Page 13 of Their Wicked Games

“Do you have any idea how many people in this town read books about serial killers?” Rowley turned in his seat to look at her. “Since the true crime series was published, telling all about what happens here, the sales have gone ballistic. The townsfolk read the books to find out what wasn’t released to the press in the cases we handled. If you take the time to drop by the bookstore, you’ll notice the front window is filled with crime novels. Seems to me that everyone in town who enjoys reading reads crime.” He smiled. “Reading about serial killers doesn’t make you one.”

“I never intimated that it did.” Carter held up both hands in submission. “As we’re going into the background of all the suspects, it was a point of interest, is all.” He rolled his eyes. “Maybe it’s time you stepped away from the investigation, seeing he’s a friend of yours?”

Feeling as if she was losing control of the team, Jenna stood and glared at them. “In a small town many of the people here are known to us. That is no reason not to investigate them. Being a friend makes no difference whatsoever at this stage of the investigation. If at a later date we discover a close relationship is a conflict of interest, we’ll deal with it then. Rowley, you mentioned that this guy went to grade school with you. Is he part of your inner circle of friends now?”

“Nope.” Rowley leaned back in his chair with his hands clasped. “I see him around town occasionally and we’ve passed the time of day, is all.”

Relieved, Jenna nodded. “Okay, but I’d like to bring to mind James Stone, a prominent lawyer in town, a man that I dated who subsequently shot Kane in the head and tried to murder me. He was also credited with the murders of hikers. In the end, I shot him. So just because someone is an acquaintance or friend, and seems fine on the outside, we must never take it for granted that they’re not involved.”

“That’s a given.” Jo had been watching the interplay like a tennis match, her head moving back and forth from one person to the other. “It seems to me, apart from the people in this room and our close family members, we can’t afford to trust anyone.”

“Yeah.” Kane blew out a long breath. “Serial killers can be anywhere, in any occupation, any sex or age. I have one rule of thumb and that is look at every suspect as if they are guilty until you can prove otherwise. I know it totally destroys the innocent-until-proven-guilty rule, but so far it’s kept me alive.”

Needing to keep the investigation moving forward, Jenna cleared her throat and looked at Rowley. “Did you find anything interesting on your suspect?”

“Yeah.” Rowley scanned his screen. “I have Geoff Bannister from out of Alpine Ridge. His occupation is a bartender at the Cattleman’s Hotel. He has misdemeanors. The bartender is a secondary occupation; his primary occupation is listed as a bull rider. So the majority of his misdemeanors concerns brawling, willful damage of property, and supplying liquor to an underage girl.” He rubbed his chin. “He hunts with the same two men, and they attend all the competitions together, and have done for the last five years.”

Jenna nodded. “Rio?”

Carter’s phone buzzed and he stood and left the room. Jenna stared after him. “Rio, can I have an update?”

“Sure.” Rio leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “Carl Harper spent some time in jail after a hunting accident in Blackwater. A Blackwater local accused him of stalking him in the forest, finally hitting him in the leg with a crossbow bolt. Apparently, the victim called the sheriff for assistance. Harper was arrested and did three months for aggravated assault.” He is currently employed by the local lumberyard in town. He lives in an apartment block on Main. I have the address.”

Jenna stared at the door as Carter came into the room and whispered something to Kane. She looked from one to the other as they went outside into the passageway. “Thanks, Rio. Just give me a minute.” She followed the men outside and, closing the door behind her, looked from one to the other. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Carter tossed a toothpick into his mouth and grinned. “The DA has cleared Kane. He said he’d reviewed the statements and there’s no case to answer. It was a clean shoot. Kane was acting in self-defense.”

“I wasn’t worried.” Kane shrugged. “Going through the process was necessary, although the DA’s decision wouldn’t stop any of the relatives from seeking revenge.”

Relieved, Jenna blew out a long breath. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’ll ask Rio to contact the media and put out the statement that Carter suggested. We’ll keep the details in house.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s getting late. I need to hear what Jo has discovered and then we can decide who we are going to interview first.” She led the way back into the room.

