Follow Me Home (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Jenna’s eyes flashed. “And the third was underestimating me.”

28

Sunday

Jenna had woken at eight and strolled out of her room the following morning dressed in her workout gear. She went to the kitchen following the delicious aroma of fresh coffee. She found Kane looking as fresh as a daisy, nursing a steaming cup of joe. “Good morning. Thanks for making the coffee.”

“My pleasure. I’ve repaired your alarm as well but you might want to ask Wolfe to give it an upgrade.” He smiled. “I thought you’d want to work out, so I went home, fed Duke, and changed. Oh, and Rowley headed home. He will meet us at the office at ten. He had to feed his dog too.”

“Where is he? Duke, I mean.”

“Asleep in his basket. I think we kept him up too late last night.” He chuckled deep in his chest. “Do you know he snores? Truly, and he runs in his sleep.”

Jenna poured a cup of coffee and added the fixings. “He looks good now. I can’t believe he is the same dog, and not a vicious bone in his body. After being mistreated I thought he would be different.”

“He is a hound dog; they’re not known for having a bad temperament. He is gentle and very clean. Whoever gave him to the shelter must have been nuts.” Kane smiled warmly. “I haven’t had a dog since I was a kid. He’s great company.”

Jenna smiled at him, liking the glimpse into his secret past. “He is lucky to have you.”

“Thanks.” Kane leaned his wide frame back in the chair, making it creak in protest. “If we go into the office early, maybe we can be done in time to look at those horses?”

Jenna finished her coffee and stood. She needed a good solid workout to clear her head. “Maybe. Are you ready for me to kick your ass?”

“Lead the way.” Kane’s blue eyes sparkled in amusement. “I guess you can try.”

Before she left home, Jenna called Wolfe and discovered he had wasted no time in collecting the information from the newspaper articles. “That’s great news. You must have worked all night.”

“Yeah, I worked last night but if you’re going into the office this morning I’ll email it to you, unless you need me to report for duty, ma’am.”

“Just send the list and we can discuss anything else on Monday.” Jenna frowned. She did not intend to steal his entire Sunday with his kids. “I think you’ve done more than enough this weekend. Thank you, I appreciated you putting in the overtime.”

“It’s all part of the job, ma’am. I’ll see you on Monday unless the killer strikes again.”

Smothering a yawn, Jenna dragged a hand through her hair, not sure if she had brushed it, and sighed. “I hope not. See you on Monday.”

She disconnected and gulped down her third cup of coffee in an effort to drive away the exhaustion. The cases had gnawed at her and she had tossed and turned before falling asleep. The workout with Kane had been brutal, and now she had fallen into the slump from the adrenaline rush. She filled her takeout cups with coffee and headed for the door, glad to see Kane waiting in his black rig for her. His offer to drive her into the office had been most welcome and she would enjoy the company.

She opened the door and noticed Duke’s head hanging over the back seat. She looked at Kane and raised one eyebrow in question. “Is he a new recruit?” She slid into the seat and deposited the travel cups in the console.

“Do you mind?” Kane looked chagrined. “I did promise to take him for a walk in the forest. You do know he can track a person by their clothing.”

She gazed at Duke’s bloodshot eyes. “He doesn’t look as if he has the energy to keep his eyes open let alone track anyone.”

“He is fitter than you think.” Kane’s mouth twitched up at the corners as he started the car.

She fastened her seatbelt. “If we can process all the information we’ve collected for both cases for Monday morning before lunch, I’ll come with you to look at the horses, but I want boots on the ground until we solve these cases.”

“Sure, I’ll be glad of the company.” Kane smiled at her. “I’ll be interested to see what info Wolfe got from the old newspapers.”

Jenna stared out the window at the green fields flying by, not really listening. All she could think about was finding Zoe locked in the cage. She understood the fear of being at the mercy of brutal men. Her flashbacks were a constant reminder. When Kane cleared his throat in an unnatural way, she glanced over at him. “Sorry, did you say something?”

He repeated the question.

“Yeah, we’ll have names of missing girls and where they lived at least.” She sighed. “They seemed to have vanished into thin air.”

Kane flicked her a glance then returned his attention to the road. “The earlier cases— opportunistic I’d say, maybe by snatching kids walking home alone. We know pedophiles frequent online chat rooms to procure kids. They often like to share experiences as well but these men are being extra careful.”

“As we’ve drawn a blank on the murder victims’ associates and the FBI have come up with zip, we can’t move forward on the murder cases until we interview Angelique Booval and the Blackwater soci