Bring Me Flowers (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“You don’t have to worry, Julia’s mom is in town and Mr. Rogers will make sure I get back to my car, he is parked right behind me.” Aimee smiled sweetly. “We had to use the parking lot at the library, everywhere else is packed today.”

Deciding to make Rogers aware someone would be watching his every move, Kane nodded. “That’s a good place to park. The library has a CCTV camera in the parking lot and a security guard keeping a close watch on everything over the next few days. You should be safe but stay alert just in case someone is lurking about.”

“I thought it was your job to keep the townsfolk safe, Deputy.” Rogers’ mouth turned up in the corners into almost a smirk.

Kane rolled his shoulders and noticed Susie Hartwig waving at him to collect his coffee. “Yes, but I’m sure these young ladies know not to go out at night alone during the rodeo especially as three young women have been found dead in the area.” He plucked cards out of his shirt pocket and gave them to the girls. “If you need help anytime day or night, that’s my cellphone number.” He smiled. “Stay safe.”

“Don’t I get a card?” Steve Rogers glared at him. “Or don’t you think all Black Rock Falls citizens are in danger during the influx of the rough types?”

“You don’t look like a teenage girl to me, Mr. Rogers.” Kane bit back a smile and bent down so only Rogers could hear him. “Trust me, I’m the last person you should call. I’ve met men like you before and I see who is lurking behind the mask.” Satisfied by seeing the color drain from Rogers’ face, he strolled toward the counter. You’re up to something, you smug son of a bitch.

Thirty-Five

Back at the car, Kane pulled out his cellphone and contacted Jenna to explain his observations. “We need eyes on Ste

ve Rogers. He stinks on ice right now.”

“I agree he should know better than to hang around with his students.”

“He tried to make me look like an incompetent idiot.” Kane sipped his beverage and sighed. “He makes my skin crawl, he is up to something. My gut is never wrong.”

“Okay, I’ll give the info to Wolfe and he’ll keep an eye on our Mr. Rogers. I think we need to do a bit of surveillance on him too. I’ll ask Rowley if he will take the afternoon off and spend a few hours this evening keeping an eye on Rogers’ movements. I’ll call Rogers’ house and see if his wife is back from her sister’s yet. She might tell me when he went out last night. She was very cooperative the last time I spoke to her.”

“Good idea.” Kane started the engine. “We’ll talk later, ma’am. I’m heading for the fairgrounds now.” He disconnected and turned his SUV toward the fairgrounds.

As he approached the Black Rock Falls Motel, he noticed a cowboy dressed in fringed chaps leaning against the wall outside one of the rooms, smoking. Kane pulled into the driveway and slid out of the car. He approached the man with a friendly wave and a smile. “Morning. Is Lucky around?”

“Nope, he has a steer-roping event about now.” The cowboy dropped the stub of his cigarette and extinguished it with a twist of one well-worn boot. He tipped back his hat and his brown eyes narrowed. “You can’t be a friend of his, Lucky don’t like cops.”

Kane chuckled. “Sometimes we do good deeds, like finding the owners of valuables. I’m pretty sure the ring handed in to the sheriff’s department this morning belongs to him but he’ll have to prove he was at the right place at the right time to claim it.”

“He was out last night with Storm. They went to the Triple Z Bar, left ’bout six, came back sometime after ten.” His mouth turned up into a cocky grin. “Tell Lucky Zeke expects a reward.”

Not familiar with the place in question, Kane nodded. “Sure. I’ll go and find him at the fairgrounds. Thank you for your time.”

On the way back to his SUV, he called Rowley to ask about the Triple Z Bar. Raised in Black Rock Falls, the young deputy was a fountain of local information. “What else can you tell me about the place?”

“It’s off the main highway, past the campus, and open Monday through Saturday nights. It’s a dive, serves beer and hard liquor, probably moonshine, but not everyone can pay the Cattleman’s Hotel prices. Cowboys from the local ranches go there, and there are usually brawls. It’s not a place I would go to pick up a woman. Let’s say they are a little free with their favors, if you get my meaning.”

He rubbed his cheek. “How come nobody has mentioned this place before now?”

“No one is going to put in a complaint, are they? Trust me, they don’t want the law showing up there. If the mayor closes the Triple Z, there isn’t another bar for miles. The owner of the Cattleman’s Hotel runs the bar at the fairgrounds and the Lark’s arena. He has a dress code, and smelly, hard-working guys straight off the ranch are not permitted.”

“How far is the Triple Z from the college campus?”

“Three miles, I’d guess.”

“Which places Lucky Briggs and Storm Crawley in the area of Kate Bright’s murder at the right time. Sheriff Alton saw them at Aunt Betty’s Café on our way back from the murder scene.” He sighed. “I’m going to speak to Briggs and Crawley now, tell the sheriff what I’ve discovered.”

“Okay.”

Kane disconnected and climbed behind the wheel. As he drove toward his destination, his thoughts centered on the investigation. Following his profiling, the cowboys had moved down a few slots in his personal suspect list but the new information made things complicated. With little concrete evidence and suspects coming out of his ass, he had to narrow the field before the maniac struck again.

Although the cowboys appeared to stand out like sore thumbs, he doubted either of them had the brains to hack a computer, but both men moved around a lot and attracted young women. He could not discount that their meetings with both victims could have been verbal. After discovering Felicity and Kate loved the rodeo cowboys, it would not have taken too much persuasion to convince the girls to meet them at a secluded spot, but he doubted the men would be stupid enough to murder Joanne and leave her in a place they admitted to frequenting.

It would be conceivable to believe Kate had changed the time to meet Chad because she had made a date with Lucky Briggs. Jenna had mentioned Kate and Aimee had been star-struck by the two cowboys. If Wolfe had discovered one tiny shred of DNA, he would not be chasing his tail in endless circles.

At the fairgrounds, Kane maneuvered through the masses of people and checked the running sheet for the day’s events. His suspects had events for most of the day, and from the announcement, Lucky Briggs had won the bull riding. He ambled toward the group of cowboys leaning on the fence waiting for the next event, and Lucky Briggs climbed over the railing and landed two feet in front of him. Covered in sweat and dust and with a smile as big as Texas, he swaggered through the group of men. Kane moved to block his path. “Congratulations! May I have a word?”