by D. K. Hood
“Yeah, I remember.” Kane examined the message and then moved to the bloody ear and sniffed. “It’s fresh.” He removed his Stetson and scratched his head. “Has anyone gone missing over the weekend?”
“Nope.” Jenna indicated toward Rowley. “Everyone had power and phones except me, and no one has called in a missing person’s report.” She looked at Kane with a concerned expression. “James Stone used a crossbow in his murders, and the message is something only he would know. It’s not something we made public, but how can he be involved? He’s locked up, right?”
Kane nodded and pushed up the rim of his hat. “We would have been notified the moment he escaped; the prison warden knows he’s gunning for you.” He looked at Duke. “He looks a little shell-shocked. Is he hurt?”
“No, he’s fine, but he hasn’t stopped shaking. It was pretty harrowing for him. First a violent storm and then some guy trashed my house and tried to break into the office. I’m not surprised he’s distressed. I’m trembling all over. He let me know someone was outside and it gave me time to get to safety. Thank God you reinforced that room. I just holed up and waited him out. If he’d made it through the door, I wasn’t too worried. He had a crossbow and I had the AR-15.”
Kane smiled at her. “No contest.” He moved to her side. “What do you want me to do?”
“Take over the investigation.” Jenna looked up at him. “I can’t be involved with the break-in. When we find this guy, I don’t want him getting off because of a conflict of interest. Rowley will walk you through and Rio is inside capturing the scene.” She indicated to her duffel. “I’ve packed a few essentials, and I really need to sit down for a spell.”
“Why don’t you head over to my cottage and get some rest? You can grab the rest of your things later. Carter and Jo are staying for a while, and I saw Wolfe heading this way. I’ll wait for him and once we’ve finish processing the scene, I’ll write up a report. The damage will be covered by insurance and I’ll get someone out here to secure the house today.”
“How are we going to stop this happening again?” Jenna shuddered. “This crazy has access to my ranch. He’ll come back the second he knows I’m alone.”
“That’s not going to happen, Jenna.” Kane shook his head. “We’ll need a different access system. Wolfe will know what to do. We’ll just cancel all the remotes and replace them. I’ll go with Carter and get what we need from town and drive the Beast home.” He waved a hand toward the house. “Don’t worry about the damage. Everything can be fixed.”
“There is one thing.” Jenna pulled her jacket tight around her. “I think we need a trapdoor in the office. If the intruder had set fire to the house, I would’ve been trapped.”
Kane rubbed her back. “I’ll see to it before you move back into the house. Now go and get some rest.”
“Okay, thanks. I’m dead on my feet. Where’s Jo?” Jenna looked around him. “Ah, there she is. I have a theory I want to run past her. We can discuss it later. I really need a shower and ten gallons of coffee.” She headed down the front steps. “Come on, Duke.”
When Duke just sat there staring at him, Kane squatted to rub the dog’s ears and received a lick on the chin. “Good boy. You looked after Jenna all night. Go home—you’ll feel better with a full belly and a sleep in your basket.” He gave the dog a shove in Jenna’s direction and watched him follow her to the cottage.
“You talk to that dog like he understands you.” Rowley chuckled.
Kane frowned. “Duke understands me just fine.” He went to Jenna’s cruiser and pulled out a forensics kit, taking out gloves, evidence markers, and bags.
“What have we got?” Ty Carter came to his side and moved a toothpick across his lips. “Man, someone sure wanted to get to Jenna.” He gave him a sideways glance. “Have any of her past convictions been released from jail lately?”
Kane shook his head and handed him gloves. “Nope, most of the dangerous ones are in for life.” He indicated to the crossbow bolt. “We’ve had our share of unusual cases, but this is the first to leave an ear as a calling card.” He indicated to the porch. “It’s hard to make out now, but that’s a threat written in mud. Here, look at the images.” He held out his phone. “That just happens to be the last thing James Stone said to Jenna.”
