by D. K. Hood
“Okay.” Jenna stood. “I’ve written down what you told me about meeting the Howards and seeing the couple on the trail at Bear Peak. Read it through and if it’s correct, sign it. I’ll be outside.”
She scanned her card and left with Kane close behind her. She leaned against the wall in the hallway. “What do you think?”
“To me he is no more than a witness. Yeah, we could make a case using circumstantial evidence, but with Adams and Long in the mix, it will never fly.” Kane shrugged and joined her, pressing his back to the wall. “We’ll get Rowley to check out his story, but I think we have zip against him.”
Jenna huffed out a sigh. “There’s my gut feeling again. I figure they’re all involved and somehow, by magic, telepathy, or whatever means he used, that James Stone is controlling them.”
“You should trust your gut.” Kane smiled. “Give his photograph to Bobby Kalo to add to the face recognition program he’s currently running to keep tabs on Adams and Long. If he acts suspiciously or any of them meet up, we’ll haul them back in.”
Tired from a long day, Jenna pulled open the door to the interview room. She collected the statement. “Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Foster.” She waved him out the door.
As they followed him, she turned to Kane. “I could really go for a steak at Antlers tonight.” She glanced at her watch. “If we eat now, it won’t be too late to tend the horses when we get home.”
“They only need to be led from the corral into the barn.” Kane followed her up the stairs to her office. “I fixed up their feed and water before I left this morning.”
Jenna dropped the statement on her desk, collected her coat and weapon before locking her office door and heading downstairs. Rio and his siblings were behind the front counter and Rowley was at his desk. The office was deserted and a heavy mist pressed against the glass front doors. Maggie had finished for the day. Jenna turned to Rowley. “Are you done?”
“Yeah.” Rowley closed his laptop and slid it under one arm. “The files are all up to date.”
Jenna smiled. “I have a statement from Mr. Foster but I’ll file that in the morning and some follow-up work for you. Head off home now. Sandy will be worried about you.”
“I called her earlier, she’s fine.” Rowley laughed. “I won’t be able to get my arms around her soon. The twins are growing really fast.”
“That’s good to know.” She walked to the front counter. The usually disorganized area looked spick and span. “Wow! I’ll have to get you guys to drop by more often. Thank you.”
“Time to go.” Zac waved the twins toward the door and looked at Jenna. “One thing I don’t have to worry about is cooking meals. My housekeeper is a dream come true.”
“Except when she’s polishing floors.” Cade pulled a face. “Then she’s like she’s possessed by a demon.”
Jenna laughed and followed everyone outside. They all moved away, heading for their respective vehicles. She locked up and mist rose up around her, the dampness touching her cheeks in a cold caress. As the trucks pulled away, darkness surrounded her. She hastened her step to Kane’s truck. Main seemed to be deserted apart from the ghoulish Halloween displays. The glow from the street lights poured over the pure white cloud of mist, turning it opaque, and in the distance the only lights spilling onto the sidewalk came from Aunt Betty’s Café. Movement and a churning of mist caught her attention. At the entrance to the alleyway opposite, she made out a figure of a man. Her heart skipped a beat as the cowboy hat and slicker loomed out of the shadows. She pulled her weapon and edged closer to Kane’s truck, not taking her eyes off the man. When Kane buzzed down his window, she spoke to him through her teeth. “The man with the crossbow I saw in the alleyway. He’s right over there.”
“Stay here and use the Beast for cover.” Kane climbed out and peered into the darkness. “Where is he?”
Jenna stared into the shadows. “Right there.” She indicated with her Glock.
Beside her Kane scanned the area, moving his head from right to left. “I don’t see anyone.”
Heart pounding, Jenna stared into the shadows. “He was in the mouth of the alleyway. Where could he go? It’s a dead end down there.”
“Did you see a crossbow? Or any weapon?” Kane’s stare remained fixed on the alleyway.
Jenna wound back the fleeting image in her mind: the swirling slicker, the cowboy hat, and his stance, with his feet apart. His hands were down by his sides, maybe in his pockets. She shook her head. “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure with the mist and all.”
