Where Angels Fear (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“Just a minute. Those rules are if the plant is operational and an injury involves one of my employees. Right now we are in shutdown.” Sawyer frowned. “I was doing some maintenance and cut myself. It wasn’t bad enough to call the paramedics so I called Doctor Weaver.”

“If it wasn’t anything to worry about, why not drive into town yourself and see the doctor, or go to the ER?” Jenna pulled back her hood and looked at him. “Are you okay now?”

“I am.” He gave Jenna an engaging smile. “Thank you for askin’ but at the time I was bleedin’ and concerned the cut might have been deeper than I figured.” He took a step closer to her and pulled down the neck of his sweater to display a small bandage. “Would you like to see?”

Kane cleared his throat. Sawyer was being way too familiar with Jenna. “Maybe if you explain how the injury occurred?”

“Oh, sure.” Sawyer straightened and dropped his hands to his sides. “I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the workings of a meat processin’ plant but I’d be happy to walk you through anytime.” He raised both eyebrows at Jenna as if he was asking her to the movies. “The steers come into the kill floor, get processed, then the carcass is hung on a hook that moves along a production line and goes through many hands before it’s packed. I was replacin’ one of the block and tackles on the line. The hook swung around and hit me right here.” He pointed in the region of his collarbone. “Darn thing cut right through my clothes and gave me a puncture wound. It bled like the devil, so I went to my office, packed it with a bandage and called the doc.” He shrugged. “She checked me out, put in a couple of sutures and I was good to go.”

“You did clean up any blood and sterilize the area?” Jenna stepped away from Sawyer, wrinkling her nose. “I’m sure you’re aware of cross-contamination?”

“Yeah. I’ve been in this business for years and we have inspectors crawlin’ over the place all the time. They’ll be there the day we open before Christmas.” Sawyer opened his arms and shrugged. “I’ve never had a complaint. My plant is spotless. I follow the rules. You’re wastin’ your time here.”

Kane narrowed his gaze, taking in his neat appearance, short manicured nails and designer stubble. He portrayed a wealthy businessman and wondered why he’d bother to do the heavy work. “Why didn’t you leave the maintenance crew to fix the problem when they got back? I gather the plant is in shutdown over the holidays?”

“Yeah, we shut down for four weeks, sometimes more if the weather prevents the cattle trucks, but I have a small crew who come in to process ten steers from Black Rock Falls the week before Christmas to make sure the local stores have enough supplies to carry them through.” Sawyer pushed both hands into his back pockets and leaned casually against the wall. “My maintenance crew have everythin’ runnin’ smoothly and I have a couple of guys on call should I need them but I didn’t bother draggin’ them out and payin’ them for something I could do alone.”

Why not have it repaired before you shut down the plant? Kane rubbed his chin. “So did you just happen to notice it was faulty?”

“Nope.” A flash of annoyance crossed Sawyer’s face. “When the maintenance crew is in a production area, the workers are off the floor. It’s a safety issue. I’d overlooked a report from one of the supervisors on the kill floor that a block and tackle was faulty. I decided to fix it before we did the short run next week.”

“Okay, that’s all I need for now.” Jenna gave Kane a meaningful glance and shut her notebook. “Thank you for your time.”

“My pleasure.” Sawyer opened the front door and smiled at Jenna. “It was nice meetin’ you, Sheriff.”

Kane followed Jenna back to his truck and waited for her to buckle up. “What do you make of him?”

“I couldn’t pick a hole in his story.” Jenna pulled up her hood and shivered. “As he fits the same type as the Axman, I figured I’d push him a bit to see if he showed aggression but all he did was hit on me.” She pulled a face of disgust. “I don’t really need to know about the cattle-slaughtering process.”

Kane started the engine and waited for the snow on the windshield to melt before turning on the wipers. “He likely thought it would interest you. This is a hunting town and most people aren’t squeamish about the process of dressing an animal for the table.” He backed out of the driveway and headed toward the Pauls’ residence. “I did see a flash of annoyance when I challenged him but he employs hundreds of people, so wouldn’t be used to anyone questioning him about how he runs his business.”

“Hmm, well at least he’s given Doc Weaver a reason to be hanging around the industrial area during the shutdown.” Jenna let out a long sigh and reached for the Thermos of coffee. “Not that I believe for one minute she’s working with the Axman but since she turned up unannounced on my doorstep, I’m convinced she’s up to something.” She poured two cups of coffee. “I’m drinking this before we speak to Ella. I want you to take the lead in the interview. When you spoke to her last time she wasn’t under the influence of drugs, and you’ll be able to read her better than me.”

Kane looked at her, then returned his attention to the road. “Yeah, she wasn’t exactly lucid when we found her on the highway. Date rape drugs would be a good choice if the Axman wanted her to forget what happened.” He sighed. “What’s not fitting in this scenario is why leave a witness when he had a second chance to take her? It’s not logical.”

“It’s as if he had an insight into our investigation, which is impossible.” Jenna sipped her drink. “Maybe he figures we’ll believe she’s the killer and the Axman is a figment of her imagi

nation?”

Kane processed what she had said then nodded. “If we did believe that, it still leaves us with where she stashed the car and Sky’s body. Okay, I guess we only have her word she stayed out in the freezing cold in a blizzard all night, she could have gotten a ride back to the highway and then waved down a truck.” He shrugged. “That might make sense if she was involved but then the Axman blows that theory to hell by letting Levi Holt escape. If Rowley comes back from Blackwater and Holt has an identical story to Ella’s, we know we’re right and she’s innocent.”

“Unless Holt is involved and he reported the attack as a cover for her.” Jenna raised one eyebrow. “That would make sense. If Holt is involved, he could have been in the car with them. I’ll give Rowley a call and make sure he establishes Holt’s whereabouts at the time of Sky’s disappearance.” She opened her cellphone and made the call.

The snow pelted the windshield and the wind increased, blowing up great clouds of white across the highway. Kane slowed to avoid a sedan creeping along in front of them. He turned to Jenna. “The weather is closing in. I hope Rowley and Webber make it back from Blackwater without too much trouble.”

“So do I.” She barked out a laugh. “I don’t fancy staying in the motel tonight either. If it gets any worse, we won’t get home.”

Kane reached for his coffee and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you home.”

Forty-Two

Life was certainly looking up for Rowley of late. The sheriff was handing him more responsibilities. Since Kane’s injury and during the sheriff’s illness, she had relied on him to keep the office open along with semi-retired Deputy Walters. He’d figured once things had gotten back to normal, he would be back to handling the local squabbles and parking tickets; but his work must have met with her approval. Although driving to Blackwater in the dead of winter with a blizzard on the way was not his idea of fun, the new Yukon sure made life easier. He turned up the music and grinned at Webber. “It’s good to get out the office for the afternoon.”

“Why don’t you turn that noise down for a while and bring me up to speed on what we’re doing.” Webber tipped back his Stetson and rested one boot on the dashboard. “And no, I’d rather be in the ME’s office than out in the darn cold freezing my balls off.”

Rowley frowned at the disregard for his new cruiser. “I will as soon as you stop damaging my truck.”

“Huh, yours, is it?” Webber grinned and dropped his foot. “Nice ride, you’re lucky. I’d have thought old Walters would have been the next in line for a new one. So give me the rundown.”