Page 26 of Tears on Her Grave

“So she has it in her mind that Marissa’s death is tied in with what happened before?”Wasser gave a strangled laugh.“Don’t they understand that if we hadn’t trusted them, in a town like Black Rock Falls, any one of us could have murdered them and no one would have known it was us? We don’t have a motive to kill them, well, as far as the cops are concerned. Maybe we were naïve to trust them.”

Heading into the stables, Crawley dismounted. “Well, I’m guessing it’s too late to change things now. Contact the others and then get back to me. I still believe if we stick together, we’ll be okay. There’s no evidence to prove we were on the mountain near those caves that night. We’ve gone over it a thousand times. What we did on that night gave us a watertight alibi. Others saw us arriving at the campsite by the river, we all left together after midnight and there were many more walking down the mountain with us. Unless one of the girls spills, no one will ever know what really happened that night.” He hauled off his saddle and dumped it onto the rack. “The only thing that concerns me at the moment is if any of us left any evidence at the Old Mitcham Ranch when we had our meeting. It was a very safe place to meet and the perfect place to murder someone.”

“Yeah, but we can’t risk meeting there again. The sheriff will be all over that place, but I doubt they’ll discover we’ve been there. It’s unlikely there’d be any tire tracks. That old gravel track is thick and hard even after all the rain. Everyone was freezing cold and wearing gloves. It’s not as if anyone could have left fingerprints anywhere. I figure we’re safe enough.”Wasser paused a beat. “Now that you’ve made the situation clear to Lily, when I speak to Twotrees I’ll make sure he reads the riot act to Josie. She has a lot to lose being married and all.I can’t imagine Bob staying with her if he discovers her dark past. Maybe she needs to be reminded of that before she goes flapping her lips.”He sighed.“Leave it with me. I’ll get back to you.”He disconnected.

Crawley removed the bridle from his horse and commenced brushing it. He looked into the bright brown eyes and smiled. “I wish people were as uncomplicated as horses.”

THIRTY-ONE

That morning at the kindergarten Jenna and Kane spent time admiring their son’s artwork. The theme this week in the class had been spring, and Tauri proudly described each painting in the display of his work. The little boy had proved to be talented in many ways. At five he could read and speak three languages and had an awe-inspiring intuition. In fact, Jenna’s son never ceased to amaze her. She’d been told being a mother would be difficult, especially raising a child who wasn’t her own. There would be things in Tauri’s past they would need to get through, but this didn’t seem to be the case. It seemed he’d been one of the lucky ones when it came to foster care. The little boy had always insisted that he’d been waiting for them to come for him, and the moment they’d arrived at Blackhawk’s ranch he’d recognized them as being his parents. The feeling had been mutual, and they had become an immediate family.

Tauri was tall and robust, and now five-and-a-half years old, he was head and shoulders above the other children of his age. There’d been no mistake about his date of birth or his heritage. His mother had died but had left as much information as she could gather with the baby as if she’d known the end was close. The only thing they didn’t know was his father’s name. Theentire time he was in foster care, not one person had come forward to claim him until a DNA match had put him as a close relative to a Atohi Blackhawk and, way back on his mother’s side, a distant relative to Kane’s dead wife, Annie. Blackhawk had become his guardian and it was only fate that had brought them all together one day on the res. As if the planets had aligned, Tauri had completed Jenna and Kane’s world.

Impressed by the scenes of forest wildflowers and bright blue skies, Jenna hugged Tauri. “These are wonderful. I hope you’ll be able to bring them home so we can put them up in your room.” She pointed to a picture of the three of them outside their ranch house. “This one would look really good in the passageway beside the front door.”

“I’d like that.” Tauri beamed at her. “I’ll make sure not to crease it when I bring it home.” He looked at Kane. “See I made you bigger than all the other daddies in the class.”

“You included the motorcycle.” Kane bent to peer at the painting. “These are very good. I’m so proud of you.” He ruffled Tauri’s hair. “I wish we could stay a little longer but we must go to work now. You have fun and we’ll see you later.”

After a quick hug, Jenna reluctantly followed Kane to the door, turning to give Tauri a quick wave. The ache of leaving him at the kindergarten had eased since the first few weeks. Her little boy enjoyed the company of the other children and thrived with the input of knowledge. The school was very progressive and the curriculum covered a wide range of subjects. With the added security and Nanny Raya on hand, it assured that when they were working, Tauri had the best possible care available.

They headed to the office to find Rio and Rowley hard at work. After returning from the crime scene, they’d divided the list of potential suspects to hunt down their exact location. Kane had unlocked Marissa’s phones but found absolutely no reason why she went to the Old Mitcham Ranch after lunch atAunt Betty’s Café. Jenna had refused to believe her death was a random act of violence. Someone had lured Marissa to the ranch and it must be someone she knew. The idea of an angry client did enter her mind, but as far as she could ascertain, Marissa’s clientele was more than happy with her work. In fact, when she’d called her client list, they all sang her praises.