“I’ll go take a look.” Kane grabbed a Kevlar vest from the back seat and pulled it over his head. “Stay here. I’m not his target.” He stepped out from cover and strode across Main, almost vanishing in the rising clouds of water vapor.
Fighting back the need to follow, Jenna rested her forearms on the hood of the Beast, tightened her hands around the handle of her weapon, and aimed. An arc of light filled the alleyway as Kane entered and moments later it was extinguished. Panic grabbed her by the throat. It was so quiet she could hear a pulse beating in her ears. “Dave, where are you?”
“I’m right here.” Kane emerged from the darkness and walked a few yards in both directions before crossing Main and returning to her side. “There’s no one there.”
Incredulous, Jenna stared at him but holstered her weapon. “I saw him. It was the same man who wrecked my house and the same person I saw in the alleyway the other night.”
“It must have been a trick of the light.” Kane put his arm around her and squeezed. “I’ve checked it out, and there’s no one in the alleyway, all the doors are locked up tight, no footprints, zip. It was your imagination playing tricks on you is all. These things happen when we’ve been traumatized, it’s a normal reaction to be overcautious.” He waved a hand at the headless ghoul riding a full-sized horse and brandishing a sword outside the liquor store. “Halloween does spike the imagination. That figure looks as if could come alive and ride down Main.” He chuckled and slid behind the wheel.
Unconvinced, Jenna peered over one shoulder at the dark alleyway before climbing into the passenger seat. The space where the man had stood was empty, but she hadn’t imagined seeing the man. Someone was out there watching her, and she darn well knew it.
Forty-Five
Friday, Week Two
Dark clouds hung over the ranch like a warning to stay home as Jenna stepped out of the barn. She turned to Kane. “Yeah, looking at that sky, we’re in for a storm sometime today. It’s best we leave the horses in the barn.”
“Heads up.” Kane motioned to a man wearing fatigues with a captain’s insignia heading in their direction. “I hope they’ve finished at last.”
Jenna looked at him and turned her mouth down. “Can’t you wait to see the back of me?”
“Nah.” Kane gave her a hug. “I just like it better without a yard filled with soldiers. The smell reminded me of my last tour of duty.”
Jenna chuckled. “Well, if it ever decides to rain, it will freshen things up a bit.” She headed to meet the man.
“We’re all done here, ma’am.” The captain motioned toward the house. “I’ll walk you through the changes and then we’re bugging out.”
“Sure.” Jenna followed him to the house and up the steps to the porch.
The freshly painted front door had changed considerably. Gone were the glass panels on either side, and the front windows had security mesh installed. She walked inside. The smell of paint lingered, but the house looked much the same as before the intruder had trashed it, apart from a black circular leather sofa that curled around the rug in front of the fireplace and was large enough to sit eight. Two matching overstuffed chairs sat on either side.
“Do you like it?” Kane walked up behind her. “Surprise.”
She turned and looked at him. “You bought that for me?”
“Yeah.” He grinned.
“Okay, ma’am.” The captain cleared his throat. “As per my
instructions, entry to the house is by fingerprint. You can scan one to four fingerprints into the system. It’s run on an independent power supply and backed up with batteries. You’ll get a notification on your phone if the batteries are running low. You also have a backup generator in the house now—it’s in the cellar beside the gym. As requested, there is an escape hatch inside the office, situated under the desk. It is one-way. It can’t be opened from the outside. The front gate is the same, and the perimeter boundary has been extended to twelve feet high. It has been calibrated so you won’t be troubled by birds, horses, wildlife, or your dog setting off the alarm.” He sighed. “If everything is to your satisfaction, we’ll be on our way.”
“I’ll take a look at the generator.” Kane headed off in the direction of the cellar.
After moving around the house and setting up the entry alarm, Jenna thanked the captain and his regiment for their assistance. She stood at the door with Kane and watched the trucks disappear down her driveway in a cloud of dust. “I’m glad we started early this morning.” They headed back to the cottage. “We’ll just have time to eat before we head out to the office.”
