Page 42 of Tears on Her Grave

Part of Jenna agreed with Kane’s evaluation of the interview; another part of her was dismayed that these people covered up the whereabouts of Cole and Abby, leaving their parents to wonder what had happened to them. She gathered herself and followed Sam Cross into the interview room, set up the recording device as before, and sat down to face Clint Wasser, this time with Kane at her side. “Mr. Wasser.”

“Why so formal, Sheriff? Please call me Clint. It’s so much nicer.” Wasser smiled as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Unimpressed, Jenna placed a folder on the table. “Deputy Rio has read you the details of the arrest warrant. As we have three witnesses to the attempted murder of Dr. Larson and Emily Wolfe, I’m going to move on to the murders of Marissa Kendrick and Lily Jones.”

“I didn’t kill Marissa Kendrick or Lily Jones.” Wasser chuckled. “They happen to be old friends of mine. Why would I kill them?”

“Friends that you haven’t had contact with since you left college.” Kane leaned forward in his chair and eyeballed him. “Was that because those friends discovered you covered with blood and carrying an ax after you murdered Abby and Cole, over Halloween twelve years ago?”

“No.” A flicker of doubt crossed Wasser’s face. “I don’t know anything about their murders.”

Jenna opened the folder and removed the photographs of the fraternity pin found in Abby’s hand with the distinctive chip out of the enameled surface. She laid the photographs alongside the enlarged images of him wearing the exact pin. “Is this your fraternity pin?”

“You can see it’s mine.” Wasser shrugged. “What’s that got to do with Abby and Cole?”

Although she wanted to smile, Jenna kept her expression bland. “We found it clutched in Abby’s hand. She tore it from your jacket the night you murdered her, and strangely enough, we have your jacket too. It was excavated from the grave where you buried Cole and Abby. There’s no doubt it’s yours. The torn, bloodstained jacket has your name inside.” She paused a beat to allow him to absorb the information. “Your friends have decided they don’t want to go to prison to save your hide and have explained exactly what happened the night you murdered Cole and Abby. We have enough evidence to prove that you murdered Marissa and Lily as well. When Cole’s and Abby’s bodies showed up, you believed they were going to speak to me about that night. In fact, they all kept your secret up until today. Now they’re going to save their own necks and are willing to go to court to tell the truth about that night. This is your chance to tell your story. Why did you kill them?”

“You’re deluded if you believe my friends would rat on me.” Wasser gave her a look that chilled her to the bone. It was the look of a serial killer. “Everything you’ve said is lies.”

A shiver slithered down Jenna’s spine and she avoided his death stare as she collected the photographs. “I’m afraid not. Ask Mr. Cross. We have DNA evidence from the ax you used to attack Dr. Larson and Emily Wolfe. Not to mention trying to attack me as well. You’ll be formally charged again with four counts of homicide and sent to County to await trial. I can assure you, from the evidence we have against you and the witnesses, you’ll be spending the rest of your life in the state pen.” She turned off the recording device and walked out of the room.

EPILOGUE

TWO WEEKS LATER

The weather in Black Rock Falls had improved again. From her office window Jenna could see snowcapped mountaintops against a background of brilliant blue sky that went on forever. The last couple of weeks had been intense. She had spent long hours with her team correlating all the evidence against Clint Wasser. The ax had given up multiple DNA results and when Wolfe had entered them into the data bank, they’d discovered matches to a number of murders in different counties. When they hunted down where Wasser had been traveling in his work as a spare parts salesman, they matched the dates of the murders. Some of these homicides went back ten years or so, which proved that Wasser had never stopped killing since the night on the mountain twelve years previously. The information gathered from the ax would solve a multitude of cold cases throughout the state.

The excavation of the crime scene had continued but no other evidence had been discovered. Norrell had recovered completely from the incident, with only a few bruises remaining, but Wolfe had vowed to always accompany her and Emily to an excavation or crime scene in Black Rock Falls in the future. Jenna had chuckled when he’d mentioned the next time theywent to an excavation, he’d be packing for bear. Since the incident she’d noticed that Raven had been around town more often than usual. The media had gotten hold of the story about how he’d rescued the women with his K-9, Ben, from a psychopathic serial killer. The orders for his protection dogs were rolling in daily.

