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  “Oh, I get there by lunchtime. I like Black Rock Falls. I look at the stores, have a meal at Aunt Betty’s Café. I don’t have to be at work until closing.” Angelique smiled. “It’s not a difficult job, and some days it only takes me an hour to stack the shelves. People don’t read that many books anymore, it is all about e-books now. Once I’ve finished, my time is my own.”

  Time enough to commit murder. Jenna pushed to her feet. She did not have enough evidence to obtain an arrest warrant. “Well, that’s all we need for now. Thank you for all your help. We’ll see ourselves out.”

  Jenna thanked Parks for her help then climbed into the front seat of Kane’s vehicle and looked at him. “What do you think?”

  “She ticks all the boxes.”

  She pulled out the earbud and sighed. “Yeah, I agree, and her mood swings almost like a split personality, but she is tiny, maybe five two, and doesn’t look capable of killing anyone let alone a man the size of Ely Dorsey.”

  “Says the woman who just took down a lunatic with a gun, who weighed at least two hundred pounds.” Kane flicked her an amused glance.

  She welcomed his ego stroke. Kane did not hand out compliments often. “We’ll head back to the office. Wolfe will be doing Jane’s autopsy by now. Once we update the case files and include an incident report on what happened today—” she let out a long sigh “—we should be able to leave by five for a change.”

  “Hallelujah.”

  41

  That evening, in her bedroom, she laughed to herself as she turned on her computer. The latest news bulletin stated the sheriff had made no further statements about the mysterious deaths of Amos Price and Ely Dorsey, or the death of Jane Stickler. She had the Black Rock Falls Sheriff’s Department running all over the state, and one phone call to Deputy Kane tomorrow from a payphone would have them all scampering up the mountain to look for graves. Everything was going to plan.

  She entered the chat room and signed in as Needy Girl then waited. After a few moments, she noticed his username, Eighteen and Lonely, in a list, and a message box opened up moments later.

  She ran her fingers over the hunting knife and smiled. Her time spent running the blade over a whetstone had been worth the effort. The edge glistened under the overhead lights, reflecting patterns around the room. She took a firm grip on the handle and practiced an upward thrusting motion. The knife fit snugly in her palm. The guard at one end would stop her hand slipping in the blood and onto the blade.

  There would be a lot of blood.

  She would need to strike fast and hard because if she missed, he would kill her without a second thought.

  I will not miss.

  Allowing each potential scenario to percolate through her mind, she wet her lips, confident she had a plan to kill a monster. A message popped up on her screen.

  Hey, Needy Girl, do you like clowns?

  42

  Tuesday, week two

  Jenna stepped out on her porch and blinked into the sunshine. She slipped on her sunglasses and surveyed her domain. The rain overnight had refreshed the lush vegetation surrounding her land in various shades of green. The air had the fresh-cut hay smell she loved, and inhaling deeply, she strolled down the steps and headed to the corral. She had not had time to breathe let alone enjoy the two horses Kane had purchased, but she found them groomed and glossy, munching the overgrown grass. She wondered what would happen when they ate all the grass, because Kane had not mentioned using any of the other paddocks.

  “Hey, Jenna, admiring the horses?”

  Jenna turned at Kane’s voice. I have to admit they are beautiful creatures but a lot of extra work for you.”

  “I don’t mind; it doesn’t take that long to groom them and muck them out.” Kane leaned his tanned forearms on the top rail of the corral and smiled. “I feel peaceful when I’m with them and I can get my mind straight.” His attention followed the moving horses. “There are so many angles to consider with these new cases, I need time to reflect.”

  “I agree but I do my best figuring in bed.” She took a position beside him. “I’m looking forward to having the time to take a ride. You do know all the surrounding paddocks up to the line of trees are on my land so if you need it for the horses, go right ahead.”

  “Thanks.” He looked down at her. “I’m done here—are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah, I just have to lock up.” She met his gaze. “I’ll follow you into town.”

  “Sure.” His mouth twitched at the corners and he touched his hat before ambling to his vehicle.