“Hmm, and yet he’s locked up in jail with no communication with the outside world. That would take some doing. More likely whoever did this is trying to deflect the blame away from him and onto Stone.” Carter indicated to his Doberman, Zorro, to stay with a flick of his hand and climbed the steps and examined the ear. “I’d say it’s from a female. You don’t see many guys around these parts wearing daisy earrings.” He turned in a slow circle. “Dammit, we need a scope to follow the trajectory. Looking at the pattern, I figure most of these shots were made from the same location.”
Kane scanned the area using his years of sniper experience and indicated with his chin toward the tree line. “I’d say he positioned himself there and walked toward the house. There are what—six bolts in a quiver?”
“Darned if I know.” Carter patted his Glock. “I’ve never had the need to use one.”
“Yeah.” Rowley walked toward them. “Six bolts but he had more with him, I’ve counted eight. They’re all the same, aluminum and a brand for a popular crossbow. I dusted a few for prints and there’s zip. He was careful. No foreign prints in the house either.”
“But he left footprints.” Zac Rio stepped around the broken front door. “Size twelve work boots. I looked up the brand and they’re made in the millions.”
Kane nodded. “So, he wasn’t too worried about leaving evidence, because everything he used was generic.” He glanced toward the driveway as Wolfe’s van pulled up outside the house and then turned back. “I hope Wolfe finds trace evidence inside.” He walked down the steps. “I’ll bring him up to speed.” He looked at Rowley and Rio. “The intruder came through the gate using the remote, so he must have parked his ride somewhere close by. Walk down the driveway and see if you notice any tire tracks. If you find anything, we’ll need images and plaster casts. Wolfe will have the kits in his van.”
“When we’re done, do you want me to tend the horses?” Rowley tipped back his Stetson. “It’s no trouble.”
Kane smiled at him. “I’d appreciate it.” He headed to meet Wolfe and gave his daughter Emily a smile and Wolfe’s assistant and badge-carrying deputy Colt Webber a slap on the back. “Thanks for coming out so fast.”
“What the hell happened here?” Wolfe tipped back his Stetson, and his blond eyebrows rose in astonishment. “I’m real sorry this jerk found the remote in my truck. I had drugs inside but he didn’t touch my medical kit. He went straight for the glovebox, broke it open, and took the remote.” He gave Kane a steady look. “How did he know I carried a remote to Jenna’s ranch?”
Kane shrugged. “We’ve all been thinking the same thing. It’s someone close to us, but who?”
“We’ve all been working close for years now.” Wolfe scratched his chin. “Rio is the only newcomer and I think he’s solid.”
Kane stared down the driveway at the two deputies and shook his head. “It’s not Rio. I figure someone is stalking us and we just haven’t noticed.” He sighed. “Jenna is with Jo at my cottage. She’s pretty shook up but okay. Rio has captured the scene, so I’ll leave you to it and go see if the intruder left anything behind from his starting point.”
“A crossbow is like a signature.” Carter ambled along beside him. “Think about it. Any fool would know Jenna would be packing for bear inside the house. She could have walked out and dropped him with one shot.”
Kane shook his head slowly. “You don’t know Jenna too well, do you? The last thing she wants to do is kill someone. She’d rather take them alive and then find out what caused the attack. I figure she used common sense and retreated to a safe position. She had no backup and no communication. There’s nothing in the house that can’t be replaced. She doesn’t have an attachmen
t to things, I’m guessing you’re much the same.”
“True.” Carter bent to examine a footprint. “Although, you are attached to the Beast.” He grinned around his toothpick. “Don’t deny it. That truck is your baby.”
Kane shrugged. “It’s insured and I’d just build a better one, but I’ll admit I do have some attachment to it. Although, I figure if I lost my sniper rifle it would be like losing an arm.” He pushed a marker in beside the footprint and used his phone to take a photograph.
“Over there.” Carter pointed to a spot between the trees. “The grass is trampled.” He edged around the small patch, peering at the ground. “There’s nothing here. So, say he walked in from the gate, he wouldn’t come straight here to his shooting position.” He removed his Stetson, smoothed his untidy hair, and replaced his hat. “Hmm, how come Duke didn’t alert her?”
