Where Angels Fear (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“And if he’s just a kid in a high-powered truck playing chicken? I shoot out his tires and he rolls and dies in the wreck.” Kane didn’t take his eyes off the white pickup. “You willing to risk that, Jenna?” He revved the engine as if in reply to the challenge. “No? Then hang on tight.” He hit the gas.

The truck’s tires spun, then gripped the blacktop, and they shot forward at speed. Jenna dug trembling fingers into the seat, her gaze fixed on the white truck hurtling toward them. The space between the two cars narrowed and, blinded by the headlights, she held her breath. Her heart pounded fast in her ears and her stomach cramped so tight she wanted to vomit.

The next moment the bright lights of an eighteen-wheeler rounded the bend in front of them, air-horns blasting in warning. Jenna bit back a scream. If they swerved to avoid the white pickup, they would crash head on into the truck, but Kane didn’t flinch and held his course. At the last second, the white pickup swerved in front of the oncoming truck. She waited for a loud bang and the scream of tearing metal but only the truck’s air-horns continued to screech into the night.

Panting and speechless with fear, she waited for Kane to slow down and stop beside the road, then leaped out the door and vomited. She turned to see him standing in the middle of the highway staring into darkness. “You. Are. Insane.” Her voice sounded shaky. “We could have been killed.”

“Not a chance, he started moving over the line to avoid us way before we’d gotten close. I figured he was going to use the truck for cover.” Kane held out a bottle of water and shrugged. “He must have nine lives to have gotten away with that.”

Legs trembling, Jenna took the water and washed out her mouth, then bent over, hands on thighs, trying to slow her panicked mind. “It’s pointless pursuing him. He knows this strip of highway and could be holed up anywhere.”

“At least we have a good description of his truck.” Kane pulled his hat down over his ears and rubbed his hands together. “White, blacked-out windows with a mark on the passenger-side door, like the outline of a sticker.”

Jenna gaped at him as she made her way back to the truck. “You saw all that in a split second?”

“Just doing my job, ma’am.”

Fifty-Three

Monday, week two

It took some effort for Jenna to climb into Kane’s truck the following morning without shaking the memory of the previous night. The winter weather was in full force and the roads more dangerous by the hour. As they would be working alongside each other all day, it seemed good sense to leave her cruiser and take a ride with him to the office. After being mad all evening after he risked their lives in a movie-like stunt, she’d run through the scenario a thousand times and realized that, stuck out in the middle of nowhere and twenty minutes away from backup, they’d had no other choice. Kane had made a split-second decision, summed up the situation and acted with confidence—as usual.

“I filed a report about last night’s incident.” Kane turned into town and slowed to join the line of traffic moving at a snail’s pace behind the snowplow. He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Are you holding a meeting today as usual?”

Jenna had held a Monday staff meeting at nine since she became sheriff, but of late they

needed meetings to update everyone more frequently. She nodded. “Yeah, I called Rowley yesterday and asked him to run down more info on Chuck Burns. I figure we’ve enough probable cause for a search warrant but the more we can sweeten the pot with the better. It’ll be interesting to see what he found. I’ll update everyone on Knox and our ‘incident’.” She held up two hands and made quote marks. “If that was the Axman, we might be looking at homicide for Mrs. Palmer.”

“It sure would be a way of pushing someone off the road without leaving any trace evidence.” Kane pulled into his spot outside the sheriff’s department. “I’ll give Ella Tate a call and see if she remembers anything about the white pickup. She didn’t mention the tinted windows or the sticker mark on the door.”

Jenna paused, one hand on the door. “So we can rule out Knox. You searched his vehicle but didn’t mention dark windows or a sticker.”

“It had dark windows but it had a logo across the door.” Kane shrugged. “It didn’t look like a sticker but maybe the Blackwater deputy could take a closer look. It could be a magnet. He owns those vehicles, not Brightways.”