  She stared after him. Their workout this morning had been brutal and she had staggered into the shower with her legs shaking. Often Kane would return after he had showered and eat breakfast or drink coffee with her and mull over the caseload, but this morning he was a no-show. His mind worked on cases differently to her own; he often kept silent until he had digested all the facts then spit them out in a long monologue. She barked her ideas at everyone expecting them to collect the evidence she required.

  After setting her house alarm and picking up a travel cup of coffee to drink on the way, she climbed into her vehicle and followed Kane’s black SUV to the office.

  She pulled up in her usual space, noting Wolfe had arrived. She hoped he would have the findings from the autopsy on Jane Stickler. Her stomach gave a little twist as she slipped out from behind the wheel and headed for the front door. The bright sunny day had suddenly turned ominous. Hearing about the last moments in a young girl’s life was not on her list of favorite things to do.

  She greeted Maggie with a wave. It was unusual seeing a line of people waiting at the front desk. To her surprise, her deputies—with the exception of Walters, who was now working part-time—appeared to be hard at work in their cubicles. She glanced at her watch, wondering if she was late, then noticed Rowley waiting by her office door with a perturbed expression. Has everyone arrived before me this morning? “Morning, did you want to speak to me?”

  “Yes, ma’am, if you have a moment?”

  She removed her weapon and slipped it into the desk drawer with her keys then sat down and looked up at him. “What can I do for you?”

  “Yesterday, I sent Webber out to investigate the complaints we’ve received about dogs running loose in town. Ah, Kane mentioned them being dangerous and all.”

  “Yes.” Jenna drummed her fingernails on the desk, and the action made Rowley’s face pale.

  “Well, seems he wrote about twenty tickets or more. I was on the 911 call-out last night and people were calling me at all hours complaining about him.” His cheeks pinked. “I thought you should know, ma’am.”

  Annoyed idiots too stupid to keep their dogs under control had blocked the emergency line with stupid calls, she pushed to her feet. “Good job. Those dogs are becoming a hazard, and as to the people waiting to pay their fines, leave them to me.” She strode past him and headed for the door then stopped. “Tell Bradford to help Maggie on the desk until we clear the backload.”

  The line of people waving tickets glared at her as she approached. She cleared her throat. “Listen up, folks.” She waited until all eyes had turned to her. “We are currently doing a blitz on dogs. Many are running on the roads causing accidents and others are forming packs. If they bite a child, the owner will be held responsible.” She ran her gaze over them all. “Secondly, if anyone calls 911 without a true emergency, I will personally write you a ticket for falsely reporting a crime. Do you understand?”

  Not waiting for a response, she turned on her heel, and seeing Wolfe and Kane at the coffee machine, she headed through the office to speak to them. “Do you have an autopsy report on Jane Stickler for me, Wolfe?”

  “I have a preliminary report. The toxicology screening will take weeks before I can give a positive cause of death but I have discovered evidence of interest that might point to our killer.”

  “Okay, we’ll wait for Bradford to finish on the desk then I want everyone in my office for an update.”
She flicked a glance at Kane, who was busy making coffee. “Can you grab me one of those?”

  “Sure thing.”

  She walked back to her office and pulled down the whiteboard. She entered the information on Angelique Booval to the list of suspects for the vigilante murders then added a new column for Jane Stickler. After staring at the lack of information, she heard Kane’s voice behind her.

  “The troops were busy while we were out yesterday. They tracked down more information on the victims. I mean the first two victims, Price and Dorsey.” He handed her a cup of coffee. “Rowley has been working hard and interviewed the people who last saw them alive.”

  “That’s great.” She sipped her coffee then smiled. “I was starting to think they were phantoms.”

  She waited at the whiteboard for her deputies to take seats in her office then placed her coffee cup on the desk. “Okay, Rowley, you have some information to share—you can start.”

  “I received a couple of calls last night on the crime info line we set up with the local news channel.” Rowley made a show of going through the folder on his lap. “Amos Price was seen at a party on the Sunday before his death. Sam Button hired him for his son’s birthday party over in Blackwater. It was a word-of-mouth engagement and didn’t go through Party Time. The second sighting was on Monday, he went into the convenience store. The one near the library on Main Street. He purchased chocolates, a bottle of bourbon, and condoms. The checkout guy, Pete Sadler, said he paid cash. He remembered him, as he had a baseball cap pulled down low on his head and looked suspicious, so he was watching him on the CCTV camera. I have a copy and it’s Amos Price.” He cleared his throat. “He is wearing the same clothes as when we found him.”