The main problem Jenna faced was they didn’t have a valid reason to question the suspects. She might believe there were possible links to the death of Marissa Kendrick, but she had no proof or motive whatsoever. As everything had occurred since the discovery of Cole’s and Abby’s bodies, the probability that the cold case and Marissa’s murder were entwined had become more than coincidental. If the group with Cole and Abby on the night they’d died had something to hide, she’d do everything in her power to uncover the truth.

She scanned the whiteboard. Rio had painstakingly added all the information possible on the suspects and was currently adding photographs. She turned and looked at Rowley. “Do you have their current locations?”

“I have where they should be.” Rowley stared at his tablet. “Clint Wasser and Wyatt Twotrees own the vehicle dealership in town and both should be there, although Wasser does move around. He works in sales, so moves between franchises. Twotrees works mainly from the office, as far as I know.” He scrolled through the page on his tablet. “Dustin Crawley should be at his parents’ ranch. He is single and works the rodeo circuit every year, but the weather has held up everything this year so he should be at home. Jess Hallon is married to Dawn and they have a son. He works on his parents’ ranch and lives in a separate house on the property.”

Jenna made notes and then looked at her deputies. “Okay, we need to establish the men’s whereabouts when Marissa was murdered. I don’t have a time of death, so we’ll take it from whenshe had lunch with Josie Campbell and when we discovered her body. Rio and Rowley, you hunt down Crawley and Hallon. We have an autopsy at ten, so we’ll do the local suspects. It’s imperative we discover who fits into Marissa Kendrick’s timeline.”

“Copy that.” Rowley stood and gathered his things. He looked at Rio. “I’ll drive. I know where they live.” He headed out of the door.

Thinking ahead, Jenna stood and took her coat from Kane. “I figure I’ll start the questioning with what happened twelve years ago and then move on to their whereabouts when Marissa was murdered. It will be interesting to see their reaction.”

“That should work.” Kane pushed on his hat and zipped up his jacket. “The main problem I see is that if they’ve been keeping a secret for twelve years, they’ll be hard to break. After time a lie becomes the truth. I’ve seen people trick polygraphs with much the same.”

Jenna smiled at him. “It will work. You’ll be watching him and you don’t miss a thing.”

THIRTY-TWO

Blue-and-white bunting fluttered in the breeze around the dealership. The lot out front was filled with highly polished vehicles of all descriptions. Jenna headed toward the glass-fronted building. Inside, an array of prestige vehicles spread out, all tastefully arranged with large advertising boards beside them listing their many attributes. She weaved her way through the vehicles to the main counter with a bright red sign across the top that readspare parts. The area was surprisingly busy, with customers required to take a number and wait in line to be served. They went right to the counter and received a few disgruntled looks from people in the line. She waited for someone to come out from the back and got his attention. “Can you direct me to Mr. Wasser and Mr. Twotrees offices, please?”

“Do you have an appointment?” The server looked from one to the other and raised his eyebrows. “You’ll need to go to the administration office and speak to them there. It’s down the passageway to the left.”

Jenna nodded. “Thanks.”

They found the administration office without any problems. The door was open and Jenna walked right in and leaned on the counter. The sign on the counter readnatalie gannon. Asa woman came into the office, Jenna smiled. “Ms. Gannon. I’m Sheriff Alton, I need to speak to Mr. Twotrees and Mr. Wasser right away. Can you show me to their offices, please?”

“I’m not sure if that’s possible. They’re very busy.” Ms. Gannon straightened and reached for the phone. “I’ll see if Mr. Twotrees will see you.” She made the call. “Very well, I’ll send them in.” She pointed to the door. “Down the passageway to the right. His office is the first one you come to.”

Jenna exchanged a meaningful glance with Kane, turned on her heel, and headed along the passageway. She knocked on the door and walked in without waiting for a reply. The man behind the desk would have been in his mid-thirties, and as he stood his athletic appearance was enhanced by his wide white smile and pleasant features. Jenna made the introductions and took the chair he offered in front of his desk. She took out her notebook and pen and then leveled her gaze on him. “I’ll come straight to the point. You’ll be aware that the bodies of your friends from college washed up in the river this week. We’ve spoken to Josie Campbell, Marissa Kendrick, and Lily Jones about that night over Halloween. What do you recall about that night?”

The story that Twotrees recounted was exactly the same as they’d heard from the women—verbatim. Jenna nodded and made a few unnecessary notes. “I feel like this is Groundhog Day, every one of you tells me exactly the same story without any deviation whatsoever. I find it hard to believe that all your recollections of that evening are exactly the same down to the time and the people that you saw around you that night. Everyone has different memories especially after twelve years.” She tapped her pen on his desk, showing agitation toward his replies. “I know you were on the football team with Cole. From the yearbook photographs, the group of you were close friends. Did he ever mention any problems with his relationship with Abby?”

“Nope.” Twotrees rested his elbows on the desk and towered his fingers. “As far as I’m aware, they were happy little lovebirds. The last time I saw them they were walking away from the campsite up the trail hand in hand. I didn’t take too much notice because they were always going off alone. That’s what kids did in college, as I’m sure you can remember.”

“You didn’t think to raise the alarm when they didn’t return?” Kane leaned back in his chair observing him with interest.

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