“He did wake her but he hates storms. He tends to hide under the bed.” Kane pointed to the barn. “From what Jenna said, the prowler was wearing night vision goggles. He’d have no problem moving around and would have disabled the generator first, then flipped the switch on the power box.” He turned to look at the house. “He wanted to wake her and once he’d placed the ear where she’d find it, he aimed a few bolts through the windows.” He rubbed his chin. “He didn’t attempt to hide himself. I think he was trying to scare her.”
“There’s no accounting for stupidity.” Carter marked the area with crime scene tape and then looked at him, hands on hips. “If he knows her enough to get in here, he should’ve known she had weapons. Who walks into a gunfight with a crossbow?”
Kane led the way back to the house. “That’s exactly what’s worrying me.”
Eight
Bear Peak, Stanton Forest
He nudged the woman awake. She hadn’t moved since he’d left her and she’d fallen asleep, exhausted or from blood loss, he didn’t really care. He enjoyed the terror in her eyes and the funny little grunts she made behind the gag. He’d never gotten that response with animals. The defiance, the cursing, was sublimely human and something that kindled a deep-down excitement in him. After reading about people who enjoyed killing, he’d realized he was just a different kind of normal. Men hunted, women hunted, and some committed unspeakable crimes on each other. He smiled to himself. Some went to jail and others killed under orders and walked free. Some had the right to kill and some didn’t. How could any normal person fathom the reasons behind the law? He had the right to hunt and carry a weapon, and there was nothing on his license that mentioned he couldn’t hunt people. Every game animal had a season and pages of rules and regulations. So, any logical reasoning would suggest it was open season on anything else.
He held up the lantern and used the tip of his boot to get her attention. She looked comical with one ear missing. The bleeding had been impressive but then her little heart had been pumping like crazy when he’d sliced it from her and held it up like a prize. Now the wound had crusted over and just seeped a little, adding to the black stain on her jacket and shirt. Watching her run from him had ignited a primal urge to hunt. He’d stalked her, brought her down with one bolt to the calf but left her strong enough to walk at his command. He glanced around the cave and smiled. It was set up just right. Over the weekend he’d allowed her to escape twice, hunted her down, and dragged her back. He’d left her tied and gagged all night, but playtime was over. He yawned. It had been a long, eventful night but all good things must end, and he had other things to occupy his time. He nudged her again and she turned brown, angry eyes on him. She hadn’t become submissive. Many did, but this one was wild, and he liked that about her. Fighting back made her interesting to him.
“Get up.” He pulled her to her feet and touched her tear-stained cheek. “It’s time for you to go now.”
She tipped back her head and made those grunting sounds again. Like a Neanderthal man trying to create a language. He shook his head and pulled out his knife, laughing at the way she shrank back and screamed against her gag. “I just want a lock of your hair, to remember our time together.” He grabbed a handful and sliced it through with the blade. It was long and luxurious and he tied it in a knot, sniffed the fragrant strands, and then pushed it inside his pocket. “Don’t move or you’ll lose the other ear and maybe your nose.” He dived into his backpack for a roll of black gaffer tape.
Methodically, he wound the tape around her chest and down to her bound hands. He moved to her legs, wrapping them from ankle to knee. Soon she resembled a shiny black mummy. All she needed was an ancient Egyptian mask and a sarcophagus. He pushed her and she fell heavily onto the ground with a satisfying thud. He had everything ready; he’d planned this day for months. In the roof of the cave, he’d installed a pully system similar to those hunters used to dress their game in the forest. He wrapped the chain around her ankles and hoisted her to the roof of the cave. He watched her wriggle and squirm. Her shocked eyes made his heart race, and he liked that she understood what would happen next. Soon she became still and he crouched to look into her funny upside-down face. “It’s been fun, June, but I have to go.”