  “Was he alone?” Kane turned in his seat to look at Rowley.

  “Unfortunately, yes. I could clearly see his truck in the video taken from the camera outside and no one was waiting for him inside.”

  Jenna made notes on the whiteboard. “So we can place Price’s murder on Monday?”

  “No, because he was picked up driving by on the CCTV camera on Tuesday as well.”

  She glanced at him. “Do you have a time?”

  “Yeah, two thirty.” Rowley flipped back through his notebook.

  “That is great work, Rowley.” Jenna smiled at him. “Anything else on Dorsey?”

  “The motel owner was the last person to see Ely Dorsey alive. He remembers seeing his vehicle drive past the office. He had nobody with him. I spoke to the owner of Party Time and he said Dorsey had taken time off work, said he needed a few days to repair some things in his cabin. He spoke to him about ten the day of his death.”

  “I have something too.” Wolfe raised one blond eyebrow. “I spoke to all the nurses on duty at the hospital and the doctors. Jane Stickler had three visitors: her parents and her brother. The nurse on night duty picked up her coffee as usual at midnight then chatted with two other nurses for a few minutes before returning to her desk. She remembers feeling sleepy but nothing until she woke around four in the morning. She went to check on Jane but only shone her flashlight on her. She thought she was asleep. It wasn’t until she went back at five to take her vitals before the shift change that she found her deceased.”

  Jenna made more notes on the whiteboard as her deputies spoke. “So, we can assume her killer was in the hospital before midnight to drug the coffee.”

  “Yeah.” Wolfe’s forehead creased into a frown. “There lies the problem. I called the hospital administrator and insisted he give me a list of the people who entered using their cards. One of them is dead and has been dead for some time. I would say the killer has his hospital access card.”

  Oh, wonderful, another curveball. Jenna rubbed her temple. If anything could go wrong to make the case more complicated, it would. Her day was getting better by the second. “Why can’t we have simple murders? Why is everything that happens in this town so darn complicated?”

  43

  Bobby-Joe Brandon’s week could not get any better. He sat at Chris’s kitchen table with his hand wrapped around a bottle of beer and rubbed his thumb over the condensation. He grinned at his friend. “It was easy; nothin’ had changed. As usual, the deputy on duty went home when they secured the ward. All I needed was the swipe card and I had access to all areas. As I had expected, the drugs worked on the night nurses on the floor below as well. It worked slowly so they would all believe they had dropped off to sleep. Hell, it happens all the time on the graveyard shift. They won’t report fallin’ asleep on duty now, will they?” He sipped his beer. “I found the girl’s room easily enough. The bitch tried to run but I caught her before she escaped in the elevator. You should have seen her eyes, man.” He grinned at his friend. “She was shit scared of me. I gave her a head start to make it interestin’ and she was at the elevator door pounding the buttons. Those elevators are so slow, and when I came up, I hit every floor on the panel to send it back down. It was movin’ so darn slow, I could take my time and enjoy watchin’ her. I wish it could have lasted longer but I needed to get out of there. I slipped a needle into her arm and bang, she was dead.”

  “What about the person you saw in the room? Can they identify you?” Chris looked like he was going to spew. “We can’t meet the girls now. It’s too soon after the murder. It will be all over the news the moment we take them, and they will see the connection. Shit, she was Ely’s girl, they’ll know everything by now.”

  “Stop actin’ like a baby. Who could possibly connect us to a murder? Ely’s girl didn’t speak to the cops; she didn’t get time. Nobody recognized me at the hospital and I left no prints. I covered up good walkin’ in and even added a limp just in case. Soon as I was clear of the CCTV cameras outside, I wore a doctor’s jacket I found in the dirty laundry, gloves, and my clown mask in the elevator.” He sipped his beer. “You are stupid if you think he’s a threat to us. I hit him hard in the guts and made it quite clear I would kill him. He didn’t see anythin’ and took off before I’d gotten the girl back to the room. He was just a kid and probably hid in the hospital until dark to steal drugs; he won’t tell anyone.” He snorted. “What can he say? ‘I was stealing drugs and a doctor dressed as a clown hit me for being in a patient’s room?’ Who would believe a story like that? They’d probably arrest him for murder.”

