Page 45 of In Her Fears
“What do you think of Ashworth?”Jake asked as they sped back toward the main road.“Is he telling the truth?”
“I don’t know.He seemed genuinely shocked about the murders, but...”
“But something feels off,” Jake finished for her.
“Everything feels off,” Jenna muttered.
“When Ashworth gets back to town, we should be able to keep somebody on his tail,” Jake said.
“Let’s just hope he doesn’t give us the slip in the meantime,” Jenna said.“I just wish we didn’t have to let him out of our sight.”
“Maybe we don’t,” Jake said.“Maybe Spelling could help.”
“Good idea.I’ll give him a call.”
Jenna dialed Spelling’s number.The phone rang twice before his voice came through, steady and authoritative.“Colonel Spelling.”
“Colonel, it’s Jenna,” she said, keeping her tone brisk.“Do you have any patrol cars in the Gildner area?”
“I’ve got one just right close to there,” Spelling replied without hesitation.“What do you need?”
“We’re at the old burned church ruins in Gildner,” Jenna explained, glancing out the window at the passing scenery as Jake drove with focused urgency.“A photographer from Trentville named Christopher Ashworth is here photographing it.Deputy Hawkins and I have got a situation to deal with, and we’ve got to head back to Trentville.I need your officers to keep an eye on Ashworth once we’re gone.”
“A person of interest?”
“It’s too soon to tell,” Jenna said.
Spelling was silent for a moment, perhaps assessing the situation from his end.“I can have them there in five minutes.”
“Great,” Jenna said, relieved by his quick response.She rattled off the details of Ashworth’s vehicle: make, model, and license plate number.“Have them track his movements.We can’t afford to lose sight of him right now.”
“You got it,” Spelling assured her.“I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks,” Jenna said.“And when you get that done, call me right back.Things have been happening on our end, and I need to fill you in.”
“Will do.”
Jenna ended the call and slipped her phone back into her pocket.
Jake shot her a quick glance, eyebrows raised in inquiry.
“They’ll be watching him,” she confirmed as they sped along the winding road back toward Trentville and whatever awaited them at Elias Harrow’s house.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jenna leaned forward in her car seat, fatigue momentarily forgotten as Jake drove them toward Elias Harrow's farmhouse.A few minutes ago, she'd talked again with Colonel Spelling to fill him in on the latest developments on their end, including Elias's unsettling paintings.After another turn on the highway, the farmhouse came into view.
At least fifteen people had gathered on the overgrown lawn in front of the weathered building, their voices carrying across the clearing in an angry chorus.Officer Delgado stood at the bottom of the porch steps, one hand resting on her holster, facing down the crowd despite being severely outnumbered.
“This is worse than I thought,” Jake muttered as he pulled the car to a stop.
Several faces turned toward them, expressions shifting from anger to expectation as they recognized the sheriff’s vehicle.Jenna spotted a crude sign bobbing above the crowd: JUSTICE FOR ALEXIS.Another read: ARREST THE KILLER.Her chest tightened.How had this happened so quickly?
“Stay close,” she told Jake as they exited the car.“We need to defuse this before it escalates.”
Officer Delgado’s relief was visible as she spotted them approaching.“Sheriff, thank goodness.I’ve been trying to keep them back from the house, but they keep demanding we arrest Harrow.”
Jenna nodded, scanning the crowd.She recognized several faces—regulars from the Sunflower Café where Alexis had worked.Ryan Kimball, Alexis’s boyfriend, stood near the front, his face tight with grief and anger.Beside him was an older woman that Jenna recognized as the café’s owner, and clustered around them were several of Alexis’s coworkers, still wearing their aprons as if they’d rushed straight from work.
