by D. K. Hood
Jenna chewed on her bottom lip and thought it through. “True, and no doubt paralyzing his victim and making him watch the love of his life tortured would be a highlight of the kill.” She leaned back and stared at the ceiling and then lowered her attention back to Kane. “You know, Dave, I know you go on gut instinct so many times and you’re usually right. My intuition, or whatever you call it, is screaming at me that James Stone has a hand in this murder and the home invasion. I know home invasion isn’t his style but by scaring me, I figure he believes he is regaining control. No matter how you try and convince me otherwise, my life is on the line, and it’s only a matter of time before he shows his hand.”
Twenty-Five
Deputy Jake Rowley smiled as he disconnected from his wife Sandy’s call. She’d been for her regular prenatal checkup at the doctor’s, and both she and the twins were doing just fine. They’d hoped for a Christmas delivery but the babies were due to arrive late in January, right in the dead of winter. He went back to check the search results from the many databases he’d been checking since coming back from hunting down Payton Harris’ vehicle. At last he’d found a match, with current details. He picked up the phone and called the Buffalo Ridge Sheriff’s Department and explained the situation. As luck would have it, the sheriff knew Payton Harris and his family. “I’d appreciate if you’d inform them about Payton’s death, and I’ll need a list of June’s family members as well. We’ll need a close blood relative to supply a DNA sample ASAP. Her mother would be the best person to ask. I’m sure you have a doctor in town that could handle a swab for us?”
“No need. I have DNA collection kits here. I’ll get you one from her mother this afternoon.” The sheriff sighed. “Where do you want me to send it?”
Rowley opened a book on his desk and flipped through the pages. “I’ll message you the address of the ME’s office. You’ll need to send it by an express pathology collection courier. Send the bill to the ME’s office here in Black Rock Falls.”
“Sure. This is bad business. They’re a lovely couple.” The sheriff took a long breath as if drawing on a cigarette. “I hope they find June alive.”
Rowley nodded even though the sheriff couldn’t see him. “Same. We have people out searching the forests and lakes in case she is still out there, but it’s been four days since anyone laid eyes on her, so it’s not looking good.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll send you the ME’s phone number as well. The next of kin will want to contact him about the collection of the remains.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Thanks for your help.”
“It’s all in a day’s work.” The sheriff disconnected.
After Rowley sent the messages, his phone buzzed. It was Deputy Zac Rio. “Yeah.”
“I have something.” Zac sounded excited. “Come take a look.”
Rowley headed out of Sheriff Alton’s old office and went to Rio’s desk. His partner was scrolling through images he’d taken on their trip to and from the crime scene. After finding Harris’ vehicle, they’d arranged for it to be towed to the ME’s office and then decided to view the crime scene. They’d taken the track most likely traveled by June and Payton Harris to the campsite. They’d split up and searched all around. He’d found nothing of great interest along the way. The odd energy bar wrapper tossed onto the forest floor without thought of the environment had caught his eye, but Rio had a different tilt on things and had gone deep into the forest, coming back with soil samples. He stared over Rio’s shoulder at the images. “Did you find anything interesting?”
“Maybe.” Rio scrolled through the images and stopped. “When we were approaching the campsite, I noticed a few holes in the tree trunks. Not a lot but the odd few, plus in some places the forest floor had been disturbed.”
Rowley shrugged. “If they’d been of consequence, Wolfe would have noted them in the crime scene report.”
“Yeah, but these are in an area up to fifty yards from the campsite. On the opposite side of the river. It was a hunch. I looked in the area just over where the river flows under the rock formation. It looked disturbed, so I took some images and walked around some.” Rio turned to look up at him. “I have the ability to process all the information I see at once. It’s like seeing a jigsaw puzzle come together.” He pointed at the screen. “These marks on the trees and ground are progressive. They move away from the crime scene and are spaced almost uniformly. The hunter was collecting his arrows or bolts as he went.”