  “If you’re sure it’s safe to meet the girl, I’ll go. I don’t want to lose her—it’s taken me days to get her to cooperate. I don’t want to mess it up.” Chris wiped a hand over his sweaty face. “I’m meeting her on the trail to the cabin today. She is coming on her bicycle straight from school. I’m leaving my rig on the fire access road—it isn’t too far to carry her, or she might walk if I can convince her I’m taking her home.”

  “I’ll leave my truck there as well. Good thinkin’.” Bobby-Joe chuckled. “Mine is riding her bicycle too. She usually rides home from school so no one will suspect anythin’. She is tellin’ her mom she is visitin’ a friend. I told her I would take her home afterward. She is real keen.” He wet his lips and let out a long sigh. “Man, it’s been a long time since we’ve had two in the hole. I took a few sick days. I couldn’t work knowin’ I had two honeys at home.”

  “I only have two days off work.” Chris eyed him suspiciously. “Mine will get there first. Now don’t you go ruining her before I’ve had my fun. I want at least the weekend with her before you invite any of your friends over.”

  Bobby-Joe lifted his beer in a salute. “You got it, but you know, if you’d taken the time to build a decent cellar in this dump, you could have kept her here.”

  “I’m too close to the next cabin and someone would hear her or see her.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a bottle of pills. “You’ll need these. One will make her manageable and two will put her to sleep.” He slid the bottle across the table. “You know, I figure today is shapin’ up to be the best day of the week.”

  44

  Holding the meeting and g
oing over recent events was a prequel to listening to the dreaded autopsy report. What made it worse was Jenna had rescued Jane Stickler and felt a connection to the girl. She had made sure the doctors had located her in the special ward assigned for injured prisoners. She had left Walters on duty all day. The only access to the hospital wards overnight was via a card unless someone sneaked into the hospital by way of the ER, but they could leave undetected via the fire exit. This made no sense, as a patient would require a nurse or paramedic to admit them into the ER.

  Only a handful of people knew Jane was at the hospital, and her greatest threat, Ely Dorsey, was dead. They had no leads, and the only person unaccounted for who had entered the hospital in the time leading up to her death had been dead for months. It had to be someone with access to the dead man’s card but he had no living relatives and his personal effects shed no light on the theft.

  After returning to her desk, listening to her deputies’ reports, and making sure they updated the case files, Jenna turned her attention to Wolfe. She had to know the truth about Jane. “Are we ready for the autopsy report on Jane Stickler?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Voices echoed around the room.

  “Go ahead when you’re ready, Deputy Wolfe.”

  Wolfe gave her one of his ice-cold glances and placed a pile of photographs on the desk in front of him. “Do you want me to read my full report or do you want the abridged version?”

  Her gaze slid to the stack of photographs and she swallowed hard at the images then turned her attention back to Wolfe. “The short version will be fine.”

  “Firstly, the toxicology reports will take at least three weeks, maybe more. Add to this the changes in blood chemistry after death and what drugs were administered at the hospital, it is going to be difficult to pinpoint what drug was actually used.” Wolfe’s mouth formed a thin line. “I have reason to believe this was a homicide as there are too many injuries to assume a nurse gave an unintentional overdose of medication at the hospital.” He glanced down at his notes. “I have numbered the photographs to give you a clearer picture of my findings.” He passed Jenna an image of what she assumed was the back of Jane’s head. “I found substantial bruising on the head. As you can see in the image, I removed a section of the hair to reveal the extent of damage. Further investigation shows a substantial hematoma beneath the scalp consistent to the killer dragging the victim by her hair. The extent of the bruising, swelling, and blood clotting suggests this happened while she was alive.” He slid another image to Jenna.