Jenna turned away from the window as the knock came on the door and Raven walked in. “Ah, the man of the hour. Still dodging the reporters?”

“Yeah, but they’re not quite as bad now, and although I’ve explained many times that Ben didn’t get out of my truck, as I’m a K-9 unit, he’s become part of the story.” Raven nodded to Kane. “I do have some good news. Blackhawk is renting a cabin a short distance from mine. His work with Norrell’s team means he needs to be a little closer to town. He won’t be living there all the time, just when she needs him. At the excavation site, we got to talking about training dogs, so in his downtime Atohi is going to be working alongside me training K-9s and personal protection dogs. We’re going to be taking puppies and raising them up for the K-9s. I have a contact in the military who would welcome the chance to get puppies with the basic training completed. I’m also getting orders from local sheriff’s departments all over the state. Once I have the dogs at a high level, they want to send their deputies to me to train with the dogs. Luckily, I have a three-bedroom cabin, so they can bunk with me during this time.”

Smiling, Jenna looked at his enthusiastic expression. “That’s wonderful news, but does that mean we’ll be losing you?”

“Not at all. Black Rock Falls Sheriff’s Office will always be my primary concern.” Raven nodded. “I’ll be completing my qualifications in law enforcement this year. Trust me, there isn’t too much to do in the mountains of a night.” He smiled. “I came by to thank you. Moving back into civilization was something Inever thought I’d be able to achieve. Since finding Julie in the plane wreck, and meeting so many fine people, I’ve discovered new goals in life. Just knowing that you, Dave, and Wolfe had faith in my ability to contribute to the team gave me the courage to take steps I would never have thought possible a year ago.”

“You’re very welcome.” Kane stood and shook his hand. “We already consider you part of the family. We’re having a cookout next weekend at the ranch. I hope you’ll come by. Everyone will be there, including Wolfe, Norrell, and the girls.”

I’d love to come, thank you.” Raven’s grin widened. “Atohi mentioned that you cook the best ribs in town.” He chuckled. “And you have a motorcycle collection for me to drool over.”

“I figure we’re starting to build our own gang.” Kane laughed. “I have a passion for building Harleys and Indians. Us guys all have a motorcycle now.”

“Wow!” Raven glanced at Jenna. “Pinch me, I must be dreaming. You know I purchased a number of old cabins all over the mountain. I’ve discovered a wealth of old motorcycles and parts left in garages. It would be a dream come true to see one of them back on the road again.”

Trying to avoid an eye roll, Jenna looked at Kane. “Seems you’ve found your long-lost brother.”

Jenna’s phone chimed. “It’s Wolfe.” She gave Kane a meaningful stare.

“Oh, sure.” Kane headed for the door. “We’ll leave you to it.” He looked at Raven as they walked into the passageway. “So tell me about these old motorcycles.”

Accepting the call, Jenna leaned back in her chair. “Hi, Shane, what’s up?”

“I’ve organized an ultrasound with Dr. Elizabeth Bates. Can you make it at three this afternoon? Same place as before at the hospital.”

Excited Jenna checked her watch. “Great! I’ll have time to eat, pee, and drink water beforehand as before.” She sighed. “See you at three.”

Excitement and trepidation gripped Jenna as she walked into the examination room. Dr. Elizabeth Bates was an extremely nice woman in her late forties who put Jenna at ease at once. She climbed onto the examination table and made herself ready. Although, one part of her wanted to see her baby, another part of her was afraid that something might be wrong. She slipped her hand into Kane’s as the ultrasound gel was squeezed onto her belly. The sound of the baby’s strong heartbeat settled her nerves. They both looked away from the screen, as Wolfe and Dr. Bates did a preliminary examination. She stared into Kane’s eyes and they smiled at each other.

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