Page 24 of Their Haunted Hearts
“I’ll take it up with the delivery driver before I do that.” Withers glared at them. “Is that all?”
Rio shook his head. “Right now, we’re just trying to piece together Bunny’s last hours. We are aware that you spoke to her at the Triple Z Bar on Monday night. Just to refresh your memory she was cleaning your table at the time. Witnesses tell us that you spent some time talking to her. Can you walk us through that conversation?”
“Was she one of the women who died?” Withers didn’t meet his gaze. “She didn’t tell me her name. I noticed she was new and asked her how she managed to end up in a dive like the Triple Z Bar, is all.”
“What did she say?” Rowley was making notes.
“As far as I recall, she said that the place was paradise in comparison with where she was before.” Withers stared into the distance. “I didn’t question her and she moved on to the next table. The last thing I need in my life is a problem. She looked like she was trouble with a capital T.”
It seemed to Rio that Withers was consumed with what was going on behind him. The conversation he described would have taken a few seconds and wouldn’t have come to the notice of the bartender. There had to be more he wasn’t telling them. He would need to sprinkle a few lies into the conversation and see how he reacted. “We spoke to Bunny’s coworkers and some of them mentioned that she seemed distracted after you’d left. Was there something bothering her?”
“How do I know?” Withers stiffened and his mouth thinned to a fine line. “I’d seen her in the bar once or twice. That was the first time she came over to talk to me. It was a casual conversation, that’s all.” He looked from one to the other his eyes narrowing. “You figure I had something to do with her murder, don’t you? That’s crazy. I didn’t even ask her her name.”
“You’d be surprised how many murderers don’t know the names of their victims.” Rowley straightened, one hand resting on the butt of his weapon. “When she left your table did you see her speaking to anyone else?”
“I didn’t take any notice.” Withers laughed sarcastically. “I can’t believe it. I make polite casual conversation with someone cleaning my table and you turn it into a federal case. I need to get back to my men. I’ve spent enough time on this nonsense.” He turned on his heel and headed back to the truck.
Rio turned to Rowley. “We’ll head back to the office, although I’d love to take a closer look at the feed he’s unloading. Horse pellets might be expensive but I’m sure he doesn’t need an armed guard for them. Something doesn’t smell right.”
“We’ll run it past Jenna.” Rowley slid behind the wheel. “Seems to me he didn’t want us anywhere near that flatbed.” He held up his tablet. “I took a few shots of the truck; we might be able to track its origin.”
Rio nodded. “It will keep for now. We need to concentrate on the murders. He’s a suspect for sure. He was way too fast to deny talking to her and then he became defensive.”
“He’s involved in something, and we just need to find out what that is.” Rowley swung the truck back in the direction of town. “I wish Kane had been here with Duke. If they had drugs hidden among those horse pellets, the dog would have gone ballistic.” He glanced at Rio. “I figure we need to keep an open mind. What if Bunny discovered Wither’s drug-smuggling operation and he murdered her in a copycat killing to keep her quiet?”
Running the idea through his mind, Rio shook his head. “That’s grasping at straws but anything is possible.”
Twenty-Four
Jenna dropped into a chair in front of Wolfe’s desk and took the cup of coffee Emily handed her. “Thanks, I need this.”
Kane and Raven took cups from Emily and sat down just as Wolfe walked into the office.
“First up, we received a DNA sample from Darlene Travis’ mother along with a recent photograph of her.” Wolfe met Jenna’s gaze. “I’ve sent a copy to your phones and uploaded it to the files. The DNA is a match.” He waved a paper in his hand. “I also have the results of Darlene Travis’ blood tests.” He spread a document on his desk and sat down to read the results. “There are traces of ketamine in her stomach contents, none in her blood. This would suggest she’d had her food or drink spiked. Ketamine causes confusion and is used as an anesthetic for animals. It’s a veterinary drug easily obtained by horse and cattle breeders, likely available to ranch hands. I know obtaining it illegally in Black Rock Falls is difficult, but it’s easy to buy on street corners in Blackwater.” He looked at Jenna. “This proves this was well planned and premeditated.” He scanned the documents again. “Hmm, there’s also small traces of fentanyl in the blood.” He looked up. “I’ll have more information later but it might be a few weeks. I tested specifically for these drugs as they’re the most popular street drugs right now.”
Before she could discuss anything, Jenna’s phone chimed. It was Rio. She looked apologetically at Wolfe. “I need to take this. It’s Rio.” She stood and went out into the hallway. “Yes, Rio.”
“A call just came in on the hotline. A couple of hikers say they believe there’s a body hanging in the forest, close to the old footbridge over the river, about a hundred yards from Stanton. They entered the forest on the trail opposite the roadhouse.” Rio cleared his throat. “We’ve just gotten back to the office after interviewing Bryce Withers. I sent Maggie and the volunteers to grab a bite of lunch. We’re kinda stuck here at the moment.”
Jenna checked her watch. “We’ll go. We’re just about done here. We have Raven with us as well. His dog will find a body if it’s there.”
“Rowley is taking their details. They’re on Stanton waiting in a blue Silverado. They’ll give you directions.” Rio cleared his throat. “I’ll tell them you’re on the way.”
As Rio disconnected, she sighed. It was Halloween week and there’d been two murders. People often saw things that didn’t exist. Jenna hoped this wasn’t a waste of precious time as she had suspects to interview. She headed back to Wolfe’s office to bring them up to date. “As we’ve left Duke in the office, I’ll need you to come with us, Raven. I assume Ben will be able to track down a body?”
“Yeah, he’s good.” Raven rubbed the dog’s ears. “I’ve trained him well over the years. The only thing he has difficulty in is being a dog.” He grinned at Jenna.
“I’m coming too.” Emily jumped to her feet. “Give me a minute to change and to pull on my hiking boots. I have my backpack ready to go.”
“She’s right. Y’all might need a medical examiner to process the scene if it’s a body.” Wolfe stood. “Make sure you take your satellite phones and call me. I’ll bring the van around to collect the body.” He looked at Raven. “I have spare survival packs. I’ll grab one for you.” He looked at Jenna. “I assume you have yours in the truck?”
“I have mine in my truck too and my phone.” Raven smiled at Wolfe. “I’ll follow Dave.”
“Here, take these.” Wolfe took down a box of energy bars from a shelf and handed them to Kane. “I can hear your stomach growling and Raven’s is trying to outdo it. You’ll miss lunch. You can eat some of these along the way.”
Jenna opened the box and handed a pile to Raven with a roll of her eyes. “Now I have two hungry deputies to worry about. Are you ever full?”
“After Thanksgiving dinner.” Kane chuckled. “You?” He looked at Raven.