“Okay.” Rowley looked closer. “I can see that, so why is that unusual? Bolts are expensive and most hunters retrieve them.”
“At first I thought the person doing this was a bad shot, now I’m thinking he was herding something to a better place to kill it.” He shrugged. “Do hunters do that?”
Rowley shook his head. “No, they’d make the shot before the animal moved away. What else did you find?”
“I found what could have been blood.” Rio leaned back in his chair and smiled. “That’s the sample we dropped into Wolfe. He called before and verified it’s human blood. Right now, he’s running it against the ear found at the sheriff’s ranch. If it’s a match, we’ll have to wait for a positive ID on June Harris, but we’ll know someone was hunting a human up there and injured them.” He looked up at Rowley. “I think we need to talk to Jenna.”
Rowley nodded. “Let’s go.”
They headed up the staircase leading to Jenna’s new office. The second floor now housed the evidence room and locker rooms with showers, and toilets. It added a new level of security for the team. Rowley knocked on Jenna’s door. “Rio has information.”
“If it’s about the break-in at my ranch, you’ll need to speak to Kane.” Jenna dropped a pen into the old chipped mug with Welcome to Hawaii on the side and looked up at him. “If it’s about the Harris murder, you can speak to me but if we discover that Riley Adams is involved in both cases, I’ll have to stand down and let Kane take the lead.” She leaned back in her chair. “He should be back soon. He’s chasing down search warrants for the suspect we have in custody.”
“It’s more about June Harris.” Rio explained his theory. “I figure we need to concentrate the search from the campsite back up to Bear Peak. From what I could surmise, the blood seemed to be heading in that direction. We really need an experienced tracker to take a look at the evidence I found and go from there.”
“Hmm, interesting.” Jenna stared at him. “Kane and Atohi Blackhawk took the dogs and lost June Harris’ trail at the edge of the river. Both are excellent trackers. Where exactly did you find the blood?” She raised a dark eyebrow. “I hope you marked everything clearly?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rio went to the whiteboard and drew a map of the forest trails with amazing accuracy. “I found it here. I figure if a tracker heads from here in the general direction, he might pick up a trail. I went as far as I could see any blood spots and then it just stopped. I didn’t push on in case I destroyed evidence.”
“Could you smell anything?” Jenna drummed her fingers on the desktop. “If there was a corpse close by, you’d smell it.”
“Nope. I called out but heard nothing.” Rio passed her his iPad. “These are the images I took of the scene. It’s not much to go on, but as it’s human blood, it might be significant.”
“Good work.” Jenna stood and, using her phone, took a photograph of the map. “The last report I had from search and rescue and the other teams is they found no trace of her. They’ve been concentrating along the trails and have been searching the rivers and lakes as well, in case she fell into the water somewhere. I’ll contact Atohi and if he’s available, I’ll need you both to head up there with him first thing in the morning.”
Rowley shuffled his feet. They had a suspect in custody and someone would be needed to stay with him. “What about Adams?”
“Sam Cross will be here at five, and knowing him, he’ll have him out by six, but I’ve asked Deputy Walters if he’s willing to come in from six to midnight to watch our suspect should
we need to keep him overnight, and I have a relief deputy on standby from Louan for the second shift. I’ll be here to take over by seven if the need arises.” She looked from one to the other. “There’s nothing to keep you back. Head off home at five and I’ll see you in the morning.” She reached for her phone and then looked at Rowley. “How is Sandy?”
Rowley smiled at her. “Everything is going along just fine. The doctor says to expect the babies the end of January.” He laughed. “I hope she doesn’t decide to have them in the middle of a blizzard.”
“Me too.” Jenna chuckled. “Unfortunately, when it comes to babies arriving, when they’ve made up their minds it’s time, their moms don’t have much choice.”
