Kiss Her Goodnight (Detectives Kane and Alton)

So do criminals.Jenna smiled. “That’s very helpful, thank you.”

“Did you see anyone in or near the park?” Kane lifted his gaze to the man. “Anyone in the woods? A vehicle?”

“Nope, only people who came by are those two.” Lawrence pointed to the other men who’d stopped to gawk. “Then the entire town showed up.” He shrugged.

Jenna nodded. “Okay, give Deputy Kane your details, and if you think of anything at all, call me.” She handed him a card and moved to the next man.

After moving through a ton of people, they discovered nothing of interest but at least had a list of names. Jenna turned to Rowley. “Head back to the office and work with Rio putting names to faces. Anyone from out of town, run their names just in case they’re felons. If they’re locals, check for anyone with priors.”

It would take forever to match all the names to the images, but the FBI whiz kid Bobby Kalo would be able to run a match at warp speed. Deciding what to do, she chewed on the inside of her cheek. Calling the FBI for assistance for only one crime wasn’t something she’d usually do, but with her wedding planned for Friday, she needed all the help she could get to solve this case. “Call Kalo, and if he’s not busy, ask him to run the names for you. He’ll be able to get a result faster.”

“Okay.” Rowley turned toward the twenty or so people watching Wolfe. “Okay, folks, nothing more to see here. Give the poor woman some respect.”

As the mumbles of complaint reached her ears, she turned, hands on hips, and stared at them. “This is someone’s daughter, perhaps a mother or a wife. Go about your business and allow us to find out who killed her.”

She waited for Kane to finish speaking with Lawrence, and after taking Duke to sniff the body, they walked a parallel path to the disappearing footprints in the dew. Duke was an integral part of the sheriff’s team and wore a badge on his collar to prove it. They’d found the bloodhound some time ago at a crime scene. He’d been neglected and left to die. Kane had adopted Duke and nursed him back to health. The dog had issues. He hated the vet and even the mention of a bath sent him running, but he was the best tracker dog in the county. He’d been bred by a Native American out at the reservation and had been recognized at once by their friend Atohi Blackhawk, who’d informed them about the dog’s origins and name. A very loyal companion, and an asset to the team, Duke had become a beloved member of the community.

They followed Duke into the woods, but instead of sniffing the ground, he moved from tree to tree. Jenna stared after him. “I’ve never seen him do that before.”

“That’s because the killer carried the body in his arms.” Kane pulled a strand of hair from one of the tree branches. “I’d say our killer is a man, and he struggled to carry her through the woods. See where the hair is snagged in the trees? If I carried you unconscious in my arms, allowing for head hang, we would find the hair at least eight inches higher for someone my size, so I’d say he’s about five-eight. From what Duke is doing, the body was rested against the tree trunks on the way through.”

As they emerged from the forest onto the fire road, a terrible feeling of déjà vu hit Jenna. They’d walked the same path hunting down a missing deputy three months previously. She stopped on the fire road and stared at Kane. “See anything familiar to this scenario?”

“Yeah.” Kane rubbed his chin. “This is where we lost track of Poppy Anderson, but we checked on her. She’s spending a ton of cash in Colorado and she did send us an email saying where she was heading.” He twisted at the waist looking back into the woods. “You don’t think that’s her, do you—the body?”

The idea chilled Jenna to the bone. “I think we need to find out.”