Standing at the head of the table, she smiled. “The DA cleared Kane, so there won’t be any delays in going forward with the homicide. Jo, what do you have for me?”

“Lonnie Barlow works at the general store here in town and lives out on Maple with his parents. He has no priors. His close friends are Harper and Bannister, as we’ve already established. He seems to be an ordinary guy. I can’t find any dirt on him at all.” Jo sighed. “Looking over all these suspects, no one jumps out and grabs you by the throat, do they?” She fiddled with her pen. “I mean, the obvious one in this group would be Harper, as he has priors for assault with a crossbow, but he didn’t kill the victim did he and the homicides in the forest were executions. It’s a big leap of faith to believe someone would go from wounding to murder. We don’t know enough about the case to know if provocation was involved.”

Jenna sat down and ran both hands through her hair. Her face ached from being punched and she needed some time to think before she proceeded with the investigation. “Okay, if you could update your files, I’ll organize the interviews. We’ll start fresh, first thing in the morning. Don’t forget the autopsies on the homicide victims are at ten.” She turned to Rio. “I know I’m not involved with the meth lab case, but could you give me an update? When will you be available to work full-time on the homicide?”

“Now. I took all the information over to the DA earlier. He looked over the case and decided to bring in the DEA. The case is widespread, over many states and out of our jurisdiction. Deke Williams will be picked up and taken to county this afternoon. Once the DEA is through with him, he might never get out of jail. If he does, he’ll be back here to face charges of kidnapping you.”

“So, it’s over?” Kane leaned against the wall. “For now, at least?”

“Yeah.” Rio smiled. “Oh, and before you ask, Wolfe said that Dr. Norrell Larson has taken on the mysterious forest graves cases. He said each of the investigations will take months, as she has no time frame to go on. It will be good to watch her work. Forensic anthropology is very interesting.”

“I guess it helps that it also happens to be Emily Wolfe’s favorite subject.” Kane slapped him on the back. “Let’s hope we solve this case soon, so you have time to offer your assistance. I’m sure we could spare you between cases.”

Jenna smiled. There had been a budding romance between Wolfe’s daughter and Rio for a time, but with Emily’s studies to become a medical examiner, everything had been put on hold. Rio was perfect for Emily, and the matchmaker in her would love to see them together. She looked at Kane. “I’m sure we could too. I have a feeling we’re going to be involved in the cold cases one way or the other.” She looked at her watch and sighed. “Time to head home. I don’t figure I’ll have trouble sleeping tonight. I’m beat.”

FOURTEEN

TUESDAY

A beautiful day greeted Jenna and she stood for a few moments on her front porch to marvel at the way the early morning sun turned the top of the trees to gold. As far as she could see, deep blue sky stretched out in all directions with not a cloud in sight. It would have been a perfect day to take a trail ride or a walk along the riverbank. Her short weekend with Kane had made her realize how much they were missing. They’d spent weeks investigating one crime after another with little or no downtime in between. She smiled as an eagle circled high above and wished in that second she could change places with it. Sighing, she walked down the steps and headed to the stables. She could see Carter moving around inside, with Zorro standing watch at the door. This morning, when Kane neglected to complete his usual grueling workout, she realized just how much the gunshot to his chest had affected him. He’d headed for the hot tub after dinner and completed a few stretching exercises earlier but then decided to go straight to the kitchen to cook breakfast. She’d received a bullet in a Kevlar vest herself. It had been like a kick from a horse.

She went inside the stables and gave Carter a wave. “I figure we should turn out the horses this morning. It’s a beautiful day and the grass is growing so long in the corral we won’t have to worry about them being hungry if we’re late home tonight.”

“Yeah, and we won’t have to muck out the stalls when we get home either.” Carter grinned. “You move them and I’ll finish up here.” He indicated to Kane’s stallion, Warrior. “Are you okay with him?”

Laughing, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, he’s a lot like his owner, his bark is worse than his bite.” She collected the horses one by one and led them to the corral.

---