“Okay. I know you will use any excuse to make me break my parole. I’m not stupid. I’ll talk to you over by your car.” Lizzy thrust the takeout into her mother’s hands then strode away, back straight and head high.
He followed and waited for her to turn around. “Miss Harper, this is not about your parole. We are trying to discover the names of a group of men who kidnapped and abused a twelve-year-old girl.”
“How the hell should I know anything about a group of pedophiles? In case you missed the news, I killed my father.”
Kane cleared his throat. “I don’t think you are telling me the whole story, Miss Harper. I believe our latest victim’s situation was much like yours. We know your father took you to his fishing cabin to abuse you.”
“That’s not a secret.” Lizzy glanced toward her mother and grimaced. “I’m sure she knew but she is weak and every time I tried to tell her she’d shut me down.” She glared at him. “Don’t come over all social worker on me and ask me why I didn’t tell a teacher or someone: I was ashamed, that’s why. He made me feel like shit, like I was nothing, dirty. No one would listen to me so I had to deal with him myself.”
Kane leaned against the car, taking a casual pose in an effort to put her at ease. “Was it just him or did he have a few friends visit while you were there?”
“Why?” Her eyes flashed dangerously and if she had been a rattlesnake, he would be dead.
“The girl we found told us she was held in the mountains and men would visit at the weekends.” He noticed the color drain from her face, and her agitation. “We need to stop these animals before they grab another kid off the street.”
She shrugged and looked away.
“Miss Harper, I know this is hard for you but did your father place you in the same situation?” He took out his notepad and flipped through the pages. “We found Amos Price murdered then Ely Dorsey both had kidnapped girls at their homes. I know these men are involved in a pedophile ring. Do these names mean anything to you?”
“No. Oh shit, I know what this is about; I take it my mother told you my son isn’t my father’s child. So now you want all the dirty little details. You men are all the same.” Lizzy pushed both hands through her silky hair and lifted her chin. “I don’t have to tell you anything. Yeah, I killed my pervert of a father and did my time. Now unless you want to charge me, I have work to do.”
“Fine.” Kane rubbed his chin. “But the longer we have to look for the rest of these men, the more chance there is of them snatching another child.” He inclined his head. “As a matter of interest, as your son had a DNA test, I can obtain a court order to check it against our victims. If we get a match, you do realize I could arrest you on suspicion of murder?”
“Really?” Lizzy lifted her dimpled chin and smiled at him in an unhinged way. “It sounds like he deserved to die. The problem with you, Deputy Kane, is you are no different from any other man who has questioned me. You want me to tell you all the disgusting things they did to me so you can fantasize about it later.” She held up a hand to prevent his reply. “Arrest me or leave me the hell alone.” She turned and stomped back toward her mother.
The disgusting things “they” did to her. Her Freudian slip gave him all the information he needed.
22
That evening Jenna stared at Dave Kane over the table at the Cattleman’s Hotel restaurant. Filled to capacity, she had had to squeeze past people to get to her seat. She could not help but notice the admiring glances Kane received from just about every woman who walked by, and the way he ignored them. She had to admit, he did look suave in a dark blue suit with his hair neatly combed rather than plastered to his head from his cowboy hat. He smelled good too.
“Do I have food in my teeth?” He raised one black eyebrow then smiled. “Or does that look mean something else?”
They had become close friends in the last year and it was good to relax off duty with him and not be the sheriff for a short while. She chuckled at his bemused expression. “Maybe.” She sighed. “I like this, what we have. I’ve never had a close friend quite like you before.”
“I’m glad we can be normal after hours as well.” Kane winced. “I have to admit, at first, not running things was difficult but I adapt pretty well.”
She chuckled. “You certainly do. I haven’t had to take you out back of the barn and teach you a lesson once.”
“Uh-huh.” Kane flashed a white smile at her. “Even my dad wasn’t game enough to try that means of punishment with me.” He cleared his throat. “I was fully grown at fourteen.”
She dropped her voice. “Do you miss them, your parents and family since you moved way out here?”
Kane’s face took on a thoughtful look.
“More than you could imagine but I guess I’m preaching to the converted.”
At once, she regretted intruding on his privacy and nodded. “I miss friends but I lost my parents before I signed up for my last gig.” She sighed. “There’s no going back, is there?”
“I would without a second thought if I could do something useful.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “I’m sure you understand my reasoning?”
Sh
e understood his carefully disguised conversation only too well and cleared the lump in her throat. It didn’t take a genius to know Kane would vanish from existence if offered the chance to take down the people who murdered his wife. “Yeah, I do, and if you plan on going to a reunion, I’m going with you.”
“As my date?” Kane gave her a long, considering stare. “Maybe.”
Picking up her glass of wine, she sipped, allowing the rich-bodied flavor to spill over her tongue. She needed to change the conversation before the evening was a total failure. “I know you are dying to talk about the case. Since you arrived on my doorstep this evening, you’ve had a smug smile on your face.”