Promises in the Dark (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Was in DC at the time of bombings.

Had a run-in with the Blackwater sheriff for stalking his girlfriend again but walked when he agreed to counseling.

Likes underage girls.

She turned to the team. “Anything I’ve forgotten?”

“Nope.” Kane was scanning his files.

Jenna looked at him. “Okay next, Peter Huntley:”

Involved with social services due to unemployment.

Children removed by Connie Wood and placed in care.

Children put up for adoption.

Huntley contacts Sam Cross who represents him pro bono and gets the children back with parents.

“I can find no other charges against him but I would say he’d be very resentful toward the Woods.” She shrugged. “He’s been a model citizen since moving to Black Rock Falls. Unless we can find anything to implicate him, he’s way down on my list of suspects.”

“Okay. We all know this isn’t finished, we’ve established a link between social services and the sheriff’s department in all of the suspects.” Jo stood, placed her hands on her lower back, and leaned back with a groan. “Looking at the main points who would you place on a list for possible targets?”

Trying to make her brain focus, Jenna stared at the lists, going down each one. She turned around. “A magistrate?”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” Kane scratched his cheek. “The problem is which one in which county? There are two here in Black Rock Falls, two in each of Louan and Blackwater and at this point we’re just guessing.”

“The suspects seemed to have brushed shoulders with at least three of them at one time or another.” Carter moved his toothpick across his lips. “We can put them on alert, inform the local law enforcement of a possible threat?”

Thinking of her own depleted department, Jenna nodded. She pulled out her phone and went to her contacts list. “I’ll call our local magistrates and give them the heads up. I don’t have the resources to have an around the clock surveillance on their homes.” She looked at Kane. “You contact the deputy sheriff at Blackwater and Carter, you’ve got Louan.” She made the first call to Rowley. “Hi Jake, we’ve been looking at the case files and believe a magistrate might be the next target. It’s likely to be one from Louan or Blackwater but I’m contacting ours just in case they see anything suspicious around their homes. If you get a call, contact me immediately.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about Abe Coleman. He’s just sat down at a table at the tavern near us.” Rowley paused a beat. “I heard that Daryl Chatsworth is off on a fishing trip this weekend.”

Relieved she had two of the magistrates accounted for, she sighed. “That’s great. If you

could give Coleman the heads up before he leaves, it will put my mind at rest.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Fifty-Five

It was full dark when Julie heard a noise. She picked up her phone like a security blanket and listened. Had Lucy slipped out of bed and crept downstairs? No, the house was so quiet she could hear herself breathe, and it wasn’t soft footsteps on the stair carpet she could hear, the crunch on gravel was coming from outside. Heart pounding, she closed her laptop and switched off the kitchen lights. Without hesitation, she called her dad’s phone. It went to voicemail. He was still busy in the lab. Fingers trembling, she dropped her voice to a whisper and left a message. “Someone is outside the house. I’m calling 911.”

Glass shattered in the panel beside the front door and seconds later the door flew open with such force it slammed against the wall. Heavy boots clattered on the polished floor toward her. Someone was checking the rooms. Terrified for her safety and the two sleeping children upstairs, panic gripped her. She had a split second to react. Out of the confusion, the drill she’d performed with her dad a million times fell into place. She closed her phone and pressed her emergency tracker pendant. The alert would go to not only her dad’s phone but to Uncle Dave and Jenna’s phones as well. A predator might check her phone to see if she’d dialed 911 and kill her and the tracker was immediate contact to help and unrecognizable. She had no time to hide, a man carrying a Glock in one hand with a backpack slung over one arm charged into the room, bringing with him the smell of sweat and cigarettes. She willed the children to remain asleep. If he didn’t know they were in the house they’d be safe.

“I saw the light go out.” The room flooded with light and a tall man with broad shoulders, dressed in black and wearing a balaclava, pointed his weapon at her head. “Where is everyone?”

Petrified, Julie’s throat closed, she tried to speak but her heart pounded so hard, she just stared at him until the press of the cold metal of the gun’s muzzle at her temple freed her tongue. She hardly recognized her squeaky voice. “They went out to visit a friend.” She looked into his dark eyes. Feeding information to anyone listening to her one-way communication tracker was paramount. “Why are you pointing a gun at my head?”

“Give me your phone.” He took it from her, checked the last dialed number, and smiled before dropping it on the table. “So not so smart huh?” He walked around her flicking at her hair. “You’re too old to be one of the brats, too young to be the wife. Just who are you, pretty girl?”

Scrambling for anything but the truth, she flicked her eyes toward him again. “I’m Abe’s cousin, I came here for school.”

“When will they be home?” He looked around the kitchen.

Trembling, Julie sucked in a deep breath. If this was the bomber, he’d want all the family in the house to kill them and she needed time for her dad to get there and save her. “Late, they said around midnight.”

“Perfect.” The man dropped his backpack on the table, pulled out zip-ties and smiled at her. “Turn around. Hands behind your back.”