The sky rumbled and a few flashes of lightning zigzagged the sky over the horizon as they headed for town. The whine from Duke made Jenna turn up the tunes on the radio. “It’s okay, Duke. I brought cookies and you’ll be safe in the office today.”
“He doesn’t sound too convinced.” Kane slowed the truck as they joined a stream of traffic into Main. “What’s going on here?”
Jenna peered ahead. “The road must be blocked, there’s no oncoming traffic. An accident maybe?” She buzzed down her window and beckoned to a man walking on the sidewalk. “What’s happened?”
“Car wreck.” The man pushed his hands into his pockets. “Three vehicles blocking the road.”
“Thanks.” Jenna turned to Kane. “Can you get closer?”
“Sure.” He hit the lights and sirens and headed up the wrong side of Main.
Ahead, Jenna made out smoke and pulled out the fire extinguisher from under her seat. “Pull into the alleyway beside the soup kitchen.”
They jumped out and ran along the sidewalk, pushing through a group of onlookers. A trio of vehicles greeted them. One was pouring steam into the air from a busted radiator, and the others all had damage. She tossed the fire extinguisher to Kane and went to the huddle of people exchanging details. “What happened here? Is anyone hurt?”
“No ma’am, and we have tow trucks coming from George’s Garage. Deputy Rowley is on his way.” A man in his sixties with silver hair and wearing a thick brown coat and gloves looked at her. “Some idiot came flying out of the alleyway. I swerved to miss him and hit the Toyota, the GMC ran into the back of him.”
“Did you get a plate number of the truck?” Kane raised an eyebrow. “The make, model?”
“No, we were just saying that it came out so fast and took off at high speed.” The man frowned. “It was a white pickup, Ford maybe. I was kind of busy trying to save myself at that point.” He looked at the crowd. “Anyone see anything? Any camera footage?”
Not one person put up their hand. Jenna looked at the three car owners. “I’ll take some photographs and file a report for your insurance companies. We’ll need to clear the road as soon as possible.” She sighed with relief as Rowley jogged into view.
“Rio is at the other end of Main diverting traffic. We have a clear path for the tow trucks.” Rowley looked behind her at the vehicles at a standstill. “Do you want me to walk down and detour the traffic via Maple?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” She took the fire extinguisher from Kane. “Can you drop this into the Beast on your way past? We’ll capture the scene for the insurance and get everyone’s details.”
“Sure.” Rowley took it from her and headed through the crowd.
It took forever to get the wrecks onto the tow trucks and clear up the mess. She’d collected everyone’s details, had no witnesses that had actually seen anything but the aftermath, but it didn’t bother her too much. The CCTV cameras along Main would have picked up the truck and she’d be able to hunt it down easily enough. When Kane came back with a sour expression, she went to his side. “What’s up?”
“I pulled up the CCTV camera footage on my phone and we have nothing from six this morning. I’m not sure, but it looks like they used a laser pointer to disable it. There’s a flash and the camera goes offline.” The nerve in Kane’s jaw twitched. “I hope it’s not kids planning something spooky and illegal for Halloween.”
Jenna sighed. “So, our chances of catching the guy in the white truck are zero?” She looked up at him. “All these so-called coincidences are starting to freak me out. Things happen, but this is darn right weird. If you find the door back to our dimension, pull me through with you. I’m so over this week.”
“I’ll keep a lookout.” Kane chuckled. “I have to admit this has been the weirdest week I’ve ever worked, and we’ve experienced every ride at the fairground.” He looked up as another flash of lightning lit up the sky and thunder rolled. “No rain again. These dry storms are darn right dangerous when the ground is so dry.”
They arrived at the Beast and Jenna slipped into the passenger seat. She heard Kane mutter under his breath and then a whistle that almost burst her eardrums. She leaned across the seat to look out the open window at him. When he repeated the whistle and walked back and forth staring in all directions, concerned, she climbed out of the truck and went to his side. “Who are you whistling?”
“Duke.” Kane’s expression was distraught. “He’s gone.”
