Bring Me Flowers_A gripping serial-killer thriller with a shocking twist Read online

  “She won’t let her guard down in front of us or anyone else. Maybe you need to get closer to her. I’m not saying sleep with her but she needs a shoulder to lean on. We all have our breaking point—even you.”

  “She respects I have feelings for my wife and the job makes it difficult.” He grimaced. “You wait until you feel the lash of her tongue the moment you step on her toes at the office.”

  “I’ll make a point of keeping well clear of her toes.”

  Kane rubbed his chin. “I admire how feisty she is. She can fight with the best of them.”

  “Well, Jenna is never going to be the quiet type, is she?” Wolfe placed his bag at his feet and huffed a weary sigh. “Forget Jenna for a moment. I’ll need to give my girls a call then I’m heading to the funeral home. I’d like to get the autopsy out of the way ASAP. The time of death could be out by some time, depending on how long the killer kept her in the hot spa before laying her out on the diving board.” He waved a hand toward Jenna. “If you’re worried about her, offer to go with her to see the parents. If they ask, I’m afraid they won’t be able to view Kate until I’ve finished. Probably in the morning. Once I release her body, I’ll let you know.”

  “How do you cope when you have to do autopsies on kids?”

  “It doesn’t matter who I have on my table; they all need my help. I’m the voice who tells their story and brings their killer to justice.” Wolfe’s gaze was cold and steady. “They deserve dignity and a name. To me they are never ‘the victim.’ If they are a Jane Doe then that’s their identity in my mind until proven otherwise.” He shrugged. “Does it make me angry or sad? More than you’ll ever know. I’ve seen what man is capable of doing in war to protect his country but when someone tortures for enjoyment, it churns my guts the same as the next man.” He nodded toward Jenna. “Do as I say and keep her company tonight; she is walking a tightrope right now and needs a friend.”

  “I’ll do my best.” He strolled toward Jenna and waited some distance away as she spoke to a man he assumed to be Chad’s father.

  When the car drove away, he went to her side. “I would like to come with you to see Kate’s parents, then I need to escape from the horror of the last couple of days. I’m going home to switch off for a while. Maybe watch a cheesy movie or something.”

  She gave him one of her “Jenna has left the building” stares and ignored him, but her gaze moved around the complex and a tremble went through her. “I can feel the killer here, as if he is watching us—what if it’s two men? I’ve been wrong before, haven’t I?”

  Considering she could be suffering from undiagnosed PTSD, Kane took her by the arm. “What makes you believe he is watching you?”

  “Chad called Kate’s cellphone when he arrived and heard her ringtone somewhere nearby.” She looked up at him and fear flashed in her eyes. “He was here watching to see how Chad would react to seeing his girlfriend gutted.”

  When she did not shrug off his hand, he gave her a gentle squeeze. “I checked the immediate area. All the passageways have locked doors. He may have been inside the pool area at that time but left before we arrived.”

  “How? Chad didn’t see anyone and the gate was locked.” She glanced around at the woodland along the opposite side of the driveway. “I bet he is over there watching us.”

  “Then we’ll take a look. Get in the car.” He opened the door of his SUV and slipped behind the wheel.

  The engine of his powerful vehicle roared into life. He backed up then hit the spotlights, and two beams of white halogen light pierced the dark woodland for fifty feet or more. Bats flew out of the trees in a cloud of confusion but nothing else moved. “He’s long gone and wouldn’t have risked hanging around to be identified.” He turned to look at her pinched expression. “We’ll talk to the parents then I’m taking you home. Grab your stuff and come over to my place, and we’ll watch a movie.”

  “Why?” She gave him a long, confused stare.

  He shrugged. “I need to leave the job behind for a few hours and I need some company before I lose it big time.”

  “You lose it? Give me a break.” Jenna snapped back into sheriff mode and snorted with mirth. “Between you and Wolfe, I don’t need to wait for winter for the room temperature to drop to subzero.” She turned in her seat, her expression hidden in shadows. “But I will take you up on the offer of wine and a movie. I can’t wait to tell Maggie a tough guy like you enjoys watching romcoms.”

