Page 36 of Their Haunted Hearts
She pulled gloves from her pocket and snapped them on and then opened the evidence bag, unsealed the envelope and emptied the contents on the table. Images of Bunny with bruises, cut lips, and broken arms spilled over the table. Each had a doctor’s report and signed statements from witnesses. Two thumb drives with evidence against Peter Jorden, labels attached to them. Sifting through the statements, Jenna lifted her gaze to Kane. “We have an address of this animal. Bunny has collected evidence over four years or so. Would you contact the DA in Missoula and tell him what we’ve found?” She pushed the documents back into the evidence bag and handed it to him.
“It would be my pleasure.” Kane stood and took the evidence bag. “I hope Peter Jorden ends up in our town. I figure I might have a few words to say to him.”
Thirty-Five
Getting home after six wasn’t Jenna’s plan, but Raya had fed the boys and by the time she’d tended the horses with as much assistance as Kane could offer, they were both bathed and ready for bed. They both liked to spend time with the boys after work. Jackson liked to cuddle and Tauri wanted to tell them about his day. They held back on the dinner they’d collected from Aunt Betty’s. Wendy knew what they needed and had packed a few days’ microwavable meals. Once Jackson had fallen asleep in her arms, she carried him to bed. Tauri, now the bigger brother and very responsible for his age, decided to follow and they both went to tuck him in.
They discussed the case over dinner. Although they’d made headway, tracing the suspects over the last year, they had no cases to line them up against. The horse breeder, Withers, moved around all over, collecting horses from different sales and selling his own. He was a definite possibility for the killer and fit the description. Jenna would follow up on him in the morning. After dinner, they’d just finished clearing the table when Jenna’s phone chimed. It was Rio. “Is there a problem?”
“Might be.” Rio yawned explosively. “Sorry, ah, Atohi Blackhawk called. He noticed a pack of wolves moving toward Stanton. It’s unusual for them to be this close, especially with deer and elk high in the mountains at the moment. He had concerns about them coming into town, so he followed. The wolves’ interest confused him. Alongside Stanton in that section, there’s nothing but cornfields, and gray wolves don’t waste their time with mice when there’s plenty of deer to eat. When the pack headed back up the mountain, Blackhawk and a few of his friends continued along the trail looking for carrion and they found something unusual. He figures there’s a bad smell coming from the corn maze and he couldn’t find anywhere alongside the field to indicate an injured deer or elk stumbled in and died. So, because of the current murders, he called it in. I drove past the maze this afternoon and the entrance is blocked with hay bales, with a keep out notice. I didn’t see anything unusual apart from a few Halloween decorations. Do you want me to do a walk-through?”
Jenna exchanged a look with Kane, who was already on his feet and heading for Raya’s apartment door. “No, don’t go in without backup. We’re on our way.” She thought for a beat. “Wait near the roadhouse for us. I don’t figure you should be out there alone. Where is Blackhawk?”
“He’s heading back to the res. They’ve been hunting and wanted to get home.” Rio cleared his throat. “Do you want me to call him and ask him to come back?”
Jenna pushed her feet into her cold boots. “No. I’ll call him if necessary, but we need to check this out. We’ll see you in fifteen minutes.” She disconnected.
As she pulled on her duty belt and collected her coat, Raya came into the family room. Jenna smiled at her. “So sorry to disturb you. We need to check out a possible murder scene.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” Raya settled on the sofa with her knitting. “I’ll watch TV until you get back.”
“I’ve just put on a fresh pot of coffee.” Kane checked his weapon. “The spare room is made up if you need to crash.” He picked up a Thermos and handed it to Jenna. “I’ll leave the sling at home tonight. I don’t want to look like an easy target. I’ll drive. I don’t do shotgun so well and it’s nothing to do with your driving. It’s just I’d like to get there before daybreak.” He flashed her a smile and then bent to rub Duke’s ears. “Guard the house, Duke. We’ll be back soon.”
It would be pointless arguing with him about driving. Jenna nodded and headed for the door. She disarmed the security and went outside. A gust of freezing wind smacked her in the face. Tiny ice shards bit into her cheeks and she tucked in her chin and ran to the garage. “Snow isn’t too far away.”
“Yeah, that’s all we need right now.” Kane slid behind the wheel and they headed along the driveway, through the gate, and onto the highway.
Black glossy ice patches reflected in the lights as they drove along the blacktop. Darkness surrounded them until they turned onto Main. In town, mist curled across the road, creeping from the river. It always gave her the shivers over Halloween. The bright although macabre Halloween decorations gave the town a festive feel, and although Jenna understood the chance of facing another murder scene, she couldn’t help smiling at the craziness of some of the displays. Orange lights gave the entire street a strange glow, and the skeletons danced with flashing eyes and chattering jaws as they approached. They drove past a coven of witches, posed around a green bubbling cauldron, all cackling, their long white hair flowing in the breeze. Each store they passed by had something different and imaginative. Every year the displays grew larger and more complicated and now they had a haunted house, already being touted as having a resident ghost due to the poor murdered soul found there.