Forty-Six
Jenna pulled open the back door and stared at the blanket Duke was snuggled in when they’d left him. She spun around to Kane. “You did secure him with his harness, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did.” Kane paced up and down, rubbing the back of his neck. “He can’t unclip himself. His leash is missing as well.”
Jenna stood beside him and touched his arm. “Are you sure he couldn’t have unclipped his harness? I’ve seen him biting at the clasp—he knows what it is and how it works. He’s very smart.”
“Then we’ll take a closer look.” Kane turned back to the Beast and leaned inside. “There are toothmarks on the seatbelt clasp. They could’ve been there from before. He can’t get out of his harness, but if he managed to unclip the seatbelt, he could slip right out of the truck. His leash was attached, he’d be trailing it behind him.” He removed his Stetson and ran a hand through his hair in an agitated manner. “Why would he leave the safety of the truck? He’s never jumped out the window before.”
Jenna pointed skyward. “The storm could have frightened him, and he was alone. You know he likes to hide and he needs someone to comfort him. If he jumped out in fear and couldn’t find us in the crowd, he’d look for the safest hideout. We’ll have to figure out where he’d go. He knows his way around town.” She looked at him. “Who does he trust?”
“Me, you, Atohi, Maggie.” Kane rubbed his chin, thinking. “He likes Carter and I guess Susie Hartwig, because she always feeds him something special.” He shrugged. “Or he’s hightailed it to the office to hide under Maggie’s desk. I’d say Aunt Betty’s would be the closest place, and it has food.” He buzzed up the window and locked the Beast. “We’ll walk and ask people as we go.” He shook his head. “If he was close by, he’d come back. Duke always comes when I whistle. I’ve got a real bad feeling about this.”
“I’ll call Rowley and then Maggie in case they’ve seen him. You keep whistling.” Stomach cramping, Jenna pulled out her phone. “Hey, did you see Duke in Kane’s truck when you returned the fire extinguisher?”
“Nope. I figured you’d left him home today.” Rowley sounded concerned. “Is he missing?”
Jenna gripped the phone. “Yeah. He was wearing a harness and secured as usual. We don’t know how he got out, but the window was left open for him. Are you back at the office?”
“Yeah. I’ll s
ee if he’s here.” After a minute or so, Rowley cleared his throat. “He’s not here. What do you want me to do? I can’t put out a BOLO on a dog.”
“No. We’ll hunt him down. He can’t have gotten far.” Jenna chewed on her bottom lip. “While we’re gone, check Foster’s alibis at the times of the murders. Call Bobby Kalo, and get Foster’s image to him. I’d like eyes on the movements of all our suspects.” Jenna thought for a beat. “And ask Rio to put out a media release asking for anyone who witnessed the car wreck on Main to come forward.”
“Yes, ma’am, and I’ll call you if Duke shows up here.” Rowley disconnected.
Kane was on his phone as she walked to his side. “Duke wouldn’t go willingly with anyone he doesn’t know, not after that asshole tried to starve him to death. Yeah, I agree, he might well be heading to the res. He feels safe there.” Kane listened for a time. “Okay, yeah, I’ll do that, thanks, Atohi.” He disconnected and turned to Jenna. “Atohi said due to the dry storms coming through this week, the fire department has wildfire watchers back in the towers. He knows most of them and will call them to watch out for Duke just in case he’s heading for the res, same with the forest wardens.” He shrugged. “I know it sounds farfetched for Duke to head into the forest, but he’s a dog—who knows what goes on inside his head?”
Jenna continued to scan the sidewalk. “What did Atohi suggest?”
“Duke likes familiar places but, in a storm, could hide anywhere.” Kane shrugged. “I figure, first up we should talk to people in the immediate area. The car wreck had people’s interest but they might have seen Duke, especially as he was dragging his leash.”
They walked to Aunt Betty’s, stopping familiar faces and asking if they’d seen Duke. The bloodhound was so well known around town that the locals’ concern was evident. Jenna pushed open the door to Aunt Betty’s Café and went to the counter. Susie Hartwig came right over. “Hi, Susie. Has Duke wandered by this morning? We can’t find him.”