Twenty-Six
The case Jenna’s team had compiled against Riley Adams gained momentum the moment Kane walked into her office with the search warrants. She stood and took them from him, scanning the pages. “Oh, you have gotten everything you asked for. This is amazing.” She smiled up at him. “I figure Wolfe will want to be on scene. I’ll give him a call. As I need to keep a low profile in this case, I’ll give you the pleasure of serving them on Adams.”
“Maybe they’ll wipe the smile off his face.” Kane collected the documents from her and tapped them into a neat pile. “I’ll give them to him when his lawyer gets here.”
“I hope this is our guy. I guess at some point in our murder investigations we’re due for a break.” Jenna leaned against her desk. “Rowley and Rio discovered evidence of a possible struggle some ways from the murder scene.” She filled him in with the details. “Wolfe is running the DNA from the ear attached to my house against the blood Rio found. I’ve contacted Atohi and he’ll get a group of trackers together to hunt down June Harris. He’s meeting Rowley and Rio at first light out at Bear Peak.”
The phone on Jenna’s desk buzzed and she lifted the receiver. “Sheriff Alton.”
“It’s Maggie from the front counter. Sam Cross has arrived. Where do you want me to send him?”
Jenna glanced at Kane. “Just a second. He’s early.” She covered the mouthpiece. “Do you want to take Sam Cross to the interview room? You’ll need to be on hand to interview Adams. I’ll send Rio to meet Wolfe and do the search. I’d rather not hold up Rowley this afternoon, he should get home to Sandy.”
“Not a problem.” Kane looked at her. “I hope Cross won’t cause a problem.”
“It’s only me he has trouble with.” Jenna uncovered the phone to speak to Maggie. “Kane is on his way. Thanks Maggie.” She put down the phone and chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m out of things to do. I’ve updated the files. If you don’t need me, I might drop by Marvelous Cookies. I’ve been itching to see inside. Maggie has been telling everyone how great they are. The shop is down the alleyway beside the general store. It’s been made to look like a store from the eighteenth century. I figure you’ll want a box of their finest?”
“I sure will, but not many can make chocolate chip cookies like you, Jenna.” Kane smiled at her, finished his coffee, and stood. “As it’s getting late, I wonder if you could do something for me, as you’re heading downtown?”
Jenna nodded. “Of course, what is it?”
“I ordered a box of gun cleaning patches and they called to tell me they’d arrived.” He sighed. “The gun supplies store will be closed before we leave here tonight. Could you go by and get them for me? I paid for them already.”
“Not a problem.” Jenna pushed to her feet. “I’ll go now. I’ll be back in twenty minutes max.” She grabbed her jacket, followed him out the door and down the stairs. She nodded at Sam Cross waiting at the counter. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Deputy Kane will take you to your client.”
When Kane headed to the interview room with Sam Cross, Jenna hunted down Zac Rio. “I have to go out for a few minutes. Kane has a search warrant for Riley Adams’ home and vehicle. Contact Wolfe and see if he will go with you to conduct the search. Get a copy of the paperwork from Kane and head out there as soon as possible. Adams lives out Snowberry Way but his truck is parked out front of the Sunset Valley nursing home. Adams’ keys are in the property room.” She sighed. “If Wolfe can’t go with you, ask Colt Webber. You know the drill: glove up, take photographs, bag all evidence.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rio picked up his phone.
Jenna had headed out the door pulling on her jacket when a bark came from behind her. She turned to see Duke looking at her expectantly. “Okay, come on.” She hurried out the door.
She headed down Main with Duke on her heels. The town was unusually quiet. Another storm had been forecast for later and perhaps people had made their way home earlier than usual. A few people moved along the sidewalk, like her bundled up against the oncoming chill of night. Hurrying along, she admired the Halloween decorations filling the storefronts. Garlands of plastic pumpkins had been strung between the lampposts and gave the town a festive look. The afternoon was growing late, and mist poured from the river to overflow through town like a swirling snake. It seemed almost alive, a strange white beast of the night, changing into shapes and bending the imagination. It billowed toward Jenna as a vehicle drove through it, sending it toward her in great waves of white diaphanous creepiness.
