Page 45 of Their Haunted Hearts
“Anytime. Is Julie okay?” He glanced behind him as Wolfe’s headlights disappeared into the darkness.
Jenna sighed. “I hope so. She’s been drugged. A date rape drug most likely. She has a bruise on her face but her clothes are intact. Likely she won’t remember anything.”
“Maybe that’s for the best.” Rowley frowned. “I’ll be in the office at seven as usual.” He headed back to his vehicle.
Jenna turned to Rio. “I want you to ride with the prisoner. I’ll drive your ride back to the office. It’s pointless us all working half the night. I’ll need you in the office early to get the transcripts of the interview over to the DA and to get the search warrants for his home and vehicle, plus any outbuildings on his property. I’ll send the prisoner to County. I’m not risking leaving him here overnight.”
“That makes sense.” Rio nodded. He handed her his keys and headed toward Raven.
Jenna walked toward Kane, who was leaning on the pastor’s pickup. “Hold up. We’ll need a search warrant before we touch anything.”
“I know, I was just looking.” Kane nodded. “I’ll call a tow truck to collect it, seeing that Raven shot out the front tires. If the phones are still out, I’ll drop by Millers’ Garage and ask them.” He indicated inside. “He has duct tape and rope in plain sight. He’s been a busy boy.” He took the keys and locked the pickup.
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, Jo always said you could have a serial killer standing right beside you and you’d never know. This guy has been volunteering in the office since the first murder.”
“Yeah, some of them are so confident they try and insert themselves into the investigation.” Kane led the way back to the Beast, rubbing his shoulder. “I’d never have suspected him. He barely spoke to anyone but you and Rowley.”
Tossing Rio’s keys in her hand, she nodded. “Yeah, he was charming and seemed genuinely interested in helping but he asked way too many questions. He drove Rowley nuts. Of course, Rowley kept his mouth firmly shut. He didn’t like him at all.” A disturbing thought crossed her mind. “You don’t figure he was lining me up for his next victim, do you?”
“I guess we’ll never know.” Kane waved as Raven drove past. “I’ll walk you to your ride.”
Jenna leaned into him and smiled. “Ever the gentleman. I’m so lucky to have you, Dave.”
She pulled her satellite phone from her pocket and called Kane. He gave her a quizzical smile as he answered. Jenna laughed. “I need to chat with you on the way back to the office. Put your phone on speaker as the Bluetooth isn’t working.”
“Sure.” Kane opened the door to Rio’s truck. “Don’t go speeding on the way back to the office now, will you? Remember you have a cop on your tail.”
Jenna started the engine and backed some way along the road before turning around and heading back along the highway. Through the phone, she could hear Kane singing and she smiled. He usually sung in the shower and had a good voice, but she figured he was singing to keep her company, rather than discuss the case. During the drive back to the office, Jenna realized just how much damage the storm had inflicted on her county. Bedraggled Halloween decorations piled up alongside the highway and plastic jack-o’-lanterns bobbed along in the water flowing alongside in the gully. She wondered if the townsfolk would be able to get everything back together before the big day on Sunday. She hadn’t walked through town since the storm and would as soon as she came back into the office tomorrow. As they got closer and turned onto Main, she noticed trucks along the side of the road with crews repairing the fallen electricity lines. Perhaps by the morning they would have power and, hopefully, phone service. Without phones they had no idea if anyone was in trouble or injured by the storm. She hoped that neighbors would check on each other.
At the office Raven and Rio had taken the pastor to the interview room. Using her satellite phone, she called the county jail to arrange for them to collect the prisoner. She explained the urgency and the threat that he posed to the town if he escaped. They would be sending a team to collect him within the next two hours. She sent Rio home and they all went down to the interview room to speak to the prisoner. She set up the recording devices and introduced everyone in the room. She sat opposite, hopeful that Pastor Dimock would act like a normal serial killer and want to boast about why he murdered the women.
Raven had handcuffed the prisoner to the ring on the table but Jenna wasn’t taking any chances and had Kane sit on one side of her and Raven on the other. The pastor appeared a little roughed up. His clothes had mud stains from the takedown and his left eye was swollen and turning blue all around. She considered her line of questioning. “Pastor Dimock, we’ve read you your rights. You’ve refused medical attention and now I need to ask you again for the record, do you want to speak to us voluntarily or do you want me to call a lawyer for you?”
“I’m innocent, why would I need a lawyer?” The pastor clasped his hands on the table in front of him as if in prayer.
Jenna nodded. “I’ll get to that, but first, where were you heading when we apprehended you? You told me you lived at the shelter.”
“I needed you to feel sorry for me.” The pastor smiled. “It worked, didn’t it? No, I have a cabin and a barn. I take the vampires to my barn where no one can hear them scream.”
“No one felt sorry for you, Dimock.” Kane eyeballed him. “We tolerated you, is all. The thing is, we caught you, didn’t we? We stopped your killing spree.”
“Did you?” The pastor turned his attention to Jenna. “One thing I need to ask you, Sheriff. You are accusing me of murdering someone. Is that correct?”
Wondering what game he was playing, Jenna nodded. “Yes, I’m interviewing you in regard to the murders of three women. Darlene Travis, Bunny Watkins, and Gabby Turner.”
“Well, Sheriff, is it a crime to murder someone who is already dead?” The pastor smiled at her. “I don’t think so.” He met her gaze, the smile still playing on his lips. “Those women were already dead. The living dead, vampires. I stopped them feeding on the living. You shouldn’t be arresting me, you should be giving me a medal. I saved your town.”
Ignoring the absurdity of his question, Jenna lifted her chin slightly and narrowed her gaze at him. “If you truly believe you’re saving the town from the threat of vampires, why not come out and tell me about it? You were in the office helping out. Why the secrecy?”
“Not many of us can see them.” The pastor leaned back in his chair relaxed as if without a care in the world. Then he leaned forward suddenly and the chains on the handcuffs rattled against the metal ring attached to the table. “Do you believe in monsters, Sheriff?”
I’m looking at one. Jenna remained motionless. She’d never allow him to read her disgust of him in her body language. “I keep an open mind. If you truly believe vampires are in our town, how come you’re the only one who can see them? Don’t you believe that if other people had seen them, they would have reported them to us? I mean, you say that you see them but even you didn’t bother to come and get assistance from law enforcement.”
“The moment you recognize one of them, they’ll turn you. Why can’t you understand?” The pastor rolled his eyes as if losing patience. “They’re already feeding on people. Most times it’s the elderly. They sneak into nursing homes and drink their blood—not enough to turn them—just enough for a meal.”
Jenna couldn’t believe what she was hearing but tried to make sense of it all. “So, what is it about their behavior that makes them stand out to you?”
“They’re always alone.” The pastor attempted to open his arms wide but, restrained by the cuffs, he just closed his hands and met her gaze. “They appear vulnerable, lost or in trouble. Most of them have long hair and very pale complexions and are usually slim.”
