Where Angels Fear (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Despondent from the lack of progress in the missing persons’ cases, Jenna trudged through the fresh snow to Kane’s truck. During their time with Knox, the sun had slipped away and now colored flashing lights from the gaudy motel sign reflected in the icy parking lot. The world had turned from a winter wonderland to every shade of gray in minutes, much like her mood. The facts surrounding the disappearances gnawed at her. When people went missing in similar circumstances, either of two things usually happened: the kidnappers sent a ransom note, or they found bodies, but some cases were never resolved. She let out a sigh filling the air around her in a cloud of white. Where the hell do I go from here?

She met up with Kane at the truck and heard Blake jogging up behind them. They turned to greet him. “Problem?”

“Nah.” Blake smiled at her. “It’s just you might want to hold off leaving for half an hour or so. The snowplows drove by just before. They’ll be clearing the highway and spraying salt, so you might want to give them a head start?”

Jenna stowed the evidence bags in the back of Kane’s truck and nodded. “Thanks. I could do with a strong coffee before we head home.”

“Can you suggest a good place to get a steak?” Kane gave Blake an optimistic look. “We might as well eat before we leave. I won’t feel like cooking by the time I’ve gotten home.”

“The Turf and Surf Grill is opposite the park.” Blake waved a hand in the direction of town. “Good food, nice clean place.”

At the mention of steak, Jenna’s stomach growled. She glanced at Kane. “That will do fine, thanks.” She pulled open the door to Kane’s truck, then paused to pull a business card from her pocket and handed it to him. “Call me if you find out anything about Knox.”

“I sure will, ma’am.” Blake took the card and made his way to his cruiser.

An hour or more had passed by the time they reached the highway and headed back to Black Rock Falls. Snow pelted the windshield like confetti, slowing the wipers and turning the highway into a scene from a Christmas globe. With no traffic on the highway, the blacktop loomed before them in a tunnel of the truck’s headlights. Glad not to be alone, Jenna leaned back in the seat relaxing and listening to the chatter on the radio. It was unusual for Kane to be so quiet but as he needed all his concentration to drive, she decided not to discuss the case. Instead, she glanced at him, wanting to know more about his secret past. “Have you ever wondered why the three of us ended up together in Black Rock Falls?”

“At first, I figured this was the end of the line, put out to pasture job.

I had a degree of memory loss covering the time before the car bombing, so I guessed it was because of my injury.” Kane shrugged. “Until I worked alongside you. I know agents and you had so many tells, I could only imagine I’d been sent here to protect you.” He barked a laugh. “An obvious mistake.”

Jenna grinned. “What about Wolfe? I know we need his expertise as an ME and his IT skills are crazy but why send him?” She reached for her to-go cup of coffee. “He isn’t in witness protection, is he?”

“Nope, no need.” Kane flicked her a glance. “As far as anyone knows he left the service, worked in IT for a while, then stayed at home to nurse his wife. That’s all true but he built a secure room to use for communications. I would imagine he handled a few agents before me. When I realized you were an agent, I made enquiries. That caused enough ripples for POTUS to send Wolfe here. He is my communication to HQ should I need it because unlike you, I’m not in witness protection, I’m officially off the grid.”

Jenna pondered his words. “So do you figure they sent Shane here to keep an eye on us?”

“Nope.” Kane glanced in his mirror and frowned. “I guess they wanted someone here I knew I could trust. If I get a message to inform me I’m back on active duty via him, I’ll know it’s true, but after the damage I sustained last fall, I don’t figure that will be anytime soon if ever.” He looked in the mirror again. “I’m sure I caught sight of a vehicle following us before and it just vanished.”

“Maybe it’s a ghost truck that haunts the highway late at night.” Jenna chuckled and stared into the side mirror. “I can’t see anything.”

She noticed the tightening of Kane’s jaw and the ticking of the muscle in his cheek. His attention flicked from the mirror and back to the road. Jenna turned in her seat to peer behind them. Her scalp tingled and her belly quivered with the unnerving feeling someone was watching them. The road behind appeared empty and only the blacktop snaked away around the previous bend.

“Turn back around and watch out the side mirror.” Kane’s voice was low and calm. “I caught a glimpse of something glistening when the moon came out from behind the clouds just before we took the last bend.”

Instinctively Jenna went for her weapon and laid it across her knees. She turned to look at Kane. “Do you think it’s the Axman? Maybe we have gotten too close and he wants to take us out?”

“Maybe but my truck is unmarked, so how does he know it’s us? Unless it’s Knox, he might have seen our vehicle but I didn’t notice him peer out the window at the motel.” Kane frowned at her Glock. “You’ll need both hands to hang on if he makes a move.”

“Okay.” She holstered her weapon and moved her attention back to the mirror. “I can’t see anyone.”

As they rounded the next sweeping bend, an engine roared behind them and as if out of thin air, the menacing crash-bar-covered grille of a vehicle appeared in the side mirror coming fast. Jenna clamped her jaw tight and hung on. “Oh, my God, watch out!”

“Shit!” Kane accelerated across the highway then slammed on the brakes and his truck slid sideways for fifty yards on the fresh covering of snow road before coming to a rocking halt.

The white pickup flashed past in a blur, missing them by inches, and fishtailed up the road then slowed to stop four hundred yards away on the sweeping bend as if waiting. Jenna’s heart pounded as Kane moved his truck back to the right lane then stopped in the middle of the road.

“Did you get a plate?” Kane’s gaze hadn’t moved from the speeding white truck.

“No, it was covered in mud. I figure he’s planned this and probably followed us from town.” Jenna swallowed hard. It was like being stuck in a horror movie. The white pickup’s lights came on in a flash of brilliance. It spun around and faced them, steam billowing from under the hood and the engine revving like a raging bull. The dark windows gave the pickup an eerily robotic appearance as the vehicle lifted up at the front and shook with power. Unnerved, Jenna gripped the seat. “What’s he doing now?”

“Playing chicken and he sure picked the wrong guy.”

A sense of foreboding dropped over Jenna. God help them. One look at Kane and she knew he’d dropped into combat mode. She took in his determined expression and noted the pulsing vein standing out in his neck. “You’d risk our lives on a stupid game on an icy road. Have you lost your mind?”

“You need to trust me, Jenna. No one wants to die. He’ll fold then lose control on the bend and end up in the ditch.” He glanced at her. “He wouldn’t be doing this without wearing a seatbelt, so we’ll play his stupid game, then drive over and arrest him.”

Angered by his overconfidence, she turned on him. “I’d rather you stopped acting like a teenager and shoot out his tires. You never miss, do you?”