“I’ll call him.” She slipped from the vehicle.

The wind had picked up, swirling the snow and biting through her clothes. She glanced down the sidewalk at the people bent over, heads down, battling against the weather with scarves wrapped around their faces and wearing sunglasses. The look struck her as comical for a moment but then she remembered the furnace. Even with the small heaters, the office would be freezing until they resolved the problem with it. She brushed away the snowflakes resting on her eyelashes and followed Kane inside the building. When a blast of warm air hit her, she stared at Maggie on reception in surprise. “How come it’s so warm in here?”

“I had a call early yesterday morning from Shane Wolfe. He said he’d found someone to replace the furnace. He didn’t want to bother you, seeing as you were lookin’ after his girls.” Maggie frowned. “I came down and opened up. I waited here until they’d finished. I didn’t want them poking their noses into things that don’t concern them.”

“You’re a gem, Maggie.” Jenna bit back a grin. As usual, Wolfe had called his government contacts and fixed the problem. “That’s wonderful news. I’ll be sure to thank him.” She made her way to her office.

After calling Deputy Blake in Blackwater, she updated her whiteboard, then strolled down to the kitchenette to fill the coffee maker. Kane and Rowley were busy and didn’t look up as she passed. She collected a container of chocolate chip cookies and headed back to her office. At eight fifty-five, the room filled with her deputies and Kane placed a cup of coffee on the desk for her before taking his seat. She thanked Wolfe for organizing the furnace and brought them up to date with the Knox interview, then looked expectantly at Wolfe. “Have you had time to look over the evidence we collected from Knox’s motel room yesterday?”

“I haven’t had time to reach any conclusions. The DNA tests will take a few days.” Wolfe rubbed his chin. “I can tell you the marks on the sheets are blood. I typed the sample and it’s the same blood type as Sky and Knox, so it’s inconclusive at this time.” He frowned. “What worries me is your incident occurred along the same stretch of road as the Palmer accident and possible abduction. I re-examined the photographs of the scene and if Mrs. Palmer had swerved to avoid a collision with an oncoming vehicle, the result would have been the same. As we found no evidence of a collision, we assumed she lost control on the ice taking the bend and slid off the road. It happens frequently at this time of year.”

Jenna leaned forward in her seat. “So have you changed your finding?”

“I’m leaving it an open verdict for now.” Wolfe reached for his coffee. “When you catch the Axman, I’ll see if his tires match any of the other sets we found.”

“I have Deputy Blake out of Blackwater chasing down any known associates of Knox, especially women.” Jenna took a sip of her coffee. “I had the feeling he was lying or covering up for someone. He carried a blonde-haired woman into his motel room the same night as Sky Paul went missing. Blake knows the townsfolk and we’ll have to hope Knox talked to one of his friends. He likes to boast, so I can’t see him keeping a secret.” She turned her attention to Rowley. “Okay, now on to the report from Mr. Lars about Chuck Burns. Have you found any additional information?”

“Everything she told you about him appears to be true enough.” Rowley flicked through his notes. “We have spoken to him before when we checked out the junkyards. We didn’t find anything suspicious.” He flicked through his notes then lifted his head and looked at her. “As you know, Burns owns the old garage next door to the junkyard and a storage area adjacent to the garage. It’s a collection of red brick buildings. He frequents the road between Blackwater and here, looking for abandoned cars or wrecks, and owns a white pickup used for towing. He’s an ambulance chaser and owns a scanner. I gather he collects abandoned vehicles valued under $500 so he can crush them without verifying ownership.” He frowned. “Not many of the townsfolk were forthcoming about him running a chop shop but unless the recycled parts have identifying numbers on them, as in some parts of vehicles, he could be selling them through his yard.”

Jenna smiled at him. “That’s all we need. I’ll add that information to the warrant for you to take over to the judge. I want you to stress the importance of serving it this morning and wait for a reply.”

“Yes, ma’am.”