The mist had added a surreal sensation to Halloween every year since she’d arrived in town. It was never just one night of celebration in Black Rock Falls. Decorations started to appear two weeks or more before October 31, and this year they had taken on a new level of bizarre. A shiver went down her spine at the overly realistic corpses sitting in chairs in people’s front yards and the grinning skeletons in various stages of dismemberment. It would seem that macabre had become the new normal.
After everything she’d seen since moving to Black Rock Falls, she would have thought her skin would have thickened considerably and she’d become immune to the horrors of murder and mayhem, but in truth, she’d never get used to it and she still believed in ghosts. She glanced down at Duke, glad to have his company as she made her way to the gun supplies store. She moved inside, surprised to see the store almost empty, and hurried to the counter. “Hi, you have an order for Dave Kane?”
“Sure thing, he said he’d be by this afternoon, Sheriff.” The man behind the counter was elderly, with weather-beaten, leathery skin and a shock of white hair. His dark brown eyes twinkled at her. “It’s quiet this afternoon. Strange for this time of the year. Most are out looking at the decorations. I figure it’s the storm warning. Those dry storms are dangerous.” He took a packet from behind the counter, slid it into a shopping bag, and handed it to her. “There you go.”
Jenna took the bag and smiled at him. “Thank you.” She headed out of the store. “Come on, Duke, stay close now. I don’t want to lose you in the mist.”
She walked two blocks down Main, crossing twice before she came to the alleyway beside the general store. Everything possible had been done to create an old-world atmosphere, right down to cobblestones and a replica of a gaslit street lamp. The store’s round windows displayed the treats within, not just cookies of every shape, flavor, and size, but also enough cakes and muffins to keep a smile on Kane’s face for life. She chuckled and, after telling Duke to sit outside, pushed open the door. A bell tinkled above her head and it was as if she’d walked back in time. Even the woman serving behind the counter had dressed the part. A dust cap covered a mass of brown curls, and her dress, straight out of the eighteenth century, brushed the floor when she walked.
Jenna nodded at her and perused the display. The cabinets still had a few cakes on the glass shelves, but the remaining cookies came wrapped or in decorative tins. She selected an assortment of cakes and took three packs of cookies. With them safely in the bag with Kane’s parcel, she pushed open the door. As she stepped outside, Duke made a whining sound. “You can have a cookie when we get back to the office.”
A thick white blanket of fog had risen to her knees, almost obscuring the dog. In the short time she’d been inside the store, everything had c
hanged. All around her buildings cast deep shadows, blocking the late afternoon sun, and concealing the far end of the alleyway joining Main to Maple. From between the buildings, the remaining beams of watery light skipped over the ever-moving band of water vapor, creating strange ethereal shapes. When Duke whined again, she patted her leg. “Let’s go. Come on, boy.”
Before she could take a step, a movement deep in the alleyway swirled the mist around her, sending a surge of ghostly dancers in her direction. Every hair on her body stood to attention as the figure of a man, wearing a cowboy hat and a slicker, emerged from the gloom. The air seemed to distort as the mist curled around him. Jenna’s hand went to her waist to grab her Maglite but came up empty. She’d left her heavy, duty belt back at the office, opting for a shoulder holster for the short trip to the store. Without hesitation, she slid her hand inside her jacket and closed her palm around the handle of her Glock. Heart thundering in her chest, she peered into the distorted alleyway, trying to make sense of what was in front of her. A hint of a breeze brushed her cheek like the ice-cold touch of a corpse as she stared at the tall figure. He stood silent, feet apart and back straight like a gunslinger from the old west as if he was planning on drawing down on her. Jenna swallowed hard. Was he really there or was her mind playing tricks on her? As the mist poured over him, almost burying him from sight, he seemed to dissolve and then become whole again. Could he be an illusion, or a figment of her overactive imagination?