He ran the blade down her cheek and the panic in her eyes sent a rush of euphoria through him. It was always the same, and he embraced the power surge from knowing he controlled the glow of life and the spark inside every living thing was his for the taking. The cut was tiny but effective, and it didn’t take long until the light left her eyes. She’d grown weak and was no longer a challenge, and the urge to play with her had vanished. He grabbed his backpack, extinguished the lantern, and headed out into the sunshine. As he strolled along the trail, he could hear voices in the distance. The sound triggered a need to forget his day job and hunt again. Nothing came close to the anticipation of the kill. His excitement in the hours before entering the forest reminded him of the times his father had taken him to buy ice cream. The eagerness of selecting the flavor, the taste as the ice confection slid over his tongue was a treat most kids took for granted, but for him that small window of time with his dad had been special. And like his time with—What was her name? It had been exciting but, like the alluring wrapper of an anticipated treat, she no longer served a purpose. Who thought twice about the food wrappers they’d tossed into the trash? He chuckled and shook his head. “Now that would be some kind of crazy.”
Nine
Exhausted, Jenna dropped into the chair at Kane’s kitchen table and caught the coffee Jo slid across to her. She added the fixings with extra cream to cool the brew. She sipped and allowed the night’s experience to settle in her mind. A shiver went down her spine and she lifted her gaze to Jo. “Thanks.”
“I know you’ve explained the details of what happened last night but there’s more to this than you’re saying.” Jo turned a concerned expression on her. “I know something is on your mind or you have a hunch who’s behind this attack. I’m a great sounding board. Talk to me, Jenna, and then try and eat something. You look like hell.”
Jenna’s gut feeling insisted that the man trying to kill her was familiar, but no one she considered made sense. She wanted to explain but she wondered if her reasoning was sound after such a disturbing night. An eerie sensation refused to leave her and she fought the constant urge to keep looking over one shoulder. “Being alone with someone hunting me down was an experience I’ve tried not to repeat, but last night was too darn familiar, like déjà vu.”
“How so?” Jo leaned forward on the table.
Jenna peered at Jo over the rim of her cup. The smell of coffee was somehow comforting to her shattered nerves. “A couple of years ago I dated a lawyer by the name of James Stone. He didn’t take rejection too well and became a nuisance. In the end Dave warned him off, suggesting we were in a relationship, and Stone backed off.”
“What’s that got to do with last night?” Jo stood and dropped bread into the toaster and then retrieved butter and jelly from the refrigerator. “He can’t still be stalking you, can he?”
Jenna shook her head. “Nop
e, he’s in jail for life without parole. He was living a double life. Top-shot lawyer by day and on the weekends, he ran a human hunting racket via the dark web.” She shuddered. “Not only did he hunt down couples for his clients to murder, he killed the clients as well and kept their bodies in a cave out of Bear Peak.”
“And you caught him?” Jo buttered toast and slid it across to Jenna. “Eat.”
Jenna added strawberry jelly and nodded. “Yeah, but Stone came close to killing Dave. We were hunting him down in the mountains and Stone shot Dave in the head and he fell down a ravine, busting his knee. Worse still, he had amnesia and didn’t remember coming to Black Rock Falls. When I went to help him, he didn’t recognize me. Trust me, when Dave aims a gun at you, he means business.” She stared at the toast and shook her head. “It was a nightmare.” She bit into the toast and chewed slowly, recalling the terrible weekend. “In the end it came down to Stone or me. I took him down but wanted him alive. He blamed me for his killing spree and it’s not something I can forget in a hurry.” She lifted her gaze to Jo. “When I saw Dave’s headshot and him falling over the ravine, I kind of lost it. I thought he was dead.”
“But you were calm and detached when you faced Stone?” Jo sat down and looked at her closely. “That’s what our brains do under stress. They can react either way. It’s the fight-or-flee response. People like us train to cope in these types of situations and pull up what’s necessary to survive. Your professionalism on the job kicked in and you fought back.” She took a drink of her coffee. “It’s a chilling story, but what significance does this case have to last night’s incident?”
The images of Stone’s victims impaled with crossbow bolts ran through Jenna’s mind in a flash of horror. “Two reasons. One: Stone used the crossbow like a signature, but he wasn’t exclusive; he did carry a rifle and knife. The second: although we’ve brought many killers to justice, Stone made it personal. He wanted me dead and blamed me for turning him into a killer. You should have seen him at his trial, he could have given Ted Bundy tips on charisma. My gut tells me he’s involved. The crossbow attack is him saying, ‘Don’t forget I’m coming for you, Jenna. We have unfinished business.’”