  He spun the SUV around and headed for the gate. The task ahead would be depressing to the max and he needed to keep the banter between them light-hearted. “I’ve created a monster.” He smiled at her. “No, I take that back, once Maggie spreads that news around town, everyone will know I’m really a sensitive guy.”

  “Good luck with that.” Jenna placed one small hand on his arm. “I think we should close the gate once the ambulance has left.”

  Kane pulled up at the curb. “Yeah, and I’ll wrap some tape around it to keep the kids out of the area until I notify the dean. Although, he is likely vacationing somewhere.” He glanced at her. “Have you called a support person for the Brights?”

  “Not yet, and I can’t find any other people with the last name Bright in the local phone listings. It’s late and someone local would be ideal.” She frowned. “Apparently Reverend Jones has been very helpful for the Parkers. I know they go to the same church, and as it happens, I have his number in my contacts list.” She pulled out her cellphone. The light from the screen illuminated her worried expression. “Do you think I should call him?”

  “If you don’t have the contact number of a family member, I guess a reverend would be the next best person.”

  “Okay, I can at least ask him.” Jenna shook her dark head then called Jones and asked him to meet them at the Brights’ residence.

  Once the ambulance and Wolfe had left, Kane went to shut the gate and noticed a squashed flower on the driveway not far from the entrance. Moving back inside, he bent to examine it; noting the resemblance to the ones left with Kate’s body, he dropped the plant into an evidence bag and pushed it into his pocket. He straightened then headed into the trees adjacent to the long driveway, using his flashlight to search the area of woods close to the road.

  He noticed a small patch of disturbed earth as if someone had wrenched the flowers out by the roots then broken the stems and scattered the remains. “So that’s where he collected the flowers.” He did a visual scan of the area.

  On closer inspection, he found a clear, small footprint in the disturbed soil. He pulled out his cellphone and took photographs using his boot beside the imprint to give a size comparison. If the footprint belonged to Kate, which he imagined it did, he had a clear sequence of events. He strolled back to the gate and after wrapping crime scene tape around the bars, he climbed back behind the wheel.

  “Did you find something?” Jenna’s dark gaze fixed on his face.

  “A flower. The killer took them with him, which proves intent; going on how he left flowers at the last two crime scenes, this has to be the same person. Somehow he knew she would be at the pool and at what time.”

  “What makes you think he didn’t follow her?”

  “There is a patch of disturbed earth where someone pulled out the flowers and a small footprint in the upturned soil. If the footprint matches Kate’s shoes, then she had to have walked through the woods after the killer collected the flowers. I wouldn’t mind betting she arrived at six thirty as originally planned.”

  “I guess the time of death will give us a better idea but Chad did say he planned to meet her at eight thirty and found her minutes after.”

  “What the killer did to her takes time and he wanted to savor every second.” Kane shook his head in disgust. “You mentioned Chad received a message via his online game room changing the meeting time from six thirty to eight thirty. How the hell did the killer have time to inflict so many injuries?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Kane drummed hi
s fingers on the steering wheel and stared toward the woods. “We have proof the killer was close by because Chad heard the ringtone of Kate’s cellphone. When we arrived, there was no one else in the pool area. Trust me, I had a good look around and found zip. My guess is he watched Chad, then took off into the woods to take Chad’s call, then made his escape.”

  “Just a minute.” Jenna turned and wrinkled her nose, something she did when sorting out a problem. “This all sounds reasonable but you have missed the main point. How did the killer know she would be at the campus in the first place?” She tapped her bottom lip. “We’ll need to ask Chad when and where he asked her on the date. Chad mentioned Aimee and Lucas knew about the date. The killer must have been near them at the time to have this information but we can rule out Lucas. He has an alibi for Felicity’s murder and Chad was in contact with him around the time of the murder.” Jenna let out a long sigh. “If the killer is the same person Helena Police Department is looking for, he is a very smart cookie.”

