“Yeah I did and then something woke me, a noise in the hallway.” Sandy frowned. “It was dark and I’d left all the lights on for when Jake arrived.”
“So, you heard a noise and then what happened?” Kane’s face was filled with emotion.
Jenna leaned against the wall and looked at her battered friend and tried to quell her anger. Her gaze moved to Rowley balanced on the arm of the chair holding Sandy’s hand. She’d never seen him so pale and he was trembling with rage.
“I went into the hallway and heard sounds and then someone came at me, I tried to run but they knocked me down. They hit me with a flashlight and when they kicked me—” Sandy blinked and then stared at Kane. “They were wearing cowboy boots, something flashed like a medallion or something on the boots. That’s all I remember until Jake arrived.”
“Did they say anything?” Kane regarded her closely. “Did you smell anything?”
“No, they didn’t say anything.” Sandy thought for a beat. “There was a smell, I’m not sure what it was, cologne perhaps?”
“One person or two?” Kane glanced at Jenna and then back at Sandy.
“One, it was only one.” Sandy sighed and dabbed at her head again. “One set of footsteps came running behind me, I’m certain.”
Jenna smiled at her. “You did really well.” She headed for the door. “The paramedics are here. I’ll come by the hospital and check on you later. No doubt, the doctors will want to run a ton of tests.”
“They will.” Sandy gripped Rowley’s arm. “I’ll be fine. Don’t drive when you’re angry. Wait awhile and call my folks, I’ll need some things. Ask Mom, she’ll know what to bring.”
“Okay.” Rowley kissed her. “I’ll be right behind you.”
The paramedics came in with their usual swift efficiency, checking Sandy and getting her onto a gurney before whisking her away. Jenna had expected Rowley to dash after her but he slumped against the wall and covered his face with both hands. She walked to his side. He always reacted well to orders and obviously needed some direction. “You have things to do. Contact her parents and then follow her to the hospital. You have a long night ahead of you, these things take hours. We’ll be by as soon as we’ve processed the scene. Do you need me to get anything from the ranch for Sandy?”
“No.” Rowley straightened and a strange calm had descended on him. “Sandy still has things at her parents’ house. I’ll call and ask her mom to bring the necessities. They’ll keep her in the hospital for at least overnight, won’t they?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, they’ll want to make sure she and the baby are okay.”
“Babies.” Rowley’s eyes filled with unshed tears. “Twins, one of each, we were keeping it a secret until my parents come back from vacation. God, I hope they’re okay.”
She hadn’t seen Wolfe slip in the front door with Emily and Colt Webber at his side. She turned at his voice.
“Did she have any bleeding or contractions? Could you feel the babies moving?” Wolfe was staring at Rowley.
“She was only bleeding from her head injury. I felt the babies moving and no contractions.” Rowley looked relieved to see Wolfe.
“Was Sandy lucid?” Wolfe was regarding Rowley intently.
“Yeah, not at first, but yes she was answering Kane’s questions just fine.” Rowley took the drink Emily thrust into his hands. “I don’t have time to drink coffee, she’ll need me at the hospital.”
“Sit down and drink the coffee.” Wolfe patted him on the shoulder. “Call her parents and get what she needs for a couple of days’ observation. Trust me, the moment the paramedics wheel in the gurney, she’ll be having scans and there will be doctors crawling all over her. You’ll be stuck in the waiting room for hours. It’s best you sit here for a while until the shock wears off a bit before you get behind the wheel.”
“Okay.” Rowley removed his Stetson and dropped into a chair. He looked up at Jenna. “For the first time in my life, I feel like killing someone. The monster who killed those girls laid hands on my wife.” His hands shook around the cup. “It’s obvious they’ll stop at nothing.”
Jenna waved everyone from the room. “Get suited up, folks, and get that crime scene processed. I’ll be up in a moment.” She waited for them to leave and looked at Rowley. “That’s a perfectly normal reaction. I get mad when people are killed and when Dave was shot, I wanted to kill the man who did it.” She crouched beside him. “You’re a great deputy and you know we have the best team around, so I want you to trust me to catch this guy.” She squeezed his arm. “I need to know the office is in capable hands while I’m working on this case. You’ll need to step back now that Sandy is involved.” She noticed his face stiffen and sighed. “Look, I know it’s difficult to stand by when something like this happens but when we catch him, if his defense team believe there was any chance of a conflict of interest, he’ll walk.”
“Yeah, I understand.” Rowley stared at the door. “Do you figure Agent Carter and Wells will stick around now?”
Jenna shrugged. “Maybe but they’re always there if we need them. Drink your coffee and make the calls. I’ll go and see what’s happening upstairs.”
She suited up and skirted past Colt Webber who was checking every inch of the staircase for hairs. “Find anything?”
“Yeah, a fiber that might be from a pompom.” Webber held up an evidence bag. “It’s the right color.”
Jenna nodded and moved up the steps, following the voices into the first bedroom. “What have we got, Shane?”
“This one is different to the last one but the same in many ways.” Wolfe pointed to the marks on the girl’s neck. “Someone tried to strangle her and couldn’t kill her so they bludgeoned her to death by the look of it. I’ll know more from the post. So that’s different, so is the tape, and I’m assuming the material poking out from under the tape are men’s briefs. She isn’t naked but her clothes are missing.”
Jenna moved closer to the victim. “I know her, she’s the vice-captain of the cheerleading squad. Her name is Becky something.” She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her files. “Becky Powell.” She thought for a beat. “We have a connection. She was chasing after Wyatt Cooper the night Laurie was murdered.”