Cross My Heart (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Kane glanced at the blue skinned man on the gurney and shook his head. The mental torture he must have suffered watching his wife being mutilated and unable to help her must have been horrendous. His gaze never wavered as Wolfe proceeded to examine the body. The weighing of the organs, checking the stomach contents and the spinal column, and finally removing part of the cranium to examine the damage from the crossbow bolt. Each action was recorded, and finally Wolfe handed the closing to his assistant, Colt Webber.

Kane gave himself a mental shake. The entire process had been hypnotizing, or he’d placed himself into a sniper state without realizing it. He glanced at Jenna, who had said nothing during the examination, and she gave him a nod indicating she was okay. He moved his attention back to Wolfe. “Did you find anything significant?”

“Yeah.” Wolfe removed his gloves with a snap and replaced them with a fresh pair. “Whoever inflicted the injury to the spine was right-handed.” Wolfe gave him a thoughtful look over his mask. “I’d assumed the injury was an attack from behind, but from the angle of the wound it was a frontal attack. I don’t think Howard saw it coming. There are no other signs on him to indicate a struggle.”

“So, he knew his attacker?” Jenna folded her arms across her chest and leaned her back against the counter. “Like his guide, for instance?” She raised both eyebrows. “It has to be Adams or Lane, doesn’t it?”

Kane nodded. “They seem to be the most likely candidates, but without new evidence the DA won’t prosecute them. Because the murders are alike and you can’t prove either man committed both murders, you have too much reasonable doubt to convict either of them.”

“Have you found anything to link these men?” Wolfe looked at Jenna. “Have you gone right back? For instance, were they at school together?”

“Nope. Apart from murder scenes, we’ve come up empty.” Jenna cleared her throat. “They both did time in the county jail but deny knowing each other. They were in different areas of the prison and I can’t prove they met. They both belong to the firing range, but so does just about everyone in town.” She looked at him. “How close have you gotten to the TOD?”

“My findings haven’t changed. Emmett Howard died from a projectile to the head. His time of death is between the last time he was seen alive, which, according to Tyson Long’s statement, was at eleven-thirty on Tuesday, and when his body was discovered at nine on Wednesday morning.”

“Which, if we can believe Long, puts Adams in the clear. He was at work at eleven on Tuesday and in custody at the TOD.” Jenna glanced at Kane. “And Long has an alibi for Payton Harris’ TOD. Which makes it impossible for one of them to have committed both crimes. Although, they could be collaborating and timing their crimes to give the other an alibi?”

Kane shook his head. “We’ve found no evidence to suggest they know each other. It won’t play for a conviction unless we can link them.”

“Okay, let’s push on with Patti Howard.” Wolfe pushed a gurney under the light and pulled back a sheet.”

Although Kane had already seen the brutality one person had inflicted on this poor woman, the sight of her laid out was no less of a shock. He straightened and stood feet apart and shoulders back and forced his mind to be objective. Murder was never pretty, and although he’d served in a warzone and as a government assassin taking out targets to protect his country, nothing in his experience prepared him for this level of carnage. He noticed Jenna shiver and wanted to reach out and hold her hand but when her chin rose and she stepped closer, a sense of calm descended on him. Jenna had that effect on him. Seeing her upset concerned him deeply, and it would seem the opposite soothed his nerves.

“From the lacerations, the killer used a hunting knife.” Wolfe examined, measured, and documented each deep incision on the body. “As we observed at the crime scene, Patti Howard was secured, her arms extended with tape and then at one point pinned to trees with crossbow bolts. I’d say he did this not for any other reason than to prevent her from fighting back. There are no defensive wounds on the arms, but the lacerations to the legs show she fought long and hard before he subdued her long enough to restrain her.”

Kane ran his gaze over the woman’s body. The injuries appeared methodical, not what he recognized as a frenzied attack. He turned to Jenna. “This looks calculated to me. Look at the cuts to her torso: they are evenly spaced.”

“None of them look deep enough to have killed her.” Jenna scanned the body. “He wanted to torture her, make her suffer, just like Stone’s victims.” She glanced up at Wolfe. “What killed her? I can’t see any signs of strangulation, or anything else fatal.”

“I’ll examine her heart for any signs of a coronary, but heart failure from blood loss due to sharp force trauma is the most likely cause of death. After examining the lacerations, although some are gaping, the one here, on her thigh, killed her.” Wolfe pointed to the narrow incision. “If you look at the crime scene image, blood has pooled all around her, but in this area it was most concentrated, which made me examine this wound closely. This was a fatal wound. It sliced through the femoral artery and death would have occurred in five minutes or less.”

The autopsy continued and Kane watched as Wolfe examined Patti Howard’s organs, but his findings didn’t change. It was getting late by the time he climbed behind the wheel of his truck and headed back to the office. He turned to Jenna. “These murders have me baffled. Everything points to Adams and Long.”

“Whichever one it is, he’ll make a mistake or he already has.” Jenna chewed on her bottom lip. “Or one of the witnesses backing up their alibis is lying. For instance, we only have the word of the receptionist at the nursing home to confirm Adams arrived there at the time she said he did. My gut tells me he’s involved.”

Kane nodded. “We just have to prove it.” He pulled into his parking space outside the sheriff’s department.

“Well, we’ve found needles in haystacks before.” Jenna gathered her things. “I’m not waving a white flag just yet.”

Forty-Three

Exhausted emotionally and physically, Jenna dragged her legs up the steps to the sheriff’s department and headed toward the front counter. She noticed two teenagers sitting on the row of seats beside the main entrance and went to them. “Are you waiting for me?”

“Yeah.” The boy stood and gave her an angelic smile. “I’m Cade Rio and this is my sister, Piper. Zac wants to know if we can hang around here until he finishes work? We don’t mind helping out. Answering phones, sweeping up, or whatever.”

Jenna looked from one to the other. She could see the resemblance the twins had to their brother. “Yes, of course. Is there a problem at home?”

“No.” Cade shook his head. “Our housekeeper is polishing the floors and she doesn’t want us walking all over them until they’re finished.” He chuckled. “She likes things nice.”

Trying not to laugh, Jenna waved them toward the receptionist. “Maggie will find you something to do, won’t you, Maggie?”

“I sure can.” Maggie gave them a beaming smile, her brown eyes twinkling.

The silence in the office surprised her, and Jenna flicked a glance around the room and found it empty. Leaning on the counter, she looked at Maggie. “Where are my deputies?”

“They had a few calls on the hotline and went to check them out.” Maggie lowered her voice. “Someone else was seen with the Howards. Wendy at Aunt Betty’s Café called and they headed down there.”

Jenna nodded. “Okay. I’ll be in my office with Kane. Send them up when they get back.”