  “If this lunatic is the same man, this changes everything. Up to now everything pointed to him being local. We have to think outside the box. Who works in a job that would get them close to young people in a short time and be privy to their private information?”

  “Just about everyone on our list of suspects.” Jenna worried her bottom lip, making it cherry-red. “Rogers started at the school in January; both cowboys come and go; the computer guy, Lionel Provine, took over the store around December, I think. The only suspect who has lived in town all his life is Felicity’s boyfriend, Derick, but he moves around with the team playing football and they do stay at least two nights in each town.” She shrugged. “I’ll be interested to find out if they all have alibis for tonight.”

  “Then there is the janitor.” Kane turned to look at her. “Kids of this age use Facebook and give out intimate details of their lives. I mean we have no idea if her friends told anyone else she was meeting Chad. It could be all over social media for all we know.” He sighed. “It looks as if we have a lot of work to do.”

  He started the engine and headed toward the main road. On the corner of Stanton Road, the headlights picked up a blue sedan parked alongside the forest. He slowed his vehicle. “That’s a strange place to leave a vehicle. Did you notice it parked there when we arrived?”

  “I’m not sure. You drove like a bat out of hell.”

  Pulling to the curb beside the car, he slipped from behind the wheel and, using his flashlight, examined the vehicle. Something inside moved and his heart raced. He reached for his weapon. “Sheriff’s department. Put your hands where I can see them.”

  Angling his Glock along the flashlight, he approached with caution and the beam of light fell on Steve Rogers’ face. “Get out of the car, hands on head.”

  In his periphery, he noticed Jenna moving toward him, weapon drawn. He kicked Rogers’ feet apart and patted him down. Finding no weapons, he spun him around, noticing his disheveled appearance and the circles of sweat marking the underarms of his shirt. The top button of his mud-spattered jeans was unfastened and he was barefoot. He glanced inside the car and noticed a laptop on the passenger seat. “What brings you out at this time of night, Mr. Rogers?”

  “I heard sirens and thought there might be something going on, so I came down here to take a look.” Rogers refused to meet his gaze. “No crime in sitting in my car is there?”

  Kane flicked a glance at Jenna and shrugged. “No, but you appear to be a little hot and bothered. What else have you been doing tonight? Jogging in the forest perhaps? And do you usually run with bare feet?”

  “I haven’t been doing anything. I heard gunshots and forgot my shoes when I dashed out to see what was happening. There’s no law about not wearing shoes is there?”

  “No.” Kane glared at him. “What gunshots are you talking about?”

  “I heard them but I checked the local news on my cellphone and nothing has been reported.” His thin lips twitched. “What did happen?”

  Kane shrugged. “Kids broke into the college and set off a few fireworks is all. Nothing for you to worry about.” He opened the car door. “Why don’t you head on home.”

  Kane waited for him to drive away and turned to Jenna. “He had a laptop on the front seat and did you see the way he was dressed? He was sweaty and looked out of breath as if he’d been running.” He sighed. “Man, I’d love an excuse to look at the history on his cellphone.”

  “Look over there. I think I see tire marks on the edge of the road.”

  He moved the flashlight over the grass and they followed the track into a clump of trees. “Someone parked here, and if he is our killer, he could have run here from the college, but although Rogers had splashes of mud on him, his feet looked clean but he could have removed his shoes. Perhaps he wanted to watch the people coming and going to the scene. Maybe he planned to leave, saw our headlights, and stopped then ducked down to pretend the car was empty.”

  “Yeah.” Jenna stared blankly at the empty road. “Especially as Chad can place the killer at the scene between eight thirty and eight forty-five. Maybe we should have arrested Rogers?”

  Kane gave her a sideways look. “On suspicion of murder? Finding him in a car in the local area half an hour at least after the fact without a shred of evidence to prove our case, his lawyer will have us up on harassment charges. We could seize his computer with suspicion of child porn or money laundering. Take your pick.” Exhausted, he rolled his shoulders and headed back to the SUV. “How do you want to proceed?”

  “We’ll leave him for now but he has moved up the suspect list. I wish we had enough on him for Wolfe to access his computer to see what he was doing.”

