“About two years or so. The Daniels brothers were the first people to welcome me to Black Rock Falls.” Jenna’s smile reached her eyes. “One of my deputies, Pete Daniels, is their brother. I think you’re imagining things; they have absolutely no reason to be nervous around law enforcement.”
“What’s their story?”
“Pete wasn’t raised here. When their mother died, his father sent him to live with an aunt. Pete has his own place in town.” Alton’s lips quirked at the edges. “His brothers are friendly and laid-back, much like my deputy. It’s nice to know they turned out normal, considering their father. I’ve heard tales of his cruelty that would make your hair curl.”
Kane moved his attention to the men then back to her. “What happened to their father, is he in jail?”
Jenna pushed a stray black hair from her face and shook her head. “No, he fell under a tractor, as far as I know, some years before I arrived in town.”
Interesting. “Was there an investigation?”
“It was an accident. Wow! You’re intense and the way you are looking at them I’m not surprised they’re nervous.” Alton’s eyes flashed with anger. “You are an unknown quantity in town and intimidated me when we first met. Adding the fact you arrived the same time as I’ve been conducting a door-to-door would put anyone on edge. I’d say many people believe they’re under scrutiny and I’m sure quite a few have something to hide.”
“Maybe, but with a brother in the department, they’d be aware of the reason you’ve been asking questions.” Kane shoo
k his head. “It’s unlikely they’d have something to hide unless Deputy Daniels is covering for them. Can he be trusted?”
“He’s a rookie. Sometimes he acts a little cocky and I’ve had to speak to him in the past about discussing cases with his streams of girlfriends but he is shaping up okay now. Would he report his brothers for breaking the law? I really couldn’t say but honestly, the Daniels boys are the least of my worries. They keep to themselves and don’t cause trouble. I think you can take them off your radar.” She picked up a fork, scooped up fluffy scrambled eggs, and popped them in her mouth then lifted an amused gaze to him. “In case you’re wondering, the two men that high-tailed it out of here are Josh Rockford and Dan Beal, the men I arrested for being a public nuisance. They tend to overindulge and Rockford thinks he is God’s gift to women, which could turn into a problem as half of his fans are teenage girls—not that any have complained.” She raised a dark eyebrow. “I noticed Rockford was on his cellphone when we arrived. I would guess they’re probably late for hockey practice. I held them up yesterday and the coach would have fined them for being late. The Larks’ coach has very strict rules about players missing training sessions.”
“Okay.” Kane ate with leisure and mulled over what they had discussed earlier. He wanted to investigate Jenna’s accident before the trail went cold. “Do you happen to know what vehicles they drive?”
“Not Beal but Josh Rockford drives a decked-out rig. Red with plenty of chrome. He’s the peacock of the team, if you know what I mean?”
“Then it wasn’t him—or it wasn’t his car.”
“It could easily be Rockford.” Jenna cleared her throat and her cheeks colored. “He believes he can use the fact his father is the mayor to get out of trouble and he is disrespectful toward me in a suggestive way.”
“He doesn’t appreciate being rejected?”
“No.” Jenna met his gaze with a frown. “He is the ‘women should be barefoot and pregnant’ type and no doubt expects to marry a virgin.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him.” Kane stirred his coffee. “Did you contact Rowley?”
“Yeah, and he should be reporting in soon. I told him to drop in here on his way to the station and bring the images of the scene. With what you have, we’ll be able to see if anyone else disturbed the area after we left.” She stared thoughtfully at the table, poured cream into her fresh coffee, added sugar, and stirred. “Are you sure you want to sign on today? If you’d prefer we can discuss the accident at the station on Monday?”
“I’d rather start work today. I’d like to find the person who caused the accident before they have time to repair the damage to their vehicle.” He narrowed his gaze. “Why aren’t you making the attempt on your life a priority?”
“Trust me, I am.” She gingerly touched the dressing on her forehead. “I had Rowley on scene as soon as possible. You have a description of the vehicle that hit me and took photographs before the snow covered any marks. I believe we’re well on the way to finding a suspect.”
Kane leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Then give me the case so I can investigate.”
“As I am involved it would be the sensible thing to do. Rowley doesn’t have the experience but he works well under instruction.” Jenna turned and her face broke into a smile as the door to the shop swung open and a ruddy-faced young man wearing a deputy’s jacket over blue jeans removed his hat and ambled toward them. “Ah, here is Deputy Rowley now.”
“Ma’am.” Deputy Rowley strolled to the table with a camera in one hand.
“Rowley, meet Deputy Sheriff David Kane. He is taking the lead in my apparent hit-and-run.” Alton gave a dismissive wave in his direction. “Take a seat and show me what you have.”
Kane offered his hand. “Did you notice any paint residue on the damage to Sheriff Alton’s vehicle?”
“Yes, sir. I took a video and stills.” Rowley’s handshake was firm. “I remained on scene until the tow truck arrived and informed the operator to take the vehicle to Miller’s Garage and not touch it until further notice.” He placed the camera on the table.
“Do you mind?” Kane looked at Alton and indicated toward the camera.
“Go ahead.”
He flicked through the images, zooming in on anything suspicious. The scrape to the rear guard appeared to have paint residue. He showed the image to Alton. “We’ll need a sample.”
“I’ll collect a forensics kit from the office then we’ll head down to the garage.” A frown wrinkled her brow and she rubbed her temples. “It can wait until after we’ve eaten.”