Rio was waiting for them alongside the road opposite the roadhouse when they arrived and they drove in a convoy to the corn maze just outside of town. They climbed out of their vehicles and Jenna turned in all directions, scanning the local area with her flashlight. The forest stretched out in an endless pitch-black mass and anyone could be watching them, but she didn’t see any wolf eyes reflecting in the dark. She turned to Kane and they walked to the entrance of the maze. “It’s a maze. How are we going to find what’s making that smell?”
“I guess we split up.” Kane dragged a bale of hay from the entrance. “I’m sure we’ve all been in one of these before. They usually have a few dead ends, and you keep coming back to the beginning and starting again. I’d say as this has been set up for the kids, it won’t be too difficult.” He turned to look at Jenna. “Or we can all go together. It’s your call.”
Although the idea of walking into a maze in the pitch black wasn’t her idea of fun, Jenna aimed her flashlight along a pathway. “It would be quicker if we split up. Call out if you find anything.”
Mist swirled around Jenna as she stared into the darkness for a few moments, listening. The air carried the scent of damp earth and mold but the overpowering smell of death came on the breeze. Fear gripped her as Kane and Rio disappeared into the darkness, leaving her alone. Taking a deep foul breath, she aimed her flashlight across the tangled pathway and took a few steps. On each side the cornstalks stood tall and yellow. With each step their dried leaves whispered in the wind, sounding so like hushed voices. The hair on the back of her neck prickled. Glancing over one shoulder, she moved with care through the towering stalks. She gasped when her flashlight beam sliced through the darkness and landed on a severed hand, crawling from a pile of damp earth. Heart pounding, she shook her head. “It’s just more stupid Halloween fun for the kids.”
As she moved deeper into the maze, the way became littered with scary props. Huge spiders, cobwebs, and bats came at her from every angle. She sidestepped a cackling witch in a rocking chair and kept moving. With each step forward, darkness closed in around her in a solid suffocating wall. Strange, unsettling noises came from all directions and suddenly a wave of fear gripped her and she couldn’t shake off the feeling someone else was close by, watching her. Rustling sounds came from the corn but she couldn’t tell if it was Kane or Rio moving through the maze or someone coming straight for her. Disoriented, she fought the desire to turn and run back to the entrance.
The bad smell intensified, becoming more unbearable with each hesitant step. Something dead was close by. Trembling, she stopped, pushed the flashlight between her knees and pulled on a face mask and gloves. The flashlight slid from her grip and rolled away into the corn. The darkness was immediate and closed around her, amplifying every small sound. She gasped and dived after the flashlight, crawling on her hands and knees. The light had rolled just out of reach among the cornstalks. In pitch black, she scrabbled forward, fingers outstretched. She sobbed with relief when her fingers closed around the handle. Nerves at breaking point, she backed out of the corn and straightened slowly, moving the beam all around to make sure no one had followed her. The wind had picked up and the field of corn rustled and moaned. A wolf pack howled in the distance and she swallowed her rising fear and turned at the next corner.
Ahead, a small clearing intentionally carved into the maze opened up and she stopped midstride as her light moved over a young woman laid out on two hay bales. Transfixed, Jenna’s hand trembled as she held the flashlight steady. Was this real or just another prop to scare the kids? The unmistakable smell of decomposition seeped through her face mask. She took a hesitant step forward, taking in the ritualistic position of the hands cradling the stake plunged through the heart, the marks on the neck. It was the same as before. The killer had struck down another innocent young woman.
She wanted to cry out for the injustice, the tragic waste of life. How could she stop this maniac? Her training kicked in and she stepped back, not wanting to contaminate the scene. Unease slid over her. This woman hadn’t died here. The ground and all around was clean. Could the killer be close by, watching her reaction, and enjoying the horror on her face? She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She moved back, scanning all around her, and then raised her voice and turned her flashlight up into the air. “Dave, Rio. Over here.”
Footsteps came running and corn broke and crackled all around her as Kane pushed his way through the wall of the maze. She gripped his arm, glad to see him. “It’s a body. The same as before.”
“I’ll call Wolfe.” Kane pulled out his phone.
Behind her, she made out the sound of Rio as he ran along the pathway toward her. He rounded the corner and stopped. His flashlight illuminated the grotesque scene. She turned to look at him. “It’s just as well you decided to call this in, or this poor woman would have been eaten by the wolves.”
“It looks exactly the same as the last two.” Rio moved his flashlight over the body and around the ground beside the hay bales. “I can’t even see a footprint. This guy sure knows how to pick places to dump his bodies.”
Jenna nodded. “I’d figured he made a mistake when he left the locket with the pig.” She waved a hand toward the forest. “I hoped Wolfe would find something incriminating but it’s another dead end.”
“Maybe there was evidence on the pig we missed. Once the elk went through there was no evidence left and by morning the wildlife had taken the rest.” Kane rubbed his shoulder. “At first, I believed the pig was to distract us, but all the women so far have been taken after dark. So, he had some other motive.”
“Really?” Rio looked from one to the other, his face dark under his Stetson. “It’s kind of obvious to me. The killer knows about the old bridge and it’s all over town that the elk have been moving down this way. I figure he used the pig to lure you into the forest and then he paid kids to stampede the elk. He would know the only possible way to escape would be to cross the bridge.” He gave them a long look. “He wanted you all dead and I figure he almost got his wish.”