  “Again, the judge will laugh the paperwork out of his office.” Kane raised an eyebrow. “Where to?”

  “I’ll enter the Brights’ address in the GPS.” Jenna took out her notebook and went to work. “First we inform the parents some maniac has murdered their daughter.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Kane slid behind the wheel and started the engine.

  Thirty-One

  After informing the stunned and shocked parents of Kate Bright, Jenna decided to leave them in the capable hands of Reverend Jones. The reverend had solemnly informed them he would go with them to the mortuary and help arrange the funeral once Wolfe released Kate’s body. Glad to have the awful business over, she stood. “You have my card if you need to contact me.”

  “Dear God, how did this happen?” Mr. Bright gave her a blank look and stared at the card in his hand. “I thought she was safe in her room. Why didn’t I check on her?” He glanced at Kane and anger replaced devastation. “I want to be there when you catch this animal. I’ll tear him apart with my bare hands.” He raked at his tear-filled eyes and body shook with grief. He clasped Kane’s arm. “Tell me you’ll catch this son of a bitch.”

  “We’ll catch him, sir.” Kane turned his concerned gaze on her. “Ma’am?”

  A flashback of being tied, helpless and in the hands of two killers, hit Jenna like a train. The conversation swirled around her like water flowing down the drain in the sink. The next moment someone gripped her arm. She panicked, wanting to run away, then Kane’s voice broke through the buzzing in her head.

  “I think we should call back at another time. We need to leave these people to get some rest.”

  She focused on his face and nodded. “Yes, of course. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “Just catch the man who did this to my little girl.” Mr. Bright mopped at the tears welling in his red-rimmed eyes. “I want to see her.”

  Jenna cleared her throat. “Yes, of course. I’ll contact you the moment the M.E has released her.”

  Relieved to be leaving the pain and misery behind, Jenna followed Kane to his SUV. “I hope the reverend will be able to help them cope.”

  Jenna noticed Kane stiffen and the tick in his cheek.

  “I don’t do religion.” Kane shrugged then his blue gaze moved to her face. “I kill
people, maybe in the line of duty but I don’t expect a welcome at the Pearly Gates. I’m paying for my sins every day of my life.”

  “It’s not a sin to protect your country or to save a life.” Astonished her iceman had vented his innermost feelings, she gaped at him. “I thought you liked living in Black Rock Falls?”

  “Like is a pretty strong word.” Kane snorted in derision and his lips turned down. “A new life maybe, and having you as my boss is a bonus, but I watched my wife die and I live in pain. I’ll probably be stuck here for the rest of my life.”

  “Oh my God.” Jenna punched him hard in the bicep and pain shot up her arm. Dammit, she had got close to breaking her knuckles, and Kane only looked at her with one raised black eyebrow. He had not moved an inch. “What the hell is wrong with you? Poor boy, are you feeling sorry for yourself? Want me to buy you a pacifier?” She glared at him. “Pull yourself together.”

  When Kane flashed her a brilliant white smile, she gaped at him, speechless, rubbing her throbbing hand.

  “That’s the Jenna I know.” He mussed up her hair with one big hand and chuckled. “I thought you had checked out on me for a while before—and next time, punch me in a soft area, or knee me in the groin if you want to get my attention, or you’ll hurt yourself.” He sauntered toward the car.

  Running her fingers through her hair, she followed him. “What do you mean by that comment? Are you saying I’m demanding?” She climbed into the passenger seat and turned to see him trying to hide a smile. “What’s so funny?”

  “Not a thing, ma’am.” Kane’s full mouth twitched at the corners. He started the engine and turned the SUV for home. “The last few days have been horrific and I’m glad to have you back.”

  “I haven’t been anywhere.” The meaning to his words dropped into place and she shrugged. “Okay, yes, I had a few flashbacks. It’s hard not to relate to what the victims went through. I’ve been there, and if you hadn’t arrived, the Daniels brothers would have raped and murdered me. I know they are dead and can’t hurt me. What’s happening to me?”