouthed. “Sheriff? Anything wrong? Is it about the smoke?”
“Nah.” Kane tipped his hat. “Mr. Cooper? We’d like a word with Wyatt.”
“Sure, sure, come in.” Mr. Cooper turned and walked inside. “He’s out back burning trash. I’ll go get him.” He headed through the house. “Wait here.”
Jenna hung back as a lean muscular young man of about sixteen came walking into the hallway smelling of smoke. He ignored her completely and looked up at Kane.
“Where did you play football, man?” Wyatt grinned at Kane.
“College is all.” Kane smiled back and took a relaxed pose; being non-threatening gave him an advantage. “I figure you know why we’re here?”
Jenna bit back a smile. A typical ploy to make a person believe they knew he was involved in something. She waited expectantly for Wyatt to speak.
“Nope, I have no idea why you or the sheriff are here.” Wyatt looked at her. “Ma’am— and why do you want to speak to me on a Sunday a
fternoon?”
“I hear you broke up with Laurie?” Kane’s voice lowered as he leaned conspiratorially toward him. “Did you have a fight?”
“Ah, I know what this is all about.” Wyatt jerked his head back. “Her father called asking me if I’d seen her last night. I told him, yeah, I’d seen her break her phone but she’d hightailed it inside to speak to Cory before I could say anything. I told her dad just that and he hung up on me.”
“So, you knew she was upset and didn’t wait for her in the parking lot?” Kane kept his voice at the same level. “With everyone gone, didn’t you worry about her out there all alone at night?”
“Look, man, she’s been hanging around Cory since he started working at the school.” Wyatt sighed. “He’s a loser, smokes dope, and is way too old for her. I made a stand, you know, him or me. She just ignored me and walked away. So, why would I hang out waiting for her in the parking lot? I went to Aunt Betty’s, grabbed a burger, and came home.”
“What time was that?” Kane had adopted his bored expression.
“He was here at ten.” Mr. Cooper poked his head out of a door. “My wife had gone to bed and I waited up for him. We watched the news together. Why do you need to know?”
“Laurie didn’t make it home last night.” Kane straightened. “Any idea where she might be?”
“Nope. Her dad didn’t mention anything about her not getting home.” Wyatt dragged a hand through his hair and stared into space. “He should have called last night and me and the boys would’ve gone out looking for her. Her truck is hard to miss.”
“Her truck is still in the parking lot.” Kane was regarding him closely.
“Holy shit!” Wyatt moved around restlessly, eyes darting in every direction. “Have you called Vicky? She isn’t that far away and Laurie would walk there if she’d had car trouble.”